Budget deficits for year 2018-19 estimated at Rs. 1630.67 crore.
Kohima, March 23 (MExN): The Chief Minister and Minister in charge of Finance, Neiphiu Rio presented the budget for the financial year 2018-2019 during the session of the 13th Nagaland Legislative Assembly on March 23. This is the maiden budget of People's Democratic Alliance (PDA) headed by Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP). Key Highlights:
- Indo-Naga political issue: PDA Government is committed to play the role of active facilitator in the ongoing peace process.
- Government will provide good governance, transparency and accountability in the administration and to remove VIP culture.
- All departments will mandatorily have websites and portals where all information about the employees, the activities of the departments, ongoing projects, etc., will be displayed, he said.
- Roads: The first priority of the Government is to start the repair and maintenance of roads in the State Capital and District Headquarters within sixty days for which an amount of Rs. 50 crore has been provided. The Government will strive to ensure that all districts are connected by good quality two-lane highways and timely completion of the ongoing National Highway Road projects taken up by NHLDCL. A total of Rs. 168.64 crore have been earmarked under Non- Development Plans for maintenance of existing Government assets including roads. It will be ensured that this amount is judiciously distributed on the basis of actual requirements
- Tourism: 2 crore will be kept aside for capacity building exercises for the tourism and tourism related industry and conduct of tourism centric seminars, training of tour operators, promotions, writers meet etc. and other events like literary meets, folk and fusion events, food and music festivals will be introduced.
- Power: Transmission infrastructure of power supply in Kohima, Dimapur and Peren districts will be more stable. Rio further requested all the citizens of the State to observe 'Earth Hour' scheduled on the March, 24 2018 from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm by shutting down non-essential lights and electrical appliances in our homes for one hour.
- Rural Development: Implementation of MNREGA will ensure not only job creation but also creation of durable community assets
- Agriculture: The Government is guided by the Vision 2025 goal of achieving ‘Food for All’ in Agri and Allied sector. The International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) has approved a project named "Fostering Climate Resilient Upland Farming Systems in Nagaland" amounting to Rs. 612.43 crore for a duration of six years. The project will commence from April1, 2018 till March 2024.
- Forest: Nagaland Forest Management Project (NFMP) has been approved for funding from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The project cost is estimated at Rs. 533 crores, to be implemented in 185 villages of 22 selected Forest Ranges in 11 Forest Divisions covering all the districts of the State. The Project will seek to improve forest ecosystems and support income generation by rehabilitation of jhum areas.
- Sports: Promotion of games and sports will be one of the thrust areas for the PDA Government. The Government will release a new Nagaland Sports Policy. The Government will commemorate T. Ao's birth centenary with a year round calendar of sporting activities including coaching camps for youngsters involving foreign coaches, exposure events for budding footballers and conduct of tournaments. The Hornbill International Motor Rally will be restored and Nagaland will host a national level Nagaland Cross Country under the aegis of the Athletic Federation of India.
- Education sector: Steps will be taken to combat persistent problems such as proxy and bogus teachers and ghost employees and also to improve infrastructure and facilities for both schools and colleges. Also, to make quality education accessible to all students the Government announced a new insurance scheme for students studying outside the State. All students who have been registered will be covered for a sum of Rupees 5 lakhs in the unfortunate event of death. The Government will also introduce a new package of study tours and excursions that will take students on exposure trips to different parts of the country especially the National Capital Region. Every year 100 students will be sponsored to visit New Delhi and other cities to get real life experience of visiting places like the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House, Taj Mahal in different batches, he said.
- Industry: In the industries sector the Government will begin with key policy interventions to set up business and enterprise and ease of doing Business will be a priority area among the North Eastern States. At the same time, real industrialization should be one that is locally driven and not injected from outside.
- Health sector: The World Bank is funding a first of its kind State level 'Nagaland Health Project' implemented by the Directorate of Health & Family Welfare. The project seeks to improve health services and increase in their utilization by communities in targeted locations in Nagaland, and is composed of community action on health and nutrition and health system development, he apprised.
- Eastern Nagaland: The Government has committed to make special interventions to address continuing issues of imbalance in development of the Eastern Naga areas. They will be specially focusing on ensuring connectivity of all block headquarters, provision of broadband connectivity, ensuring availability of doctors in hospitals to ensure that the ENPO areas have better social and physical infrastructure. Terming the non-election of women into the house till date as unfortunate, he assured all possible efforts to bring women into leadership roles at different levels.
- Women Empowerment: As an effort to make conscious strides for upliftment and empowerment of women, the Government as a beginning plans on introduce ‘Pink Bus’ in the State capital and the commercial hub Dimapur on a pilot basis, Rio said. The pink buses which will be pressed into service in selective routes will operate at subsidized rates and will have seats reserved for women, he pointed. The Government will also introduce a 24 hours Women’s Helpline to assist and help women in distress, victims of domestic violence, abuse and cheating etc., can call this helpline for quick and immediate reaction from the law enforcing agencies.
- Differently-abled Policy: The Government is committed towards the welfare of the differently abled and also care for those facing mental health challenges. The Government is committed towards protecting and expanding the rights of citizens who are differently abled and will work towards full equal opportunities at work, access to education and to health services.
- Nagaland Investment and Development Authority: In order to attract investments from Private Sector and multilateral agencies in Nagaland, Rio proposed to set up the institution of Nagaland Investment and Development Authority. It will aggressively pursue investment projects, infrastructure development and take up measures that contribute towards economic growth in a sustainable manner that is acquainted and adaptable to the situation. The details of the institution and its structure will be announced soon, he stated.
- Clean and Green Nagaland : A new initiative to promote a cleaner and more hygienic Nagaland will be introduced as part of the Swachh Bharat Initiative. Clean and Green Nagaland will be launched so that the message of keeping the environment and habitations clean.
- Project Management Board: In order to ensure successful implementation of the Government's policies, programmes and projects, a central monitoring mechanism in the form of a Project Management Board will be set up, Rio assured. This Project Management Board will ensure periodical monitoring of all schemes and projects for successful implementation and timely delivery.
- Budget Deficits: The Budget proposal is estimated at a total receipt at Rs. 18,232.51 crores, and total expenditure is at Rs.18305.40 crore for the financial year 2018-19. Rio stated that the transaction for the financial year 2018-19 is estimated to result in a negative balance of Rs. 22.94 crores. He maintained the implementation of the 7 RoP 2017 as the main reason for the negative balance which will have a huge additional burden. In addition, with the negative opening balance of Rs. 1607.73 crore, the year 2018-19 is estimated to close with a negative balance of Rs. 1630.67 crore.
(With (DIPR): inputs)
