Guwahati, March 12: Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi today spared the business class any fresh taxes as “stimuli” to beat the global economic slowdown and check price rise but continued to shower sops on the aam aadmi ostensibly with an eye on the panchayat elections slated for early next year.
This was the message that emanated from the 93-page budget proposals for 2012-13 presented by Gogoi in the Assembly, his 12th straight regular budget since assuming charge in May 2001.
Health, education, agriculture, rural development and social welfare remained the focus of attention. Thirty-nine schemes and programmes, worth around Rs 5,000 crore, that were announced on January 1, not only found mention in the budget proposals but Rs 1,000 crore has also been earmarked to implement these, reflecting the government’s populist agenda which had brought the ruling dispensation handsome electoral rewards.
“The global economic slowdown is likely to have some impact on the national and state economies, necessitating some stimuli to support investment and production,” Gogoi said, presenting the Rs 293.44-crore deficit budget with an estimated revenue surplus of Rs 1,363.98 crore and fiscal deficit of Rs 3,886.11 crore.
“The price rise of various commodities has also adversely affected the common man. I have, therefore, decided to present a budget without imposition of any new tax and reduction in taxes of certain items to give a boost to investment and production in the state,” the chief minister, who also holds the finance portfolio, said.
Gogoi’s please-all budget offering sops for all sections of the society, with special emphasis on students and rural populace, gave the impression that the government was preparing for the forthcoming panchayat polls in the state and the possibility of the country heading for a mid-term election.
In an apparent bid to woo the aam aadmi, Rs 100 crore has been earmarked for continuation of Mukhya Mantrir Anna Suraksha Yojana for supply of 20kg of rice per family at Rs 6 per kg to 20 lakh above poverty line families.
A scheme christened Gramya Taxi, benefiting 300 unemployed youths, will provide a subsidy of Rs 1 lakh per beneficiary against procurement of auto-rickshaws and auto-vans.
Bhupen Borah, the newly appointed parliamentary secretary from the Congress, said: “The budget proposals have sent a clear signal to the poor and rural populace, including small farmers who have been constantly backing our party and government, that Dispur will meet the commitments made to them before the 2006 Assembly polls,” Borah said.
The chief minister presented a robust picture of the state’s financial health, saying, “In view of our comfortable financial position, I have decided not to resort to any market borrowing at all during the current financial year. After years of financial distress, my government has been able to restore fiscal stability. Since April 2005, the state government did not have to resort to overdraft even for a day.
This was the message that emanated from the 93-page budget proposals for 2012-13 presented by Gogoi in the Assembly, his 12th straight regular budget since assuming charge in May 2001.
Health, education, agriculture, rural development and social welfare remained the focus of attention. Thirty-nine schemes and programmes, worth around Rs 5,000 crore, that were announced on January 1, not only found mention in the budget proposals but Rs 1,000 crore has also been earmarked to implement these, reflecting the government’s populist agenda which had brought the ruling dispensation handsome electoral rewards.
“The global economic slowdown is likely to have some impact on the national and state economies, necessitating some stimuli to support investment and production,” Gogoi said, presenting the Rs 293.44-crore deficit budget with an estimated revenue surplus of Rs 1,363.98 crore and fiscal deficit of Rs 3,886.11 crore.
“The price rise of various commodities has also adversely affected the common man. I have, therefore, decided to present a budget without imposition of any new tax and reduction in taxes of certain items to give a boost to investment and production in the state,” the chief minister, who also holds the finance portfolio, said.
Gogoi’s please-all budget offering sops for all sections of the society, with special emphasis on students and rural populace, gave the impression that the government was preparing for the forthcoming panchayat polls in the state and the possibility of the country heading for a mid-term election.
In an apparent bid to woo the aam aadmi, Rs 100 crore has been earmarked for continuation of Mukhya Mantrir Anna Suraksha Yojana for supply of 20kg of rice per family at Rs 6 per kg to 20 lakh above poverty line families.
A scheme christened Gramya Taxi, benefiting 300 unemployed youths, will provide a subsidy of Rs 1 lakh per beneficiary against procurement of auto-rickshaws and auto-vans.
Bhupen Borah, the newly appointed parliamentary secretary from the Congress, said: “The budget proposals have sent a clear signal to the poor and rural populace, including small farmers who have been constantly backing our party and government, that Dispur will meet the commitments made to them before the 2006 Assembly polls,” Borah said.
The chief minister presented a robust picture of the state’s financial health, saying, “In view of our comfortable financial position, I have decided not to resort to any market borrowing at all during the current financial year. After years of financial distress, my government has been able to restore fiscal stability. Since April 2005, the state government did not have to resort to overdraft even for a day.
