Odisha Assembly Passes Appropriation Bill

Bhubaneswar: Amid a walkout by the opposition BJD and Congress , the Odisha Assembly on Tuesday passed the Appropriation Bill, 2024 allowing the state government to spend Rs 2.65 lakh crore from its consolidated fund during the financial year 2024-25.

While speaking in favour of the Bill in the House, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, who also holds the Finance portfolio, said the budget estimation for 2024-25 is Rs 2.65 lakh crore which is 15 per cent more than the budget estimates for 2023-24.

The programme budget is estimated at Rs 1.55 lakh crore, which is 24 per cent more than the previous one and the capital outlay is Rs 58,195 crore, which is 6.3 per cent of GSDP, he said.

“During the elections, we reached out to the people having problems and we came to power with their love and blessings. Our government is making all-out efforts to fulfil the aspirations of the people,” Majhi said.

Targeting the BJD, he said the previous chief minister had announced a bonus of Rs 100 per quintal of paddy. However, he failed to implement it during his entire tenure, Majhi said.

The BJP government in its first cabinet decided to procure paddy at a price of Rs 3,100 per quintal from the farmers, which is Rs 800 more than the MSP set by the government of India. The government has made a provision of Rs 5,000 crore for this purpose in the current budget, he pointed out.

Similarly, he said, the state cabinet has already approved the Subhadra scheme, under which Rs 50,000 will be given to more than one crore women of the state.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the scheme in Odisha on September 17.

The chief minister said that a provision of Rs 21,200 crore has been made in the budget for the healthcare sector, which is 32 per cent more than the previous year’s budget and 8 per cent of the total budget size for this year.

Stating that his government has adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards atrocities against women, Majhi said a total outlay of Rs 75,622 crore has been made in this budget for women.

The Odisha government has set a target to bring more than Rs 2.50 lakh crore domestic investment and more than Dollar 2 billion foreign direct investment (FDI) to the state by 2029, he added.

While participating in the debate, senior BJD MLA Arun Sahoo said the BJP government has claimed the previous regime has done no developmental work during the last 24 years.

But, he said, the BJD has made Odisha a revenue surplus state and the present government should remain tension-free as it has got a financially sound state in its inheritance.

Another BJD member Ganeswar Behera said the BJP is claiming that it is a double-engine government in Odisha but it was not reflected in the state budget.

Congress legislature party leader Rama Chandra Kadam said Odisha is not one of the poorest in the country but it is at the bottom in terms of per capita income.

The state’s agricultural production is also very low and it is at the top in migration of people, he claimed.

He also sought a reply from the chief minister about the enhancement of reservation quota for SC, ST and OBC students in medical and engineering admissions.