With an eye on the upcoming Assembly elections, the Centre has extended an olive branch to the poll-bound States. Presenting the budget, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday announced new super speciality hospitals and institutes of excellence, special assistance to Bihar and West Bengal in particular and spoke of main streaming the North-eastern States.
The Centre’s largesse to the poll-bound States of Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Assam, and Bihar includes the setting up of the super speciality hospitals. The Minister announced special assistance for Bihar and West Bengal on the lines of Andhra Pradesh, pointing out that though the Finance Commission has not distinguished between special category and other States, the Centre wants to give a fillip to development of these two eastern States.
The Minister said Bihar and West Bengal are going to be amongst the biggest beneficiaries of the recommendations of the Finance Commission. “...Yet, the eastern States have to be given an opportunity to grow even faster. I, therefore, propose to give similar special assistance to Bihar and West Bengal as has been provided by the Government of India in the case of Government of Andhra Pradesh. As regards Andhra Pradesh and Telengana, the Government is committed to comply with all the legal commitments made to them,” he said.
New All India Institutes of Medical Sciences will be set up in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Assam and Bihar. The Minister has also proposed to set up an IIT in Karnataka, and upgrade Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad into a full-fledged IIT. A Post Graduate Institute of Horticulture Research and Education will come up in Amritsar while IIMs will be set up in Jammu and Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh. In Kerala, the Minister has proposed to upgrade the existing National Institute of Speech and Hearing to a University of Disability Studies and Rehabilitation.
In an effort to reach out to the North-east, the Minister announced a Centre for Film Production, Animation and Gaming in Arunachal Pradesh. The Minister said the North East has been given special priority in the development process, which can be seen by the two visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the region to launch important infrastructure projects.
States which have heritage sites like Punjab, Karnataka, Goa and Telanagana will get aid to undertake required restoration, including landscape restoration; signage and interpretation centres; parking; access for the differently abled; visitors’ amenities, including securities and toilets; illumination and plans for benefiting communities around them. The Minister proposes to provide resources to start work along these lines for the following Heritage Sites: Churches & Convents of Old Goa; Hampi, Karnataka; Elephanta Caves, Mumbai; Kumbalgarh and other Hill Forts of Rajasthan; Rani ki Vav, Patan, Gujarat; Leh Palace, Ladakh, J&K; Varanasi Temple town, U.P.; Jalianwala bagh, Amritsar, Punjab and Qutub Shahi Tombs, Hyderabad, Telangana
