Supplementary demands of Rs. 13,000 cr. presented

The State government on Monday presented supplementary demands of around Rs. 13,000 crore for the current fiscal on the first day of the monsoon session of the state legislature. This comes three months after Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar presented the budget for 2016-17.

A large chunk of the supplementary demands has gone to the Agriculture, Education and Public Works Departments, with the government allocating around Rs. 1,344 crore, Rs. 1,086 crore and Rs. 698 crore respectively.

The state government will be paying Rs. 800 crore as its share for the Pradhan Mantri Crop Insurance Scheme, which is designed to compensate farmers in case of natural calamity and crop diseases. A special allotment of Rs 47.76 lakh has been made to compensate for concessions given to students from drought- affected regions in agricultural universities. In the Education Department, Rs 861 crore has been allotted for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

According to supplementary demands, Rs. 230 crore has been reserved for the construction of State highways and bridges, Rs. 180 crore will be used for constructing roads and bridges at the district level, while Rs. 5.17 crore will be used for renovation and construction at Raj Bhavan, the governor’s residence.

Ironically, the BJP had targeted the Congress-led state government in the past for raising higher supplementary demands, calling it ‘financial indiscipline’. A supplementary demand is the additional grant for a government to meet its expenditure.

In financial year 2015-16, the government had presented supplementary demands worth Rs. 35,000 crore. These are the first set of demands for the current fiscal. A discussion and vote on supplementary demands will be held on July 25 and 26.