Ahead of the general elections in 2019, the State government on Thursday presented its last full Budget vowing to make “every citizen in this State a happy person”.
The outlay was pegged at ₹1.91 lakh crore, an increase of 21.69% compared to the last fiscal’s ₹1.56 lakh crore.
The government projected a revenue surplus of ₹5,235 crore for the financial year 2018-19, and announced a slew of schemes or reintroduced the schemes/programmes discontinued during the previous government.
Presenting the Budget, Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu said the revenue expenditure was estimated to increase by 19.35% and the capital expenditure by around 30.60% more than the 2017-18 fiscal. The fiscal deficit was expected to touch ₹24,205 crore. The per capita income rose to ₹1,42,054 in 2017-18, from ₹1,23,664 in 2016-17, registering a jump of 14.87%.
“I am proposing a revenue surplus Budget for 2018-19 anticipating that the Government of India would release all the dues as per the A.P. Reorganisation Act, 2014 at least this year. Further, I have optimised revenue expenditure and increased capital expenditure.”
The Minister said the State was at the “crossroads of development and deficit” perpetuated by the increasing indifference of the Central government in extending the entitlements as per the bifurcation Act and the assurances made by the then Prime Minister in the Rajya Sabha.
The government increased the allocations for welfare significantly. As much as ₹28,058 crore was allocated to the BC, Scheduled Castes, ST, and minority welfare. It allocated ₹1,000 crore for youth welfare schemes. An allocation of ₹3,008 crore was made for women, children, differently-abled, transgender and senior citizens. AThe allocation for housing schemes was increased to ₹4,752 crore from ₹1,452 crore.
Irrigation got ₹16,978 crore and agriculture and allied services ₹12,355 crore. An allocation of ₹8,463 crore was proposed for the health sector as against the ₹7,020 crore during 2017-18. General education got the lion’s share with ₹24,185 crore, followed by rural development with ₹20,815 crore.
“The budget proposals are in the direction of making every citizen in the state a happy person,” Mr. Ramakrishnudu said. “Our government has approached the situation with a clear vision and meticulous execution. We moved from despair to hope, disillusionment to confidence and deprivation to growth.”
