The Hemant Soren government on Tuesday announced a slew of welfare measures including farm loan waiver, unemployment allowance, free power, free treatment for critical illness and universal scholarship for students in government schools.
Jharkhand Finance Minister Rameshwar Oraon presented the first budget of the alliance government led by Mr. Soren, which came to power in December last year.
“The annual budgetary allocation for the year 2020-21 is estimated at ₹86,370 crore. The revenue and capital expenditure has been estimated at ₹73,316 crore and ₹13,054 crore respectively,” Mr. Oraon said in the State Assembly.
“More than 75% of Jharkhand’s population depends on agriculture and allied activities. The government is determined for development of people associated with the sector. The government has decided to start a short-term loan waiver scheme for people whose lion’s share of income goes in repaying farm loan,” he said.
‘Pro-poor budget’
Welcoming the budget, Mr. Soren said: “The budget is a reflection of our pro-poor outlook. We have made our priorities public. We have turned the direction of our governance towards shanties. In the first phase, farm loan up to ₹50,000 will be waived.”
The Minister said the State would assess the number of farmers who have taken loan and the total amount that needs to be repaid.
As per major budgetary provisions, people consuming less than 300 units of power will not have to pay electricity dues for first 100 units.
Unemployed youths, who had earned their bachelor and master’s degree in the past three years and registered with employment exchanges for jobs, will be paid an annual unemployment allowance of ₹5,000 and ₹7,000 respectively. The government has made budgetary provision of ₹146 crore under this head.
The government also proposes to provide universal scholarship for students enrolled in government schools from Class I to XII under the Chief Minister Special Student Scholarship scheme.
The government will facilitate free treatment for critical illness such as cancer and kidney and liver ailments in top-notch health institutions of the country for families having annual income of less than ₹8 lakh
Moreover, the Soren government announced that it will pay an additional ₹50,000 to the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana beneficiaries from the State exchequer. The government also proposes to provide ration to all people above 50 years of age.
