“Benchmark Budget”

By Our Reporter

SHILLONG, MAR 20: Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma today said the State Budget for 2017-18 will set a new “benchmark” for the future progress and prosperity of the state.

“This budget will set a new benchmark for the right kind of environment that the state requires for the overall transformation and changes in the socio-economic landscape of the state,” Sangma said in his reply to the Budget discussion here.

Terming the budget as “balanced”, he said that it is a budget which is realistic for the purpose of meeting the aspirations and expectations of the people with special reference to the poor, rural population, youth and job seekers.

Sangma said that budget will take care of the development disparities and developmental gaps and will set a new benchmark for the future progress and prosperity of the state despite the resources constraints.

Claiming that the fiscal health of the state will continue to remain healthy, Sangma said, “We will be in a position to position the state as a state capable of absorbing all the available funding provided through various funding agencies.”

As it is being implemented, it will also enable the state to further leverage upon the number of initiatives that the government has embarked upon and the actual benefits will be visible on the ground in the years to come, he added.

Pointing out to the various initiatives taken up by his government in strengthening the manpower of different departments, he claimed that the government has been bold enough to go on creating job opportunities for job seekers and that it is not a fact that the budget is pessimistic.

Admitting that it is fact that there has a dislocation in the flow of revenue generation of the state, Sangma said this in view of the NGT ban on coal mining and the number of pronouncements by the judiciary including mining of minor minerals.

He however said notwithstanding all these, there has been a steady increase in the revenue receipts of the state adding a task force was also entrusted to ensure resource mobilization so that such challenges do not become reason for the government to stop implementation of various programmes.

With regards to the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), he said that in respect of 2015-16 was 26,745 crore and 2016-17 it was estimated at 88,497 crore, which is an increase of 9.826%.

He said, “If you look at the state in respect of the growth of its GSDP, in 2014-15 we grew at 14.7% and in 2015-16 it was at 10.9% and 2016-17 budget estimates was at 10.5%”.

“Our debt GSDP ratio, we continue to maintain at 27% and we have not crossed 30%, these are indicators of the fiscal health of the state,” he said.

Assuring that all the points raised by the members in respect to various sectors, Sangma said a committee headed by the Principal Secretary to the CM will be constituted to ensure response from all line departments in this regard.