The Hindu : No new taxes in deficit Rajasthan budget

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 05, 2004

Other States

Other States - Rajasthan

No new taxes in deficit Rajasthan budget

By Our Special Correspondent

JAIPUR, FEB. 4 .A Rs.1,394.48-crore deficit budget, with no new tax proposals, was presented in the Rajasthan Assembly today by the Chief Minister, Vasundhara Raje, who also holds the portfolio of Finance. Her brief, seven- minute budget speech contained no announcements on the development as well as the tax front.

She also sought a vote- on- account for four months and got it passed by the House by a voice vote.

The Assembly witnessed noisy scenes for most of the 35 minutes it was in session as members from the Congress, the main Opposition party, alleged electoral considerations in not presenting a regular budget. Challenging the propriety of introducing the budget after--what they alleged--keeping them in the dark, the Congress MLAs walked out of the House. The vote- on- account was passed in their absence.

The five-page document which Ms.Raje read out was titled as a "statement on the budget for 2004-2005''. The vote- on- account was for the first four months of the financial year, 2004-05, though the demands for election, drinking water and natural calamities were sought and cleared for the whole year. "The expenses on these heads are going to take place in these months,'' Ms.Raje noted in her speech. "A revised budget estimate would be presented before the House prior to July 31,'' she promised. As the Central Government sought a vote- on- account in the Lok Sabha the previous day, the State was not in a position to assess its share in the Central taxes and the quantum of assistance under various schemes, Ms.Raje said trying to explain the compulsions for skipping a regular budget.

A point of order was raised by C.P.Joshi on the nature to the day's proposals. Dr.Joshi and other Congress members, including Karan Singh Yadav, were trying to point out the lack of clarity on the day's business as a local paper, quoting the Speaker and the Government had reported differing versions.

Giving a ruling on this, the Speaker, Sumitra Singh, said there would be presentation of the Budget for 2004-05 and then a vote- on- account for the first four months of the coming year. The Congress members would have to abide by what the Business Advisory Committee had decided, she told them. The House witnessed noisy scenes as members of the BJP and the Congress traded charges. The budget estimates for the year 2004-05 amounts to Rs.36,102.63 crores out of which total revenue receipts are of Rs.16,440.17 crores and the total expenditure to the tune of Rs.19,543.19 crores.

Ms.Raje placed the revised plan size for the year 2004-05 at Rs.6,492.06 crores even as she put the rider that the final figures could be reached after discussing with the Planning Commission.

The revised plan size of the State for the current year(2003-04) stood at Rs.6,398.23 crores at the end of two revisions after the previous Congress Government here fixed it at Rs.4,258 crore initially. The 100- day deadline imposed on itself by the Bharatiya Janata Party Government after coming to power for completion of tasks has made the plan size to swell from the revised Rs.5,504.52 crores to the present figure of Rs.6,398.23 crores. As per the revised estimates, the budgetary deficit of 2003-04 would come down to Rs.282.37 crores against the initially estimated figure of Rs.825.78 crores.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Other States

News Update

Stories in this Section

No new taxes in deficit Rajasthan budget