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Ghadai presents surplus budget

Special Correspondent

Emphasis is on agriculture, rural development, says Finance Minister

BHUBANESWAR: Finance Minister Prafulla Chandra Ghadai on Friday presented the budget proposals of Rs. 24,133.69 crores for 2007-08, giving emphasis on agriculture and rural development.

Making his budget speech in the State Assembly, Mr. Ghadai said that revenue deficit had been completely eliminated and the State had become a revenue surplus State for the first time after a gap of 22 years.

The Finance Minister said that the State's total revenue receipts during 2007-08 had been estimated at Rs. 19,467.20 crores and revenue expenditure put at Rs.18,421.44 crores. Mr. Ghadai said priority had been accorded to education of SCs/STs, poverty alleviation, pension for widows, physically challenged and elderly citizens. Agriculture, irrigation, health, education and development of infrastructure were also given emphasis in the proposals, Mr. Ghadai informed. With regard to the recently launched Gopabandhu Gramin Yojana, Mr. Ghadai said that a sum of Rs. 110 crores had been allocated to provide additional development assistance to the targeted 11 districts.

Similarly, budgetary allocations of Rs. 120 crores and Rs. 50 crores had been made for the Biju KBK Yojana and Biju Gram Jyoti Yojana respectively, the Minister said.

For western Orissa

The Western Orissa Development Council, the organisation that executes developmental schemes in the backward western district of the State, had been allocated Rs. 30 crores, he added.

As the State had embarked upon fast mineral-based industrialisation, the Minister said that Rs. 5 crores had been provided for a new scheme named Intensive Mineral Exploration and Assessment of Mineral Resources. The provisions for the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Scheme had been increased from Rs. 363 crores to Rs. 464.28 crores, Mr. Ghadai said. In a step to improve the condition of government offices and buildings across the State, an impressive sum of Rs. 1,138.51 crores had been provided in the budget, Mr. Ghadai added.

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