Amid opposition boycott, Jharkhand tables general budget

The Jharkhand government on Tuesday tabled a Rs 80,200 crore general budget for 2018-19 in the state assembly amid boycott by opposition parties.

Chief Minister Raghubar Das, who is also in-charge of the finance department, tabled the budget.

Of the Rs 80,200 crore, Rs 62,744.44 crore is for revenue expenditure and rest for capital expenditure.

Talking to reporters, the Chief Minister said: "The budget is focused on five areas, including increasing the income of rural areas, providing skills to youths and generating employment, women empowerment and others."

He also said, "52 per cent of the budget amount has been allocated for tribal Sub-Plan."

According to the budget, the money will come from different sources, including 33.67 per cent from state share of central taxes, 17.27 per cent from borrowings, 24 per cent from state's own taxes, 11.26 per cent from non-taxes and the rest from other sources.

The highest allocation has been made for rural development, including Panchayat with 14.68 per cent, followed by 13.94 per cent for education, and 8.01 per cent for agriculture and allied sector including water resources. The health department allocation is just 4.47 per cent.

The key points of the budget include Rs 8,194.59 crore for gender, which is 6.64 per cent higher than the previous budget. The budget also proposes to open an Agriculture University in Sahebganj district.

--IANS

ns/nks/rn