With Lok Sabha elections around the corner, the Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday announced various schemes for farmers including fresh loans to the tune of around Rs 2,000 crore.
Presenting a Rs 11,823-crore deficit Budget, state finance minister K Anbazhagan said the government had also decided to pay the interest on the co-operative crop loans of farmers, who repay their loans on time from next fiscal. It has made a Rs 140 crore provision for reimbursing the interest to the banks in this Budget.
The government estimated its revenues for 2009-10 to be about Rs 58,270.93 crore and expenditure at Rs 59,295.28 crore. While the revenue deficit is estimated to be Rs 1,024.34 crore, the fiscal deficit is due to tax concessions worth Rs 100 crore and interest-free crop loans. “The revenue deficit has arisen on account of declining revenue receipts due to the slowdown,” he said.
To encourage farmers take up horticultural crops, the government would implement the National Horticulture Mission with Rs 30 crore in the state. Land revenue in 12 flood-affected districts would also be waived.
The minister said the food production in the state is expected to be 9.1 million tonne during 2008-09 despite floods, up from 8.4 million tonne in 2007-08 and 6.1 million tonne in 2005-06. The government would continue giving free power to farmers and has made a provision of Rs 279 crore for subsidy to the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board.
HEALTHCARE AND FAMILY WELFARE
The allocation has been increased to Rs 3,391 crore in 2009-10 as against Rs 1,487 crore in 2005-2006.
PUBLIC AND SOCIAL WELFARE
The government allocated Rs 250 crore for extending maternity assistance under the Dr Muthulakshmi Reddy Memorial Maternity Assistance Scheme. It would give Rs 6,000 assistance and about 4,00,000 women would benefit from this. Pension to old and destitute worth Rs 911 crore would be extended in 2009-10. Besides, group houses for the transgendered would be built at Rs 1 crore in the coming financial year.
EDUCATION
A sum of Rs 9,147 crore has been allocated for school education and Rs 1,463 crore for higher education for 2009-10. The government would provide computers in 2,500 middle schools with Rs 50 crore. Besides, three Anna Universities at Tiruchirapalli, Coimbatore and Tirunelveli and six engineering colleges in Tiruvannamali, Thanjavur, Dindigul, Thoothukudi and Kanyakumari districts have been proposed. The noon meal scheme would get Rs 830 crore and the Integrated Child Development Scheme Rs 176 crore.
INDUSTRIES
To boost industrial development in southern districts, the government is providing structured package of assistance for investments exceeding Rs 50 core in these districts and above Rs 250 crore in other districts. On the other hand, for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), a provision of Rs 30 crore has been made for providing capital subsidy to these units established in industrially backward blocks. In addition, a sum of Rs 10 crore has been allocated for value-added tax refund concession.
ROAD DEVELOPMENT
Funds to the tune of Rs 6,617 crore have been allocated for road development works and Rs 2,503 crore for road maintenance. East Coast Road from Thoothukudi to Kanyakumari spanning 120 km will upgraded as a double-lane road at an estimated cost of Rs 190 crore while the 30 km long Vandalur-Nazarathpet-Nemilicheri stretch will executed at a cost of Rs 858 crore in the coming financial year.
About Rs 250 crore has been allocated for purchase of 3,500 new buses under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission in the coming fiscal.
