Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh today presented a Rs 44,169 crore budget for the fiscal year 2013-14 in the Assembly, with its focus on agriculture and allied sectors.
Assembly elections are due in the state later this year.
Singh, who also holds finance portfolio, stressed the theme of inclusive growth in his budget speech, and underlined government's commitment to the development of farmers, women and children, youth and marginalized sections, particularly the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled tribes and the unorgnised labour.
The outlay for the agriculture and allied sectors is Rs 8,542 crore, or 19 per cent of the budget. It includes Rs 1,656 crore for agriculture, Rs 340 crore for animal husbandry, Rs 2,010 crore for irrigation, Rs 386 crore for subsidy for agricultural pumps and Rs 3,102 crore for paddy procurement.
The CM also announced bonus of Rs 270 per quintal for paddy procured during Kharif 2012. With more than 70 lakh MT of paddy procured during the season, approximately Rs 1,900 crore would be disbursed to farmers, he said.
The budget, which focused on agriculture (on which 76 per cent population of the state is dependent) in the election year gave respite to the farmers in purchasing paddy transplanter by making the product tax free. Entry tax on soyabean was also waived.
Implementation of Food Security Act was another key feature. It aims at guaranteeing food entitlement to 42 lakh poor families, who will be provided rice at Rs 1 and Rs 2 per Kg (for different categories) and pulses (grams) at Rs 5 per Kg, Singh announced. This would cost the state exchequer a whopping Rs 2,000 crore annually.
