MP budget focuses on infra, women and tribal welfare; no new tax

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh government on Wednesday presented the state budget for 2024-25 with an outlay of Rs 3.65 lakh crore, marking major allocations for the infrastructure development and welfare of women and tribals.

No new taxes were announced in the budget, which state Finance Minister Jagdish Devda termed as "sarvsparshi" (all-inclusive).

Devda presented the budget in the state legislative assembly amid ruckus created by the opposition Congress over the issue of an alleged nursing college scam.

The CBI is probing the alleged scam pertaining to gross irregularities in the functioning of several nursing colleges that lacked infrastructure while some existed only on paper.

Talking to reporters after presenting the budget, Devda said the behaviour of the opposition members in the House was highly condemnable.

"The budget for the year 2024-25 has been made keeping in view the doubling of the budget size in next five years, increasing capital investment, expansion of roads, irrigation and electricity facilities, quality health facilities, attracting investment for employment generation and good governance," Devda said in his speech.

Amid continuous sloganeering by the opposition, the government presented an outlay of Rs 3.65 lakh crore for the financial year 2024-25, which is 16 per cent more than that of the previous year.

The budget for the women and child development department has been substantially raised to Rs 26,560 crore from 14,686 crore in the last fiscal.

Devda said there will be an estimated increase in capital expenditure by 15 per cent in 2024-25, compared to the budget estimate for 2023-24.

The capital outlay for 2024-25 is estimated at 4.25 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product.

The minister said the fiscal deficit in 2024-25 is estimated to be 4.11 per cent of the GSDP.

The allocation for infrastructure sector has been increased to Rs 53,460 crore from Rs 49,009 crore in the previous fiscal, while the allocation for the urban and rural development sectors has been increased to Rs 44,588 crore from Rs 39,326 crore in the last FY.

The government has allocated Rs 40,804 crore for the Scheduled Tribe sub-plan while the allocation for the Scheduled Caste sub-plan stands at Rs 27,900 crore.

A budget allocation of Rs 18,984 crore has been made for 'Ladli Behna Yojana', the BJP government's flagship scheme under which eligible women are provided Rs 1,250 per month.

The budget also has a provision of Rs 15,509 crore for the establishment of government primary schools and Rs 9,258 crore for middle schools.

For the agriculture sector, the budget has been increased to Rs 26,126 crore from Rs 22,732 crore in the previous FY.

Devda said the budget size will be doubled in the next five years.

As the House assembled for the budget presentation, Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar and other Congress members demanded the resignation of minister Vishvas Sarang, who had previously held charge of the medical education department, over the nursing college "scam".

The opposition members remained stationed in the well of the House, demanding resignation of Sarang, who is currently the sports and youth affairs minister.

Before Devda could complete his speech, the opposition members led by Singhar staged a walkout from the House and sat on a dharna in front of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the assembly complex.

Before the start of budget speech, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said appropriate time was given to the opposition for raising the issue on Tuesday and they should participate in the budget presentation as per the House tradition.

Legislative Affairs Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya intervened in the matter and said the assembly proceedings will run as per rules and traditions of the House and the opposition should raise their grievances through an appropriate procedure.

Speaker Narendra Singh Tomar also said the issue was already raised by the opposition on Tuesday after relaxation of the House rules.

However, the opposition members did not pay any heed to Vijayvargiya's suggestion and kept raising slogans in the well of the House.

After standing for a while before the speaker's podium, the opposition members squatted on the floor of the well.

The budget speech remained inaudible in the din even as the finance minister continued with the presentation.