Summary:
BHUBANESWAR: Allocation of around Rs 1700 crore for the state government’s ambitious cash transfer scheme for farmers, Kalia , is likely to be the main focus of the interim budget to be presented by finance minister Shashi Bhusan Behera on Thursday.Though the government has estimated it would spend Rs 10,180 crore in three years under the scheme, sources said it would need around Rs 1,700 crore for the current financial year and first quarter of the next fiscal. Besides, they are also likely to get the next instalment of Rs 5000 from the budgeted amount for the coming Kharif crop in June-July.“With Naveen using Kalia as a major poll plank, the last interim budget before the elections could well reflect that,” a source pointed out.The vote-on-account to be mooted by Behera for the first four months (April-July) of the 2019-20 fiscal could be in the region of Rs 50,000 crore. In the absence of budgetary allocation, the government had to withdraw Rs 735 crore from the contingency fund, which drew sharp criticisms from various quarters.While over Rs 652 crore has already been transferred to the accounts of around 13.5 lakh farmers (the first instalment of Rs 5000 each) under the Kalia scheme for Rabi crop , the state government is expected to cover 18 lakh more in the second phase this financial year. The total size of the budget for the upcoming fiscal, to be passed by the next government after election, is expected to be around Rs 1.32 lakh crore.The vote-on-account will have provisions to spend money on existing establishment, schemes and projects for the first four months of the next fiscal.Among others, flagship schemes like Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana, which could be pitted against the Narendra Modi government’s Ayushman Baharat during the election, as well as Mission Shakti, Biju Yuva Bahini, Biju Pucca Ghar, state food security scheme are likely to get substantial allocations as the state government gets ready for the Lok Sabha and assembly elections.The interim budget is also likely to announce funding towards “state share” for various central-sponsored schemes..