Dehradun: Rural development, education and health were the key thrust areas of the Trivendra Singh Rawat government as it presented its third budget on Monday. At Rs 46,663 crore, the revenue surplus budget is 7.6% larger than the previous one. More than 75% of the budget would go to non-planned expenditures like salary and wages, leaving very little room for the government to open its purse string for big-ticket development projects.No wonder, the budget of more than 10 departments has been slashed -- the public works department and disaster management being the two biggest losers. On the flip side, the budgetary allocation for education, agriculture development and forest has been increased substantially. With a total support of more than Rs 5,000 crore, the rural and agriculture sectors remained the primary areas of the government's emphasis in a state where farming and horticulture are the two mainstays of the economy.The allocation to rural economy also includes Rs 175-crore support for International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), which, government claims, has been successful in reversing migration from villages. The Rawat government has also pledged Rs 900 crore to construct and maintain rural roads under Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana. The government also announced two loan schemes for farmers. Under the first scheme, an individual farmer can avail Rs 1 lakh loan while under the second, self-help groups can get Rs 5-lakh loan for agriculture development. Both the loans would be interest-free.Besides, it has allocated Rs 100 each for two schemes, being especially run for doubling the farmers' income. With the Lok Sabha elections barely a few weeks away, the BJP government's generosity towards 'gaon' and 'kisan' is understandable, say political analysts. The budget was slated to be tabled on Friday, but in view of Pulwama attack, it was deferred till Monday.Rawat government's emphasis on education reflects in form of a total Rs 8,190-crore support to school and higher education. This is almost Rs 950 crore more than the previous budget. Similarly, budgets for police and prison departments, forest and tourism has also gone up. A big kitty of Rs 1,874 crore has been earmarked for the welfare of scheduled caste and tribe as well.Medical health, family welfare and medical education, too, has been given a substantial support of Rs 2,545 croe. Almost 10% of it would be spent on setting up medical colleges in Dehradun, Almora and Haldwani. The budget has also made allocation of Rs 72 crore for organising the 38th National Games this year and Rs 5 crore for a law university in the state.As the previous budget had seen an increase of 14%, the 2019-20 budget was expected to be slightly bigger, but the government was content with a moderate 7% jump. Nearly 50% of the government's income is expected to come from its own taxes and public debt, while Central assistance accounts for 22%. Approximately 31% of its budget is expected to go to salary and wages. If one adds pension, grant-in aids, interest payment on debts and loan on investment, the total non-planned expenditure crosses the 75%-mark.Finance minister Prakash Pant said that the budget is a non-deficit budget with a profit of Rs 22.79 crore. “Though the fiscal deficit is expected to be Rs 6,798.15 crore, it is well within the prescribed limits of Fiscal Deficit Responsibility and Budget management Act,” the finance minister added.The estimated revenue receipts for 2019-20 are Rs 38,955 crore and the state tax revenue is estimated to be Rs 23,622 crore. The non-tax revenue is estimated to be Rs 15,333 crore and the total receipts for the next fiscal are estimated to be Rs 48,679 crore.In other important sectors , the budget has provision of Rs 3,141 crore for rural development and Panchayat Raj, Rs 997 crore for irrigation and drinking water, Rs 1034 crore for forest and environment, Rs 1111 crore for women and child welfare, Rs 200 crore for tourism, Rs 1,425 crore for housing and urban development, Rs 166 crore for sports and youth welfare, Rs 1967 crore for police and jail administration and Rs 962 crore for disaster management.

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