Antyodaya epitomizes the spirit of the state government - Manohar Lal
Chandigarh, February 23, Desh Click News
Haryana Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal said that for the financial year 2024-25, the priority of the current state government will be GYAN – to ensure adequate facilities for the underprivileged (Garib) and the farmers (Anndata), while also enhancing development opportunities for the youth (Yuva) and empowering women (Narishakti).
Sh Manohar Lal was addressing media persons after presenting his 5th budget as Finance Minister in the Vidhan Sabha here today.
While explaining the essence of the budget in one sentence, the Chief Minister mentioned Rahim's couplet and said, "Ekai sadhe sab sadhe, sab sadhe sab jaye, Rahiman Moolahin Seenchibo, Phoolai Phalai Aghaay” means Rahim says that one should concentrate on completing one task first. By starting many tasks at once, none of them gets done properly and all of them remain incomplete.
Referring Antyodaya as the spirit of the state government, Chief Minister Sh. Manohar Lal said that this year, they have unveiled budget estimates amounting to Rs 1,89,876.61 crore, marking an increase of 11.37 percent compared to last fiscal of Rs 1,70,490.84 crore. He further underscored that the current budget imposes no additional financial burden on the public, as no new taxes have been introduced.
Rs 1739 Crore farmer’s interest and penalty waived off
Regarding a pivotal announcement made in the budget for the benefit of ‘Annadata’, the Chief Minister said that loans are being given to farmers through Primary Agriculture Credit Society (PACS). It is announced in the budge to waive off interest and penalty on the crop loan, in case Crop loan was availed till 30th September 2023 and the principal amount is paid by 31st May 2024, provided the farmer is registered on MFMB. Thereafter, the farmer will be eligible for crop loan from PACS during Kharif season 2024. With this decision, farmers will be eligible to get crop loans from PACS for Kharif season 2024. The number of crop loanee farmers from PACS is around 5,43,900 and the principal amount is Rs 2140 crore and the interest and penalty is Rs 1739 crore.
The Chief Minister said that PACS (Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies) will now expand their scope beyond agricultural inputs to encompass a diverse array of activities, such as food processing, packaging, marketing, storage, transportation, insurance, and other rural-based services. He said that 500 new CM-PACS will be opened in 2024-25. In addition, 1000 new Har-Hit stores will also be established.
The Chief Minister said that as a tribute to Guru Ravidas on the eve of Guru Ravidas Jayanti, a significant decision has been made to establish a memorial in his honor at Pipli, Kurukshetra. For this purpose, 5 acres of land have been allocated in the budget presented on this auspicious occasion.
Additional Chief Secretary of the Finance Department, Sh Anurag Rastogi, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Sh V Umashankar, Director General of Information, Public Relations, Language and Culture Department, Sh Mandip Singh Brar, Special Secretary of Finance Department, Mr. Pankaj, Media Advisor to the Chief Minister, Mr. Rajiv Jaitley, Media Secretary Sh Praveen Attrey and other officials were also present on this occasion.