Budgets
reflect public aspirations
Vanam
Jwala Narasimha Rao
Telangana
Today (16-03-2018)
The Budget that
has been presented to the state Legislative Assembly for the year 2018-2019, in
all probabilities is the full-fledged budget before the 2019 elections to the
Assembly. For the next financial year, it would be, most likely, a vote on
account budget and the Government that comes to power will present the
full-fledged budget later. Against this background, if we look back and review the
various facets of budget presentations since 2014-2015, as well as various
welfare and development programs initiated and implemented in the state, since
formation, interesting aspects surface.
The biggest
challenge before KCR and his government immediately after coming to power was
how to go about reinventing and reorienting Telangana. Towards Leveraging on
transition for transformation KCR adopted a multi-pronged and multi-layered effort
for reinventing and reorienting Telangana. Within
a short time of the formation of the State, Telangana had undergone major
transition from shackled to a growth-oriented economy, poor governance to
strong and people-centric governance, from mere launching projects to effectively
implementing them in a time bound manner and from promises to delivery.
KCR
approach to the development of the State is not growth versus equity but growth
and equality being addressed in tandem. CM firmly believed that mere growth has
no meaning and even legitimacy, if the deprived sections of the society are
left behind. Inclusive growth should not only ensure a broad flow of benefits
and economic opportunities, but also encompass empowerment and participation.
The initiatives taken by the State since its formation have been entirely
guided by these compelling imperatives.
KCR and his Government had no clue in the beginning with regards
the formulation of budget for the year 2014-2015, the first year the Government
came to power. It was a big challenge. State was not aware of the actual
resource position of the state. CM made it very clear to the
senior officers that Budget was not a mere financial statement of accounts but
a document that would unveil the Government’s policies which are in tune with
the aspirations and needs of the people. Recognizing this imperative, the
government has affected a paradigm shift by adopting the decentralized model of
development, “Mana Vooru – Mana Pranalika”, through which suggestions were
sought from people at village and ward levels to assess their felt needs. The
State government also constituted 14 task forces and based on their reports,
the first Budget of the Telangana State was presented to the State Legislature
on November 5, 2015. The Budget for 2014-15 was in continuation of the
Vote-on-Account Budget presented by the then Government of the undivided State.
The
first full-year Budget for 2015-16 was prepared without the benefit of having
estimates for the full 12 months of the previous year as the State was formed
in June 2014. Though the tax devolution to the States was increased from 32 to
42 per cent of the divisible pool of the Central taxes for the five-year period
of 2015-20 following the recommendations of the 14th Finance
Commission, the benefit has bypassed the State of Telangana just because its
per capita income is higher than the national average.
By the time, the preparation of the
State budget for 2016-17 was underway, the government was able to get a comprehensive
idea about the trends in the State finances.
It is only after the income and expenditure
under Plan and Non-Plan schemes from 31st March 2015 to 31stMarch
2016 was known clearly, the real basis for Telangana State budget calculation
was arrived at. The first-year budget after formation of Telangana was on
ad-hoc calculation based on earlier budgets and the second-year full-fledged
budget is based on some exercise. Subsequently there was a total understanding
and deep study department wise, scheme wise and priorities wise.
Though the Budget for 2016-17 was the
third Budget of the State, it was in a way, the first Budget to be prepared
after a comprehensive review of all items of expenditure and a realistic
assessment of resources based on the facts and figures available. It is a
matter of great satisfaction that the State government was able to maintain a
sustainable fiscal position despite mounting commitments because of number of
developmental and welfare schemes taken up after the formation of the State.
This has been achieved through improvement in the efficiency of revenue
collections without any increase in tax rates. Telangana State stood first
among all the states by clocking a growth rate of 21.1% in its own-tax revenue
in 2016-17 over 2015-16.
In the process, the fourth consecutive
Budget, for the year 2017-2018, was both inspirational and message oriented.
The Budget reflected the Government’s objective of reaching out to all sections
of people, all those in the hereditary professions, all religions, people
working in various fields, all government departments that are entrusted with
the implementation of development and welfare schemes, lower income as well as
middle income groups and with no exception.
It’s no surprise that the Telangana State has emerged
as the best economy state which speaks about the buoyant economy of the state. There has been a distinct upward shift in the growth path of the
economy of Telangana since its formation in June 2014. The average annual
growth of State Domestic Product (GSDP) increased from 4.2% in the two years
preceding the formation of the state (2012-14) to an impressive growth of 9.5%
during the three years following the formation of the State (2014-17). This apart, Telangana State stood first
among all the States by clocking a growth of 21.10% in its own tax revenue in
2016-17 over 2015-16. In its report, CAG for the financial year 2017-18
stated that Telangana state stood first in the revenue growth rate in the
country registering 17.82 per cent growth.
Against
this background, the budget that has now been presented for the year 2018-2019 to
the Assembly, mentions without any ambiguity as to how the schemes and programs
that have been conceived and being implemented in the state during the last 45
months, could be standardized, stabilized and consolidated. The budget also
makes it clear as to how state GSDP is improved and bettered. The financial
stability and progress despite GST and demonetization has also been
highlighted. In addition, there is a mention about the schemes that were
conceived during 2017-2018 and the way they are going to be implemented in
future. These among others include: Rs 8000 Investment Support Scheme for
Agriculture, formation of Rythu Samanvaya Samithis, farmers’ insurance scheme,
sheep distribution, employees welfare, 24-hour power supply to all including
agriculture, more and more welfare measures, SC, ST, BC, Minority, Brahmin
welfare, handloom industry development, KCR Kits etc. Keeping in view the
current and future needs of people and recognizing the priority sectors like
agriculture for reaching the results to all, the way the budget has been
formulated speaks volumes. Yes…. It says and shows that this is the Role Model
Budget and reflects the aspirations of public at large as the case of earlier four
budgets. END
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