The Nitish Kumar government today presented Rs 38,574-crore budget for 2008-09 with surplus revenue of Rs 4,613 crore.
Registration of property through e-stamps, eight paperless departments, health insurance schemes for BPL families, buying electricity through tender and a fashion institute in Patna are major points of the budget.
The total proposed revenue income stands at Rs 33,551 crore as against the expenditure of Rs 28,938 crore for the next fiscal. Presenting the budget in the Assembly, deputy chief minister and finance minister Sushil Kumar Modi said the government intended to achieve its six-point agenda with main focus on boosting agriculture growth rate to 4-6 per cent.
The government would spend Rs 5,267 crore on education, over Rs 1,500 crore on health services during 2008-09.
Earlier, the Opposition staged a walkout during the second half of the session after Speaker U.N. Choudhary refused to entertain an adjournment motion on law and order problem in Bhagalpur after killing of district RJD chief Laxmi Yadav on February 23.
Allaying apprehensions of the government getting burdened with loans, Modi said: “We are getting loans from World Bank, Asian Development Bank and other foreign agencies as per rules.”
Modi said World Bank would give Bihar Rs 877-crore loan on only 5.7 per cent interest as against 8.5 per cent market rate. The loan, he said, would have to be repaid in 35 years with first 10 years needing no repayment. Asian Development Bank is likely to give the state a loan of Rs 1,630 crore, Modi said.
The government has allocated Rs 1,676 crore for loan repayment while Rs 18,390 crore would be spent on committed expenditure such as salary and pension. Expressing deep concern at dismal growth rate (5.87 per cent) and the state being ranked last on human development index, Modi said the government adopted 13 “monitorable criteria” such as poverty ratio, school dropout rate, literacy rate and anaemia among growing girls and pregnant women.
The finance minister said the government was committed to protect natives of Bihar living in other parts of country and promote their skills. He referred to recent visit of Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam saying: “His forefathers had left as labourers but sent Navinchandra as the PM.”
Registration of property through e-stamps, eight paperless departments, health insurance schemes for BPL families, buying electricity through tender and a fashion institute in Patna are major points of the budget.
The total proposed revenue income stands at Rs 33,551 crore as against the expenditure of Rs 28,938 crore for the next fiscal. Presenting the budget in the Assembly, deputy chief minister and finance minister Sushil Kumar Modi said the government intended to achieve its six-point agenda with main focus on boosting agriculture growth rate to 4-6 per cent.
The government would spend Rs 5,267 crore on education, over Rs 1,500 crore on health services during 2008-09.
Earlier, the Opposition staged a walkout during the second half of the session after Speaker U.N. Choudhary refused to entertain an adjournment motion on law and order problem in Bhagalpur after killing of district RJD chief Laxmi Yadav on February 23.
Allaying apprehensions of the government getting burdened with loans, Modi said: “We are getting loans from World Bank, Asian Development Bank and other foreign agencies as per rules.”
Modi said World Bank would give Bihar Rs 877-crore loan on only 5.7 per cent interest as against 8.5 per cent market rate. The loan, he said, would have to be repaid in 35 years with first 10 years needing no repayment. Asian Development Bank is likely to give the state a loan of Rs 1,630 crore, Modi said.
The government has allocated Rs 1,676 crore for loan repayment while Rs 18,390 crore would be spent on committed expenditure such as salary and pension. Expressing deep concern at dismal growth rate (5.87 per cent) and the state being ranked last on human development index, Modi said the government adopted 13 “monitorable criteria” such as poverty ratio, school dropout rate, literacy rate and anaemia among growing girls and pregnant women.
The finance minister said the government was committed to protect natives of Bihar living in other parts of country and promote their skills. He referred to recent visit of Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam saying: “His forefathers had left as labourers but sent Navinchandra as the PM.”
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