CM Gehlot to present paperless budget today
Officials say besides agriculture and health, budget will focus on governance, use of IT
JAIPUR: In a first in Rajasthan, the Congress government will present a paperless budget on Wednesday that has been prepared at a time the state’s finances have taken a hit due to the Covid-19 pandemic, officials involved in the budgeting exercise said.
Chief minister Ashok Gehlot, who is the state’s finance minister, will read out the budget from a tablet at 11 am in the assembly. After Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan is the second state in the country to table a paperless budget.
The government this time will provide a soft copy of the budget to MLAS on a tablet, instead of a hard copy.
The CM on Tuesday gave final touches to the budget 2021-22, the third of the Gehlot government in the state.
Experts believe that this will probably prove to be the Gehlot government’s most challenging budget as it did not get ₹25,000 crore in revenue from taxes because of the pandemic. The government has already taken a loan of ₹40,000 crore, which is ₹14,000 crore higher than the last financial year.
However, a senior official of the finance department, requesting anonymity, claimed that the state revenue had done better in comparison to last year (2019-20).
On issuing of tablets to MLAS, the official said it’s not a one-time use but will be utilised in subsequent budgets. The idea is to go paperless – the questions asked by members and replies consume thousands of sheets of paper. He said besides agriculture and health sectors, the budget will focus on governance and use of information and technology. “The pandemic has taught us the importance of technology and ways to save unnecessary expenditure and time, such as by holding department meetings online,” he said.
Sources in the government said the government could announce new jobs, increase in honorarium to anganwadi workers and resuming rural bus services, among others.
Congress spokesperson Archana Sharma said, “We expect that the budget will be inclusive and fulfil the aspirations of the state. The budget will be growth-oriented.” Senior BJP MLA Narpat Singh Rajvi said, “We don’t expect anything from the budget, especially looking at the zero implementation of the last two.”
GOVT OFFICIAL