Raje focuses on bijli, sadak, pani

RAJASTHAN BUDGET

REMINDING THE Assembly how her government had inherited an economy marred by financial mismanagement three years ago, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje presented her government’s Rs 81,157-crore budget for financial year 201718 on Wednesday. In line with her stance that the government will focus on ensuring that schemes already announced over three years are taken to the public, the CM did not make any big-ticket announcements.

Addressing the media after the budget, she said that her government has focused on delivering essentials like “bijli, sadak, pani”. She added that budget allocation for PWD, PHED (Public Health Engineering Department), and water resources department had gone up by 58.47 per cent, 15.68 per cent and 11.14 per cent, respectively.

She announced an additional Rs 1,200 crore for Gramin Gaurav Path and missing links for 2,000 village panchayats, renewal of 5,000 km of rural roads with Rs 800 crore, development of 796 km of state highways using Rs 580 crore, among seven other key road projects.

The CM also promised Annapurna mobile kitchens and Wifi for all municipal towns, along with pension for sportspersons over 60 years.

For drinking water, Raje again highlighted that her government, at Rs 13,473 crore in three years, had spent over double the amount by the previous government in the same period. The CM also announced 17.06 per cent higher allocation for Women and Child Department.