New Madhya Pradesh government presents state budget amidst ruckus by opposition; no new taxes announced

As the House assembled for the budget presentation, Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar and other Congress members demanded the resignation of minister Vishvas Sarang in connection with the alleged scam pertaining to gross irregularities in the functioning of several nursing colleges that lacked infrastructure while some existed only on paper.

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Deputy CM and state Finance Minister Jagdish Devda presented a budget of approx. Rs 3.65 lakh crore (estimated appropriation amount) for the year 2024-2025 in the state assembly, in the midst of constant uproar by opposition on Wednesday here.

The opposition staged a walkout amid sloganeering and observed sit-in-dharna outside Vidhan Sabha assembly under Gandhi statue. The dharna in state assembly was similar to the walkout in Rajya Sabha by the Opposition during the Motion of Thanks address by PM Narendra Modi.

As soon as the Finance Minister finished his budget speech, Speaker Narendra Singh Tomar adjourned the House till Thursday.

The first budget of the Dr Mohan Yadav-led BJP government in the state saw a 16 per cent increase in 24-25 as compared to 23-24, though no new taxes were announced.

In the 24-25 Budget, which the Deputy CM Devda termed as 'Sarvsparshi' (all inclusive), the estimated revenue (Rs 3.30 lakh crore) against the estimated expenditure (Rs 3.26 lakh crore) saw a 17 per cent increase from the previous budget. A revenue surplus of Rs 1700 crore is seen in the 24-25 budget

The budget outlines inclusive growth/farmers, youths, SC/ST/OBC category, social, health and development centric schemes. The budget outlines schemes for inclusive growth of farmers, youths, SC/ST/OBC category, and also schemes centered around social, health and infrastructure development.

A sizable sum of money has been allocated for the following sectors, among others:

Agriculture (26,126 crore)

Development (48,004 crore)

Social/Education (41,124 crore)

ST/SC/OBC Empowerment (21,288 crore)

Infrastructure (energy, PWD, PHE, Water Resource, NVD, renewable energy) (53,460 crore)

Urban and Rural Development (44,588 crore)

General Services (Home, Revenue, Forest, Legal, GAD, Labor etc) (34,021 crore)

The capital outlay/expenditure for 2024-25 is estimated at 4.25 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). The fiscal deficit in the year 2024-25 is estimated to be 4.11 per cent of the GSDP.

A key takeaway from the MP budget includes provision of Rs 26,560 crore for Women and Child Development, which is 81 per cent jump from the previous budget.

The government has also allocated Rs 21,444 crore for the Health sector, including provisions to set-up three medical universities in Neemuch, Mandsaur and Seoni districts.

For education, the government has allocated Rs 22,600 crore.

Funds of Rs 44,605 crore has also been allocated for Ken-Betwa link project, which will be a boon for the people in Bundelkhand region.

The CM Dr Yadav complimented the finance minister for an ambitious budget aimed at transforming the state to the next level without losing sight from welfarism.

He said the government has never presented such a huge budget till date. The funds for all departments have been increased in this budget. Every sector has been taken care of, and that’s why the budget was passed unanimously, stated Dr Yadav.

The disruptions from the Congress members were due to demands for the resignation of former medical education minister Vishvas Sarang over the nursing college "scam".

In his opening remarks as the house assembled for the budget presentation, Dr Yadav said appropriate time was given to the opposition for raising the Nursing issue on Tuesday and now they should participate in the budget presentation as per the house convention.

LoP Umang Singhar and other Congress members kept on demanding the resignation of Minister Vishvas Sarang over the Nursing college scam.

The Congress legislators moved to the well of the house amid sloganeering and later staged a walkout, demanding fair probe into Nursing scam and resignation of Sarang.

Former CM and senior Congress leader Kamal Nath while condemning termed the budget as betrayal of the public. There was hardly any mention of poll promises made by the BJP government in the budget, charged Nath.

(With PTI inputs)