Odisha's revenue collection dips amid Covid-19 crisis

The Odisha government's revenue collection dipped by around 22.94 percent during the first quarter of the current fiscal in comparison to the corresponding period last year, a senior official said.

This was revealed by Principal Secretary of Finance Department, Ashok Meena at an all secretaries meeting held on Thursday under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary A K Tripathy. At the meeting, Meena presented the fiscal performance of the state up to June 2020.

"The total revenue augmentation from both own-tax and non-tax sources up to June 2020 came down by around 22.94 percent in comparison to the corresponding period of last year. The total revenue collection up to June of the current fiscal year was Rs 8,204 core against the last year's collection of Rs 10,645 crore," Meena told the meeting.

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Though the total own tax collection felled around 35 percent, the total non-tax revenue up to June 2020 increased by around 3 percent, he said, adding that the total non-tax revenue up to June 2019 was Rs 3,506 crore which increased to Rs 3,609 crore up to June, this year.

A review showed that though total programme expenditure of all departments up to June 2020 reduced by around 5.06 percent, in comparison to last fiscal, the expenditure in social and other sectors increased considerably, Meena said.

The total programme expenditure up to June, in the current fiscal, was around Rs 8,923 crore as against the last year's expenditure of around Rs 9,399 crore. But the expenditure in social sectors including health and family welfare programmes was around Rs 5,281 crore up to June 2020, up from last year's expenditure of Rs 42,25 crore.

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Similarly, the expenditure in other sectors including food security programmes has been around Rs 1,607 crore against last year's expenditure of Rs 305 crore, the official said.

Complimenting the performance of the departments in the delivery of online services under 5T charter, the chief secretary directed various departments associated with Covid-19 management to be "more sharp and vigilant on containment of Covid-19 in the state."

The Observers, Chief District Medical Officers (CDMOs) and Collectors of the hotspot districts were directed to ensure the supply of life-saving drugs in their respective hospitals.

"Keeping in view the possibility of an increase in patient load, the Covid-19 hospitals must be kept free of asymptomatic cases. The Covid-19 care centres (CCCs) be equipped with required support for treatment of asymptomatic cases and advance preparations must be done for increasing beds in hospitals as per necessity," Tripathy said.

He told the meeting that the diet allowance per patient in CCC (covid care centres) is enhanced to Rs 240 to provide them with good food.

The chief secretary further directed concerned departments and collectors to ensure the continuance of industrial, agricultural, horticultural, mining and ongoing developmental projects activities. Transport of goods must be continued to ensure the supply of essential commodities throughout the state.

Different departments were directed to work out the SOP for 'facilitating work from home' since the fight against Covid-19 is expected to be a long haul.

Among others, the meeting was attended by Development Commissioner Suresh Chandra Mohapatra, Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Steel & Mines R K Sharma, ACS Health & Family Welfare P K Mohapatra, ACS and SRC P K Jena, ACS Forest & Environment Dr Mona Sharma and all Principal Secretaries and Secretaries.

The meeting was held through digital modes, an official statement said.