AHMEDABAD: The BJP-led Gujarat government on Friday proposed to launch three new schemes in the name of Prime Minister Modi while announcing the state Budget. The three schemes are: Namo Lakshmi, Namo Shri and Namo Saraswati worth a total of Rs 2,250 crore.
State finance minister Kanubhai Desai presented in the Assembly a Rs 3.32 lakh-crore Budget that imposed no new taxes for 2024-25.
Desai informed the House that under the proposed Namo Laxmi Scheme, girls studying in classes 9 and 10 will get Rs 10,000 annually and Rs 15,000 annually while studying in classes 11 and 12. In effect, girls studying in government-aided and private schools from classes 9 to 12 will be given Rs 50,000 over four years of their education. A provision of Rs 1,250 crore has been made in the Budget for the scheme.
In the proposed Namo Saraswati scheme, students enrolling in the science stream in higher secondary schools (from low and middle-income households) will be given an assistance of Rs 10,000 annually while studying in class 11 and Rs 15,000 while studying in class 12. This assistance of Rs 25,000 over two years to students is expected to increase the number of students enrolled in science subjects from 2 lakh to 5 lakh annually over the next five years. A provision of Rs 250 crore has been made in the Budget, the finance minister said.
In the third Namo Shri Scheme, the government proposed a provision of Rs 750 crore in the budget for the year 2024-25. Under the scheme, pregnant women from 11 categories including SC, ST, NFSA, and PM –JAY beneficiaries will be provided assistance of Rs 12,000.
The Budget outlay of Rs 3,32,465 crore for 2024-25 indicates an increase of Rs 31,444 crore, or 10.44 percent, over the previous fiscal. The government presented the Budget with an estimated surplus of Rs 146.72 crore and proposed no new taxes. While no new taxes were proposed, the state government has proposed to give citizens a relief of Rs 754 crore by easing some provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act and stamp duty.
In his Budget address, Desai announced a host of schemes and projects and said the state government kept GYAN -- Garib (the poor), Yuva (youth), Annadata (farmer), and Nari Shakti (women power) at the core while preparing the Budget. The finance minister also announced the conversion of seven municipalities Navsari, Gandhidham, Morbi, Vapi, Anand, Mehsana and Surendranagar-Wadhwan into municipal corporations.
Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel told the media following the budget that this budget has been created keeping in mind Prime Minister Modi’s vision of Viksit Bharat in 2047.
“The poor, young, farmers, and women have been given priority for their development. This is an encouraging Budget,” said the minister.
The state Congress, on the other hand, said the Budget was directionless. Amit Chavda, the Opposition leader said,“The income tax revenue has increased, while the government has been very stingy in providing relief to the people .”