HYDERABAD: Yet again, the Central government has disappointed the state in grant-in-aid contributions. Though the state expected Rs 38,669.46 crore grant-in-aid in 2021-22 Budget, it received only Rs 5,155.98 crore till October, which is less than what it received during the corresponding period the previous year. In 2020-21 Budget, the state received Rs 6,002.13 crore grant-in-aid up to October, 2020, according to Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
Besides this, the state’s plans to generate around Rs 30,000 crore non-tax revenue too did not materialise. As against the Budget estimate of Rs 30,557.35 crore non-tax revenue, the state realised only Rs 2,854 crore till October, 2021. As the auction of government lands was not on the expected lines, the non-tax revenue collections are very less this year.
The Budget size for 2021-22 was estimated to be Rs 2.3 lakh crore but in real terms it has shrunk to less than Rs 2 lakh crore with almost Rs 60,000 crore revenue shortfall expected in the form of grant-in-aid contributions and non-tax revenues.
With fewer revenue realisations and focus increasing on welfare, including the latest Dalit Bandhu scheme, several other new schemes announced in the Budget like comprehensive land survey and providing infrastructure to schools remained on paper.
For the comprehensive land survey, Rs 400 crore budgetary allocation was made. In his Budget speech, Finance Minister T Harish Rao said that “to upgrade and modernise the education sector in the state comprehensively, the government formulated a new education scheme. The proposed allocation for the scheme is Rs 4,000 crore. In the next two years, the government will provide basic facilities in all the government schools on a large scale”.
Accordingly, the government has to spend Rs 2,000 crore for the new education scheme this year and another Rs 2,000 crore in 2022-23 Budget year. But no funds have been released till date.
“The new scheme still remains on paper. Not even a detailed project report has been prepared. The government merely confined it to statements. Had the government released Rs 63 crore, the schools might have engaged sanitation workers. But this paltry amount, too, has not been released,” Telangana State United Teachers’ Federation (TSUTF) general secretary Chava Ravi said.
The government proposed a Rs 5,225 crore allocation for crop loan waiver in the Budget but nothing has been done on that front. The government sources, however, blame it on Covid-19.
Government raises Rs 3,000 crore State Development Loan
The State government raised Rs 3,000 crore State Development Loan on Tuesday for a tenure of 13 years. The rate of interest is 7.28%.