SHIMLA: With an eye on the upcoming assembly elections, Himachal chief minister Jai Ram Thakur on Friday presented a “please-all” Rs 51,365-crore budget with special focus on the youth, rural masses, representatives of panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) and urban local bodies (ULBs), and devoid of any new taxes. The CM announced an increase in honorarium of elected representatives of PRIs and ULBs, anganwari workers and Asha workers as well as creation of employment opportunities for 30,000 youths and 12,769 houses for the poor in 2022-23.
As the budget does not propose new taxes, the chief minister said that the government will ensure that adequate resources are arranged with effective tax compliance, cooperation of the Centre and better financial management.
To mitigate the Covid effect on the economy of the state, the CM said that the Centre has allowed states to borrow beyond 3% of the GDP. Thus there is a need to amend the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act and a bill for this will be brought in this session.
The state has decided to reduce the age limit for the old age pension scheme to 60 years for all. This is a significant step in a state where 6.35 lakh people are benefiting from social security pension schemes and 40,000 more beneficiaries will be added in 2022-23.
