Shillong, March 10:  Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Wednesday presented the State budget for 2021-22 in the legislative Assembly with emphasis on human capital development, infrastructure development, promoting entrepreneurship, poverty alleviation, tourism, sports and youth affairs.

Here the budget at a glance: 

• The total receipts is at ₹ 17,509 crore, of which the revenue receipts are estimated at ₹ 15,232 crore and capital receipts at ₹ 2,277 crore out of which the borrowings of the State Government is at 2,247 crore.
• The total expenditure is at ₹ 17,603 crore, of which the revenue expenditure is estimated at ₹ 13,956 crore and capital expenditure is at ₹ 3,647 crore.
• Meghalaya’s share in the divisible pool of taxes has increased from 0.645 % in the Fourteenth Finance Commission to 0.767 % in the Fifteenth Finance Commission for the period 2021-26.
• The share of central taxes is estimated at ₹ 5,105 crore and the revenue gap grant is at ₹ 1,279 crore. This is an increase of ₹ 1,600 crore over the actual devolution of this year.
• State’s Own revenues are estimated to be ₹ 2,579 crore in taxes and ₹ 694 crore in non-tax.
• The total Development expenditure is at ₹ 8,350 crore and the Establishment expenditure is ₹ 9,253 crore.
• The total salary for the year is ₹ 5,214 crore (inclusive of Grant-in-Aid salaries) and the total pension payment is at ₹ 1,303 crore.
• The budget has a fiscal deficit of ₹ 1,570 crore, which is around 4.07 % of the GSDP.

HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT

• The State is ranked 2nd in the country with 90% of immunization coverage.
• ₹ 820 crore is allotted for the Health sector, an increase of 13 percent over 2020-21.
• ₹ 55 crore is allocated for the ‘Meghalaya Health System Strengthening Project under which infrastructure of 659 health institutions will be improved.
• An allocation of ₹ 20 crore has been made for the Early Childhood Development Mission.
• ₹ 150 crore is allocated for the upgradation of infrastructure of 500 schools.
• A total of ₹ 980 crore is allotted for the Education sector, out of which ₹ 453 crore is from the State resources.

 PRIMARY SECTOR

• ₹ 100 crore has been allocated for the Chief Minister’s Mobilization Support for Producers.
• This shall provide a one-time grant of ₹ 5,000 for each farmer in a Producer Group to improve production and productivity in the farming.
• ₹ 20 crore is allocated for the implementation of Lakadong and Aroma Missions.
• ₹ 100 crore will be spent on the implementation of the Piggery Mission.
• ₹ 50 crore will be spent on the implementation of the Milk Mission.
• ₹ 10 crore is alloted under the Meghalaya State Aquaculture Mission.
• Poultry Mission will be launched at a project cost of ₹ 121 crore to leverage the strength of the State.
• A Centre of Excellence for citrus fruits at Dawagre, East Garo Hills with support from the Government of Israel.
• A Centre of Excellence at Jongsha will be set up at a cost of ₹ 10 crore from State resources.
• Full Interest Subvention on KCC loans to all the farmers and an allocation of ₹ 10 crore has been made for the same.
• ₹ 10 Cr has been allotted to the Muga Mission to expand the Silk sector.
• A total of ₹ 559 crore is allocated to the Primary Sector including ₹ 247 crore from the State’s resources.
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INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT

•  Focus is on the projects covering a road length of about 337 Kms at an amount of ₹ 742 crore.
•  ₹ 110 crore has been allotted under the Meghalaya Integrated Transport Project funded by the World Bank.
•  Systematic improvement of roads program to continue- ₹ 50 crore allotted.
•  The Government aims to reach the target of completion of 100% household tap connection in the State by 2022. A total of ₹ 540 crore is allocated out of which ₹ 42 crore is from State resources.
•  ₹ 10 crore for the Greater Sohra Water Supply Scheme, ₹ 25 crore for the Nongstoin Water Supply Scheme, ₹ 25 crore for the Greater Shillong water supply schemes, and ₹ 20 crore for the Greater Baghmara water supply scheme has been allocated.
•  ₹ 50 crore allotted for implementation of the ADB funded Meghalaya Power Distribution Sector Improvement project.
•  ₹ 50 crore each for development of Tura and Jowai as smart towns
•  ₹ 9 crore for the completion of IT park at New Shillong.
•  The total development budget stands at ₹ 2,461 crore for the Infrastructure Sector, including ₹ 893 crore from the State’s resources.

PROMOTING ENTREPRENEURSHIP

•  ₹ 20 crore is allocated for the development of 15 more PRIME Hubs with a total of 50 hubs by the end of 2022.
•  PRIME Fund with a corpus of ₹ 25 crore for starting up and scaling for entrepreneurs.
•  Scheme for construction for Homestays, cafes, restaurants and other tourism will be launched in convergence with PMEGP to provide an assistance of upto 70 percent of the project cost. ₹ 5 crore has been allocated for the same.
• Micro-ATMs were distributed to 100 SHG members to take Banking services to the last mile and 500 more Banking Correspondents shall be deployed with an allocation of ₹ 10 crore for the financial year.

POVERTY ALLEVIATION

•  The Government has set a target for the construction of about 47,000 houses and ₹ an allocation of 120 crore for PMAY-G has been made.
•  For the Special Rural Works Programme ₹ 136.25 crore has been allocated in this budget
•  For the National Rural Livelihood Mission an amount of ₹ 90 crore has been allocated.
•  Total estimated expenditure on MGNREGA is ₹ 1,421 crore.
•  For rural poverty alleviation, a total allotment of ₹ 1,138 crore has been made.

TOURISM, ARTS AND CULTURE

• For the 50th Anniversary of the Statehood, a number of programs will be held to celebrate the State and its people and a total of ₹20 crore has been allocated for the same.
• ₹ 62 crore for implementation of the Experiential Eco-Tourism Project. 500 high value rooms to be built across the State.
• ₹ 114 crore for the implementation of the Centrally Sponsored Swadesh Darshan and PRASAD programs.
• To boost tourism and air connectivity an additional amount of ₹ 5 crore has been allotted.
• Completion of iconic Shillong International Centre for Performing Arts and Culture (SICPAC) targeted- ₹ 27 crore has been allocated.
• An allocation of 30 Cr has been made for the Shillong Peak ropeway.
• ₹ 5 crore has been allocated for the development of the music,art and the craft sectors.
• ₹5 crore has been allocated for the beautification of Urban areas through a competition for identification of the cleanest and most vibrant locality.
• A total allocation of ₹ 187 crore for the promotion of tourism and culture has been made.

YOUTH, SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND SPORTS

•  2021-22 declared as the year of the youth
•  Draft Youth Policy to be enacted.
•  ₹ 30 crore is allocated to promote ‘One Meghalaya’, a comprehensive programme to support the youth to take up one skill and one talent. This program will cover about 50,000 youth during 2021-22.
•  Allocation of ₹ 120 crore for megas sports infrastructure at Tura, Shillong and Wahiajer.
•  Allocation of ₹ 50 crore for sports infrastructure in the rural areas.
•  264 athletes to be provided incentives under the Sports policy.
•  A total of ₹ 200 crore is allotted for the development of sports and youth affairs for this Financial year.

IMPROVING GOVERNANCE

•  Meghalaya Rights to Public Services Act, 2020 implemented with 81 notified services.
•  ₹ 15 crore has been allocated for the construction of new blocks
•  ₹ 80 crore has been allocated for strengthening the Police Infrastructure.
•  Reforms relating to the District Business Reform Action Plan, auto-renewals and central inspection system are completed and Reforms related to the State Business Reform Action Plan will be completed.
•  ₹ 10 crore has been allocated for the end to end computerisation of the Finance system in the state.
•  Public interface of the CM dashboard to be launched for the Public.

Sustainability Initiatives

•  An allocation of ₹217 crore has been made for building sustainable, climate resilient livelihood under Externally Aided Projects:
•  IFAD funded Megha-LAMP project in 1350 villages
•  World Bank funded CLLMP Project in 400 villages
•  JICA funded Project for Community-Based Forest Management in 500 villages.
•  Green funds will be utilised for restoration and improvement of the environment in a comprehensive manner.
•  Meghalaya Environment Protection and Restoration Fund- ₹ 445 crore
•  CAMPA funds- ₹ 163 crore.
•  Meghalaya Minor Minerals Reclamation Fund- ₹ 90 crore
•  The Central Government has approved the SOP prepared by the State for granting prospecting license and mining lease. This is the first significant step for beginning scientific coal mining in the State.
•  Small and Medium reservoirs will be constructed at strategic locations and the stored rainwater will be utilized. An allocation of ₹ 10 crore has been made for the construction of SMRs.
•  A project for eco-restoration of Sohra area is also being conceptualized and ₹ 25 crore has been allocated for the same.