He said the Centre has reduced subsidy for food, minimum support prices for crops, fertilisers, crop insurance and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme
JAIPUR: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has accused the Center of withholding funds under the transfer scheme recommended by the Finance Commission and urged the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to take up the matter.
“Despite frequent correspondence…, the state is not being given its fair share… 41%. We are not getting more than 30%,” Gehlot said on Thursday while replying to a debate on the budget presented last month in the state assembly. He said that the Center has reduced the share of schemes from 60 per cent to 50 per cent and has increased the financial burden on the states.
Gehlot said the Center has also reduced states' subsidies for food, minimum support prices for crops, fertilisers, crop insurance and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
He proposed to send an all-party delegation to New Delhi for grant of National Project status to the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project to overcome the water scarcity. He said, 'Rajasthan has given 25 MPs to BJP... Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat is also from Jodhpur but it seems that the Center is not serious. The Leader of the Opposition [Gulaab Chand Kataria] should take the lead and we should jointly go to Delhi and get [this] status. Gehlot said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised statehood but is not fulfilling it.
Gehlot announced the formation of a committee to look into the formation of new districts. He said the panel would submit its report within six months.
Gehlot referred to the budget announcement to revive the old pension scheme from the next financial year for state government employees appointed since 2004. It said it has received an overwhelming response from across the country. Gehlot said that government employees in states like Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh have made similar demands.
Gehlot said that the state government never took overdraft and all the promises made in the budget will be fulfilled. The opposition is misleading the public. Our government has implemented 85% of the previous budget promises and 75% of the [Congress] manifesto. The budget has been appreciated across the country."
Kataria said that considering the economic condition of the state, it seems impossible to implement the budget. "How will the revenue come...? Revenue deficit kept on increasing under the Gehlot government. Revenue receipts overstated the actual figures. The actual estimate of Rs 2.14 lakh crore is beyond reality. The budget is just a sham and apart from the foundation stone laying ceremony of the projects Nothing can happen on the ground.