Friday, 03 February 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The State’s share in the central taxes has been hiked by 25 per cent
Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has said that different provisions made by Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman would provide special benefit to Uttarakhand. He said that an increase of about Rs 2,300 crore has been made in the State’s share in central taxes. Interacting with the media persons at his residence on Thursday, Dhami said that an increase of 25 per cent has occurred in the State’s share of central taxes and it would now receive Rs 11,428 crore as against Rs 9,130 crore received last year. He added that the Union government has given an extension of one year in the 50 year interest free loan to the States which would provide an additional fund of Rs 1,000 crore to Uttarakhand. He said that the policy of promoting millets and agri start-ups would benefit the farmers of the State and that unity malls would be set up in the State for encouragement and sale of local products. The CM said that an arrangement for 50 new tourist spots has been made in the budget and this would help in developing tourism in the State. Under the Swadesh Darshan scheme the border villages such as Mana and others which were called the first villages of the country would be connected with tourism. Four new nursing colleges would be opened in the State and the budgetary provisions would help in increasing investment in the pharmaceutical sector in the State. Dhami said that the budget for development of tier II and tier III cities would be given by the National Housing Bank and this would help in development of infrastructural facilities in the State. The decision to set up 50 new airports in the country would also help in setting up new airports and heliports in Uttarakhand. The decision to appoint more teachers and employees in the Ekalavya residential schools would help in construction of more such schools in the State. The CM said that in principle approval for setting up a centre on disaster management and mitigation has been given by the Union government.
Lauding the union budget presented in parliament on Wednesday, the CM said that it is a firm step in the direction of building a strong India. He said that at a time when the economies of most of the countries of the world are tottering, the world is looking at India with hope. Expressing gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and FM Sitharaman for presenting an incredible budget, the CM said that special care of the poor and middle class has been taken in the budget. He said that the dream of a roof over every head would get fulfilled by an increase in budget allocation for the PM Awas Yojana. A new saving scheme for women would provide 7.5 per cent interest to them. An agricultural accelerator fund would be made to promote start-ups in the agriculture sector.
The CM added that under skill development scheme 4.0 national centres would be opened in the State. A sum of Rs 10 lakh crore would be spent on infrastructural development. In a humanitarian gesture it has been decided that the cleaning of the sewers and manholes would be done by machines only.
