Gujarat Finance Minister Kanu Desai on Thursday presented the BJP government’s final budget before the parliamentary elections, opting not to raise new taxes and awarding the highest allocation for education. The budget estimated a general surplus of Rs 560.09 crore. Parliamentary elections will be held in Gujarat later this year.
The budget for 2022-23 proposed an outlay of Rs 2,43,965 crore, nearly Rs 17,000 crore more than the previous year. It awarded the highest Rs 34,884 crore to the education sector, followed by Rs 15,568 crore to the energy and petrochemical department, Rs 14,297 crore to urban development, Rs 12,240 crore to health and family welfare and Rs 12,024 crore to the roads and buildings department.
Desai told the House that the budget was mainly aimed at providing social security, fighting malnutrition and creating new infrastructure. Rs 500 crore was earmarked for a new scheme to help people run cow sheds. The finance minister also announced that a drone research and development center and training institutes will be established in the state to promote the use of drones in agriculture, surveying, health and maintaining law and order.
The state government will also establish a medical university to promote medical education and research, he said. As many as 50 “Jnan Shakti” residential schools will be started in the state, the finance minister said, allocating Rs 90 crore for the scheme. The schools will provide quality education to a lakh of talented students, Desai said.
The budget also proposed a significant increase in pensions for seniors and the physically disabled under various schemes.
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