The first budget of Odisha’s BJP government presented before the State Assembly on Thursday by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has renamed around 40 programmes of the previous BJD government, despite deciding to continue with the schemes.
On the decision to move ahead with the schemes, Majhi, who also holds the finance portfolio, said governance was a continuous process. "Therefore while continuing existing schemes, certain new schemes have been proposed to meet the hopes and aspirations of people," he added.
The schemes, the names of which were changed, had identified with the previous BJP governments. These include BJD's popular 'KALIA', a scheme for farmers that provides them with direct financial grants. The scheme is now CM-Kisan. Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY), a successful health insurance scheme of the Patnaik government, was renamed Gopabandhu Jana Arogya Yojana. The BSKY was named after the BJP founder and former chief minister Biju Patnaik.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the party’s central leaders had accused the Naveen Patnaik government of failing to implement the Centre’s flagship Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB_PM_JAY) in Odisha.
The Chief Minister, in his budget speech, said his government has decided to implement AB_PM_JAY in convergence with the state’s Gopabandhu Jana Arogya Yojana to provide cashless healthcare in government and private health facilities to all eligible families.
The Aahaar Yojana of the previous government under which people were getting meals at a rate of Rs.5 at public places has been renamed Sri Anna Yojana. Naveen Odisha Yojana for rural areas has been renamed Vikashita Odisha. The 'Make in Odisha' scheme has been renamed as Utkarsha Yojana.
The current BJP government's move to rename schemes is reminiscent of the Modi government's actions, wherein it rechristened welfare schemes named after Nehru-Gandhi family members after coming to power.
The Odisha sports department had recently notified its decision to drop the name of Biju Patnaik from the state’s sports award. However, the government walked back on the decision after backlash. CM Majhi called a press meet to announce no name change will be made and the award will continue to be called the Biju Patnaik Sports Award as the late leader's contribution was immense.
Speculations were that the renaming bid, which caused embarrassment to the government, came from Delhi.
Stable economy
That the BJP government of Odisha has inherited a stable economy from the previous government has been indicated in the new budget and economic survey.
The survey said the state’s economy size is Rs. 8.3 lakh crore as per the 2023-24 estimate, which is equivalent to USD 100.6 billion. In terms of the size of the economy, Odisha ranks 13th among 17 major states. The survey said Odisha’s economy was predicted to grow at 8.5 per cent in 2023-24 against 7.9 per cent in 2022-23.
Against this, the economic survey of India tabled in Lok Sabha projected India’s GDP growth rate at 6.5 per cent to 7 per cent. The survey said "in the last five years, Odisha was the seventh among 17 fastest growing economies. "Odisha grew faster than many low per capita income states," the survey said. The state’s per capita income in 2023-24 was Rs. 1,61,437 which was 12.4 per cent less than India’s per capita income of Rs. 1,84,205.
Though more than 62 lakh people escaped multidimensional poverty in the state between 2015-16, Odisha still ranks 6th among the 17 major states with a high incidence of poverty.
Rs 2,65,000 crore budget
While the size of the last 2023-24 state budget was Rs. 2,30,000 crore, Chief Minister Majhi placed a budget of Rs. 2,65,000 crore for 2024-25 in the state assembly on Thursday, which is about 15% more than last year’s budget.
In the current year’s budget, the programme expenditure is
Rs 1,55,000 cr which is 24 per cent more than last year’s provision. In it, Rs 58,195 cr has been provided under capital outlay, which is 26 per cent more than the previous year’s provision.
The capital outlay to GSDP ratio in Odisha is 6.3 per cent which is one of the highest among all major states in the country. In the budget, a revenue surplus is projected at 2.96 per cent of the GSDP. The fiscal deficit is projected at 3.5 per cent of the GSDP. The year-end debt stock is projected to remain at 13.56 per cent. Thus the annual budget of 2024-25 is FRBM compliant.
The budget includes provisions for announcements in the BJP’s election manifesto, including Rs 3,100 per quintal of paddy to be given to farmers during procurement of food grains, which is higher than the MSP rate of Rs, 2300 per quintal.
For this, Rs.5000 cr has been provided under the Samrudha Krushak Yojana. Overall allocation for agriculture and allied sector is Rs 33,919 crore, an increase of 36 per cent over the previous year. For public health care allocation is Rs 21,000 cr which is 8 per cent of the state budget. The education sector has got Rs. 35,536 cr while Rs. 63,299 crore has been provided fo SC/ST development and for OBCs and minorities.
Besides, it is proposed to give Rs.50,000 per woman under the new Subhadra Yojana which was part of BJP’s electoral promise. A sum of Rs.10,000 cr has been provided in the budget for this. The higher price of paddy and Subhadra Yojana had helped the BJP’s victory in the last election.
Since job creation has been a priority for the BJP at the centre and in the state, the Odisha budget has announced to fill up 1.5 lakh vacant government posts over 5 years. The budget also has tried to make identical provisions matching with centre’s schemes.
On the lines of the development of the Sabarmati River Front at Ahmedabad, the Odisha budget has announced the Mahanadi River Front Development Scheme. It aims to develop areas alongside the Mahanadi River in Sambalpur and Cuttack into a world-class riverfront project. For this, Rs. 50 crore has been provided.
Since Odia asmita (pride) was an electoral issue of the BJP, the budget has Rs. 200 crore as a corpus fund for the promotion and propaganda of Odia asmita.
Patnaik reacts
BJD president Naveen Patnaik who is now Leader of Opposition in the state assembly criticised the BJP-led governments at the centre and in Odisha, stating that Odisha was now doubly disappointed by both union and state budgets.
He said the Odisha government headed by Mohan Charan Majhi has renamed 40 schemes of the BJD era. "On the union budget, I will say – it was double engine, double disappointment. About the state budget, I would say I noticed that more than 40 of my government’s schemes have just been renamed," said Patnaik.
BJD targets BJD
The BJD has been very critical of the BJP, both in Rajya Sabha and the Assembly. The issue of Governor Raghubar Das’s son assaulting a Raj Bhavan employee has put the state government in a tight corner.
The BJD and Congress members raised the issue in the Assembly and staged a walkout during the Governor’s address in the Assembly. The state government later clarified that it sought a report from the Collector of Puri regarding the incident.
The employee concerned has been shunted out from Raj Bhavan. The Governor had vocally hit out at the BJD government, stating it failed in many respects which he had seen during his field visits.
