Bhubaneswar: The Budget session of the state Assembly started on a stormy note Thursday as Opposition Congress and BJP members staged a walkout during Governor Ganeshi Lal’s address to the House.
The Governor said, “Despite the severe impact of COVID-19 on revenue, the state has been able to achieve positive growth in revenue which is an indication of recovery in economic activities in the state.”
The government has been able to collect revenue amounting to Rs 38,760 crore by the end of January 2021, which is about 7.3 per cent more than the collection during the corresponding period in the previous year, he said.
He further said the state government was able to plough back about Rs 2,800 crore by mopping up government money parked in bank accounts. One Time Settlement (OTS) schemes have been introduced for the realisation of revenue arrears, he said.
Noting that the COVID-19 pandemic posed a unique challenge to Odisha’s public finances, the Governor said, the crisis resulted in shrinkage in fiscal space which compelled the government to reprioritise its public spending to meet the higher demands for spending on COVID management, thereby creating livelihood opportunities, promoting agriculture as well as the industries and MSME sector for employment generation.
As a temporary measure, the corpus of the Contingency Fund was enhanced from Rs 400 crore to Rs 2,000 crore to provide the required fiscal space for an aggressive response to the pandemic, Ganeshi Lal said.
The government also adopted an innovative way to avail cheaper sources of financing from surplus cash balance in dedicated funds, like Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) and Odisha Mineral Bearing Areas Development Corporation (OMBADC), to maintain the required liquidity during the crisis.
Further, the government has undertaken several strategic steps towards a farmer-centric development in the state, which include a separate agriculture budget, a dedicated agriculture Cabinet for faster processes and sectoral growth, the introduction of Kalia and Balaram schemes, he added.
The Congress members led by its whip Taraprasad Bahinipati raised slogans and urged the Governor to stop reading out his speech in praise of the BJD government. The BJP members also followed suit and walked out of the House.
The Budget session started with strict adherence to COVID-19 guidelines and all members had to produce corona negative reports for entering the House.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who had attended the previous two sessions of the Assembly in virtual mode, was physically present in the House during Governor’s speech. Later, he participated in the proceedings from his residence virtually.
PNN