Annual State Budget for the 2020-21 fiscal presented on Wednesday by Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Chowna Mein cannot be given any sector hyphenated prefix and at the most, can be termed as an effort to stay cautious and bring balance. A steady intention of depriving none can be noticed with an effort to allocate financial resources in an equitable way. And even if there were ample reasons and longings for greater allocation in certain areas, financial limitations of the state have probably come in as a deterrence in treading that path. In that vein, the budget can also be called a reflection of the hard practicalities that is often faced by Arunachal Pradesh.
The budget has estimated that there will be deficit to the tune of Rs 731.40 crore which is 2.44% of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) which is within the warning line of 3.25 % of fiscal deficit targets as per the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act. But although if it means there is enough breathing space, according to the well-established norms of public finance prudence, the more it is less, the better it is always for any State and efforts thus need to be given to bring it further down in the next budget. Coming to the revenue earnings, expectedly, the budget targets to garner more from its Rs 18,726.24 crore in 2019-20 to Rs 21,980.30 crore this fiscal. Share of central taxes has always been the biggest contributor to the state exchequer and it is also a matter of relief, which has also been highlighted in the budget speech, that as per recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission, Arunachal will see an approximate  28 % increase in this regard. This means there will now be more opportunities to spend on developmental projects, out of which the most demanding are the infrastructural ones. The budget has also tried its bit by allocating more on capital expenditure for creation of assets, cutting across various sectors such as roads, administrative headquarters, urban development, education, health, water connectivity, police modernisation etc. Focus on agriculture with commitment to stay afloat the dream of doubling the farmers’ income by 2022, women empowerment, encouragement to fight drug abuse, upgradation plans of the Higher Secondary schools in all districts and many other promises can be found aplenty in this budget. But, from a common citizen, the first demand that will invariably come is their actual implementation that will only mitigate their daily hardships.
The real efficacy of governance will be put to test when these estimates will enter their stages of actual implementation. It is the perhaps the most vital assignment and all efforts much be fine-tuned to attain maximum of these targets during the fiscal year ahead.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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