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Union Budget 2024 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the third term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is historic, said Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National Vice-President and Kendrapara MP Baijayant Panda on Sunday.
“The background of the budget which has been prepared for the roadmap of ‘Vikasit Bharat’ is very much important. In the last 10 years during the tenure of the Modi government, India has become the fastest-growing large economy in the world. So many tough decisions have been taken to bring the country up to this level. We have reached the fifth place in the world by overcoming England. In the coming days, we will reach the fourth and the third spot. People used to ask why it is important for the common man. It is important because the Modi government has increased allocations in different schemes up to huge amounts,” said Panda.
“The rate of unemployment across the country reached 3.2 per cent by April and May of 2024-25 financial year. World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) have termed it historic as it is the lowest employment rate in the last 18 years. In the last 10 years and especially in the last one year, the number of employment opportunities created in India is the highest in the world and it is historic. As per the Reserve Bank of India, 12.5 crore employment opportunities have been created in India in the last 10 years. Only 2.9 crore employment opportunities were created during the tenure of the UPA government. Due to the rate of development without any scams, the allocations in different schemes have been hugely increased,” the saffron party leader further said.
According to Panda, in the Social Justice and Empowerment sector, the former government had allocated Rs 6,725 crore during 2013-14. However, in 2024-25, Rs 14,225 crore has been allocated to the sector. Rs 74,477 crore was allocated for the Rural Development sector in 2013-14. However, in 2024-25, an allocation of, Rs 1,80, 233 crore has been provided to the sector. While the Panchatiraj sector got the allocation of Rs 500 crore in 2013-14, in 2024-25, Rs 1,183 crore has been provided. Similarly, in the Food and Public Distribution sector, the allocation in 2013-14 was Rs 91,034 crore. Now the amount has been increased to Rs 2,23, 323 crore. In all the sectors, the allocations have been increased manifold. In the Water Resource sector, while the allocation in 2013-14 was 17, 342 crore, it has increased to Rs 98, 713 crore. Rs 79,451 crore was allocated to the Education sector in 2013-14, it was increased to Rs 1,20, 627 crore in 2024-25. While the Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare sector was allocated Rs 17, 807 crore 10 years back, it has reached up to Rs 1,32, 469 crore this year. Similarly, the Chemical and Fertiliser sector has been allocated Rs 1,68, 499 crores in comparison to Rs 67, 622 crore. For the Fishery and dairy sector, the allocation has been increased from Rs 2,110 crore to Rs 7,137 crore which is very much important for a state like Odisha.
“For middle-class people, huge development has been made in affordable housing schemes. 10 years ago, Rs 10,587 crore was allocated for affordable housing schemes. However, Rs 82, 576 crore has been allocated for the schemes this year. Similarly, in the Information technology sector, the allocation has been increased from Rs 3,052 crore to Rs 21,936 crore. The allocation in the Infrastructure sector has increased from 2,57, 641 before 10 years to Rs 11,11,11 crore which is historic. When I first got the opportunity to have my speech in the Assembly about budget 20 years back, West Bengal had the highest amount of 42 km rail track per square km of land in the country, whereas Odisha had the lowest 14km rail track per square km of land. Though we were regularly demanding to increase the allocation to Odisha, we were continuously getting neglected. Odisha was getting only Rs 500 to 600 crore allocation in the Railway sector at that time and we were demanding to make it Rs 1000 crore. However, when Modi became the Prime Minister, he increased it up to five times. More than Rs 10,500 crore has been allocated to Odisha in the Railway sector in the 2024-25 budget,” he said.
“The previous government in Odisha was not availing many benevolent schemes of the Union government due to political motives. One of the schemes was Ayushman Bharat, which is the largest health scheme in the world. The scheme will now be implemented in the State after the formation of double engine government. The other scheme was the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). In 2013-14, the then government had allocated around 13 lakh houses across the country. However, under PMAY, funding has been provided to build 4.2 crore houses from 2015. The previous government in Odisha wanted to take the credit for the scheme and they were also found involved in some irregularities. They couldn’t avail of the scheme fully. In this year’s budget, funds have been allocated to build 3 crore more houses under the scheme. In the 10-year tenure of the Modi government, more than thrice the amount of earlier Central funding has been allocated to Odisha. All the Central schemes will now be fully implemented in Odisha,” he added.
