Boost to RIMS welcome; fundamental problems ignored!
Source: Chronicle News Service / Dr Chinglen Maisnam

Imphal, February 01 2022: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman presented the Union Budget for the year 2022-23 in the backdrop of an economic scenario when people are facing job loss and huge cuts in real income.

GDP in the current fiscal year is projected to slightly cross the pre-pandemic levels.

The private consumption expenditure is still short of the pre-pandemic levels and industries are facing low capacity utilisation and rising inventories primarily because of very low demand in the economy.

In such a situation what was essential in the budget was an expansionary fiscal stance that prioritises job creation, health & education and stimulating domestic demand.

The budget shows a sharp increase in spending for RIMS.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed Rs 560 crore budget outlay for RIMS for 2022-23, compared to Rs 438.77 crore in the current fiscal, registering an increase of 27.6 % .

This is a historic moment for RIMS.I welcome the Budget 2022-23 for putting the RIMS at Bright Spot.

I also welcome the New scheme PM-DevINE which has been launched to fund infrastructure and social development projects in the North-East.

An initial allocation of Rs 1,500 crore has been made to enable livelihood activities for youth and women under the scheme.

However, no major plans have been announced in Union Budget 2022-23 for the North-eastern Region which badly needs industry and infrastructure in the wake of India's Act East Policy.

The budget proposal has largely unseen the appalling need for expansionary fiscal transfer to the State Governments in general and State Governments of the Region in particular.

Thus, it has, once again, ignored the fundamental development problems of the NER.

The Budget is less friendly for states more particularly the resourced starved and deficit-prone states of North East.

What is even more shocking is that it fails to address job crisis & income loss.

The budget claims that it is pro-farmers.

However, despite the claim, subsidies on food, fertilizer & petroleum have been slashed.

It has cut down expenditure by Rs 25,000 crore in MGNREGS.

The allocation for procurement to FCI and under decentralisation procurement scheme has been reduced by about 28 per cent at a time when farmers are struggling for a legally guaranteed MSR Allocation of funds for fertilizer subsidy has been reduced by 25 per cent.

Under PM-KISAN, 12.5 crore farmer households are supposed to be provided Rs 6000 each which requires an allocation of Rs 75000 crore.

However, only Rs 68,000 crore have been allocated.

Allocation for the crop insurance scheme has also fallen by about Rs 500 crore.

The revised estimates for expendigire on welfare of children is Rs 5700 crore less than what was budgeted.

Allocation of funds for the welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes has come down in real terms.

Similarly, the renaming of mid-day meal scheme as PM Poshan could not raise the allocation from Rs 10,234 crores despite 35 per cent of children not receiving MDM last year.

It talked about Narishakti up grading 2 lakh anganwadis but the allocation is frozen at the revised estimates at Rs 20,000 crore.

Over the last two years, there has been a huge cut in LPG subsidy.

Last year, allocation was cut by 60 per cent and another 60 per cent cut has been inflicted in the budget for 2022-23 .

No new allocation has been budgeted for the unorganised workers who were registered through e-shram portals.

As percentage of GDP, the total expenditure has come down from 17.8 per cent in 2020-21 to 15.3 per cent in 2022-23 budget estimates.

The growth of expenditure is far short from the growth of revenue receipts and in real terms is even less than what it was in last year's revised estimates.

By squeezing the transfer of resources to states, the state governments are also being required to do the same.

These transfers are to come down from 6.91 per cent of GDP in RE 2021-22 to 6.25 per cent in 2022-23 .

It is to be mentioned here that the Manipur depends on central funding for many of its basic needs and also for development works.

The state government depends heavily on the central assistance and thus efforts to create economic and physical infrastructure by the state itself are inadequate.

Obviously, the budget 2022-23 has, once again, ignored the fundamental development problems of the state.

The budget has announced nothing specific about Manipur.

Nothing has been done to reduce the multi prong deficits of the state including unsustainable fiscal crisis.

Budgetary allocations will hardly reach the state.

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