Mamata loosens purse strings ahead of state elections, promises pensions for senior citizens and jobs for the youth

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KOLKATA: Ahead of the assembly elections, chief minister Mamata Banerjee presented a Rs 2.99 lakh crore vote on account, virtually turning the speech into a torrent of promises that assured senior citizens of monthly pension and employment opportunities for the youth.

The chief minister, who read out the document in the absence of indisposed finance minister Amit Mitra, said that she was proposing an allocation of Rs 1,000 crore for paying pension to all senior citizens and widows above 18 years. However, she stopped short of mentioning the quantum of pension they would be entitled to.

Another big bang announcement that she made was an allocation of Rs 25,000 crore for 10 lakh self-help groups.

The chief minister also announced a one-time grant of Rs 1,000 to each of 4.5 million construction and transport workers.

An allocation of Rs 150 crore was also proposed to build pucca houses for the permanent tea garden workers in north Bengal. There are about 3 lakh tea garden labourers who could benefit from this announcement. A string of cheap community kitchens called “Ma” would be set up across the state to offer cheap cooked food to the poor.

She also announced a hike in the “Krishakbandhu” scheme that would entitle a farmer family to get Rs 6,000 instead of Rs 5,000 for each acre of landholding. Mamata Banerjee has already thrown her support behind the agitating farmers in Delhi.

Interestingly, vote on accounts are placed to obtain expenditure necessary to run the administration for a temporary period till the elections are over. After every election, both at state and national level, the new government presents a proper budget where expenditure details are submitted as well as how the government intends to mop up the necessary resources.

However, the chief minister made a departure from the practice and announced a slew of projects in social sectors and infrastructure the focus of which was generation of employment.

She also announced that the government would spend Rs 900 crore next year to provide tablets to all 9 lakh students of class XII in the state. Turning her focus to the scheduled tribes, Mamata Banerjee announced that 500 schools that teach in Alchiki script (of Santhali language), that tribals who mainly live in the western districts of the state speak, would be set up. Two hundred Rajbonshi medium schools would also be set up. Rajbonshi is a language spoken by the Rajbonshi people in north Bengal.

Significantly, two areas where Bengal’s ruling party candidates fared poorly in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections are the western and northern districts.

The chief minister also stated that in the past 10 years her government was able to generate 1.125 crore employment and claimed that she would create another 1.5 crore employment in the next five years in all sectors of the economy in the state.

However, it was clear that the state would be further straining its already stressed finances to fund these schemes. While for 2021-22 the projected own tax revenue of the state was Rs 75,415 crore, the expenditure just on the three heads of salary, pension and subsidy would touch Rs 91,126 crore.

The outstanding debt of the state would reach Rs 525,867 crore next year that would impose a total debt payout obligation of Rs 63,700 crore, which would alone consume 84% of the state’s revenue.

Moreover, the expenditure on the four heads of debt repayment, salaries, pension and subsidy would erode almost 80% of the total revenue receipts that the state government expects to get in 2021-22.

All Opposition leaders of the state criticised the chief minister’s speech with some describing it as a “string of hollow assurances” before the budget. Incidentally, she presented the vote on account with no opposition members present in the House.