Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Monday said due to the effective financial management and resource allocation of the state government, an outlay of Rs 12,638 crore has been proposed for financial developmental budget 2022-23.

After the meeting with the MLAs for finalization of priorities for the Budget 2022-23 with the MLAs of Solan, Bilaspur and Mandi districts, Thakur said the government has dedicated all its efforts for the welfare of every section of the society and for overall development of the state during the last four years. The state government has initiated several programs during this period to make development of the state more inclusive and holistic.

The government has also given top priority on strengthening health infrastructure in the state due to this, today there were 1,014 ventilators in the state as compared to only 50 two year ago.

Under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, 4.26 lakh families have been registered and 1.20 lakh people have been provided free treatment worth Rs 145 crore. While under the Chief Minister HIMCARE Yojna 5.13 lakh families have been registered and 2.20 lakh families have been provided financial benefits of about Rs 200 crore, he added.

He stated that under the Ujjwala Yojna of the Centre and Grihini Suvidha Yojna of the state government, more than 4.69 lakh families have been provided with free gas connections worth Rs 141.71 crore.

Under the Jal Jeevan Mission, a program sponsored by the Central government, 8.23 lakh households have been provided tap water facilities in the state and the target has been fixed to achieve the target to cover all the households by mid of this year.

During the tenure of the previous state government, a total of 779 MLA priority schemes worth Rs 3,200.34 crore were approved through NABARD, whereas during the first four years tenure of the present government, 825 MLA priority schemes have been approved at a cost of Rs 3,347.20 crore. A total provision of Rs 2,363.80 crore was made for the implementation of MLA priority schemes in the five years of the previous government’s tenure, whereas the present government has made a provision of Rs 3,183.37 crore in the first four years itself.

In addition, the provision of budget outlay has been made for repair and maintenance in all the DPRs under NABARD from 1st April, 2021. NABARD has so far sanctioned 186 projects worth Rs 965.41 crore under various MLA priority schemes for the year 2021-22. Out of the projects of Rs 965.41 crore sanctioned by NABARD during the current financial year, projects worth Rs 465.05 crore have been approved for the construction of roads and bridges and Rs 500.36 crore have been sanctioned for minor irrigation and drinking water schemes.

The provision of a total annual plan outlay of Rs 18,500 crore was made during the first four years (2013-14 to 2016-17) tenure of the previous State Government, as compared to Rs 34,474 crore made during the first four years of the present tenure of the state government during the period 2018-19 to 2021-22.