With little more than nine months to go for assembly polls, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel presented a Budget for the year 2023-24 on Monday full of sops.

With an eye on a large segment of the electorate, the chief minister announced an unemployment allowance of Rs 2,500 per month for the educated unemployed with a budgetary provision of Rs 250 crore along with scores of other benefits.

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Bhupesh Baghel, in his last budget speech of his tenure, projected the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) for the current year 2022-23 to grow at 8 per cent over 2021-22 at constant prices, higher than the 7 per cent growth at the national level.

The agriculture sector is projected to grow by 5.93 per cent and the industrial sector by 7.83 per cent while the service sector is expected to grow by 9.21 per cent at constant prices. The estimated growth rate of the agriculture, industrial and service sectors is also higher than the respective national growth rate, Baghel added.

The CM said that the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) is projected to increase from 4,06,416 crore in 2021-22 to 4,57,608 crore in 2022-23, which is 12.60 per cent higher than the previous year. In 2022-23, per capita income is of Rs 1,33,898 as compared to Rs 1,20,704 in 2021-22, which is 10.93 per cent higher than the previous year.

The CM made a provision of Rs. 6,800 crore for his ambitious Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana.

Both the schemes, Congress voters claim, could act as a leverage for the Congress dispensation especially among the rural peasants against the surging BJP which uninterruptedly ruled the state for 15 long years.

He also announced the extension of Rajiv Gandhi Rural Landless Agricultural Labourers Nyay Yojana to Nagar Panchayat areas. He increased pensions being given to destitute, elderly, disabled, widows and disowned women under the Social Security Pension Scheme to Rs 500 per month.

Given the infrastructural woes since he took over the reins of the predominantly tribal state, Baghel made a provision of Rs 1,000 crore for various infrastructure projects in urban areas, largely touted to be the BJP bastions. He allocated Rs 870 crore for opening of New 101 Swami Atmanand English Medium School, one of his flagship schemes.

The CM set aside Rs 200 crore for the establishment of four new medical colleges in Manendragarh, Geedam, Janjgir Champa and Kabirdham districts besides a provision of Rs 25 crores for the establishment of a new thermal power plant in Korba West. He announced the introduction of Light Metro service from Nava Raipur Atal Nagar to Durg but made no monetary allocation for the same.

Providing an olive branch to the agitating Anganwadi workers, the CM proposed to raise the honorarium from Rs 6,500 to Rs 10,000 per month. Similarly, honorarium to Anganwadi helpers has been proposed to be raised from Rs 3,250 to Rs 5,000 per month and honorarium of mini-Anganwadi workers increased from Rs 4,500 to Rs 7,500 per month.