Patna: Leader of Opposition in the Bihar assembly Tejashwi Yadav on Friday March 4 claimed that 52 per cent of the people in the state are living below the poverty line and the state government is unable to spend the money allocated in the budget every year.
During the discussion on the Bihar budget 2022-23, Tejashwi said that 52 per cent of the people living in 22 districts of the state are below the poverty line. Moreover, in the remaining 18 districts, 61 per cent of the people residing there are living below the poverty line.
“In 2021-22 state finance minister Tarkishore Prasad had presented a Rs 2.18 lakh crore budget, while the government had expended Rs 1.05 lakh crore till March 3, 2022. The Nitish Kumar government has used only 48 per cent of the allocated funds.
“Now, the finance minister presented a budget of Rs 2.38 lakh crore again for the financial year 2022-23.”
“If the amount allocated in the previous budget had been utilised fully, issues of unemployment, farmers, fertilisers, salary of government employees and pension of women and elderly persons would have been addressed,” Tejashwi claimed.
As per the CAG report of 2019, the Bihar government failed to spend Rs 80,000 crore of the allocated funds in the annual budget 2018-19. They have not expended 41 per cent of the funds in the agriculture sector, 31 per cent in health, 51 per cent in social welfare of minorities. When they allocate funds in the budget, why are they spending it on development projects?” Tejashwi asked.
During the run-up of the 2020 assembly election in the state, the National Democratic Alliance had promised to provide 19 lakh jobs in Bihar. Why has the finance minister not mentioned the road map for providing jobs in his budget, he asked.
“At present, three out of four youths in Bihar are unemployed. Why has the finance minister not mentioned the industries, food processing units, sugar mills, IT park, SEZ, that the government is going to set up in this financial year,” Tejashwi asked.
However, senior NDA leader Bijendra Yadav informed the House that the CAG report is not considered conclusive. The CAG calculates just 10 per cent of the department to prepare reports.
