Jaipur : Before the budget session, the government has come into a big dilemma regarding the state budget. Due to the delay in the central budget compared to the state budget, the Bhajan Lal government will have to prepare the budget on an estimated basis and the main confusion is regarding this. Here is this special report. The round of pre-budget dialogue of CM Bhajan Lal Sharma in the secretariat is about to end… but with this, a strange situation has arisen regarding the state budget. This situation is regarding the amount to be provisioned in different heads or schemes.
What is the dilemma?
The main dilemma of the state government is about proposing the amount to be provided for different items or schemes in the budget. Actually, this time the central budget is likely to be presented on or around 25th July. It has often been the case that the central budget is presented before the full budget of the state. Based on that budget, the state government gets to know how much amount will be allocated for the scheme related to the center. According to this amount, the state makes provision of money in its budget.
What will the activity be?
The state government is calling the budget session of the assembly next month. In this, Finance Minister Diya Kumari will present the first full budget of the Bhajan Lal government of the state. The first budget session of the new Bhajan Lal government of Rajasthan is proposed from July 3. It is believed that the government will present its budget on July 10. But now a strange situation has arisen. Actually, the budget of the central government is said to come around July 25. Now if the state government presents the budget before the central budget, then the correct assessment of the amount received in this financial year from the central budget cannot be done until the central government presents its budget. Now the problem is that due to this being the first budget of the current government, some important announcements can be made in it. The government has so far changed the schemes of the previous government. Apart from this, new schemes will also have to be announced. New provisions will have to be made for all this. If the reduction in the amount from the center is more, then the expenditure of these schemes may also have to be reduced accordingly. In such a situation, the opposition can also make it an issue in the budget session.
Why will the state government not be able to present the budget after the center?
If the central government presents the budget in the last week of July, then the state government cannot present its budget after that. The reason behind this is that it takes at least 14 working days for the state government’s budget to be passed. After presenting the budget, processes like debate on the budget, reply of the finance minister, cut motion and supplementary grant demand have to be completed. Whereas in the central government, after presenting the budget, the process of cut motion is given to the committees of the concerned ministries. Therefore, the budget of the central government is passed quickly. The state government has already presented the vote on account in January. Vote on account can be taken only once and that too for a limited period. Therefore, now the government will have to present the full budget. However, if there is a decrease or increase in the amount received in the central budget, then it can be increased or decreased later. In the constitution, budgets are only estimates. That is why it can be revised later. State governments also do this every time. It can be revised in the supplementary grant demands.
There are no policy decisions and no announcements made in the Vote on Account. Therefore, even if the central budget comes late, the state government will have to present the budget before that. However, it can be revised later in the supplementary grant demands. If we look at the date of the central and state budgets after the Vote on Account in the last 2 decades, the center presented the budget on 8 July 2004 and the state on 12 July 2004. When the center presented the budget on 6 July 2009, the state was able to present the budget on 8 July 2009. When the center presented the budget on 10 July 2014, the state presented the budget on 14 July 2014. Similarly, the center presented the budget on 5 July 2019 and the state on 10 July 2019. If the state presents the budget before the center, then it will have to make a provision for the estimated amount of the state according to the estimated amount it can get from the center.
