The Dr Manik Saha-led State Government proposed Rs 5608 crore 72 lakh 67 thousand in the Budget 2023-24 for Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) which is almost 40 per cent of the fund available after meeting the Committed expenditures, BJP leader and State Power department Minister Ratan Lal Nath said on Wednesday.
His statement came up following the allegation of Opposition TIPRA Motha Party’s ex-chairman Pradyot Kishore Debbarma that the BJP-led State Government allotted only 2 per cent for the development of the indigenous people of the State.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP Party office in Agartala, Nath said, “Total Budget size in 2023-24 stands at Rs 27 thousand 654 crore 44 lakh – out of total allocation, Committed expenditures like Salaries & Wages, repayment of loans, payment of interest, pensions and other retirement benefits accounts Rs 13 thousand 568 crore 2 lakh. The remaining Rs 14 thousand 86 crore 42 lakh is used for overall development and welfare expenditures”.
Referring to Statement 8 in the ‘Budget At a Glance’, Nath said, out of the remaining fund, the Budget 2023-24 allocated Rs 5608 crore 72 lakh 67 thousand for the TSP which implies 39.81 percent – the highest ever – allocation for the welfare of the Janajati people was proposed”.
Nath also referred to previous years’ Budget allocations and said the BJP Government after coming into power in the State in 2018, allocated 38.40 percent and 39.52 percent in 2019-2020 of total allocation excluding the Committed Expenditure for the TSPs.
The growing allocation for the TSP continued in the following years, as well, the Minister said.
The Minister strongly refuted the allegation of meagre allocation for the indigenous people as raised by ‘some Opposition parties’ and condemned the claim saying that they are trying to mislead the simple-minded Indigenous people to cover up their own failures.
“How can we allocate anything less than 31 per cent for the Indigenous people as the allocation is mandatory?”, he asked.
The Minister described the allegation as ‘hypocritical’ and criticised the people involved in spreading such allegations who did not participate in discussions constructively during the Assembly session.