Raipur: After discussion in the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly today, the second supplementary budget of Rs 2 thousand 387 crore was passed by voice vote. After the second supplementary, now the size of the state’s main budget for the year 2020-21 has increased to one lakh 9 thousand 101 crore. The main budget for the year 2020-21 was Rs 1 lakh 2 thousand 907 crore. The size of the first supplement was 3 thousand 807 crores.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel while replying to the discussion in the assembly said that the state government is working with full sincerity to procure paddy, farmers will not face any kind of problem. Constant efforts are being made to overcome the shortage of gunny bags. The Chief Minister said that our priority is the poor, farmers, laborers, women, and youth of the state. Our priority is to improve their economic condition. Mr. Baghel said that yes, we have taken a loan, for loan waiver of farmers, for paddy purchase, and for helping people. He said that the former government bought skywalks, expressways, mobile and took loans for the new capital, but what was the benefit of the people of the state. Regarding the demand of public representatives of new tehsils, the Chief Minister said that 23 new tehsils have been formed by the state government. Whenever new tehsils are formed in the future, the demands of public representatives will be kept in mind.
Regarding the arrangement of gunny bags, the Chief Minister said that the State Government had requested the Jute Commissioner of the Government of India to provide 4.50 lakh bales of gunny bags to Chhattisgarh, but he approved to provide one lakh 43 thousand bales of gunny bags. But we have received one lakh 5 thousand gunny bags from Jute Commissioner. Jute mills were closed during the Corona period, so the state government has arranged for 65 thousand bales of gunny bags from PDS shops, 80 thousand bales of gunny bags from rice millers. We have so far received 2 lakh 62 thousand bale gunny bags, of which one lakh 58 thousand bale gunny bags have been used and one lakh 4 thousand bale gunny bags are left.
The Chief Minister said that the State Government did the work of providing facilities to the general public, they were also appreciated by the Government of India and NITI Aayog. During the Corona period, more than 22 thousand quarantine centers were set up in the state, the poor were given 3 months of free grain at the rate of 35 kg, the children were given home and dry ration was given under the midday meal program. Mr. Baghel said that during the state visit, he also visited many paddy procurement centers, there was no congestion and the arrangements were very good. Before the formation of the new government, there were 1900 paddy procurement centers in the state, which were increased to 2000 in the first phase and now paddy is being purchased at 2300 centers. Till December 23 last year, 5 lakh farmers had sold 18 lakh metric tons of paddy, while by December 23 this year, 9 lakh 90 thousand farmers have sold 38 lakh metric tons of paddy. This year 21 lakh 38 thousand farmers have registered for the sale of paddy, which is the highest compared to previous years. The area under paddy has also increased by 6 lakh acres.
The Chief Minister said that the State Government is committed to resolving the problems faced in paddy procurement. The complaints being received in this regard are constantly being resolved. So far 1700 complaints have been received in Dial 112 out of which 483 have been resolved. There have been 413 complaints regarding the error in the area, which officials have been asked to resolve. He said that yesterday he had requested Union Minister Piyush Goyal to give permission to rice to FCI, but he said that I am busy in the farmers movement. Paddy procurement has been done for a month but it is unfortunate that FCI has not been allowed to give rice yet. Rice millers have lifted more than 7 lakh metric tons so far. If the FCI is not allowed to deposit rice, there will be a shortage of gunny bags. The Chief Minister said that the outright paddy price of Rs 2500 per quintal could not be given to the farmers because the Central Government had tied our hands and feet. To give the difference between the support price and Rs 2500 per quintal to the farmers, the state government came up with the Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana under which farmers are being given Rs 10 thousand per acre. Under this scheme, three installments have been paid to the farmers. The fourth installment will also be given in this financial year.
Baghel said that Corona patients are being treated for free in government hospitals. The state government is following the guidelines of the Government of India for the prevention of corona infection. He said that the state government has also made all efforts to develop health related infrastructure. In 15 years, there were only 46 ICU beds in the state, whose number has now increased to 400. Thousands of beds, ventilators were arranged. He has done commendable work in the people and representatives of all departments including Panchayat, Women and Child Development, Education including Health and Police Department to deal with Corona Pandemic. He said that now a new strain of corona virus has arrived. If those coming from abroad were already stopped in big cities, then it would not have come to Chhattisgarh. The Chief Minister said that I am proud of the culture of Chhattisgarh and proud to be Chhattisgarh.