Arunachal: Chowna Mein presented a separate Child Budget
which is the first such budget by a state in the country.
Itanagar
Arunachal Pradesh Dy Chief Minister Chowna Mein, who also hold the Finance portfolio, have presented a separate Child Budget, which is the first such budget by a state in the country.
During his budget speech, Main said that “it is for the first time that our Government has brought separate Child Budget in the State”. “It is an attempt by the Government to take stock on the investment with respect to the child’s needs of the state. It represents an important policy analysis tool that can help us take stock of our development investments on children and identify glaring gaps in resource investment”.
We have tried to show the total magnitude of outlays/expenditure on child specific schemes. Child specific expenditure include programmes or interventions that are 100 percent child related and that exclusively target children in the age group of 0-18 years. This includes finance for early childhood care and education, primary and secondary education, child health and nutrition schemes, child care and protection, juvenile justice and social welfare schemes targeting children of different vulnerable communities”, Mein said.
Replying to the queries raised on the fourth day of the Budget Session of seventh Legislative Assembly today, Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein said, “In this year’s budget, we have taken many new initiatives targeted at social and economic development of the people and we have ensured that due care is being taken to consult all stakeholders and make them active participants in the developmental process”. He said, “the policies and programs initiated by the Government have taken into account the expectations and aspirations of the people of the state while respecting and preserving the cultural ethos and diversity”.
He said, “We have tried to prioritize our expenditure keeping in view of our future vision. More resources are being allocated to beneficiary oriented schemes which would touch the everyday lives of people living in remote and rural areas with an aim to boost their economic condition by promoting various livelihood activities”.
Mein further said, “this budget continues to carry the people centric philosophy adopted by our government”. He informed that he undertook consultations with all major stakeholders to make this budget inclusive and holistic and also invited ideas from the public for Arunachal Budget 2020 through web portal and received more than 230 suggestions. These suggestions were across all sectors like – Education, Health, Agriculture, Energy, Infrastructure and more, he added.
While thanking the CBOs, Women organizations, youths and all people of the State for taking active participations in the budget preparation and said, “many of the suggestions received from the public and communities have been incorporated in this year’s budget”.
He further said, “we aim to create a budget which is aligned with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted by our country in 2015 and also to efficiently use our resources so that the performance of our state improves in achieving the targets set under each of the Sustainable Development Goals”.
He informed that the main focus areas of this year’s budget are:
- Agriculture and allied sector
- Education and Health Sector
- Skill development, employment generation
- Unlocking the tourism potential
- Sports and Youth affairs
- Resilient infrastructure including roads and water supply
- Governance Reforms.
Mein thanked all the members of the 7th State Legislative Assembly for actively participating in the budget discussion and for supporting the Arunachal State Budget for the year 2020-21.
