___________

Following is an excerpt from a New Indian Express report on them.

Do wrong credit card bills scare the daylight out of you while your bank doesn?t give a damn to your complaints?

Are you worried that sanitation work in your locality leaves a lot to be desired and Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation is not bothered? Have problems with weights and measures issues but you don’t know who to look forward to? You can turn to a group of senior citizens who would guide you how to go about it.

Assembled under the banner of Orissa Consumer Welfare Foundation (OCWF), they have joined hands to make consumers aware about their rights, and in cases, they would even take up your cause and fight on your behalf.

They may be ageing but they come from different walks of life and with a varied experience behind them. Some of them have long been social workers while others have put in decades as professionals.

All that one has to do as a consumer is write to the foundation and drop complaints in their drop-boxes kept at two points in the City. Members of OCWF would get back to them seeking an audience so that next course of action can be decided. …

“Over 90 percent of the consumers are not even aware that when one gets LPG cylinder, the delivery man must weigh it first. The foundation would take up consumer rights activism in an organised manner,” Jena said.

Rout said, OCWF would help individual consumers in different ways. “Not many know who to approach to in case of rights violation and how. We will draft letters, guide them with technicalities.”

The two contact points of OCWF are: 95 & 96, Surya Nagar as well as Sri Aurobindo House, Near Syndicate Bank Building, Kalpana Square.

A similar organization called “Consumer Protection Council, Rourkela” already exists in Rourkela and they even have a website. Their address, phone number, fax and email are:

Consumer Protection Council, Rourkela
C/66, Sector-2
Rourkela-769006. Orissa. India
Ph/Fax: +91-661-2472521, 2640810
Email: vaidya@advantageconsumer.com or rkl_cpcrkl@sancharnet.in

Following is an excerpt from a Telegraph report.

Sukinda valley in Orissa�s Jajpur is one of the most polluted places in the world, according to a report by the US-based Blacksmith Institute.

The institute provides solutions to pollution-related problems.

From India, Sukinda has ranked fourth and Vapi, a 400km industrial belt in Gujarat, is fifth on the list of 10 most polluted places.

The valley, about 140km from here, is spread across Dhenkanal and Jajpur districts and has the largest chrome ore deposit in the country — 97 per cent of India�s reserves. Mining is done by the opencast method.

According to the report, �12 mines continue to operate without any environmental management plans and over 30 million tonnes of waste rock are spread over the surrounding areas. The mines discharge untreated water into the river. This area is also flood-prone, resulting in further contamination of the waterways.�

The problem is �beyond the means of the state to solve�.

Environmentalists said the report is damning evidence of the impact rampant mining has on Orissa.

… However, chairman of Orissa State Pollution Control Board L.N. Patnaik described the report as �silly�. �I see a lot of personal agenda behind the report. It is a design to stop mining activities. If there is mining, there would be some air pollution. But to say that Sukinda is one of worst polluted places in the world is ridiculous,� he said.

The comment by OSPC Board Chairman Mr. Patnaik is outrageous. He should talk about what steps his organization is taking, if any, to minimize pollution. Instead of saying that he talks about personal agenda. Does that mean OSPC is not taking any steps to reduce pollution?

Their web site is www.oredaorissa.com.

The Orissa government official portal has a new design and look. It seems to have a lot of new and updated information. However, many links are broken. I guess fixing all the bugs will take some time. Readers may comment on the bugs they find in the comment section below and we will aggregate them and send them to the appropriate people.

Following is an excerpt from an Economic Times report.

Vodafone Essar has silently kicked off the groundwork in the run-up to launching greenfield cellular networks in six new circles – Orissa, Bihar, Assam, North East, Himachal Pradesh and J&K – where the licences are held through its wholly-owned subsidiary Vodafone Essar Spacetel (formerly, Essar Spacetel). For starters, the company’s project offices in Bhubaneswar, Patna and Guwahati are abuzz with activity these days.

Though Vodafone Essar Spacetel’s staff strength in these locations is skeletal, team leaders are trying to assess the appetite for cellular services in these eastern markets that are currently serviced by four GSM service providers – Bharti Airtel, BSNL-CellOne, Reliance Telecom and Dishnet Wireless.

A Business standard-Rediff article mentions this. Following are some excerpts.

The government of India is working on a structured Business Continuity Planning model to ensure that critical services like the functioning of government websites and servers go on unhindered even when disasters — man-made or natural.

The model has been devised to recover and restore partially or completely interrupted critical function(s) within a given time period after a disaster or disruption. The government hopes to have this implemented in a year.

Thursday’s flooding of the National Informatics Centre rendered most of the Indian government websites with the domain address ‘nic.in’ — including the Prime Minister’s and President’s websites — inaccessible till about 6 pm.

However, there was no reported data loss because of there being a backup tapes mechanism and its storage area network in the NIC’s Delhi unit. …

Besides Delhi, the NIC has data centres in Pune and Hyderabad, meant to house mainly Central government data.

The department of information technology intends to set up another data centre in Bhubaneswar to serve the eastern region.

These data centres are connected by high-speed networks to support data/application back-up security.

New Indian express reports that Orissa Govt has started The Orissa Modernising Government Initiative (OMGI) . This will be utilising IT in a more effective way. The Whole project is funded by DFID. Excerpts:

The Orissa Modernising Government Initiative (OMGI) seeks to address these and much more effectively. A State Government initiative, the project is being funded by DFID and would be completed by December 2008. It envisages rationalisation of the role of the State Government to focus on the most critical goods and services and reach out to the poor in a way that benefits them from its policies.

Besides, it aims to enhance the effectiveness, transparency and accountability with which the government performs its role.

The contours of the project was presented to Chief Secretary Ajit Kumar Tripathy by OMGI officials here on Wednesday. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that it exploits the benefits of IT to speed up delivery of public services and make them more transparent.

It also empowers the common men and gives them enough scope to ventilate their grievances to mandarins. Reengineering of the tools and procedures of the government departments would be one of its prime concerns.

Government officials can equally benefit from it. They would have access to service book, keep track of their career growth, leave sanction, transfer and posting. Each staff right down the ladder would be provided with a password.

Dissemination of government rule and procedure, citizen charter and performance data would be in vogue. Disclosure of information in a transparent manner to public on various procurements, allocations and awarding of tender would also be a reality.

Even candidates can review job posting, apply online and have access to employment news, views and service rules.

The reform measures would not be confined to the Secretariat alone. Revamping of the administration at the district-level would also be taken up. Human resource management would form a key component of the programme. Further, OMGI would intervene in other sectors like housing and urban development, health, education, industries and take up district modernisation and litigation management among others.

As mentioned in this report, Orissa has more digital connections than Tamilnadu. Its probably because Orissa was way behind in telephone connections when the communication revolution happened in India. The new lines being digital (probably meaning that they are through digital exchanges) Orissa has more digital connections.

Orissa Police has a website. It is http://orissapolice.nic.in/.

Kalinga Times reports on this. Following are some excerpts.

The Orissa chapter the national e-court project that is aimed at computerising the country’s entire judiciary right from the trial courts to the Supreme Court was launched at Orissa High Court here on Monday. …

A sum of Rs 340 crore will be spent in three phases in the State for the implementation of the project over a period of five years.

The e-court project was simultaneously launched all over the country. …

With the implementation of the e-court project, all judicial officers will be provided laptop computers with well structured data base and better connectivity. Even a witness can be examined without being present physically in court room through videoconferencing.

The project would make it possible to provide Information and Communication Technology (ICT) coverage of judicial processes from filing to execution, and also of all administrative activities.

Under the project, information gateways between courts and public agencies and departments would be created bringing about complete demystification of the judicial process in the country.

Tathya.in reports that OTV will now have competition to its cable business. Following are excerpts of that report.

Wire and Wireless India Limited (WWIL and Ushodaya Enterprises Private Limited (UEPL), which controls popular ETV joined hands to float Variety Entertainment Private Limited (VEPL) …

VEPL, which has set up the state of the art control rooms in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela promises to provide better cable services in the cities of Orissa.

Announcing the launching of the services Deepak Chandnani, CEO WWIL, said that it will provide 87 channels of national and regional interest to the viewers in Orissa.

He said the services will be expanded in near future to provide digital services including triple play – voice, video and data under the aegis of “GalaxZee” by digitalization of signals.

Chandnani said GalaxZee will provide crystal clear picture, digital audio and video quality.

More number of channels will be added with multilingual facility, said he.

Provision for e-education, e-commerce gamming and video on demand facilities will be given in near future, said Chandnani.

Arvinda Mohan, Executive Director, WWIL said that the cable network service in Orissa depends on the court’s verdict.

• Orissa Tourism
• Fairs & Festivals
• Art & Craft
• Archaeology
  
• Jagannath Temple
• Taratarini
• Kapilash
• Sun Temple Konark
• Chilika
• Photo Gallery

Financial times reports that the accountant general has created a website to track pension schemes in the state. The Accountant General’s office in Orissa has hosted a website, the first of its kind the country, to enable pensioners track their pension, gratuity and general provident fund (GPF) files online. The website name is http://agorissa.nic.in.This will be useful for old people who earlier had to travel to the office to get their pension status. Good model for e-Governance….

The site orissamedical.com has a lot of information on the medical and health infrastructure of Orissa. Among them it not only has a comprehensive list of the various medical, pharmacy and nursing colleges in Orissa but also has the list of doctors in the three private medical colleges in Orissa:

• Hi-tech medical college and hospital, Bhubaneswar
• Kalinga Institute of Medical Science (KIMS), Bhubaneswar
• Inst of Medical Sciences and SUM hospital, Bhubaneswar

Note: KIMS now appears in the MCI site that lists MCI approved medical institutions of India.

From the Budget pages http://orissagov.nic.in/finance/BUDGET/budget.htm. The speech, in pdf, is located here. Following is a text version with some possible conversion errors.

Hon’ble Speaker Sir,

At the outset, I express my deep gratitude to you, Leader of this House, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Hon’ble Leader of the Opposition and all Members of this August House for having given me this opportunity to present the full-fledged Budget for the financial year 2007-08.

2. I would like to mention here that instead of full-fledged Budget for2007-08, a Vote on Account Budget for 4 months was presented by me on last 29th March. This Vote on Account Budget was passed by the Legislature. Now a full-fledged Budget for the financial year 2007-08 is presented for approval of this August House.

3. While presenting the Budget for the financial year 2007-08, I deem it proper to highlight some facts on the fiscal situation of the State for information of Hon’ble Members.

4. The State Government have taken many reform measures to correct the fiscal problems of the State. These include expenditure rationalization measures, revenue step-up measures, improvement in delivery system and proper utilization of limited resources etc. Needless to mention that through various additional resource mobilization and expenditure rationalization measures, there has been an improvement in fiscal management and notable results have been achieved. Some examples are as follows:

(i) Revenue deficit has been completely eliminated much before the financial year 2008-09 which was the target set by Medium Term Fiscal Plan.

(ii) While the revenue deficit of the State was Rs.2574.19 Crore in 1999-2000, this deficit was reduced to Rs.522.30 Crore in 2004-05. Our State has become a revenue surplus State from a revenue deficit State for the first time in 2005-06 after a long gap of 22 years. Revenue surplus has been estimated at Rs.1045.76 Crore in 2007-08.

(iii) Another significant aspect of financial management is achieving expected success in resource mobilization. It is to be mentioned here that because of State’s constant efforts, remarkable improvement in State’s own resources has been achieved since 1999-2000. Where as during 1999-2000, State’s own tax and non-tax revenue was Rs.2420.56 Crore, during 2004-05 this has reached Rs.5522.12 Crore and during 2005-06 the achievement was Rs.6534.18 Crore. While State’s own tax and non-tax revenue were estimated at Rs.6452.99 Crore in the original Budget for the year 2006-07, the same has been estimated at Rs.8196.28 Crore in 2007-08.

(iv) Another aspect of sound fiscal management is less dependence on Overdraft and Ways & Means advance from RBI. From 2005-06 onwards the State Government have neither resorted to Overdraft nor Ways & Means advance. This is indicative of the improvement in the financial management of State Government.

(v) 11th Finance Commission recommended that if the gap between State’s Revenue Deficit & Revenue Receipt remains within 5% during 2000-01 to 2004-05, the State Government would be eligible for Fiscal Incentive grant. Since the State Government was able to contain the revenue deficit within the stipulated percentage during the aforesaid period, Rs.315.35 Crore have been received towards Fiscal Incentive grant.

(vi) Similarly, as per recommendations of 12th Finance Commission, State Government have availed Debt Relief of Rs.381.90 Crore for fiscal achievement during 2004-05 and are also likely to get similar Debt Relief during 2006-07 for fiscal achievement during 2005-06.

(vii) On the other hand, whereas during 1999-2000, 79.17% of the net loan was used to meet revenue deficit, the revenue surplus during 2005-06 is Rs.481.19 Crore. Hence, there is no necessity at present to meet revenue deficit out of the loan amount.

(viii) Because of encouraging revenue mobilization efforts, the State Plan outlay has been increased to Rs.5105.00 Crore for the year 2007-08. While in the original Budget for 2006-07, the State Plan was fixed at Rs.3500.00 Crore, it was increased to Rs.3600.00 Crore as per the revised estimate for 2006-07. Compared to last year, the State Plan expenditure has remarkably increased this year, which will accelerate the pace of development of the State.

(ix) Despite success of the State Government in various fields, it is to be admitted that heavy debt burden is another indicator of weak fiscal situation. The State’s debt burden stands at Rs.36459.07 Crore as on 31.3.2006, which is 48.16% of the GSDP. As per the recommendations of the 12th Finance Commission, the Debt-GSDP ratio should be 28%. Similarly, as per the recommendations of the Commission, Interest Payment -Revenue Receipt ratio should be 15%. As against this, the ratio of Interest Payment to Revenue Receipt is 26.2% during 2005-06. I may point out here that it is not at all wrong to incur loan for carrying out developmental activities. But the loan should not be used to meet the Revenue Deficit. As a result of continuous efforts of the State Government, the ratio of Debt to total Revenue Receipt has been reduced from 308% in 1999-2000 to 259% in 2005-06.

(x) The State Government have been able to save Rs.144.47 Crore towards interest payment by swapping high cost loan with low cost loan as per Debt Swap Scheme of Govt. of India.

(xi) In the meantime, the State Government have resorted to Debt Buy-back and made pre-payment of high cost market loan amounting to Rs.394.61 Crore.

5. I would like to inform this August House that previously the Central Assistance to the State Government had the Grant and Loan component in the ratio of 30:70. But as per the recommendation of the 12th Finance Commission, State Government is now arranging the loan portion of the Central Assistance on its own. The system has been made effective from the financial year 2005-06. Moreover, Government of India had fixed the net loan ceiling of Government of Orissa at Rs.1677.00 Crore for the financial year 2006-07. In order to finance the State Plan outlay of Rs.5105 Crore finalised by the Planning Commission for the current financial year, the net loan has been estimated at Rs.1026.29 Crore in the Budget.

6. We shall have to reduce salary expenditure because salary expenditure constitutes 49% of the revenue expenditure net of Interest Payment and Pension. But as per the recommendation of the 12th Finance Commission, the ratio should be within 35%. In order to achieve this target, we shall have to work with patience and commitment. So it is my sincere belief that your unhesitating support, as in the past, will also continue.

7. It is a fact that in a welfare State, provision of expenditure is to be allocated keeping in view the problems of the people. But in the context of limited resources of the State, we shall have to prioritize the expenditure for the development of the State. The crux of the matter is to enhance the Capital Expenditure by curtailing unproductive expenditure, so that there will be space for infrastructure development as well as inflow of private investment.

8. Taking into account the State’s own tax & non-tax revenue, State’s share from central taxes and Grant-in-Aid from the Centre, while State’s total Revenue Receipt during 2007-08 has been estimated at Rs.19467.20 Crore, the Revenue Expenditure has been estimated at Rs.18421.44 Crore. As against the revenue surplus of Rs.481.20 Crore and Rs.747.76 Crore in 2005-06 and 2006-07 (Revised Estimate) respectively, it has been estimated at Rs.1045.76 Crore for 2007-08. On the other hand, in the Capital Account, the estimated expenditure would be more by Rs.1220.43 Crore than the receipt. The expenditure on account of Capital Outlay, disbursement of Loans and repayment of installment of earlier loans taken together would be more than the receipts from the loans and advances from different sources together
with the recovery of loans. In toto, the deficit in the Consolidated Fund has been estimated at Rs.174,67,04,000/-and an equal amount has been estimated as surplus in the Public Account. On the whole, the receipts and expenditure have been balanced taking into account the Revenue Account, Capital Account and Public Account together. Hence this is a Balanced Budget with revenue surplus.

9. I now like to present some of the highlights of the provisions made both under State Plan and Non-Plan sectors in the full fledged Budget for 2007-08.

10. Highlights of the State Plan I now point out the Highlights of State Plan Outlay.

• Ours is an agrarian State. So the popular Government Agriculture under the leadership of Hon’ble Chief Minister, Sri Department Naveen Patnaik, has given importance to enhance income of farmers by increasing production of traditional crop and diversion to high value cash crops, particularly to horticultural crops in high lands. While Rs.1.40 Crore was provided in the Budget for the 2006-07 for development of horticultural activities in 11 Non-Mission Districts, the same has been increased to Rs.3.05 Crore in the Budget for 2007-08.

• While Rs.20 lakh was provided in the original Budget for 2006-07 for Agriculture Promotion and Investment Corporation Limited (APICOL), Rs.50 lakhs has been provided in the Budget of the current year.

• While there was a provision of Rs.1.78 Crore for fertilizer, bio fertilizer, insecticide and bio-insecticide in the original Budget for 2006-07, Rs.5.51 Crore has been provided in the Budget for 2007-08.

• While there was no provision for Micro Irrigation Programme under State Plan Sector of Agriculture Department in the original Budget for 2006-07, Rs.50 lakh has been provided in the Budget for current financial year.

• While Rupees One Thousand was provided in the original Budget for 2006-07 towards subsidy under the new Agriculture Policy, the same has been enhanced to Rs.3 Crore in the Budget for 2007-08.

• For the first time, in order to encourage the cultivation of Potato, Vegetables & Spices, a sum of Rs.1 Crore has been provided in the Budget for 2007-08.

• Cultivators will be given due encouragement with a view to increasing the production of oil seeds like groundnut and cultivation of pulses and maize. Rs.10.49 Crore has been provided in the Budget for the year 2007-08 which includes State Share of Rs.2.72 Crore for providing assistance to this sector.

• You are all aware of the fact that priority is being given to Soil & Water Conservation through Watershed Development Programme by the Government under the leadership of Hon’ble Chief Minister, Sri Naveen Patnaik. The Budget estimate for 2007-08 provides Rs.18.40 Crores under the Work Plan for Macro Management of Agriculture towards development of Watersheds under NWDPRA and River Valley Projects.

• While the original State Plan for 2006-07 under Agriculture Department was Rs.48.08 Crore, it has been increased to Rs.60.65 Crore in 2007-08.

• While Rs.363.00 Crore was provided in the original Budget for the financial year 2006-07 for Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Scheme, the same has been increased to Rs.464.28 Crore in the Budget for the current year.

• A new scheme named “Biju Gram Jyoti” has been prepared in order to provide electricity in villages having population of less than 300 and for this purpose, Rs.50 Crore has been provided in the Budget of Energy Department in the current year.

• The State Government has implemented a new scheme known as Biju K.B.K. Yojana in K.B.K. Districts in 2006-07 in the name of legendary leader late Biju Patnaik and a sum of Rs.120.00 Crore has been provided for this purpose in the current year’s Budget.

• The State Government have enhanced MLALAD Fund from Rs.50 lakh to Rs.75 lakhs. An amount of Rs.147 Crore has been provided in the Budget of the current financial year which includes arrear of Rs.36.75 Crore of previous year on account of increase in MLALAD fund and Rs.110.25 Crore for the current financial year.

• Rs.30 Crore has been provided in the Budget of the current financial year for Western Orissa Development Council (WODC).

• A sum of Rs.16.10 Crore has been provided in the Budget of Planning & Co-ordination Department for Orissa State Employment Mission.

• The State Government have launched a new Scheme called “Gopabandhu Gramin Yojana” (GGY) from the financial year 2006-07 with a view to providing additional development assistance to the targeted 11 Districts which are not covered under the Backward Region Grants Fund. The main objective of the Scheme is to provide infrastructure consisting primarily of Electricity, Road and Water Supply to such Revenue villages. For the financial year 2007-08, a sum of Rs.110.00 Crore has been proposed specifically in the Budget.

• While Rs.1 Crore was provided in the Budget for the financial year 2006-07 for TRIPTI Programme meant for poverty eradication, the same has been increased to Rs.45 Crore in the Budget for 2007-08.

• A sum of Rs.69.65 Crore has been proposed as state share in the Budget for 2007-08 towards Indira Awas Yojana as against Rs.51.00 Crore provided in the Budget of last financial year.

• While there was no provision in the original Budget of 2006-07 towards National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Rs.100 Crore has been proposed as state share towards NREGS for the financial year 2007-08.

• Central Government have implemented Backward Region Grant Fund in 19 backward Districts of the State. Rs.324.28 Crore has been provided in the Budget for the financial year 2007-08 for the purpose.

• While Rs.13.03 Crore was provided in the State Plan Budget in 2006-07 under National Family Benefit Scheme for One Time Assistance of Rs.10,000 to bereaved BPL families on death of chief earning member of the family, in the current year’s Budget an equal amount has also been provided for the purpose.

• A sum of Rs.67,19,42,000 was provided in the original Budget for 2006-07 towards State’s share of Mid-Day-Meal. An equal amount has also been provided in the Budget estimate for 2007-08.

• The Emergency Feeding Programme is being implemented in the 8 KBK Districts. Under the Programme, 2 lakh old, infirm, and indigent persons belonging to BPL households are provided cooked food for one time in a day. Each beneficiary is provided with 250 gms. of rice per day. For this purpose, Rs.20.50 Crore is proposed in the Budget for 200708.

• While a sum of Rs.32.81 Crore was provided in the original Budget for 2006-07 towards share of State Government for Supplementary Nutrition Programme, it has been increased to Rs.96.07 Crore in 2007-08.

• Pre-Matric Scholarship of residential students belonging to S.T. and S.C. communities has been increased. While there was a provision of Rs.40.82 Crore in the original Budget of 2006-07 for the purpose, the same has been increased to Rs.84.77 Crore in the Budget for 2007-08. Similarly, Rs.3.34 Crore has been proposed in the Budget Estimate for 2007-08 towards Post-Matric Scholarship.

• In order to provide cycles to girl students belonging to Scheduled Tribe communities who have passed HSC Examination and pursuing higher education, it has been proposed to provide Rs.81.00 lakhs in the current year’s Budget.

• There is a provision of Rs.53.01 Crore in the Budget for 2007-08 for construction of Hostels for SC & ST students.

• There is a provision of Rs.127.14 Crore in the Budget for 2007-08 under Special Central Assistance for Tribal Areas Sub-Plan. The same is meant for development of the people of Tribal Areas.

• While there was provision of Rs.101.43 Crore towards Grant-in-Aid Salary in the original Budget for 2006-07, the same has been increased to Rs.125.56 Crore in
the Budget for the year 2007-08.

• It has been proposed to allocate Rs.128.35 Crore towards Grant-in-aid salary in respect of Higher Education Department out of which Rs.21.00 Crore is meant for Non-Government Colleges. Similarly, it has been proposed to allocate Rs.5.00 Crore for Infrastructure Development of Ravenshaw University.

• Rural Health Mission under Health and Family Welfare Department is being implemented in order to provide health care facilities in rural areas. It has been proposed to allocate Rs.60.92 Crores in the Budget for 2007-08 towards the State’s share.

• It has been proposed to complete 3 bridges and 8 roads covering 76.56 km at an outlay of Rs.54.73 Crore during 2007-08 under Central Road Fund.

• It has been proposed to allocate Rs.115.00 Crore during current financial year under RIDF for construction and improvement of Roads & Bridges under Works Department. An equal amount was alsoprovided in the original Budget for 2006-07.

• As against the original provision of Rs.31.00 Crore in the Budget for 2006-07, a sum of Rs.46.00 Crore has been estimated in the Budget of current financial year to improve 7 roads under One Time Additional Central Assistance.

• It has been proposed to allocate Rs.92.20 Crore in the Budget for the current financial year towards Orissa State Road Project under Externally Aided Project (EAP). It is to be mentioned that in the original Budget of the last year, a sum of Rs.51.00 Crore was provided for this propose.

• For connectivity of Roads & Bridges in KBK Districts under Special Central Assistance Scheme, a sum of Rs.8.00 Crore has been provided in the Budget for the current financial year.

• In Works Department while in the original Budget for the financial year 2006-07, Rs.377.16 Crore was provided under the State Plan Sector, this has been increased to Rs.430.41 Crore during the current financial year.

• A new scheme has been proposed to be implemented in the current financial year under State Plan in order to provide self-employment to the unemployed youth. For this purpose, Rs.3.02 Crore has been proposed in the Budget for the current year.

• For the first time, a sum of Rs.6.80 Crore has been proposed in the Budget for 2007-08 for Infrastructure Development of Constituent Colleges under Biju Pattnaik University of Technology (BPUT).

• While there was provision of Rs.87.30 lakh in the original Budget for 2006-07 for Self Employment of unemployed S.C youth, the same has been increased to Rs.2.00 Crore in the Budget for the current year.

• In order to implement a new scheme named “Intensive Mineral Exploration and Assessment of Steel & Mines Mineral Resources”, Rs.5.00 Crore has been provided in the Budget of the current financial year.

• While there was a provision of Rs.3.81 Crore for “E-governance” in the original Budget for 2006-07, it has been increased to Rs.18.76 Crore in the Budget for 2007-08.

• For the first time, funds amounting to Rs.5.00 lakh has been provided in the Budget of I.T. Department for “On Line File Movement & Tracking System”.

• It has been proposed to allocate Rs.4.20 Crore in the Budget of the current year for establishment of “International Institute of Information Technology”.

• There was provision of Rs.1,10,80,000 in the original Budget for 2006-07 of Science and Technology Department for “Integrated Rural Energy Programme”. An equal provision has also been made in the Budget for the current financial year.

• While there was provision of Rs.16.00 lakh for “Orissa Science Academy”, it has been proposed to increase the same to Rs.20.00 lakh in the Budget for the current financial year.

• While there was provision of Rs.13.98 lakh in the original Budget for 2006-07 for popularization of Science, it has been proposed to allocate Rs.30.00 lakh during the current financial year for the purpose.

• While there was provision of Rs.56.25 Crore in the original Budget for 2006-07 in respect of “Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission”, it has been proposed to allocate Rs.62.25 Crore in the Budget of the current financial year.

• It has been proposed to allocate Rs.25.40 Crore in the Budget for the year 2007-08 for Urban Water Supply.

• A sum of Rs.21.60 Crore and Rs.6.39 Crore have been provided in the Budget for the financial year 2007-08 as Grant-in-aid to Orissa Water Supply and Sewerage Board and Bhubaneswar Development Authority respectively in order to repay the loan obtained from HUDCO for Water Supply Project.

• As against the provision of Rs.80.00 Crore in the original Budget of last year, a sum of Rs.100.00 Crore has been provided in the Budget for the current financial year towards Rural Water Supply.

• During the current financial year, there is a provision of Rs.58.00 Crore under RIDF for construction and improvement of Roads and Bridges under Rural Development Department.

• There is total provision of Rs.185.10 Crore in respect of State Plan under R.D. Department during the current financial year.

• Rs.3.00 Crore has been provided in the State Plan Sector in the Budget for the year 2007-08 in respect of Tourism Department for preparation and display of high quality Cinema and for promotion of Tourism .

• While there was total provision of Rs.7.05 Crore in the original Budget of 2006-07, it has been augmented to Rs.10.16 Crore in the Budget of the current financial year.

Plan Outlay in other Sectors

• As against the original provision of Rs.290.00 Crore in the Budget for the year 2006-07 in respect of Rural Infrastructure Development Fund, it has been proposed to allocate Rs.310.00 Crore in the Budget for the year 2007-08.

• While Rs.516.00 Crore was provided in the original Budget for 2006-07 for Externally Aided Projects, the same has been increased to Rs.793.20 Crore in 2007

11. Highlights of Non-plan Revenue Expenditure. Rs.18,078.24 Crore has been provided towards Non-Plan Revenue Expenditure in the Budget for the financial year 2007-08. I now point out some important highlights of the Non-Plan revenue expenditure for information of Hon’ble Members of the House.

• State Government is giving adequate emphasis on development of Higher Education for which a sum of Rs.35.00 Crore has been provided in the Budget for the year 2007-08 as given below.

Utkal University : 3.50 Crores
Berhampur University : 3.50 Crores
Sambalpur University : 4.00 Crores
Shree Jagannath Sanskrit University : 2.00 Crores
Orissa University of Agriculture & : 2.50 Crores
Technology
Fakir Mohan University : 7.00 Crores
North Orissa University : 7.00 Crores
Ravenshaw University : 5.50 Crores

It has been proposed to allocate of Rs.17.00 Crore in the Budget for the current financial year towards arrear pay in respect of both Government and Government Aided Institutions under Higher Education Department out of which Rs.11.00 Crore and Rs.6.00 Crore are meant for Aided Educational Institutions and Government Colleges respectively. Similarly provision of funds amounting Rs.143.41 Crore has been made in this year’s Budget as Grant-in-Aid to different Institutions under Higher Education Department.

While Rs.167.42 Crore was provided in the original Budget for the year 2006-07 towards Sarba Sikhya Abhijan (SSA) under School and Mass Education Department, the same has been increased to Rs.170.33 Crore in the Budget for the financial year 2007-08.

· A sum of Rs.4.00 Crore has been provided in the Budget for the current financial year for renovation of Rabindra Mandap and Bhanja Kala Mandap.

• As per the recommendations of 2nd State Finance Commission a sum of Rs.19.85 Crore, Rs.5.00 Crore and Rs.11.74 Crore has been provided in the Budget for 2007-08 for repair and maintenance of Minor Irrigation Projects, repair and construction of G.P roads and for other
development work respectively.

• It has been proposed to allocate Rs.25.00 Crore for addition, alteration and maintenance of Hostel and Schools for the SC and ST Students.

• While Rs.9.78 Crore was provided in the original Budget for 2006-07 towards Diet Allowance of Prisoners of different Jails, the same has been increased to Rs.12,58,76,000 in the Budget for the financial year 2007-08.

• While Rs. 2.00 Crore and Rs. 1.77 Crore have been provided in the Budget for the current financial year for Infrastructure Development and purchase of Equipments respectively for Acharya Harihara Regional Cancer Centre, Rs. 2.10 Crore each for V.S.S. Medical College, Burla and M.K.C.G. Medical College, Berhampur, has been provided for increase of MBBS seats from 107 to 150.

• There is a provision of Rs.10.00 Crore in the Budget for Revenue & 2007-08 for distribution of Land Pass Book. Assistance is expected from National Calamity Contingency Fund. Accordingly, there is a provision of Rs.150.00 Crore in the Budget for the financial year 2007-08.

• There is a provision of Rs.60.30 Crore towards State Share and Rs.180.87 Crore towards Central Share (totalling to Rs.241.17 Crore ) in the Budget for 2007-08 on account of Relief Expenditure.

Non-Plan Expenditure in Other Sectors

• During first year of the 11th Plan period i.e financial year 2007-08, Rs.200.00 Crore has been transferred from Plan to Non-Plan Sector towards committed liabilities. It includes repair of Roads and Buildings, maintenance and repair of completed Irrigation Projects and maintenance of Irrigation Projects under Water Resources Department, provision of stipend and scholarship for the students of ST & SC Development Department, Block grant and Salaries of Universities under Higher Education and Agriculture Department.

· For maintenance of Government Buildings, Residential Buildings and Roads, provision of Rs.1138.51 Crore has been proposed in this year’s Budget which is higher by Rs. 322.34 Crore compared to the original Budget for the year 2006-07.

· Rs. 4049.11 Crore towards Interest Payment in respect of Loans obtained from Govt. of India and other Institutions.

· Rs.2125.36 Crore towards pension and other retirement and benefits.

12. While during the financial year 2006-07 expenditure in Capital account was estimated at Rs.1349.21 Crore, this has been increased to Rs.1913.77 Crore in the Budget estimate for the current financial year. Because of this, more funds will be available for infrastructure development.

13. Consequent upon introduction of Value Added Tax (VAT) w.e.f. 1.04.2005, revenue collection has increased in Commercial Taxes organization. While an amount of Rs.2471.39 Crore was collected during 2004-05, this has increased to Rs.3011.73 Crore during 2005-06. As per preliminary information, this has further increased to Rs.3764.82 Crore in 2006-07. During the current financial year, State Government have changed the Value Added Tax Rate of 35 commodities which would be helpful in augmentation of State’s revenue as well as for the benefit of the small dealers and poor consumers. For example, while VAT has been increased on tobacco, the same has been reduced on tea. 9 items of goods have also been exempted from VAT.

14. Out of grants from DFID and 11th Finance Commission, 54 offices in Commercial Taxes organization (including 4 important check posts) have been computerized out of 111 offices.

15. Orissa Treasury Management System (OTMS) is being implemented since June, 2005 with DFID assistance. The principal objective of the Orissa Treasury Management System is to computerize all Treasuries, Special Treasuries and Sub-Treasuries in phases. For this, Computer System in all the Treasuries, Special Treasuries and Sub Treasuries are being linked with the main Computer System in the Directorate of Treasuries. Hence, no bill can be passed without allotment. Because of this, excess expenditure incurred beyond Budgetary provision, can now be prevented.

16. I may indicate here that steps are being taken to credit Pension related dues of retired Government employees in Bank Account through Computer during the current financial year. By this, pension payment and its accounting procedure will be simplified and difficulties of the pensioners will be removed.

17. Before I conclude, I want to inform the Hon’ble Members of this August House that it is incorrect to assume that problems of the State will be solved by making more provision in the Budget and expending the same in a routine manner. It is essential that we have to see whether the desired result is being derived from the money expended or not. I expect and believe that Departmentally related Standing Committees will examine this aspect while analyzing the Budget of the Departments.

18. Another important aspect is timely and proper utilization of Central Assistance. Substantial improvement has been noticed in submission of Utilization Certificate in respect of Central Assistance received due to regular monitoring and supervision by Government. For example, while Utilization Certificate amounting to Rs.2470.58 Crore was submitted during 2005-06, the same has increased to Rs.2852.25 Crore in 2006-07 which is Rs.381.67 Crore more in comparison to the previous year.

19. Hon’ble Speaker Sir, while presenting the Budget for the financial year 2007-08, I have highlighted the financial situation, the estimated receipts and expenditure of the State and the sincere efforts of the Government to mitigate the persistent problems of the State. I am grateful to you Sir, and extend my gratitude to the Hon’ble Leader of the House and Hon’ble Leader of Opposition and also my heartfelt thanks to the Hon’ble Members of the House for giving a patient listening to me so long. I solicit the help and cooperation of this August House. I humbly pray before Lord Sri Jagannath for happy and prosperous future of our State.

‘Jai Hind’
‘Bande Utkal Janani’
Shri Prafulla Chandra Ghadai,
Minister, Finance.