FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms FREE PRESS Vol. XLI No. 26 | INDORE | THURSDAY | JULY 4, 2024 | Pages 14 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. 38281/83 www.freepressjournal.com ESTD-1983 iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: INDORE WORLD Sports Malen helps Dutch thrash Romania P.12 Rishi Sunak battles to the end as Labour’s Starmer eyes victory in UK polls P.9 UJJAIN PUNE BHOPAL NASHIK MUMBAI E-paper Edit New Parliament begins on a combative note P.8 Cinema ‘Para-athletes want your support, not your sympathy’ P.14 MP BUDGET | Finance Minister Jagdish Devda presents budget of Rs 3,65,067 crore; Rs 1,081 cr proposed for culture dept, including provision for Ram Path Gaman & Krishna Pathey Yojana; Only 1% of budget for employment Focus on infra, women & tribal welfare NO NEW TAX Govt comes up with some new schemes OUR STAFF REPORTER BHOPAL Amid unprecedented ruckus by Opposition over nursing scam, Finance Minister Jagdish Devda presented 2024-25 Budget worth Rs 3,65,067 crore in Assembly on Wednesday. The appropriation amount of budget is 16% more than the last year. In a big relief to common man no new tax has been proposed. Revenue surplus has been estimated at Rs 1700 crore. Some new schemes have been announced. Work plan of eVidhan, e-Cabinet and e-Vidayak Office would be implemented soon. Every MLA would receive Rs 5 lakh under e Vidayak Office scheme. Scheme to provide financial assistance to poor prisoners would be launched soon. Besides Rs 150 crore have been provisioned for Mukyamantri Sahkari Dugdh Utpadan Protsahan Yojana and Rs 1081 crore for culture, religious trust and endowment. A major section of this amount would be spent on development of Ram Path Gaman and Shri Krishna Pathey Yojana. 4Continued on | P6 fp Briefs BHOPAL Nikunj named senior adviser to ED of WB The Central Government has appointed 1998 batch IAS Nikunj Srivastava as Senior Advisor to the Executive Editor of the World Bank. Srivastava is currently posted as Principal Secretary Revenue, Minerals. Srivastava has been appointed for three years. The appointments committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved Srivastava's appointment. He has been appointed in place of Gujarat-cadre IAS officer Rajeev Topno. Budget size to double in five years: CM NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS n Gram Research Centre to come up in Ujjain and Mustard Research Centre in Gwalior n Government will provide Rs 125 as bonus on wheat MSP. n Three government medical colleges-Mandsaur, Neemuch and Seoni would become operational in this fiscal, n In next two years, government intends to start eight more government medical colleges n Around 150 CM Rise School will start functioning from new buildings in 2024-25. n Under PM Shri Yojana, around 730 schools have been identified n 22 new hostels would be started under PM Jan Man Yojana. n Under integrated scholarship scheme, free uniform would be given to around 63 lakh students. n Sports complex of international level to come u p in Nathu Berkheda, Bhopal along with international level sports science centre n Global Investors Summit to be organised at the start of next year n 552 E-Buses will be operated in six cities vis Indore, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Gwalior, Ujjain and Sagar. These buses will be operated under PM E Bus Scheme. BUDGET BREAK UP n 16% will go in paying loan & interest n Only 1% for employment sector n 8% of budget marked for interest payment & 8% for loan payment. n 15% for infrastructure development. n 7% for agriculture sector n 13 % for health sector T n 22 new ITI would be started in the state. CM Mohan Yadav meets State Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Jagdish Devda prior to presenting annual budget at Vidhan Sabha in Bhopal n 12% marked for urban and rural development, n 9% for general services, n 1% for employment sector n 0.14 % for culture n 2% percent for other services. NITENDRA SHARMA The Chief Minister Mohan Yadav-led government presented its first budget, highlighting the priorities, on Wednesday. Finance Minister Jagdish Devda tried to maintain a balance in the budget. Nearly 43% of funds for the MP budget come from the Central Government; so it is kept in mind that the state follows the Centre’s priorities. Instead of spending money Over 100 students fall sick in Chitawad hostels, 44 in hospital Our Staff Reporter INDORE Forty-four inmates of five hostels, aspiring to join armed forces, were on Wednesday admitted to MY Hospital following suspected food poisoning. This comes a day after five Bal Ashram inmates had died due to same cause. Officials said that around 100 inmates suffered from suspected food poisoning and 44 of them were admitted to hospital till Wednesday evening. Initially, five students were rushed to hospital on Wednesday morning, but the numbers swelled to 44, including 28 boys and 16 girls, by evening. Prima facie, officials suspect it to be a case of water contamination. A joint team of health department, food safety officers, and administration led by SDM Ghanshyam Dhangar inspected the hostels and students. “We launched an inspection and check-up drive in five hostels of Indore Physical Academy. Around 450 students are living in these hostels. 4Continued on | P6 Collector Asheesh Singh meets inmates at MY Hospital THE OTHER DEVELOPMENTS Two in ICU, rest stable: Hospital Superintendent of MY Hospital Dr Ashok Yadav said that two of the students were in the ICU while the rest were stable. They were admitted with symptoms of vomiting and nausea. “Treatment of all the 44 students is underway. They are under observation,” Dr Yadav said. Lack of hygiene, case to be lodged “Food was being prepared in unhygienic conditions as kitchen was filled with filth at Om Narayan Hostel and Shriji Restaurant. A team of FSOs collected samples and a case against them will be lodged under the Food Safety Act. They also failed to present the license or registration of the hostel,” official sources said. Stomach infection common in area The area between Palda and Chitawad, where the hostel is located, is known for contaminated water supply, especially during the rainy season. Residents frequently suffer from stomach infections . Doctors often attribute health issues in this area to waterborne infections. off-grid Has India managed to banish poverty? By invitation Jayanta Roy Chowdhury A National Council of Applied Economic Research paper published this week claims India’s poverty has come down drastically to 8.5 per cent from 21.2 per cent calculated in 2011-12 and 29.5 estimated in 2014 by the Dr C Rangarajan committee. Earlier this year, NITI Aayog CEO B V R Subrahmanyam had also said the latest consumer expenditure survey indicates that poverty has dipped to 5 per cent and people are better off both in rural and urban areas. Has India really managed to nearly banish poverty? If so, why does it need to spend such huge sums of money in subsidising food rations for the poor? Certainly, India’s GDP has grown substantially but much of that income growth has been for people in the top 10 per cent income bracket. The bottom 30 per cent has seen far slower income growth and has been hit by far worse inflationary pressures. The problem with 4Continued on | P6 Efforts made to maintain balance n 11% for education sector n 6 % for social sector he budget size would be doubled in coming five years, declared Chief Minister Mohan Yadav while discussing budget provisions with mediapersons on Wednesday. Applauding the budget, he said that the state government would bear fee burden of those aspiring for UPSC, MPSC and other exams. Stating that state capital’s connectivity to Chambal, Malwa and Vindhya region would be enhanced, Yadav said that a few four lanes would be converted into sixlanes. these claims that poverty has been triumphed over, is that the calculations are not using any fixed poverty count yardstick; nor has it fixed what the poverty line is in 2024. It’s basing its calculations on other yardsticks and then referencing them with a poverty line drawn up two decades ago by the Tendulkar committee. 4Continued on | P6 on the new projects, the government decided to focus on the old ones. As the government has set aside the highest amount of money for infrastructure, it is clear that the government wants to increase capital expenditure. More than Rs 53,000 crore will be spent on infrastructure. The BJP has focused on infrastructure since it came to power in 2003. Mohan Yadav, too, has maintained this tradition. 4Continued on | P6 HIGHLIGHTS n Total appropriation amount is Rs 3,65,067 crore. It is 16 % more than last budget n No new tax proposed n Estimated revenue receipts: Rs 2,63,344 crore including states own tax amount of Rs 1,02,097 crore, state share in central taxes of Rs 95,753 crore, non-tax revenue Rs 20,603 crore and grant-in-aid of Rs 44,891 crore n 18 % hike in state own tax revenue in 2024-25 compared to 2023-2024 n Estimated increase in capital expenditure by 15 % in 2024-25 compared to 2023-24. n Rs 40,804 crore for Schedule Tribe Sub Plan n Rs 27,900 crore for Schedule Caste Sub Plan n Capital outlay for 202425 estimated at 4.25 % of State Gross Domestic Product. n Interest payments for 2024-25 is 10.40 % of total revenue receipts. n Fiscal deficit in 2024-25 estimated to be 4.11 % of state GSDP. n Rs 18,984 crore for Mukyamantri Ladli Behna Yojana n Rs 2,860 crore for irrigation works n Rs 3,469 crore for anganwadi services n Rs 4,500 crore for National Health Mission n Rs 5,100 crore for Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan n Rs 15,509 crore for Govt Primary Schools n Rs 6,290 crore for Atal Krishi Jyoti Yojana n Rs 4,567 crore for Govt High/ Higher Secondary Schools n Rs 3,500 crore for Atal Graha Jyoti Scheme n Rs 2,452 crore for Medical Colleges & allied hospitals n Rs 2,400 crore for social welfare and security n Rs 1,231 crore for Ladli Laxmi Yojana n Rs 1,160 crore for Metro rail n Rs 2,738 crore for CM Rise School n Rs 310 crore for providing bicycles under education head