DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

Under the chairmanship of Union Finance Minister, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, a pre-budget meeting was held in New Delhi today with the finance ministers of all states and union territories (including legislative assemblies).

Haryana's Finance Minister Jai Prakash Dalal also attended this meeting. In the meeting Dalal mentioned that Haryana is a small state, which accounts for 2.09% of India's population and 1.34% of the total geographical area, yet it contributes 3.7% to India's GDP and 6% to the total GST collection in 2023-24.

J.P. Dalal stated that the state government has taken several steps to enhance social security within the state. The amount under Old Age Samman Allowance Scheme and other social security pensions have been increased to Rs. 3,000 per month, which is the highest in the country.

The total number of beneficiaries has also increased to about 32 lakhs. Similarly, the budget provision for various social security pensions has been raised to around Rs. 12,000 crore, which is 6.30 percent of the total budget for 2024-25. He noted that the Government of India released a grant of Rs. 250 crore in November 2022 for the years 2021-22 and 2022-23, which is 2.83% of the total expenditure of Rs. 8,821.16 crore incurred by the state government on social security pension schemes in 2022-23.

He suggested that the Government of India either increase the rate of financial assistance under the proposed social security schemes or share the burden of this expenditure with the state.

J.P. Dalal stated that Haryana is an integral part of the NCR, as 57% of the state's land area (14 districts) falls within the NCR. Currently, a significant amount of resources are being spent from its limited resources to meet the demands of infrastructure, water supply and sanitation, urban development, and connectivity in the NCR.

The Haryana government ensures adequate water supply to Delhi as per norms. Additionally, due to uncontrolled and rapid urbanization in its NCR region, the state has to spend extra amounts to control pollution levels, groundwater depletion, etc. For this, the State Government demands additional allocation of grant-in-aid for NCR.
(editor@dailyworld.in)