The Bihar Government has announced a housing scheme valid for the fourth-grade employees working in the Government sectors. The initial budget was presented by the Chief Minister of the State in presence of Bihar State Finance Minister Mr Abdul Bari Siddiqui for the fiscal year of 2017 to 18.

What is the aim of the Budget?

• The budget is focused on investing INR. 14.555 Crore as an expenditure related to the development in various sectors. It also aims at capitalising INR. 873 Crores in implementing the housing scheme for Government sector employees.
• The new budget is also aimed to allocate INR. 8,516 Crores that are to be used by the Government for rural works INR. 5,703 crores shall be used for road construction in the State, INR. 5,949 will be used for the social welfare funds and INR. 6,795 will be used in the sector of energy.

 

What is the budget allocation for the New Housing Scheme?

• The Government has assigned an amount of INR. 873 crores to be financed in the new housing scheme for the employees. This was officially announced by Mr Abdul Bari Siddiqui, the finance minister of the Bihar.
• The government has also made it very clear that it is not aiming to levy any fresh tax in the state. This was clearly stated in the budget meeting that it has already allocated a total expenditure amount of INR. 14,555 crore which is nearly around INR. 1.60 lakh crore more than the one allocated in the 2016-17 budget.

 

Benefits granted to employees under New Housing Scheme

 

• The budget is aimed at offering a better and more developed housing scheme for fourth-grade employees working in the Government sectors. The Government has now also added that the new budget is offering employees with a threefold increment in the budget amount for developing housing schemes.

 

Benefits allocated by the Government

• Welfare and Educational sector –the Bihar State Government and its budget committee have also allocated a higher priority for minority welfare and education sectors in the state. The government has announced an upsurge in the fund allocation amount of INR. 15,389 Crore this fiscal year as compared to the INR. 1.44 lakh Crore that was for the previous fiscal year from 2016-17.
• Rural Development –apart from allocating the sustainable amount for the educational sector, the government has also assigned a budget amount of INR. 9,725 Crore that will be used for the rural development of Bihar. The finance minister for Bihar also added that the government is prepared to make the best use of internal resources available in the state.
• Allocation of the amount for establishments –the Government has allocated a fixed amount of INR. 78,818 Crores for a non-planned expenditure and establishment as well as INR. 80,891 Crores that has been kept provisioned for other annual schemes to be run by the government in the state.

 

The government aims at using this fixed amount for implementation in various development schemes and activities in the nearing future. Even with this, the state government plans to borrow a total amount of INR. 23,862 Crores by the end of this fiscal year 2017-18.