Eye on next year's polls, Himanta presents populist Assam budget

Ahead of the Assam Assembly Elections, Assam Finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma tabled the budget for 2020-21 with a special focus on the development of tribals including schemes like, to distribute free rice, free electricity, increased maternity benefits for women workers in tea gardens and retirement benefits for the tea garden workers of the state.

Guwahati (Assam): Eyeing the next year's assembly election, Assam Finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday tabled the budget 2020-21, announcing schemes like, to distribute free rice, free electricity, increased maternity benefits for women workers in tea gardens and retirement benefits for the tea garden workers of the state.

While reading his budget speech, Sarma said that the scheme of providing free rice to the tea garden workers will be extended to all the beneficiaries under the National Food Security Mission. He said that a total of 51.39 lakh people will be benefited by this scheme.

The minister also announced free electricity to those families who use a maximum of 30 units of power. He said that a total of 14 lakh families belong from a lower-middle-class category use 30 units of electricity per month and that the scheme would benefit these people immensely.

This Budget is considered as the last full-length budget of the BJP led government in Assam under the leadership of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal as the state has its assembly polls early next year.

He also said that the government will continue the existing Rs. 1.01 electricity for those who use up to 120 units per month, adding that the scheme will benefit 38 lakh people.

Sarma also proposed to increase the existing maternity benefits of Rs. 12,000 for the women workers of tea garden to Rs. 18,000 in six instalments. The Minister also announced a one-time financial benefit of Rs. 10,000 to the students of tea tribes and Adivasi community who passed the HSLC (Class 10th) examination.

He also announced a corpus fund with an allocation of Rs. 10 crores for the retired tea garden workers and said that tea garden workers will get retirement benefits to the tune of Rs. 50,000 annually.

The budget also increased the benefit under the Arundhati scheme from the existing Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 40,000. The scheme was initiated in 2019-20 budget to enable the BPL families can buy at least one tola (10 grams) of gold during their daughter's marriages.