Budget speech 2006-07: Full text

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98. If agriculture is an ancient Indian skill, biotechnology is the new frontier that India will conquer. In order to foster research and development in biotechnology, the Ministry of Science and Technology has decided to accord the status of an autonomous National Institute to the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Tiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

Skills Development

99. Honourable Members will recall that Government has taken up a programme to upgrade 500 ITIs over five years. 100 ITIs are now covered with the help of the private sector. Assistance has been sought from multilateral agencies to cover the remaining 400 ITIs. I propose to allocate Rs.97 crore for this purpose in 2006-07. The Skills Development Initiative (SDI) announced last year has been taken up through a PPP scheme, and I propose to make an initial provision of Rs.10 crore.

Backward Regions Grant Fund

100. Upon the establishment of a Backward Regions Grant Fund, a sum of Rs.1,156 crore has been disbursed so far in the current year to the districts identified as backward as well as under Rashtriya Sam Vikas Yojana (RSVY). The Fund is being placed under the administrative control of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, and I propose to allocate Rs.5,000 crore in 2006-07.

Jammu and Kashmir

101. Government will continue to provide special assistance to Jammu and Kashmir. The State Plan for 2006-07 has been fixed at Rs.2,300 crore. In addition, I propose to provide a sum of Rs.848 crore for the J&K Reconstruction Plan, including Rs.230 crore for the Baglihar Project. I also propose to provide special central Plan assistance of Rs.1,300 crore to enable the State to undertake reforms in the power sector.

Defence Expenditure

102. Government has fulfilled the long-standing need of retired Armed Forces Personnel Below Officer Rank (PBOR) for better pensionary benefits. About 12 lakh PBOR have benefited to the tune of Rs.460 crore with effect from January 1, 2006, and I am sure the House will welcome this decision.

103. In view of the enhanced expenditure on modernisation of defence forces, I propose to increase the allocation for defence from Rs. 83,000 crore to Rs. 89,000 crore in 2006-07, and this will include Rs. 37,458 crore for capital expenditure.

e-Governance

104. The National e-Governance Plan will be approved shortly, and 25 projects, in mission mode, will be launched in 2006-07. Among them is Project MCA-21 to enable companies to file returns electronically and a project for setting up common service centres and assigning unique ID to BPL families. It is Government’s intention to bring a number of services online, in a web-based mode, including applications under the Right to Information Act, applications for house sites, ration cards, transfers of teachers, inclusion in the electoral roll, filing of police complaint, and issue of birth/death certificates and copies of land records.

Celebrating History and Heritage

105. In 2007, we will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the First War of Indian Independence, an event that shaped the destiny of the nation. To ensure that the event is observed in a befitting manner, I propose to make a provision of Rs.10 crore for preparatory activities.

106. Two Gandhian institutions, the National Gandhi Museum, Rajghat and the Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Fund, Indore deserve support. I intend to provide Rs.5 crore each to the corpus of these institutions in 2006-07.

107. I am happy to inform the House that Kuttiyattam, Vedic Chanting and Ramlila have been declared ‘Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity’ by the UNESCO. These old art forms and oral traditions need to be safeguarded. Pending drawing up a detailed scheme, I propose to make an initial provision of Rs.5 crore in 2006-07.

XII FISCAL CONSOLIDATION

Twelfth Finance Commission

108. The recommendations of the Twelfth Finance Commission (TFC) are being implemented. Cumulatively, State loans amounting to Rs.103,710 crore have been consolidated so far. Under the new scheme of tax devolution, Rs.94,402 crore will be released as the States’ share in the current year compared to Rs.78,595 crore in 2004-05. As regards grants-in-aid, the amounts granted in 2004-05 and 2005-06 (RE) are Rs.12,081 crore and Rs.25,134 crore respectively. In 2006-07, both the tax devolution and the grants will be substantially higher. The States have never been so well provided, as you will find from the Budget papers.