Haryana fears losing a whopping Rs 4,600 crore revenue in April due to the ongoing coronavirus-triggered lockdown, which has brought all economic activities in the state to a grinding halt.
The stamp duty alone generated Rs 600 crore revenue every month in Haryana but no money is expected to accrue to the state coffer on this count in April as no land deals and other property transactions are taking place amid the lockdown.
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday too voiced the revenue loss fear during a televised address on the day to the people of the state.
Kosh Muloo Dand, said Khattar, citing the crucial economic mantra occurring in Kautiliyan Arthshastra, which implies "the treasury is the backbone of administration", and pointed to the revenue losses that the state has been facing due to the lockdown.
We were expecting a Stamp duty of Rs 600 crore, but as no property transactions are taking place, no money will come. We are expecting only about Rs 100 crore from Excise Duty as against nearly Rs 1,000 crore while from nearly Rs 782 crore from VAT collections, a maximum of Rs 100 crore is expected, he said.
The chief minister said as against Rs 6,200 crore monthly revenue income from various sources, a maximum of Rs 1,600 crore is expected due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown, which has brought all economic activities to a grinding halt. We are falling short by nearly Rs 4600 crore.
Khattar said some expenditures like salaries and pensions are fixed and these have to be met.
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Nearly Rs 1,850 crore goes towards meeting salaries of government employees, Rs 750 crore towards pensions, Rs 650 crore towards social security pension that includes the money for the old, widows and physically challenged persons.
An amount of Rs 1,700 crore goes towards servicing debts which the state has borrowed.
In view of the current situation, the BJP-JJP government in the state had also announced a special financial aides to help the poor and people in low income groups like daily wagers, labourers, street vendors and construction workers who have been adversely hit.
Meanwhile, with mustard and wheat procurement respectively commencing from April 15 and 20, Khattar reiterated that we will procure every single grain of the farmers.
He appealed to the 'arhatiyas' or commission agents to extend a helping hand to farmers during this time of crisis.
He asserted that it was only a matter of time before we win the battle against corona.
In our country, everyone is fighting this battle. The problem is big. It is like a traffic signal which has turned red where all of us have stopped and are waiting for it to turn green and then we will move on. No matter how much challenge it throws, we will overcome it and come out of it.
I have been saying this 'Haryana say corona harega, bharat say bhagega' (coronavirus will be defeated in Haryana, eradicated from India), said Khattar.