Gujarat 'model state' for country, says Guv on first day of Budget session

Gujarat emerged as a model state and a "growth engine" of the country in the last two decades, Governor Acharya Devvrat said

Gujarat has emerged as a model state and a "growth engine" of the country in the last two decades with its government showing commitment for socio-economic upliftment of all sections of society, Governor Acharya Devvrat said on Thursday.

Addressing the Legislative Assembly here on the first day of the Budget session, he said the Gujarat government's priority is to focus on "panch shakti" or five strengths -- electricity, water, education, agriculture and health.

This is the first Budget session of the newly-constituted Assembly and is being held two months after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) retained power with a thumping majority in the December 2022 polls and Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel returned for a fresh term in office. On Friday (Feb 24), the state Budget for fiscal 2023-24 will be presented in the Assembly by Finance Minister Kanu Desai. "With focus on good governance, Gujarat has become a model state of the country for the last two decades. The development path pursued over the last two decades has made Gujarat a 'growth engine' of the country. The government of Gujarat takes care of every class, be it small or big, and is devoted to socio-economic upliftment of all classes," said the Governor. Under the Centre's PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, nearly 63 lakh eligible farmers of Gujarat have so far received a sum of Rs 12,534.26 crore in their bank accounts through direct benefit transfer facility, he said. Devvrat said out of nearly 10 lakh farmers who have received training in natural farming, as many as 3.26 lakh cultivators have already adopted the chemical-free traditional method of agriculture. Gujarat is also a leading state in the country in milk production. In 2022-23 (so far), various federations collected 238.3 lakh litres of milk per day, he said. Between April 2022 and January 2023, as many as 9.43 lakh families have received free gas connections in the state under the "Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana 2.0", said the governor.

 

The Centre has launched the scheme with an objective to make clean cooking fuel such as LPG available to rural and deprived households which were otherwise using traditional cooking fuels such as firewood, coal, cow-dung cakes. The Governor informed the House that Gujarat has already achieved the target of providing pure water at every doorstep in rural areas under the 'Nal Se Jal' scheme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019. Nearly 3.47 crore members of 71 lakh eligible families of Gujarat are covered under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojna, introduced by the Centre during COVID-19 pandemic, he said. Under the scheme, every eligible person gets 5 kg foodgrain - 4 kg rice and 1 kg wheat - per month free as extra ration. "In 2021-22, the state government provided more than 62,000 agricultural electricity connections at an expense of Rs 1,045 crore. Moreover, the state government has not increased power tariff for farmers in the last 16 years. In 2021-22, farmers were given power subsidies of Rs 9,334 crore," said the Governor. Devvrat lauded the BJP government for its work on the education front, saying a sum of Rs 629 crore has been allocated by the government in 2022-23 to cover 5.12 lakh students who are studying in private schools under the Right to Education Act. To achieve self-reliance in drugs manufacturing, the state government has started construction of a Bulk Drug Park in Jambusar taluka of Bharuch district, said the Governor. Work has also started to acquire land for an upcoming food park in Valsad district, he added.