On Tuesday, the assembly passed the state government's second supplementary budget for this financial year amounting to Rs 1,509 crore.
Countering Opposition's charges during the discussion on supplementary budgets, he said, "So far, the Centre has not been able to enact Food Security Bill, but the Chhattisgarh government will pioneer it for downtrodden families. It will be introduced during the ongoing winter session of the house."
With the second supplementary, the total budget of the state for the current financial year has reached Rs 40,824 crore from Rs 37,574 crore. He said, youth development is the most salient feature of this supplementary budget as Rs 20 crore of the budget has been proposed for it.
Free laptops will be provided to students studying in the final year of medical and engineering courses, he said.
Detailing other salient features of the state budget, he said that the state government provides rice at Rs 3 per kg to 35 lakh families living below poverty line and they would also be provided with 2 kg of gram at reasonable rates.
For the gram distribution scheme, Rs 31 crore has been proposed in the supplementary budget, he said.
Under the Mukhyamantri Tirath Yojana, 20,000 senior citizens will be sent on pilgrimage annually, for which Rs 36 crore has been provisioned, he said.
Earlier, Opposition leader in the Assembly Ravindra Choubey alleged that despite the state government failing to spend the state budget's full amount, it had deviced a second supplementary. Also, crores of rupees were spent in the state foundation ceremony, despite deteriorating law and order, he said.
