Imphal, March 11: Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh today presented a Rs 452.47-crore deficit budget for 2003-04. Ibobi Singh, who holds the finance portfolio, did not make any proposal to introduce new taxes.
Presenting the Rs 3663.49- crore budget estimate, the chief minister promised to vigorously implement, supervise and monitor the progress of fiscal reforms initiated in 2001 to overcome the current financial crisis. The opening deficit was expected to be Rs 413.57 crore, he added.
Stating that continuing insurgency had impacted development, creating a sense of “uncertainty and insecurity”, the chief minister appealed to members of the House and the public to correct “distortions” arising out of militancy. “Effective measures to check leakages due to extortion and corruption are crucial,” he said.
To usher effective governance, his government was working on a project called “Capacity building for good governance” under technical assistance from the World Bank, he said, adding: “It is expected that valuable recommendations will be made for effective governance after the conclusion of the project.”
The chief minister said new schemes worth Rs 66.36 crore from the non-lapsable pool had been approved for the current year. Besides, other schemes are also in the pipeline, many of which would be implemented in the hill districts.
The chief minister also presented a vote-on-account for the next four months (April-July) for a sum of Rs 1221.16 crore to meet the expenses of the government.