Young turks to draft Gehlot government’s first & fresh budget

In the latest major bureaucratic reshuffle of 71 IAS officers that took place Tuesday night, the Gehlot government has deployed a team of young IAS officers to draft its first state budget (Vote on Account) expected to be laid in budget session in February. This budget session is likely to commence in February that will be followed by a modified budget in July.

The fresh team of IAS officers joined budgetary preparations comprise of Bishnu Charan Mallick, Suchi Tyagi and Bhagwati Prasad. Mallick and Tyagi, who were posted as Udaipur and Bhilwara collectors, are 2007 batch officers while Prasad is 2011 batch officer. Besides this, the government has also appointed Pritam B Yashwant as commissioner of Commercial Tax department.

A week back, the government in its first bureaucratic reshuffle had appointed Niranjan Kumar Arya as principal secretary to Finance and Taxation. The young officers will work under the patronage of Arya to give final shape of Gehlot government’s first budget. Mallick, joint secretary to taxation and Tyagi and Prasad, joint secretaries in Expenditure, were appointed under the reshuffle.

The first budget of the Gehlot government will be a vote on account showing revenue receipts, expenditures and approving grants. Only required budgetary provisions in compliance to few major announcements may be clubbed into it. Gehlot’s modified budget for the entire year will be tabled in July that will be a populist at its core.

The Congress, in its manifesto, had promised over 400 poll promises. Major among them were farmers loan waiver, that has been implemented with an order already, and a monthly allowance to the unemployed youths. Budgetary provisions related to the announcements may be incorporated in two phases of the budget. Similarly, many populist announcements could be clubbed to make it all pleasing budget.

The toughest task before the new team will be working to tab fiscal deficit that seems to shoot, particularly announcement of farmers loan waiver. The announcement makes the burden of Rs24000 crores on the exchequer.