Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan presented the Tamil Nadu budget for the financial year (FY) 2023-24 on Monday, March 20th. While presenting the Tamil Nadu budget for FY 2023-24, Rajan highlighted that the state’s revenue deficit was reduced from Rs 620bn in FY 2022 to Rs 300bn in FY 2023.
Education sector –
While presenting the Tamil Nadu budget for FY 2023-24, Rajan stated that the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government would launch a ‘breakfast scheme’ for about 30,000 government primary schools in the state, and about 1.8m students would benefit from this scheme. Rs 5bn has been allocated for the scheme, the finance minister informed.
Rajan added that Rs 402.29bn has been allocated for the school education department in the Tamil Nadu budget. During his budget speech, Rajan also informed that Rs 50m has been allocated to translate BR Ambedkar’s works into Tamil.
A plan to revamp the technical education system has been mentioned in the Tamil Nadu budget for FY 2023-24. During the budget presentation, Rajan said that besides setting up polytechnic laboratories in various colleges, the Tamil Nadu government would set up a world-class technical education centre in Ambattur.
Notably, the Tamil Nadu budget for FY 2023-24 has emphasised the Indian civil services examination and stated that 1,000 prospective civil service aspirants of the state would get a monthly stipend of Rs 7,500 to Rs 25,000 given the outcome of their passing the different stages of the examination.
Health sector –
The finance minister has allocated Rs 186.61bn to the health sector. According to him, about 1.2m patients benefited from the state government’s health insurance scheme as on date, and around 835,000 workers are engaged in this scheme to bring health facilities to the doorsteps of the people in Tamil Nadu.
Furthermore, while presenting the Tamil Nadu budget for FY 2023-24, Rajan mentioned that the state government planned to open hospitals with world-class facilities in Coimbatore, Madurai, Kilpauk, etc.
Women –
The Tamil Nadu budget also mentioned several schemes aimed at women’s empowerment and generating self-employment opportunities for them.
The budget stated that the state government would provide Rs 1,000 per month to female students from standard six to standard twelve. The finance minister said that, compared to last year, the enrolment of female students in colleges has increased by 20,477.
Moreover, the Tamil Nadu Budget for FY 2023-24 announced the setting up of a ‘Start-up Mission’ for encouraging women entrepreneurs.
Urban and rural development –
The Tamil Nadu budget for FY 2023-24 highlighted the Rs 85bn metro rail project in Madurai. The budget emphasised the improvement of the drainage system and rejuvenation of water bodies in the plans taken for urban development.
Besides, the budget stressed a smooth and speedy completion of Union government projects like ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ and ‘Amrut 2.0’, as well as a significant contribution of the state government to these projects.
While presenting the Tamil Nadu budget for FY 2023-24, Rajan stated that the state government has planned to restore the 44 km-long river course of the Adyar river. Rs 244.76bn has been allocated in the budget for holistic urban development, Rajan said in the assembly.
Not only that, but the budget also mentioned the renovation of 10,000 water bodies in villages and the construction of 10,000km of road. Alongside this, the budget stressed revamping the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to improve the rural economy.
The Tamil Nadu budget for FY 2023-24 has allocated Rs 225.62bn for rural development.
Other sectors at a glance –
The Tamil Nadu budget for FY 2023-24 allocated Rs 105bn and Rs 53.46bn for food security and the pension scheme respectively.
Rajan mentioned that the Tamil Nadu government is eager to protect the interests of Sri Lankan Tamils ​​living in Tamil Nadu. In this context, he said that the state government would build 7,000 houses for these Sri Lankan Tamils.
Besides, the budget envisaged a constructive focus on renewable energy.
Furthermore, as far as the issues of environment, climate change and forests are concerned, the Tamil Nadu budget for FY 2023-24 underlined several key areas. Notable among these is the announcement of a Rs 20bn World Bank-assisted plan for coastal development in Tamil Nadu and the overall improvement of sanctuaries.
Besides, the Tamil Nadu budget for FY 2023-24 announced the allocation of Rs 23.9bn for agricultural loans.
