Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu has hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for rolling out a ‘New India Budget 2018’ on Thursday, which, he said, “is comprehensive and holistic in every sense”.
While welcoming Budget terming it as ‘pro-poor and people-oriented’, the Arunachal CM said that the Budget has focused on distressed farmers and rural areas while boosting growth, jobs and private investment.
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He extended gratitude to the PM and the FM for proposing to construct a tunnel under the Se-La pass in the State which he said was a long pending demand of the State government.
“This tunnel will serve as a great relief to the denizens of Tawang district and also multiply tourist flow in the region,” Khandu said.
The Chief Minister also welcomed the FM’s proposal of revamping the National Bamboo Mission with an allocation of Rs 1290 cr to promote bamboo sector in a holistic manner.
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He maintained that State of Arunachal Pradesh will be one of the highest gainers from the announcement.
Khandu further hailed the union budget for giving special impetus to Scheduled Tribe population by proposing to have ‘Ekalavya’ school at par with Navodaya Vidyalayas in every block of the country with more than 50 pc ST population and at least 20,000 tribal people by 2022.
Khandu also lauded the Union government for paying special attention towards social sectors like health and education.
“Announcement of Rs 5 lakh medical insurance cover per year for 10 crore families across the country and proposing to increase digital intensity in education and move gradually from blackboard to digital board are few landmark proposals,” Khandu said.
The CM while appreciating Union Budget for increasing the target of providing free LPG connections to 8 crore poor women, said that this move of the Union government ‘reflects its sincerity’ to Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas.
Hailing Finance Minister Jaitley for focusing on strengthening agriculture sector; besides ease of doing business, Khandu said that this Budget signifies that the Union Government is committed to double farmers’ income by 2022.
He also appreciated the announcement for construction 2 crore more toilets under Swachh Bharat Mission which will further the mission for ODF India.
Khandu welcomed the proposal of having escalators, Wi-Fi and CCTVs in all railways stations.
He also commended the Union Budget for incorporating AMRUT program to focus on water supply to all households in 500 cities while proposing to expand Airports by 5 times from the existing 124 airports.