With no tangible source of revenue, Nagaland state has been presenting deficit budgets year after year and it won’t end anytime soon. When the PDA government presented its maiden budget last year, it had to shoulder a mammoth negative opening balance of INR 1607.73 crore from the previous DAN government. The state government on Monday presented an estimated INR 1,611.98 crore deficit budget for the fiscal 2019-20 against the backdrop of negative opening balance of INR 1,661.68 crore. It is a zero-deficit budget; in fact with an estimated positive balance of INR 49.70 crore by the end of the fiscal year but the burden inherited from the past has made such small effort to ease the load look futile. We cannot blame any particular government, both present and past, for this fiscal deficit mess as it is an accumulation of shortfalls for several years but it is obvious that it is a case of mismanagement. It is time the state government starts taking steps to ease fiscal deficit before it gets too cumbersome. Just as a deficit budget deserves criticism, efforts to lessen it, however small it may be, should be appreciated.
This year’s budget may not be very different from that of the past but it has some features that will help the citizens of the state in the long run. While the projected positive balance of nearly INR 50 crore by the end of the fiscal year is a positive sign and policies on music industry (to encourage artistes from the state), education and sports are noteworthy, what has the potential to make a big impact on the state’s economy is the emphasis on sectors that will generate employment. The government’s move to create a culture of entrepreneurship through its “start-up policy” with a target of atleast 500 start-ups in five years, earmarking 25% of start-up funds for women entrepreneurs, and several other sops for those taking up private enterprises should be welcomed. The move to make Nagaland an investment destination by providing a single-window clearance for investors is encouraging. It won’t be easy to convince industrialists to invest in the state because of poor infrastructure and insurgency issue but it is not impossible if the people want. Such bold and visionary strategies are necessary not only because employment in the public sector is saturated but also the funds that could have been used for developmental works are used for payment of government employees’ salaries, thus draining the state’s exchequer. For the people of Nagaland, entrepreneurship may be more of an effort to battle stereotypes than a means to make wealth but once picked up, it will boom and the state won’t have to knock on the doors of the central government every year.
