Gogoi presents Rs 1385 cr deficit budget for Assam

PTI GUWAHATI, AUGUST 11 [dropcap]A[/dropcap]ssam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today presented a Rs 1,385.77 crore deficit budget for the state for 2014-15 financial year. “The Budget estimates of 2014-15 show a receipt of Rs 57,311.39 crore under the consolidated fund of the state.” “Out of this, Rs 52,696.81 crore is on revenue account and the remaining Rs 4,614.58 crore is under capital account,” he said, while presenting the budget for the current fiscal.After adding the receipt of Rs 3,29,365.94 crore under public account and of Rs 50 crore under contingency fund, the aggregate receipts amount to Rs 3,86,727.33 crore, Gogoi, who also holds Finance portfolio, said in his Budget speech. The total expenditure from the consolidated fund of the state in 2014-15 is estimated at Rs 58,104.54 crore. Of the total expenditure, Rs 48,631.30 crore is on revenue account while the rest Rs 9,473.24 crore is on capital account. “Taking into account the expenditure of Rs 3,29,958.56 crore under public account and Rs 50 crore under contingency fund, the aggregate expenditure for the year is estimated at Rs 3,88,113.10 crore. “Thus, estimated transactions during the year will result in an estimated deficit of Rs 1,385.77 crore,” Gogoi said. This, together with the opening deficit of Rs 972.14 crore, the FY’15 fiscal is expected to end with an estimated closing deficit of Rs 2,357.91 crore, he added. CM for Bharat Ratna to Bhupen Hazarika [dropcap]A[/dropcap]ssam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to honour the state’s cultural icon Dr Bhupen Hazarika with the Bharat Ratna. The Chief Minister, in a letter to the Prime Minister, requested him to confer the country’s highest civilian honour to Hazarika posthumously. “I have written to the Prime Minister today asking the latter to consider Dr Hazarika for Bharat Ratna. I will also personally take up the matter with him,” Gogoi said in a statement here. Gogoi had also moved the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the matter in 2011. The demand to honour Hazarika with the Bharat Ratna was raised by the state legislative Assembly and his fans across the state and outside, after his death in November 2011. Hazarika was conferred the second highest civilian honour Padma Vibhushan in 2012, the Padma Bhushan in 2001 and the Padma Shree in 1977. He received the Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 1987 and was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke award for lifetime contribution to development of Indian cinema in 1993.