MDA govt in Meghalaya terms Budget 2024-25 ‘growth oriented’

SHILLONG — The Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government on Tuesday thanked Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for presenting a “growth oriented” Budget with special focus on employment creation and skill development pivoted around the four sections – Garib (poor), Mahilayen (women), Yuva (youth) and Annadata (farmer).

The Finance Department of the MDA government said that as the Budget announced ‘Industrial Parks’ in 100 cities, Meghalaya would leverage this opportunity to create world-class industrial parks in the state.

Increase in the outlay of Special Assistance to states for capital investments which provides 50 years interest free loans from INR 1.3 lakh crore to INR 1.5 lakh crore in this budget is a positive development for Meghalaya and would accelerate the infrastructure development in the state, a government statement said.

“In 2023-24, the state has utilised more than INR 1,300 crore under this scheme,” it said.

The Finance Department said that setting up of 100 branches in the northeastern region by Indian Posts and Payments Bank would improve the banking coverage in Meghalaya, adding the state would leave no stone unturned to ensure that Meghalaya gets a good number of these new branches.

Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan scheme would be leveraged to saturate all the schemes in the state and all the villages in Meghalaya would be eligible for coverage under this programme.

The statement said that increased focus on agriculture, especially natural farming, would help Meghalaya as it is one of the first states to adopt natural farming in the northeast.

The increased allocations would provide better seeds and planting material to our farmers and help in increasing their income, it pointed out.

The statement said that the one-year internship scheme announced in the Budget would help job seekers to gain valuable experience from top companies and interns would get a monthly allowance of INR 5,000 per month for a year and a one-time allowance of INR 6,000.

Generous allocations to housing schemes – PMAY – Gramin and Urban would be leveraged to saturate housing coverage in Meghalaya, the statement stated.

It said that the incentives announced for first time employees (one month salary up to INR 15,000 in 3 installments under the DBT mode) based on EPFO registration can be dovetailed with the Meghalaya Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy, 2024 to ensure industrial development and accelerated job creation in the state.