DIMAPUR — The Nagaland Economic Association (NEA), in collaboration with the Economics department of Nagaland University, successfully organised a one-day online lecture series on “State budget 2024-2025: A comprehensive perspective” on Friday.
The event was aimed at delving into the intricacies of the Nagaland state budget for the fiscal year 2024-2025, providing valuable insights and perspectives for stakeholders and the public, stated an update from the university.
Nayantara Sasikumar, officer of Indian Economic Service (IES) and joint director of Economic Affairs and officer on special duty (OSD) of Planning and Transformation department, Government of Nagaland, was the resource person.
It stated that Sasikumar, with her vast experience and expertise, shared a detailed overview of the state budget 2024-2025, highlighting key aspects such as total expenditure, total receipts, fiscal deficit and policy directions.
During her presentation, Sasikumar addressed various issues concerning the budget including the limited reliance on the state’s own tax revenue, dependency on central grants and tax shares and sectoral allocation disparities.
She further proposed measures such as enhancing the state’s tax revenue, boosting non-tax revenues, curtailing revenue expenditure and advocating for projections and fiscal sustainability studies.
The session was moderated by Dr. Renbeni Kikon, assistant professor at Nagaland University and convenor of NEA lecture series, who also delivered the welcome address and introduced the Nagaland Economic Association (NEA).
Professor B Kilangla Jamir, in his opening remarks, emphasised the critical role of the state budget in fostering responsible financial management, efficient governance and overall development.
The session concluded with an interactive session, which was followed with a vote of thanks delivered by Welisou Mero, a research scholar of Economics department at Nagaland University.
Meanwhile, NEA has extended gratitude to all the participants, speakers, moderators and collaborators for their valuable contributions in making the lecture series a resounding success.