By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, November 20, 2020: Odisha Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari on Friday presented the Supplementary budget of Rs 11,200 Crore for the financial year 2020-21 in the State Assembly with a focus on the COVID-19 response related to health, food, social security, livelihoods and employment generation.

The COVID-19 pandemic also has led to re-prioritize the allocations in the supplementary budget, Pujari said while presenting the budget in electronic form.

With the pandemic devastating the state’s economy, the Supplementary Budget is expected to boost the domestic demand and revival of the state economy with special attention to the volume of state spending, efficient and effective utilization of funds and completion of projects.

It makes financial provisions for the packages announced by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik like Covid-19 warrior special assistance, Handloom, Textile & Handicraft sector, MSME sector, Mission Shakti etc, Pujari said.

The Supplementary provision of Rs 11,200 crore comprises of Rs 2,273 crore towards Administrative Expenditure, Rs 1,484 crore towards Disaster Management Funds, Rs 5 crore towards Transfer to Local Bodies and Rs 7,438 crore towards Programme Expenditure.

The allocations under Administrative Expenditure and Transfers to Local Bodies are to be financed against adjustment and surrender. The allocation under Disaster Management Funds will be financed against year-end balance and anticipated receipts from NDRF.

The Programme Expenditure of Rs 7,438 crore is to be partially financed by tied-up resources to the extent of Rs 2,755 crore and balance requirement of Rs 4,683 crore to be met out of savings and surrender during the year. About Rs 7,199 crore (97%) is allocated towards development expenditure within the Programme Expenditure.

Out of Rs 7438 crore under Programme Expenditure, Rs 2041 crore (27.4%) is allocated for Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water, Rs 1627 crore (21.8%) is allocated for Health and Family Welfare, Rs 1077 crore (14.5%) is allocated for Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare, Rs 957 crore (12.8%) is allocated for Energy and Rs 457 crore (6.1%) for School and Mass Education.

The outlay for Programme Expenditure constitutes about 66.35% of the total Supplementary provision. Adhering to the good practice of keeping the provision well below 10% of the Annual Budget, the size of the Supplementary Budget is kept at 7.5%.