NEW DELHI, Aug 23:
The Government today sought Parliament’s nod for an additional expenditure of Rs 7,500 crore, which will include Rs 1,000 crore towards ‘Nirbhaya Fund’ for safety of women and a similar amount for setting up the all-women bank.
However, the net cash outgo on account of these spendings will only be Rs 127.14 crore as bulk of the additional expenses would be met by savings in other government schemes and will not impose any significant burden on the overall fiscal deficit target.
As per the first batch of supplementary demands for grants tabled in the Lok Sabha by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Rs 1,830 crore has been sought for India’s contribution towards the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Also, Rs 500 crore would be provided to the Small Industrial Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to set up a Credit Guarantee Fund, while Rs 100 crore has been proposed to be given to India Microfinance Equity Fund of SIDBI to provide equity and quasi-equity to micro finance institutions.
The net cash outgo, however, will only be Rs 127.14 crore as “gross additional expenditure, matched by savings of the Ministries/Departments or by enhanced receipts/recoveries aggregates to Rs 7,372.55 crore,” according to the statement of supplementary demands for grants.
The additional spendings include Rs 1,000 crore for setting up of ‘Nirbhaya Fund’ for safety of women and a similar amount will be provided to National Skill Development Corporation to extend skill trainings to youth.
Besides, Rs 1,000 crore has been provided for initial capital for establishment of women’s bank.
Also, Rs 100 crore each has been provided as grants to Aligarh Muslim University and Banaras Hindu University while Rs 200 crore has been provisioned for Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Sashaktikaran Abhiyan.
The Government comes out with several batches of supplementary demands for grants to meet expenditure above and over the budgeted expenditure during the course of the year.
The first batch of supplementary demands for grants would not add any pressure on the fiscal deficit as the net cash outgo is a meagre Rs 127 crore.
Chidambaram had earlier promised to keep the fiscal deficit at 4.8 per cent of GDP in the current financial year, down from 4.9 per cent recorded in 2012-13.
As regards the ‘Nirbhaya Fund’, the allocations have been made in pursuance of the announcement made by the Minister in his Budget speech for the current financial year.
The Cabinet has already approved setting up of Bhartiya Mahila Bank with an initial capital of Rs 1,000 crore. The government plans to have 25 branches of the said bank by the end of the fiscal.
One of the key objective of the Bank is focus on the banking needs of women and promote economic empowerment. (PTI)
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