Andhra Pradesh’s (AP) Finance Minister, Buggana Rajendranath Reddy, presented a vote-on-account budget of Rs 2,86,389.27 crore for Financial Year 2024–25 (FY25) in the state assembly in Amaravati, AP.
- The budget also includes a vote on account of Rs 88,21,580 Lakh or (Rs 88,215 crore) for 2024-25, to be utilized until a new government presents a full budget post-Assembly elections in April 2024
- As it was a vote-on-account budget, the state Government refrained from introducing any new schemes or programs.
i.Revenue expenditure estimated at Rs 2,30,110.41 crore.
ii.Capital expenditure Rs 30,530.18 crore.
iii.Revenue Receipts Rs 2,05,352 crore.
iv.Fiscal deficit is estimated at around Rs 55,817.50 crore.
v.The fiscal deficit will be around 3.51% of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), whereas the revenue deficit will be around 1.56% of the GSDP.
Note: The revised estimate for revenue expenditure for FY24 was Rs 2,28,237.77 crore. Its capital expenditure was Rs 27,308.12 crore., revenue deficit was Rs 31,534.94 crore, and fiscal deficit was around Rs 60,153.59 crore.
Initiatives taken by the AP Government in Welfare and Development sectors
i.Between 2019-20 and 2023-24, the state government had spent Rs 2,53,000 crore through DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) schemes and another Rs 1,68,000 crore through non-DBT schemes.
- spent Rs 84,731 crore towards social pensions for 66,35,000 beneficiaries.
ii.This has resulted in a quantum jump in the per capita income of the state from Rs 1,54,031 in 2018-19 to Rs 2,19,518 in 2022-23.
- The overall rank of the state has improved from 18th position to 9th position.
iii.On education front, it introduced the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum in all public high schools and providing a TOEFL (Test of English as Foreign Language) certificate to every student,
- Government provides school-kits (uniforms, bags, shoes, textbooks, etc.) costing Rs 3,367 crore annually, benefiting 47 lakh children via Jagananna Vidya Kanuka.
- Introduces Mana Badi-Nadu-Nedu program to enhance infrastructure in 56,703 government schools, welfare hostels, and junior colleges.
- Welfare programs like Jagananna Vidya Kanuka, Jagananna Vidya Deevena, Jagananna Vasathi Deevena, Jagananna Videsi Vidya Deevena, and Jagananna Gorumudda have revolutionized education, boosting literacy rates and the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER).
iv.On the health front, State government invested Rs 16,852 crore in Nadu-Nedu to enhance public health infrastructure.
- There was introduction of the Family Doctor program, bringing healthcare to people’s doorsteps. 284 family doctors, medical tests, and medicines made accessible to the public.
- It offers cashless healthcare under Dr YSR Aargoyasri scheme.
v.Income limit raised to Rs 5 lakh per annum per family, with services up to Rs 25 lakh, including unlimited coverage for critical illnesses like cancer.
vi.Jagananna Arogya Suraksha programme provided better health services to the poor, implemented throughout the state as part of its second phase started January 2, 2024.
vii.There is implementation of Gadapa Gadapaku Mana Prabhutvam (Governance at Doorstep) and the establishment of 15,004 village and ward secretariats with 135,000 employees and 266,000 volunteers for doorstep services.
- The number of districts expanded from 13 to 26 and revenue divisions from 52 to 77.
viii.Regarding infrastructure and development, there is construction of four sea ports, 10 fishing harbours, and six fish land centers, Bhogapuram International airport at Bhogapuram in Vizianagaram district, among others.
Recent Related News:
i.The Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS), Andhra Pradesh(AP), has signed a first of its kind Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Cadet Corps (NCC) to enroll NCC students as Youth Red Cross (YRC) Volunteers in Andhra Pradesh(AP).
ii.The Security Exercise Prasthan 2023 was carried out by Commodore Rajneesh Sharma Naval Officer-in-Charge (NOIC), under the aegis of Eastern Naval Command, Indian Navy (IN) in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh (AP).
About Andhra Pradesh:
Chief Minister– Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy
Governor– S. Abdul Nazeer
National Parks– Rajiv Gandhi National Park, Papikonda national park, Sri Venkateswara National Park (Biosphere Reserve)
