Rs 2,730.2 crore in UT’s kitty

Under the Non-Plan head,Chandigarh has got Rs 2,068.31 crore (current year’s allocation was Rs 2,270.48 crore). The Non-Plan allocation will go towards committed expenditure of salaries and other recurring expenses borne by the Administration.

One of the major new initiatives in the coming financial year includes developing Chandigarh as a solar city,for which Rs 16.5 crore has been allocated and a final roadmap is being drafted. The allocation of only around Rs 9 crore for the information technology sector has,however,brought a major disappointment. Compared to this,the tourism sector has received a substantial increase — from Rs 1.92 crore to Rs 4.36 crore — which indicates tourism will be a major priority of the UT Administration in the coming financial year.

The budget also includes Rs 15 crore,for grant-in-aid,which the Chandigarh Administration will give to the Municipal Corporation,towards the departments and services transferred to the MC. It includes Rs 5 crore each for primary education,primary health,and carrying out civil work — Rs 3 crore for improvement of roads and Rs 2 crore for horticulture. Besides,a sum of Rs 1.95 crore is also provided for the implementation of Swaran Jayanti Shahari Rozgaar Yojana.

Education (Rs 113.09 crore) Current year’s allocation: Rs 89.72 cr

FOCUS AREAS: Improvement of infrastructure facilities in schools and colleges; providing adequate human resource and improving the quality of education; adequate provisions for uniforms,bags,books,notebooks,water bottles and shoes to students of government non-model schools. Rs 9.5 crore earmarked for implementation of mid-day-meal programme against current year’s allocation of Rs 6.15 crore.

Health (Rs 85.04 crore)Current year’s allocation: Rs 63.04 cr

FOCUS AREAS: Latest medical equipment at Government Medical College Hospital,Sector 32,and Government Multi-Specialty Hospital,Sector 16,besides new medical techniques in different disciplines. Upgrading CHC,Manimajra,to a 100-bed hospital and four civil dispensaries to primary health centres.

Police modernisation (Rs 13 crore) Current year’s allocation: Rs 2.5 cr

FOCUS AREAS: Police control room,police stations,police posts and police lines upgrade; Rs 5 crore provided for housing facilities to police personnel and Rs 10 crore for Recruitment Training Centre,Dhanas,and IRB,Sarangpur.

Government employees’ accommodation (Rs 15 cr) Current year’s allocation: Rs 13.07 cr

FOCUS AREAS: Construction of new houses; launch of new schemes; improving existing housing facilities.

Road Transport (Rs 5.09 crore) Current year’s allocation: Rs 4.35 cr

FOCUS AREAS: Rs 2.45 crore for new buses; ISBT-43 to be expanded further at a cost of

Rs 1.5 crore; installation of GPS; ticketing machines; and computerisation of Chandigarh Transport Undertaking.

Chandigarh Housing Board (Rs 210 crore)

FOCUS AREAS: Completion of both phases of slum rehabilitation projects — 6,328 families in Phase I) and 19,360 families in Phase II; one-time solution to the problem of squatters and slum re-settlements; out of the total 25,000 houses,12,864 houses already under construction.

State Capital Project (Rs 61.05 crore)

FOCUS AREAS: Rs 25 crore allocated for construction,strengthening and widening of roads; Rs 2 crore for civil work (construction of community centres,night shelters,bus queue shelters); Rs 5 crore for fixing stone pitching on both sides of Patiala-ki-Rao and its desilting; Rs 1.53 crore for improving streetlights on various roads; Rs 9.05 crore for development in Industrial Area.

Sports and youth activities (Rs 15.98 crore)

FOCUS AREAS: Construction of new stadia and sports complexes,besides upgrading the existing ones; grant-in-aid to Chandigarh Sports Council; further modernisation of sports centres.

Information technology (Rs 8.96 crore)

FOCUS AREAS: More facilities under the ongoing e-governance project; maintenance and expansion of e-Sampark,Jan Sampark and Gram Sampark centres.

Tourism (Rs 4.36 crore)

FOCUS AREAS: Expansion and launch of new tourism-related projects; Chandigarh Institute of Hotel Management upgrade.