Reeling under the Opposition's persistent onslaught over rising unemployment in Haryana, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar Thursday announced 65,000 regular government jobs while presenting the Budget for 2023-24 in the state Assembly Thursday. With over one-and-a-half years to go for the state Assembly elections, no new taxes were proposed in the Budget. “The government will be undertaking the recruitment for at least 65,000 regular posts in 2023-24 including through the Common Eligibility Tests for Group C and Group D posts”, said Khattar, who also holds the finance portfolio. Khattar proposed the establishment of a Venture-Capital-Fund in collaboration with banks and financial institutions to provide financial support through loans and equity to young start-up entrepreneurs who are either women or come from family with an annual income below Rs 1.8 lakh or belong to Scheduled Castes or Backward Castes. This Venture Capital Fund is envisaged to assist youth in projects with cost up to Rs 5 crore. Apart from regular jobs, Khattar also made a pitch for his government's flagship scheme of contractual recruitment through the Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam Limited (HKRNL). Keeping its guns trained on the Khattar-led BJP-JJP coalition government, the principal Opposition Congress, led by ex-CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, has been highlighting the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE)'s unemployment figures, released in December 2022, that showed Haryana with the country's highest unemployment rate at over 37 per cent. Eyeing the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and subsequent Assembly polls the same year, Khattar also sought to placate the employees by announcing various sops. Last year, Khattar had announced that his government would provide coverage under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana to all families whose annual income is up to Rs 1.8 lakh. At that time, there were 15.5 lakh such families identified in Haryana. With the Parivar-Pehchan-Patra scheme of the state government, 29.93 lakh families were identified for receiving benefit under the Comprehensive Health Insurance of Antyodaya Units (CHIRAYU)-Ayushman Bharat. In this year's Budget, Khattar enhanced the upper income limit from Rs 1.8 lakh to Rs 3 lakh. This would enable families for receiving medical treatment cover of Rs 5 lakh in a government empanelled hospital. With this decision, Khattar said that 8 lakh additional families would be covered, taking the total to over 39.93 lakh families. The CM declared revised guidelines of the Mukhyamantri Vyapari Kshatipurti Bima Yojna for welfare of street vendors, small traders and businesses having an annual turnover of up to Rs 1.50 crore by providing compensation in case of loss of assets due to any natural causes or fire. The scheme will become operational on April 1, 2023. Khattar proposed a new scheme, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Antyodyay Parivar Suraksha Yojana, for providing assistance in case of death or disability in respect of a member of a family having annual income of up to Rs 1.80 lakh. “This scheme will provide an assistance which would vary depending on the age of the person at the time of death or permanent disability. The proposed assistance shall be Rs 1 lakh up to the age of 6 years, Rs 2 lakh above the age of 6 years up to the age of 18 years, Rs 3 lakh for age above 18 years up to 25 years, Rs 5 lakh for age over 25 years up to 40 years and Rs 2 lakh for the age of above 40 years up to the age of 60 years,” he said. The Budget proposed new 100-bed ESI hospitals at Hisar, Rohtak, Ambala and Sonipat and the ESI dispensaries at Rohtak, Pataudi, Charkhi Dadri and Jhadli. Khattar announced that the Chandigarh administration has allotted a plot for constructing houses for the government employees, adding that the construction on the multi-storeyed housing complex for them was “expected to begin this year”. Noting that senior citizens aged above 65 years had been entitled to 50 per cent concession on their travel in the Haryana roadways buses, the CM said this age limit has now been reduced to 60 years. To promote skill education for girls, he announced a financial assistance of Rs 2,500 for every girl child who takes admission in the government-run Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), whose family annual income is up to Rs 3 lakh. Sports hostels in Panchkula and Ambala (200 beds each) to provide residential training facilities for national level athletes, sports university in Rai, Sonipat, insurance benefit for sports persons in case of injuries and disruptions to their career for up to two years, a national-level Scientific Training and Rehabilitation Centre at Panchkula are other key highlights of Khattar's Budget. He also promised 1 lakh houses through the Prime Minister Awas Yojana to ensure affordable housing for families having annual income up to Rs 1.8 lakh. Projecting his government's commitment towards cow protection, Khattar also enhanced the budget for it 10 times – increasing the provision for the Haryana Gau Sewa Aayog from Rs 40 crore to Rs 400 crore. He also announced the setting up of four veterinary polyclinics in Palwal, Fatehabad, Mahendragarh, and Ambala.
