Takeaways from CM Saini’s first Budget: Cash for women, Mission Olympics, curbing ‘dunki route’

In his maiden Budget, tabled in the state Assembly Monday, Chief Minister Saini, who holds the finance portfolio, allocated Rs 5,000 crore for the implementation of the Lado Lakshmi Yojana, which will provide Rs 2,100 monthly assistance to women.

Ahead of the October 2024 Assembly polls, the BJP had promised Rs 2,100 cash handout to women. The party swept to power for a third consecutive term by handing a shock defeat to the Congress in the polls despite the perceived “anti-incumbency” atmosphere against it.

Politically, there was no emergency to roll out the Lado Lakshmi Yojana at this point as no polls are on the cards in the state. Even the state civic body polls have already taken place, earlier this month, in which the BJP again registered a resounding victory. But, by making a budgetary provision for the scheme, the BJP has sought to signal its seriousness about fulfilling its poll promises. “It’s the speciality of the BJP that it implements whatever it promises,” says BJP national secretary Om Prakash Dhankar.

In the House, when a Congress MLA Shakuntla Khatak suggested that the scheme should be extended to all women, the CM indicated that there may be some criteria for registration of its beneficiaries.

Congress MP and former Union minister Kumari Selja said that during the Assembly elections, the BJP’s manifesto promised that if they came to power, every woman in the state would receive Rs 2,100 per month under the Lado Lakshmi scheme. “Now, the Budget allocates only Rs 5,000 crore for this, which will benefit only 25% of the women. To provide this amount to all women, Rs 12,000 crore would have to be allocated,” she claimed.

Focus on education, health

In the Budget for 2025-25, the focus on education and health reflected the BJP’s bid to reach out to weaker sections, who are more dependent on the government-run health and education facilities.

Keeping in view the aspirations of the poor for quality education for their children, Saini announced the establishment of a new Government Model Sanskriti School within a radius of every 10 km in Haryana. The state already has 197 such schools.

To enhance the interest of the students in the science and technology subjects, as many as 615 new Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) labs will be opened in the government senior secondary schools across the state.

The CM also announced the government’s decision to make it mandatory for the first and second-class officers of every department to visit a government school every month and engage with students there.

The quality of education in the government schools in the state is yet to be considered impressive. It is widely believed that largely children from the poor families, including those of labourers and farmers, study in government schools in Haryana, while the more advantaged class prefer private schools for their children.

To offer better health services in the government-run facilities, Saini announced a target to make every district hospital “the best hospital in that city”. For this, modern services and state-of-the art equipment like CT scan, MRI, ultrasound and digital X-ray in all district hospitals will be provided, he said. The government hospitals already has the provision of free medicines for the poor.

Schemes for farmers, sportspersons

For farmers, the Budget has increased the incentive from current Rs 7,000 to Rs 8,000 per acre if they opt for crop diversification while giving up paddy cultivation. To tackle the problem of stubble burning, the subsidy to farmers managing paddy straw has been hiked from Rs 1,000 per acre to Rs 1,200.

The government’s announcement to bring a Bill to save farmers from fake seeds and pesticides would be beneficial for the farming community, said Haryana BJP in-charge Satish Poonia.

With sportspersons from Haryana continuing to win various medals in different sports, the Budget has proposed a new insurance scheme, Khiladi Bima Yojana, to offer medical coverage of up to Rs 20 lakh for the medal winners at the national level and for players participating in international competitions.

New sports excellence centres have also been proposed in five universities of the state. Aiming to bring “at least 36 medals” in Olympics 2036, the CM announced a “Mission Olympics 2036 Vijayi Bhava” scheme with a provision of Rs 20 crore.

‘Dept of future’

The Budget proposed to set up a new department called “Department of Future” with the objective to make Haryana “future capable”.

Saini said that in the last 10 years, the Haryana government has given thrust on e-governance. “In this direction, my proposal is to establish the Haryana AI (Artificial Intelligence) Mission, in which the World Bank has assured to provide assistance of Rs 474 crore,” he said, adding that the Mission will establish hubs in Gurugram and Panchkula.

To promote startups, the Haryana government will encourage private investors to create a “fund of funds” to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore.

Crackdown on ‘dunki route’

Saini said his government would bring a Bill to tackle the problem of “dunki route”, which refers to illegal bids of migrants to enter the United States via risky routes after spending lakhs of rupees. “We will try to provide international employment to youth through Haryana Overseas Employment Cell and Haryana Skill and Employment Corporation,” he said.

Recently, a major row erupted over the deportation of illegal Indian immigrants from the US, mostly hailing from Punjab and Haryana, by military aircraft in chains and shackles, with the Opposition targeting the BJP-ruled Centre over it.