Bhopal, March 11 (IANS) Amid din, the Madhya Pradesh government on Tuesday presented its second adjunct budget of Rs 19,206 crore in the Assembly for the year 2024-25, with a significant amount earmarked towards the labour and power sectors.
Another amount of Rs 3,800 crore will go for backward classes, Rs 2,000 crore for food and consumer department, Rs 1,075 crore for MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) Rs 1,292 crore for public works department, Rs 726 crore for investment promotion, Rs 2,844, crore for public health engineering and Rs 2,864 crore for Narmada Valley Development department.
The second day of the session was marked by fervent debates, as members of the main opposition Congress, voiced concerns over the acute shortage of school teachers and the pressing issue of unemployment.
Congress legislator Jaivardhan Singh underscored the dire need for 70,000 teachers in the state's schools, lamenting the government's apparent indifference.
In rebuttal, Cooperative Minister Vishwas Sarang accused Singh of straying from the agenda, which was to extend gratitude for the Governor's address.
This exchange ignited a cacophony of support and dissent, with ruling party members rallying behind Sarang and Congress members standing firm with Singh.
Jaivardhan Singh defended his assertions, citing data from the school education department, and criticised the Governor's address for its lack of innovation, claiming it merely reiterated initiatives from the previous administration.
He pointed to unfulfilled promises, such as the provision of cooking gas cylinders at Rs 450, as promised by former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Singh further alleged that only Rs 30 crore of the Rs 300 crore budgeted for a particular scheme had been utilised, and he decried the Global Investors Summit as a monumental deception by the current government.
He accused the government of betraying farmers, noting that not a single farmer had received the promised rates for wheat and paddy, Singh said in the Assembly.
Singh also questioned the absence of elections in cooperative and mandi sectors, which were once held regularly. Minister Vishwas Sarang, in turn, criticised the Congress for what he described as theatrics aimed at drawing media attention, urging them to engage constructively in Assembly discussions.
Meanwhile, Panchayat Minister Prahlad Patel addressed inquiries regarding the implementation of the PESA Act in districts such as Jhabua, Badwani, and Alirajpur, detailing the formation of Gram Sabhas.
He also responded to concerns about delays in development projects in Sailana and Bajna, inviting a Privilege violation motion should his information prove inaccurate.
Earlier, a group of Congress legislators led by Opposition Leader Umang Singhar, Congress MLAs rallied against the BJP government, chanting slogans about "snakes in the basket" and unemployment.
Singhar accused the BJP of preying on the youth like a venomous snake, claiming the government has coiled itself around employment opportunities, becoming a "Sanpnath" for the state's young population.
The second day of the Assembly session was noisy and chaotic, with both sides fiercely arguing to make their points clear and their voices heard.
The state government will present its full budget on Wednesday, which is expected to touch a size of more than Rs 4 lakh crore.
