By Team BiharConnect
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi has urged the government of India to bear the full cost of all the Centrally Sponsored Schemes for at least one year as the state is not in a position to pay its share due to a drastic drop in its revenue because of lockdown.
In a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Modi said implementation of several centrally sponsored schemes such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act ( MGNREGA), Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and Mid-Day meal scheme could be suspended unless the central government bear the entire cost.
Bihar’s Deputy CM, who also holds the finance portfolio, said the state’s tax collection from own resources dipped by 85 per cent in April this year due to the lockdown.
“In the financial year of 2019-20 the State government had spent Rs 10,000 crore as its share for 66 Centrally sponsored schemes but, due to extended lockdown the State’s own revenue collection has dropped drastically and the government is not in a position to generate funds for bearing its share,” Modi said.
In most of the centrally sponsored schemes the central government bears 60 per cent cost, while the remaining 40 per cent is borne by the states. In some schemes the ratio is even 50:50. This means half the cost has to be borne by the state government.
During the year 2019-20, a total amount of Rs 25,650.43 crore was spent on 66 centrally sponsored schemes in Bihar. Out of this the central government contributed Rs15,513.03 crore as its share while the rest Rs 10,137.40 crore was borne by the state.
