Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu presenting the Budget in Hyderabad on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: ANI
From a total budget allocation of ₹1,00,637 crore in 2014-15 to ₹2,91,159 crore in a span of a decade, it has been a quantum jump that sums up the rapid growth of Telangana.
Within the same time span, per capita income has grown from ₹1,24,104 to ₹3,47,299 in the State. It is this spike in per capita income that held the attention of the Finance Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka during his State budget 2024-25 speech in the Assembly on Thursday.
“The per capita income of the country is ₹1,83,236. Compared to the national per capita income, Telangana’s per capita income is higher by ₹1,64,063. At the same time, there is a gross inequality among various districts. For example, the per capita income of Ranga Reddy district is ₹9,46,862 whereas that of Vikarabad is ₹1,80,241. This indicates that the economic development among districts is grossly unequal,” said Mr. Bhatti Vikramarka, promising to redress the inequality: “Our government will take measures to bridge the gap among districts.”
Higher unemployment rates in the State than the national average
This inequality has shown up in multiple ways, especially when it comes to human development indices or educational facilities that are part of the ‘Socio Economic Outlook 2024’. Hobbled as it is by relying on 2011 Census data, the document notes the challenges of matching the available workforce with suitable job opportunities. It also notes the higher unemployment rates in the State than the national average along with higher labour force participation rates (LFPR) compared to the national average.
Education gets 7.31% of the total budget
In this scenario, a higher outlay for education was expected. However, the allocation just about keeps pace with inflation with ₹3,350 crore for higher education and ₹17,942 crore for secondary education. This is 7.31% of the total budget and is nearly half of the average allocation by all States which hovers around 15.2%. This allocation continues the policy of the earlier regime, and is also in sharp contrast to the 10.89% budgeted outlay in 2014-15.
The disparity in per capita income and its impact can be seen in Khammam, where an Annual Survey of Education Report-2022 revealed that 22.1% of the children were not enrolled in any school. This is higher than the national average of 13.2%. If the disparity in the State has to be evened out, a higher allocation was necessary in the education sector.
“To provide nutritious food to children and also to provide quality education, we have decided to convert Anganwadi centres to pre schools,” Mr. Bhatti Vikramarka said. Now, how this scheme will function across the State with the the Women and Child Development Department getting ₹2,736 crore remains to be seen.
Farm produce tripled
While the Finance Minister referred to the disparity among districts in terms of per capita income, one of the factors that is creating this churn is the agricultural output. With 26.13 lakh hectares under cultivation in 2014-15, the farm produce was 72.18 lakh tonnes in Telangana. In 2020-23, the State has seen output nearly tripling, with a produce of 207.08 lakh tonnes, while the area under cultivation has just about doubled to 59.89 lakh hectares.
