Friday, May 4, 2018
  • Chandigarh, May 4 – Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal today said that the State Government has submitted suggestions to XV Finance Commission  on the basis of the suggestions received from the people of the state. He was sure that the Commission will favourably consider these suggestions and the State will get maximum funds from the Commission. The State will ensure optimum utilisation of these funds for the benefit of the people.
  • The Chief Minister was addressing the mediapersons after his meeting with the XV Finance Commission here today.
  • In reply to a question on law and order situation in the State, the Chief Minister replied that everybody is aware about law and order situation prevalent in the State in the year 2011, 2012 and 2013. At present, law and order situation is much better as immediate action is taken on receiving a complaint of any crime committed in the State, whereas during those times, the cases remained closed for weeks without any action.
  • In reply to another question, the Chief Minister said that the farmers’ income would be doubled by the year 2022 as per the announcement of the Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi and the State Government has submitted suggestions to the XV Finance Commission in this regard.
  • Chandigarh, May 4 – The Officiating Chairman of XV Finance Commission, Dr Ashok Lahiri today said that the country is proud of the achievements of Haryana, especially in bringing improvement in fiscal management. He applauded ‘Saksham Yuva Scheme’ of Haryana and also on becoming first kerosene Free State in the country.
  • Dr Lahiri was addressing the mediapersons after holding several meetings with Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal, Finance Minister, Capt. Abhimanyu and several senior officers of the State Government.
  • He said that Haryana is the first State in the country to prepare vision document of Sustainable Goals with UNDP. He said that the State Government is completely focussed on achieving its targets. Several suggestions have been given to prepare district specific schemes keeping in view the different requirements of the districts. Giving example, he said that Gurugram district has highest per capita income in the country, whereas the per capita income in Nuh district is very low. There is a need to develop Nuh and bring it into the mainstream districts, he added.
  •  He said that during the last three years, there has been improvement in sex ratio in Haryana and now there are 914 girls per thousand boys. He appreciated the efforts taken by the government for this improvement. However, he emphasised that a lot has to be done to improve it further. The civilised society has to coordinate with the efforts of the Government to completely remove imbalance in the sex ratio.
  • He said that Haryana has made exemplary progress in the implementation of GST. Haryana is also progressing very fast in the field of digitalisation which is appreciable. He said that the availability of water in the State is much less than its demand. Some of the areas have been declared dark zones. Hence, there is a need of strengthen the water management system. The State Government has submitted suggestions to implement micro irrigation system at a large scale for judicious use of water and the Finance Commission would definitely consider on this suggestion.
  • He said that there is a need to create more job opportunities and the Commission would consider peri-urban farming as suggested by Haryana Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister, Mr O.P. Dhankar. Replying to a question on pollution, he said that stubble burning is one of the reasons of pollution and the State Government has submitted its suggestion for bringing mechanisation in this field so that stubble could be ploughed back into the field without being burnt. Other alternate methods of disposal of stubble could also be explored.
  • Chandigarh, May 4 – Blazing a new trail, the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal suggested the 15th Finance Commission to consider recovering an equity and efficiency based granular national framework, based on five broad indicators in each of them for determining horizontal devolution of central taxes to different states. The State Government also suggested to include the performance parameter in the devolution formula, incentivize the state to boost their efforts towards raising additional resources, adoption of Public Finance Management System (PFMS) and Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to improve efficiency of the state expenditures, allocation of more resources in rural areas, incentives for cropped area, irrigated area and forest area and incentivizing investment in national priorities.
  • This and several other suggestions were made by Mr Manohar Lal in a meeting with the 15th Finance Commission here today. Haryana Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu was also present in the meeting.
  • The Chief Minister also suggested indicator matrix for horizontal devolution. These included growth-20 per cent- equally divided between income distance (after per capita income of high income districts is deflated to double of average per capita income of rest of the State) and capital expenditure, fiscal efficiency and discipline- 20 per cent- equally divided between resource mobilization and adoption of PFMS and DBT, population- 17.5 per cent- equally divided between rural and urban ratio, improvement in sex ratio and younger demographic profile, area- 15 per cent- equally divided between forest cover, cropped area and irrigated area and contribution to national priorities- 27.5 per cent- equally divided between contribution to central pool of food grains, Armed Forces and sports.
  • He said that the level of capital investments made in next five years on physical and social infrastructure would decide the country’s growth trajectory for next few decades. To this end, it is suggested that the devolution formula may include a parameter which takes in to account performance of the states in terms of their capital expenditures, and allocates more resources to better performing states. The efficient resource mobilization is pivotal for reducing deficits and generating surplus for capital investments. In this regard, states should be incentivized to boost their efforts towards raising additional resources through both tax and non-tax measures and also for undertaking initiatives towards plugging-in leakages of their revenues, he added.
  • Mr Manohar Lal said that both PFMS and DBT are powerful tools to improve efficiency of the State expenditures, and the states should be incentivized and motivated to adopt them to promote consolidation and reduce borrowing, particularly for revenue expenditures. He said that weight assigned to population also needs to be apportioned based on rural and urban population divide. It is important that the states wherein majority of population lives in rural areas are allocated more resources. Moreover, the population parameter should also take into account other key demographic factors such as improvement in sex ratio (female to male), and population of youth.
  • He said that while the State Government is appreciative of the 14th Finance Commission for including forest cover as one of the criteria for deciding devolution of funds, it is also of the view that this parameter should be modified to strike a balance between forest cover, cropped area and irrigated area. Haryana’s agricultural productivity, gross cropped area and irrigated area have significantly contributed to the central pool of food grains. 
  • The Chief Minister said that though Haryana covers just 1.34 per cent of the country’s geographic area, it contributes about 15 per cent to the central pool. The 15th Finance Commission may also note that people of Haryana have been flag bearers of national pride in terms of representation in sports and armed forces. In Commonwealth Games 2018, Haryana’s athletes won 22 medals out of 66 medals won by India. Similarly, despite accounting for just 3 per cent of the country’s population, Haryana adds more muscle to the Indian army than any other state. In fact, every 10th Army personnel belong to Haryana. This trend needs to be bolstered by incentivizing investment in these national priorities so that the State government could provide world class infrastructure to its sportspersons, and implement initiatives towards improving access to civil and social services. This will allow people of Haryana to continue making their significant national contributions, he asserted.
  • He also drawn the attention of the Commission towards the fact that Haryana was not recommended for any post-devolution revenue deficit grant as the State was projected to be a revenue surplus state even on pre-devolution basis. However, it is for consideration of the 15th Finance Commission that the State has been historically revenue deficit except for a three years period from 2005-06 to 2007-08, which followed implementation of VAT. While the State Government is working hard to turnaround the situation, the revenue deficit is expected to persist in coming years due to increase in committed liabilities (implementation of the 7th Pay Commission recommendations, UDAY scheme and wages of workers) of the State. He urged the Commission to consider realistic financial situation of the State for its award period and to provide appropriate amount of revenue deficit grant so as to ensure that State Government is able to utilize available fiscal space for capital expenditure instead of financing its committed liabilities.
  • The Chief Minister also demanded grant-in-aid for NCR region and said that if the State is provided additional resources for building and maintaining infrastructure in the NCR region, it could utilize freed-up fiscal space for development of other under-developed districts. He also urged the Commission to consider the recommendation of the state to fill the gap in receipt of funds as compared to allocation recommended by the 14th Finance Commission for its award period. In the last three years, the state has received amount of Rs 19391.23 crore as against allocated amount of Rs 21896.92 crore.
  • The Chief Minister said that the expenditure incurred towards maintenance of infrastructure created under Central Sponsored Schemes (CSSs) and engagement of staff poses additional burden on the State finances. Therefore, the Commission should take into consideration these aspects while deciding the devolution ratio between the Central and the State governments. He said that CSSs are implemented by the Central Government with a ‘sunset clause’ wherein releases under the CSSs to States stop or start declining after few years. He said that Haryana received Rs 3,309 crore in 2014-15 under the CSSs from the Government of India. This amount has gone down to Rs 2,511 crore in 2017-18, he added. 
  • Mr Manohar Lal also urged the Finance Commission to allocate higher share of the Union taxes taking into consideration its outstanding contribution to the country’s GDP. He said that Haryana counts for 3.7 per cent of the country’s GDP; it is home to 2.9 per cent of the country’s population; and covers 1.34 per cent of the country’s geographic area. In this context, just 1.084 per cent share in the divisible pool of taxes allocated by the 14th Finance Commission is not reasonable. 
  • The Chief Minister also urged the Commission to make special arrangement of funds for the pond management authority set up by the state government for the rejuvenation of about 14000 ponds in the state. He said that a number of departments are part of this authority and huge budget is required for carrying out this work. He said that the state government has identified 37 blocks in the state as dark zone due to depleting level of water. He said that the state government has decided to implement projects of micro irrigation in these blocks so as to make the proper utilisation of available water.
  • He said that that during the last three and a half years, the state government has taken various decisions in public interest and also brought about a systematic change in the system through the effective use of information technology. He said that the state government has been successful in saving a whopping amount of Rs 671 crore through implementation of direct benefit transfer which was earlier being transferred to ineligible beneficiaries of various schemes. He said that the Finance Commission should take note of this and a portion of this amount should be transferred to state government as incentive.
  • He said that as many as 380 Government to Citizen (G to C) services would be made online byAugust 15 this year and the people would be able to avail the benefit of these services at Antyodaya as well as Atal Sewa Kendras at district and tehsil levels. He said that with a view to make aware the people about various welfare schemes of the Centre and the State Governments, efforts are being made to bring all schemes on a single platform. In the same series, Antyodaya Bhawan has been set up in seven districts of the State and the process is underway for opening of such centres in remaining districts also. Later on, these Antyodaya Bhawans would be set up at sub division level also. He said that Haryana is the first state in the country in online registration of birth. He said that the state government is working on digital literacy in the state so as to improve the delivery of services through information technology. He said that Gurugram is the best IT hub of the country followed by Bengaluru. 
  • While laying special emphasis on the need of imparting quality education to the students in the state, the Chief Minister said that the state government has implemented Make in Haryana and Saksham Haryana schemes in the state. Also, Haryana is the first state to open a skill development university for enhancing the skills of youth. He said that under the Saksham Yuva Scheme, the educated unemployed youth are provided Rs 9000 per month and Rs 7500 per month in lieu of 100 hours guaranteed work. He said that the state government has implemented Haryana Enterprises Promotion Policy to facilitate the entrepreneurs in the state. Under the scheme, the entrepreneurs intending to set up their units are provided all necessary clearances under one roof.
  • Speaking on this occasion, Member of 15th Finance Commission, Dr Ashok Lahiri has appreciated the state government led by Chief Minister Mr Manohar Lal for making significant achievements in the field of per capita income, setting up of assets management cell and cash management system, goods and services tax, property registration, Antyodaya Sewa Kendras and educated panchayats. He said that though Haryana has set benchmark in many fields, but the country has more expectations from the state. He hailed the development taken place in Gurugram and said that the global city should be developed on the lines of Shanghai city of China. He assured that the Commission would thoroughly go through the memorandum submitted by the state government.
  • Earlier, Chief Secretary, Mr D.S Dhesi presented the welcome address.
  • Among those present on this occasion included Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Mr Rajesh Khullar, Additional Chief Secretaries and Principal Secretaries of various departments and senior officers of 15th Finance Commission.
  • Chandigarh, May 4 – Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal said that doctors should show empathy to the patients visiting them for treatment and provide them proper services to make them feel better.
  • The Chief Minister was speaking at the State Felicitation Ceremony for Quality Improvement in Healthcare Services, here today. On this occasion, he felicitated one State Quality Team, 18 National Quality Assurance Programme (NQAP) Certified Facilities, four National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH) Accredited Facilities, one National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) Accredited Laboratory, nine NABH Assessors and gave away 48 Kayakalp Awards.
  • Mr. Manohar Lal said that the infrastructure of government hospitals would have to be strengthened further so that people should compare them with private hospitals. Also, facilities of government hospitals would have to be improved to a level that well to do people would also come to government hospitals for treatment. He said those, who have been felicitated today will become inspiration for others.
  • Speaking on the occasion, Health Minister, Mr. Anil Vij said that in order to further improve the quality of treatment in hospitals; the State Government has set a target to get NABH or NQAP certification for 84 hospitals. He said that the target to get NQAP certification for 44 hospitals would soon be achieved. He said that 22 hospitals and one lab has already got NQAP certification.
  • Mr. Vij said that Cath Lab facility has been provided in four districts of Haryana namely Ambala, Panchkula, Faridabad and Gurugram and efforts were being made to extend this facility to all hospitals in the state. Thereafter, Haryana would become first state where such facility would be available at all hospitals. He said that dialysis facility has been started at 21 district hospitals and CT Scan, MRI facility would be given in all hospitals.
  • The Health Minister said that the State Government has been improving the parameters of hospitals. In order to facilitate the patients, best equipment and WHO grading medicines are being purchased. As a result of this, the interest of people has increased towards civil hospitals. An increase of about 20 per cent has been registered in OPD and IPD services. He said that the Infant Mortality Rate of the state has reduced from 42 to 33, the Neonatal Mortality Rate has reduced from 28 to 22 and the Maternal Mortality Rate reduced from 146 to 127 per thousand. Apart from this, the institutional delivery rate has increased to about 93 per cent and sex ratio to 914 per thousand boys. As a result of these achievements, health teams of different states visit hospitals of Haryana to adopt such facilities.
  • On this occasion, two booklets were released included Guidebook for Health Professionals to Respond to Violence Against Women and Children, and Handbook for Counsellors Responding to Violence Against Women and Children.
  • Director Health Services and Executive Director, Haryana State Heath Resource Centre, Dr. Sonia Trikha gave a presentation on the activities being carried out by the Centre. The Chief Minister also presented Certificate of Achievement to Dr. Trikha.
  • Advisor (Quality Improvement), National Health Systems Resource Centre, New Delhi, Dr. J.N. Srivastava, Additional Chief Secretary, Health, Mr. R.R. Jowel, Secretary, Health and Mission Director, National Health Mission, Ms. Amneet P. Kumar also spoke on this occasion.
  •  Director General Health Services, Dr. Satish Kumar Aggarwal presented vote of thanks.