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SIX HOSPITALS ON THE PATTERN OF AIIMS IN SIX STATES AND UPGRADATION OF SIX MEDICAL COLLEGES TO THE AIIMS LEVEL

Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana

The Yojana announced by the Prime Minister last Independence Day will establish six hospitals on the pattern of Delhi based All India Institute of Medical Sciences. These will be one each in the states of Bihar, Chhatisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan and Uttaranchal. This Yojana also envisages the upgradation of one medical college to the level of AIIMS, in each of six states of Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.A provision of Rs.60 crore has been made in the Interim Budget itself for both these schemes.

ROUND THE CLOCK ELECTRONIC FILING OF CUSTOMS DOCUMENTS FOR CLEARANCE OF GOODS TO BE EXTENDED TO MORE FORMATIONS

To make tax administration user friendly, it has been proposed in the Interim Budget that round the clock electronic filing of customs documents for clearance of goods will be extended to 23 customs formations by March 31, 2004. At present it is available in 9 customs formations only. The customs clearance will be based on self-assessment and selective examination from June 30, 2004. The Finance Minister announced that an 8-digit code classification of goods for the levy of excise will be adopted by September 30, 2004. Compounding of offences under Union excise rules is to be introduced from June 30, 2004 for quick settlement of disputes and E-filing of excise returns is to be introduced from the same date.

CONVENTION CENTRES TO BE SET UP THROUGH PRIVATE-PUBLIC PARTNERSHIP

The Government has decided that convention centres will be set up at the metropolitan cities of Delhi & Mumbai and one each in the States of Goa and Rajasthan. Goa will thus have suitable facilities for holding International Film Festivals. In order to make the effective use of Jaipur convention centre, the Airport in Jaipur will be converted into an International Airport.

DEFENCE MODERNISATION FUND OF RS. 25,000 CRORE
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A non-lapsable Defence Modernisation Fund of Rs. 25,000 crore will be set up to ensure availability of adequate funds for Defence Modernisation and procurement of weapons systems. This decision has been taken in view of the fact that the process of defence procurement often extends to over three years and hence there is a need for committed availability of adequate funds.

IDBI TO BE DESIGNATED AS LEAD DEVELOPMENT FINANCE INSTITUTION

Government has decided to designate Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) as the lead developmental finance institution keeping in view its expertise, experience in project appraisal, funding and coordination. It is expected to help in making availability of timely finance at reasonable rates. IDBI’s efforts will be complemented by other premier institutions and banks such as the Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation and the State Bank of India. Government will also provide the requisite support to IDBI for this task. Industrial Finance Corporation will be restructured by transferring its impaired assets to an Asset Reconstruction Company and merger with a large public sector bank.

CENTRAL PLAN OUTLAY FOR POWER, ROADS AND HIGHWAYS GO UP BY RS. 3000 CRORE EACH

Power generation, roads/highways and shipping sectors will get major shares of central plan outlay during the next financial year. While the proposed outlay for Departments of Power, Roads and Highways goes up by more than Rs. 3000 crore each with power getting Rs. 15630 crore and Road Transport and Highways getting Rs. 10344 crore.

Other major focus areas of the Government will be Health and Family Welfare which gets Rs. 7481 crore, HRD getting Rs. 10625 crore and Agriculture getting Rs. 4192 crore, an increase by more than Rs. 1000 crore each. Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Shipping will get a hike of more than Rs. 1000 crore compared to last year. Total central plan outlay will be Rs. 156428 crore as compared to Rs. 141766 crore in the revised estimate of the year 2003-2004.

50 PER CENT OF THE DA TO BE MERGED WITH PAY

Government has decided to merge 50 per cent of the DA with the basic pay of the Central Government Employees. This will come into effect from April 01, 2004. This was announced by the Finance Minister, Shri Jaswant Singh while presenting the Interim Budget 2004-2005 in the Lok Sabha today. At present, Central Government Employees are getting 59 per cent of their pay as DA. The last time the DA increased was from July 01, 2003. The Finance Minister told the House that the Fifth Pay Commission had recommended that the Dearness Allowance should be merged with basic pay whenever the DA exceeds 50 per cent of the pay and the Government having re-examined this recommendation in depth has decided the merger. (keralamonitor.com)