Kamalanagar, 05 July, 2022: Chakma Autonomous District Council Budget, 2022-2023 presented in the second sitting of the Budget Session held on 01/07/2022 was discussed and passed today unanimously along with the Supplementary Demand for Grants, 2021-2022 and Re-appropriation of Local Receipt Fund, 2021-2022.

The Budget was passed for an amount of Rs.16,475.33 Lakhs against an earmarked amount of Rs.11,210.19 Lakhs by the State Government and an estimated local revenue collection of Rs.132.37 Lakhs. The Budget has a deficit of Rs.5,132.77 Lakhs which, as stated by the Hon’ble CEM, CADC in his Budget speech, will be covered up with help from the State Government.

The deficit is due to a number of pending works, revised salary of councilors (which is due) and some committed expenditures of the last financial year.

The CEM has appealed the state government through the house to make the allocation of GIA fund on the basis 7:9:11 ratio as prescribed by the first State Finance Commission. “Deficit in the Budget would be minimised to a large extend”, he added.

The CEM said that the state government will be pressed to approve the long pending demand for revision of the salary of the Councilors while adding that salaries of MPs and MLAs had been revised long back. He further said, “It has become difficult for the Councilors of the ADCs to maintain their families with the existing pay”.

During the discussion of the Budget Dg. Durjya Dhan Chakma, EM brought to the notice of the House the very low revenue collection under GAD (mainly accounted by CADC Rest Houses) against the projected collection. He urged for an enquiry into the matter.

In taking note of the deficit in the Budget Dg. Durjya Dhan Chakma attributed the situation to discrepancy in allocation of GIA fund to CADC over the years. He stated that Table 9D of the first Mizoram State Finance Commission Report, 2015 has prescribed sharing of fund between the three ADCs of Mizoram as CADC:23.96%, MADC:34.07% and LADC:41.97% while adding that it has not been applied consistently which has cost CADC to loss a handsome share of GIA fund over the years. He also did not approve of some of the parameters based on which the fund sharing was determined. In this regard he said that in addition to the distance of the ADC headquarters from Aizawl, its distance from the district headquarters should have been also factored.

The Session was prorogued with todays sitting.