Newly-elected Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on Monday asserted that improving the state's economy will be her top priority, saying fiscal situation had worsened in the previous Congress regime with the deficit touching 2.48 per cent of GDP in 2013-14.
"Fiscal deficit was 6.6 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2003-2004, and by end of 2007-2008 it was reduced to 1.75 per cent of GDP," she said presenting the Vision Document-2020 for the state.
"This fiscal deficit is gradually increasing since 2008 and it has touched again 2.48 per cent of GDP in the current fiscal year 2013-14," she said in an indirect attack on Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government.
The government debt and securities was Rs 84,000 crore in 2008, now in the current financial year it is Rs1,31,000 crore, she said.
During the previous five years of Congress government, the state earned hundreds of crore of rupees from oil exploration, and the power companies' debt also went up three times in last regime, she said.
In the Vision-2020 document, she said everyone in the government, whether a minister, MLA, or bureaucrats, should work unitedly as a team.
The state government would work on eradicating poverty, unemployment and fulfill the dreams of youth, she said.
BJP in its poll manifesto has promised to provide 15 lakh jobs in the next five years, she recalled, and said the government would make efforts to provide good education and technical education to young people so that they could get better jobs in future.
The new government would try its best to improve development growth, minimise mother and child mortality rates, reduce drop-out rate of school children, and work on all-round development of the state, the Chief Minister said.
BJP's election manifesto was adopted as an official document and be treated as a policy draft, she said, adding the official machinery should follow it strictly. Recalling her first term in Rajasthan government 2003-08, Raje said she wanted to take out the state from the category of 'Bimaru rajya' (sick state) then, but the state did not come out of this category in last five years due to poor economic situation.
"Our main mantra is development, and to achieve it the state government would take up all welfare schemes and infrastructure plans," she said.
She also advocated for administrative reforms, women empowerment, SC/ST/OBC and minorities' welfare and their various schemes to be energised with a pace.
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