ECONOMIC SURVEY ASSAM, 1975-76CHAPTER XVBANKING AND COMMERCE15.1. Banking: 15.1.1. The total number of bank Offices in Assam, which was only 74 at the time of nationalisation of 14 big commercial banks in July 1969, increased to 214 in June 1975 displaying rise of 189 per cent over the period. During June, 1969 a bank office on an average covered 188 thousand persons which came down to 68 thousand persons in June, 1975. The trend is, no doubt, encouraging. 15.1.2. During the period from July 1974 to June 1975, altogether 28 new bank offices were opened in the state out of which 10 were opened in places where there were no banking facilities at all. During the same period, total number of newly opened bank offices in the Country stood at 1803 out of which 547 were opened in unbanked centres. The table below shows the number of bank offices and population per bank office in the state for the past few years. TABLE 15.1NUMBER OF BANK OFFICES AND AVERAGE POPULATION PER BANK OFFICE IN ASSAM
Source:- Annual report and Trend
& Progress of Banking in India 1974-75.
15.1.3. It may be mentioned here that banking facilities presently available in the state are still inadequate. As a matter of fact, it is available mostly in the urban and semi-urban areas. A vast majority of the population in the rural areas are still unable to take advantage of the banking facilities because of absence of bank offices in these areas. In Assam a bank office covered on an average 68 thousand persons as at the end of June 1975 as against 29 thousand persons for the country as a whole. In some other developed states like Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu, a bank office on an average covered 17 thousand, 23 thousand, 17 thousand, 23 thousand, 14 thousand and 21 thousand persons respectively thereby indicating presence of much more banking facilities in these states compared with Assam. Therefore, the necessity of further expansion of banking facilities in the state, particularly in the rural areas, cannot be exaggerated. 15.2. Growth of deposits and expansion of credit 15.2.1. The volume of deposits of scheduled commercial banks and their advances to different sectors of the economy have increased considerably over the past few years. The deposits of scheduled commercial banks operating in the state which amounted to Rs 66.54 crores in December 1972 rose to Rs 82.19 crores in December 1973 and further to 102.50 crores in December 1974 Similarly, advances of these banks also increased from Rs 30.29 crores in December 1972 to Rs 46.27 crores in December 1974. However, advances made to the rural sector recorded very little increase only Rs 2.59 crores in December 1974 as against Rs 1.74 crores in December 1973 and Rs 2.11 crores in December 1972. 15.2.2. The following table shows the deposits and advances of scheduled commercial banks in different districts of the state during the years 1973 and 1974. TABLE 15.2DISTRICT WISE DISTRIBUTION OF DEPOSITS
AND ADVANCES OF SCHEDULED COMMERCIAL BANKS IN ASSAM
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(P) Provisional
Source:- Banking statistics, December,
1974 (R.B.I.)
15.2.3. It has been observed that "agriculture and allied activities (including plantation)" and "industry" are the two notable sectors receiving major share of credits from the commercial banks of the state. In December 1974, these two sectors accounted for 52.4 per cent and 29.1 per cent respectively of the total outstanding bank credits in the state. The table below shows occupation wise classification of outstanding credit of scheduled commercial banks in the state during the year 1972, 1973 and 1974.
TABLE 15.3
OCCUPATION-WISE CLASSIFICATION OF
OUTSTANDING CREDIT OF SCHEDULED COMMERCIAL BANKS IN ASSAM (AS ON LAST
FRIDAY OF DECEMBER)
(Amount in Rs lakh)
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P Provisional
Source:- Banking
statistics, December, 1974 (R.B.I.)
15.2.4. Although agriculture is the biggest recipient of bank credit, the major amount is absorbed by plantation sector (Rs 4398.11 lakhs out of Rs 4617.81 lakhs in December 1974 or 95.2 per cent). Similarly outstanding credit under small-scale industry sector accounts for 44.9 per cent of the total outstanding credit under industry (item No. 2 in table above) in December 1974 as against 70.9 per cent in December 1973 and 49.1 per cent in December 1972.
15.3.. Life Insurance:-
15.3.1. The Life Insurance Corporation of India is making satisfactory progress in its business performance. The Gauhati Division of the LIC covers all the five states and two Union Territories in the North Eastern Region. The performance of the LIC business in the state of Assam in respect of business introduced and business completed over the past few years may be seen in the table below
TABLE 15.4.
PERFORMANCE OF THE LIC IN ASSAM
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15.3.2. The performance of the Corporation in respect of investment and credit is also noteworthy. The total investment of the corporation in Assam during 1974-75 amounted to Rs 5.92 crores, which was however, lower than the previous years (1973-74) investment of Rs 6.93 crores. The following table presents item-wise investment of the corporation in the state of Assam for the past few years.
TABLE 15.5
INVESTMENT OF THE LIC IN ASSAM
(Amount in Rs crores)
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(N) Negligible
Source Divisional Manager, LIC Gauhati
Division.
15.4. Joint Stock companies:
15.4.1. The total number of joint stock companies at work in Assam during 1975-76 were 635 out of which 107 were public limited companies and the ret 528 were private limited companies. During the previous year i.e. in 1974-75 the number joint stock companies at work in the state were 6.03 (105 public limited and 498 public limited companies) The table below shows the growth of joint stock companies at work in Assam over the past few years.
TABLE No. 15.6
GROWTH OF JOINT STOCK COMPANIES IN
ASSAM
(In Number)
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15.4.2. During 1975-76, altogether 32 new companies wree registered in the state as against 111 companies registered in the preceding year. Out of 32 companies registered during 1975-76, 30 were private limited companies and the rest 2 were public limited companies. The total authorised capital of these companies amounted to Rs 397 lakhs, Rs 60 lakhs for public limited companies and Rs 337 lakhs for private limited companies. The following table shows data on authorised and paid up capital of the companies registered during the years 1973-74, 1974-75 and 1975-76.
TABLE No. 15.7
AUTHORISED AND PAID UP CAPITAL OF
COMPANIES REGISTERED IN ASSAM DURING 1973-74, 1974-75 AND 1975-76
(Amount in Rs lakh)
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N.A. = Not Available
Source:- Registrar of companies, Government
of India, Shillong.
15.5. Procurement and distribution of essential commodities
15.5.1. The state Government showed satisfactory performance in the procurement and distribution of paddy and wheat in the state since in took over the wholesale trade in rice and wheat in November 1973.
The performance of paddy procurement during the khariff year 1975-76 was particularly outstanding. As against the target of 20 lakh quintals, the total procurement during the year was 38.52 lakh quintals and the state Government had to revise twice the target and was also in a position to offer 12 lakh quintals of paddy to the central pool.
The procurement target during the khariff season 1976-77 has been fixed at 31 lakh quintals. The table below shows the data on procurement of paddy in Assam over the past few years.
TABLE No. 15.8
PROCUREMENT OF PADDY IN ASSAM
(In lakh quintals)
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15.5.2. Total procurement of locally produced wheat in the State during 1976 season was 12,503 quintals as against 3,804 quintals in the previous year. The procurement of wheat was low because wheat cultivation in the state started only recently. The two agencies which are entrusted with the work for procurement of paddy and wheat in the state are-the Assam State Cooperative Marketing and Consumers federation and the food Corporation of India, These agencies are assisted by the 664 gaon panchayat level cooperative societies of the state.
15.5.3. The state Government in order to ensure regular flow of essential commodities to the consumer, streamlined the entire public distribution system of the State. As many as nine essential commodities of mass consumption like rice, wheat and wheat products, sugar, salt, kerosene oil, yarn, controlled cloth, edible oils and pulses have presently been listed for distribution through the new set up. The Assam State Co-operative Marketing and Consumers Federation, the Food Corporation of India and the National Cooperative Consumers Federation will function as the feeder agencies at the state level for supplying commodities to various cooperatives, rural retail outlets, fair price shops etc. for distribution to the consumers. It is hoped that the new set up of public distribution will remove market manipulations and speculative trade in these essential commodities and will be able to maintain regularity in supplies and prices. During the 1975-76 financial year, a total of 6,70,400 quintals of rice, 63,948 quintals of wheat and 7,42,243 quintals of sugar were allotted to D.C./S.D.Os for subsequent allotment to Fair Price Shops, Government departments etc, of the State.
15.5.4. The table below shows the data on allotment of rice, wheat and sugar to Deputy commissioner/Sub-Divisional Officers for Fair Price Shops, Government Department etc, of the State During the year 1975-76.
TABLE No. 15.9
DISTRICT-WISE ALLOTMENT OF RICE,
WHEAT AND SUGAR TO D.C./S.D.Os FOR FAIR PRICE SHOPS, GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS
ETC, DURING THE FINANCIAL YEAR 1975-76
(Figure in quintals)
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CHAPTER XVI
PUBLIC FINANCE
16.1. Table 16.1 presents the gross receipt under the consolidated Fund of Government of Assam for the year 1974-75, 1975-76 (Revised Estimates) and 1976-77 (Budget Estimates). It shows that totes receipts under the consolidated Fund increases from Rs 250.0 croral in 1974-75 to rs 252.8 crores in 1976-77. But, while receipt under the revenue budget has gone up from Rs 169.7 crores in 1974-75 to 187.6 crores in 1976-77 the capital receipt has come down from Rs 80.3 crores to Rs 65.3 crores in the two respective years. The reason for fall in capital receipt is attributable to the reduction in receipt under loan from L.I.C.I and ways and Means advance from the Reserve Bank of India. The total expenditure under Consolidated Fund has follows the trend of receipt exhibiting a rising trend; while the receipt expenditure rises from RS 156.5 crores in 1974-75 to Rs 189.6 crores in 1976-77, the capital expenditure falls from Rs 88.6 crores to Rs 73.3 crores. The fall in capital expenditure is due to decrease in repayment of ways and means advance from Reserve Bank of India and loans other than those from the Central Government.
16.2. Table 16.2 represents the Revenue and Capital receipts of Government of Assam. The revenue receipts have increased from Rs 169.7 crores in 1974-75 to Rs 183.4 crores in 1975-76 (R.En and Rs 187.6 crores in 1976-77 (B.E.) recording a rise of 8.1% in 1975-76), over previous year and 10.5% in 1976-77 over 1975-76. The proportion of tax revenue to total revenue raised from 45.0% in 1974-75 to 46.1% in 1975-76 (R.E.) and 46.9% in 1976-77 (B.E.)
16.2.1. The capital receipts which mostly represents loans from the Centre, other loans and recovery of loans and advances by the State Government went down from Rs 80.3 crores in 1974-75 to Rs 67.6 crores in 1975-76 (R.E.) and to Rs 65.3 crores in 1976-77 (B.E.)
16.3. Table 16.3 presents the revenue receipt from Taxes. The tax revenue received from various taxes heads have increased from year to year. The tax revenue which was Rs 76.4 crores in 1974-75, increased to Rs 88.0 crores 1976-77 (B.E.) or by 15 per cent. The proportion of tax revenue to total net revenue came up from 45.0% in 1974-75 to 46.9% in 1976-77 (B.E.) The taxes on income constitutes 23.6 per cent 27.2 per cent and 24.6 per cent in the years 1974-75, 1975-76 (R.E.), and 1976-77 (B.E.), respectively. During the same years Taxes on property and Capital Transfer constitute 147%, 8.0, 8.2%, and the Taxes on commodities and services comprising 61.7%, 64.8% and 67.2% respectively.
16.4. Table 16.4 presents the total expenditure of government of Assam for various purposes. Out of total expenditure the share of general services increased from 20 per cent in 1974-75 to 24 per cent general services increased from 20 per cent in 1974-75 to per cent in 1975-76 and 25 per cent in 1976-77. The proportionate share of social and community services during the years 1974-75, 1975-76 (R.E.) and 1976-77 were 29 per cent, 30 per cent and 29 per cent respectively. The share of expenditure under economic services were 24 per cent 30 per cent and 29 per cent respectively in the year 1974-75, 1975-76 (R.E) and 1976-77 (B.E.). The repayment of public debt which consumed 20 per cent of total expenditure in 1974-75 went down to 11 per cent in 1975-76 (R.E.) and again rose to 13 per cent in the budget estimates for 1976-77.
TABLE 16.1
RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURE UNDER CONSOLIDATED
FUND
(Rs Lakhs)
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TABLE 16.2
REVENUE AND CAPITAL RECEIPTS OF GOVT.
OF ASSAM
(Rs in lakhs)
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TABLE 16.3
REVENUE RECEIPTS FROM TAXES IN ASSAM
(Rs lakhs)
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TABLE 16.4
EXPENDITURE OF GOVERNMENT OF ASSAM
(Rs lakhs)
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N.B.:- Figures in bracket indicate percentage to total
16.5. Small savings
16.5.1. The collection of small savings in Assam has shown very encouraging progress in recent years. The net collection of small savings in the State during the first Plan Period amounted Rs 5.08 crores only which rose to a record height of Rs 34.86 croes during the Fourth Plan Period. The target for small savings collection during the Fifth Plan Period is Rs 65 crores which is expected to be achieved. The net collection of small savings during the first two years of the Fifth Plan i.e. during 1974-75 and 1975-76 were Rs 11.14 crores and Rs 10.55 crores respectively.
16.5.2. The following table shows the tearget and achievement in the collection of small savings in Assam since the First Plan Period.
TABLE 16.5
COLLECTION OF SMALL SAVINGS IN ASSAM
(Amount in Rs crores)
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16.5.3. The preference of the investors in Assam among the different type of securities during 1974-75 and 1975-76 is shown in the table below:
TABLE 16.6
COLLECTION OF SMALL SAVINGS IN ASSAM BY TYPE
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CHAPTER XVII
HOUSEHOLD CONSUMER EXPENDITURE OF ASSAM
17.1. The latest available data on Consumer expenditure are those thrown up by the 26th round of National Sample survey (NSS). The estimates prepared from the state sample of the survey show that per capita consumption expenditure in Assam in the year 1971-72 was about Rs 41 in the Rural areas and Rs 64 in the urban areas against Rs 40, and Rs 58 respectively in the year 1970-71 as revealed by the 25 round of NSS. The corre ponding estimates for the year 1965-66, arrived at from the 20th round NSS, was Rs 28 and Rs 40 respectively. The rise in consumption expenditure in the rural and urban areas of Assam during the period from 1965-65 to 1971-72 thus, come to 46 and 58 percent respectively. It has, however, to be noted that the sizable increase in consumption expenditure does not mean that there has been any applicable rise in the standard of living of the people during the period. In fact, the increase was substancially due to increase in the prices of consumer goods since the year 1965-66. Between 1965-66 and 1971-72, the consumer price index numbers for rural population and industrial workers had risen by 45 per cent and 65 per cent respectively.
17.2. The following table shows in broad pattern the consumption expenditure in the rural and urban areas Assam as revealed by the 25th round NSS (1971-72).
TABLE No. 17.1
PER CAPITA CONSUMER EXPENDITURE PER MONTH IN ASSAM, 1971
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17.3. It will be seen that the proportion of expenditure on food items (76%) is much higher in the rural areas as compared with that in the urban areas (65%).
17.4. The distribution of estimated number of population and consumer expenditure by monthly per capita expenditure groups is given below.
TABLE No. 17.2
PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION AND CONSUMER EXPENDITURE ACCORDING TO MONTHLY PER CAPITA EXPENDITURE GROUPS (RURAL AND URBAN) ASSAM 1971-72.
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17.5. It is observed from the above table that no household is reported to have per capita expenditure below Rs 15.00. The survey shows that in general the per capita consumer expenditure is higher in urban areas. The expenditure groups Rs 15.43 contains 66 per cent of the rural population and 27 per cent of urban population, About 50 per cent of the urban population have per capita expenditure, of Rs 55 or more as against only 12 per cent of the rural population. It will be observed that the bulk of the rural population is concentrated in the expenditure groups Rs 24.55 while in the case of the urban population the concentration is noticed in the group viz., Rs 43.75.
17.5. The extend of inequality prevallings in the rural and urban areas is brought out by the estimates presented in the table below. The table shows that the bottom 25% of the rural population share 17 per cent of the total consumption while in the urban areas the share of the bottom 25% is only 14 per cent. The top 25% of the population share 36 per cent of the total rural consumption expenditure while in the urban areas they share 42 per cent. The inequity in standard of living is more intense in urban areas as compared with rural areas.
TABLE No. 17.3
PERCENTILE OF POPULATION AND THEIR EXPENDITURE (IN PERCENTAGE)
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