Panaji, March 18 (IANS) Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar Monday quoted a poem by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to open his budget speech in the state assembly.

Presenting his second budget after assuming power in March last year, Parrikar started his speech by quoting lines from Vajpayee’s poem ‘Dekho Hum Badhte Chale’.
Presenting a budget of Rs.10,053 crore for 2013-14 with a fiscal deficit of Rs.1,457.15 crore, Parrikar said that the revenue receipts have been hampered to the tune of Rs.800 crore as a result of the ban on mining in Goa, which has stretched into the sixth month.
“The thrust of my budget is on employment and infrastructure creation, both of which are interlinked,” Parrikar said.