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Punjab CM hails budget as ‘visionary’
Chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday complimented finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal for presenting what he termed as a “visionary budget” and promised
Chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday complimented finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal for presenting what he termed as a “visionary budget” and promised substantial improvement in the lives of people of Punjab over the next two years as the fiscal the state’s economy is better than before.
“With futuristic budget projections, the finance minister has laid down a progressive roadmap that will chart the way for the state’s holistic growth,” added the CM.
Lashing out at the Akalis for protesting outside Manpreet Badal’s residence before the presentation of budget, Amarinder said their objective was to prevent his government from continuing to work for the welfare of the state and its people. “The Akalis, who destroyed the state’s economy during their 10 years of misrule, wanted to divert public attention from the progressive document,” he added.
The CM said in the last three years the state is back on track and has reached a situation where there is no funding gap for the 2020-21 financial year. Welcoming focus on farmers and agriculture in the budget, which has allocated ₹2,000 crore for the implementation of the next phase of the crop loan waiver scheme, including for landless labourers. He expressed satisfaction for the ₹200 crore allocations for crop diversification.
The next fiscal would see the youth benefitting even more from the employment generation programme under the ‘Ghar Ghar Rozgar’ scheme due to ₹324 crore outlay, said the CM.
With the allocation of ₹100 crore for disbursement of smartphones to the youth, his government would realise another key poll promise, he added.
Education is another area which was given significant importance by the finance minister in the budget, paving the way for the futuristic progress of the state and its people, he said, welcoming the notification of a new assessment policy under the Punjab Value Added Tax Act, 2005, for deciding pending VAT assessment cases related to the 2013-14 to 2016-17 financial years.
