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Ludhiana: Industry’s thumbs down to AAP govt’s debut budget in Punjab
Slamming the state government over its failure to resolve long-pending issues and announcing no major benefits, the industry gave a thumbs down to the first budget announced by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the state on Monday
Slamming the state government over its failure to resolve long-pending issues and announcing no major benefits, the industry gave a thumbs down to the first budget announced by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the state on Monday.
The industrialists stated that nothing has been announced regarding power supply at lowered rate of ₹5 per unit and cluster development. Further, they stated that only ₹100 crore has been announced for infrastructure development in focal points across the state, which is not sufficient considering the poor state of roads.
President of the All Industries and Trade Forum (AITF), Badish Jindal, stated that the AAP government made promises of finishing ”inspector raj” (rule of officials) in the state, but announced formation of the tax intelligence unit despite that. “This will increase interference of government officials in the working of industry and might increase corruption. Further, the decision to form a traders’ commission has been taken just to divide industry and to stop them from highlighting failures of the government. The budget is merely a repetition of the old ones announced by previous governments and there is nothing new for the industry,” said Jindal.
Meanwhile, office bearers of the Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings (CICU) stated that nothing has been announced for betterment of the industry, even as it is going through a slump.
“No provisions have been made for promoting exports. Many industrialists have even shifted their units to other states as the Punjab government has failed to provide any relief,” CICU said.
President of the Janta Nagar Small Scale Manufacturers Association, Jaswinder Thukral, said that the government is putting additional burden on industry by imposing advance consumption scheme (ACD) charges, but there are no provisions in the budget regarding power supply at ₹5 per unit.
Similarly, members of the Ludhiana Woollen Manufacturers Association and Knitwear Club stated that the government has failed to fulfil long-pending demands of the industry and even new promises are being made without proper planning.
“We have been demanding an exhibition centre and power supply at lower rates for a long time. But, there are no provisions in the budget to cater to our demands,” said Darshan Dawar, president of Knitwear Club.
Government should stop distributing freebies: Ahuja
Former chairman of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Punjab, Rahul Ahuja, stated that it is a high time that the AAP government stops distributing freebies and uses those funds to upgrade infrastructure for the industry.
Industrialists also slammed the six AAP MLAs from the city for their alleged failure in highlighting the plight of the industry at state level.
President of Sewing Machine Development Cluster, Jagbir Sokhi, stated that the legislators from the city are aware of the problems being faced by the industry and steps which need to the taken to solve them.
But, there are still no provisions for the betterment of industry, which is condemnable, said Sokhi.
Health budget completely insufficient: Doctors’ body
The Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD) has termed the 24% increase in the health budget by the Punjab government as completely insufficient.
Dr Arun Mitra, senior vice-president of IDPD. said this will not meet the basic requirement of upgrading the existing infrastructure.
In the total budget of ₹1,55,860 crore, ₹4,731 crore (3.03% ) has been allocated for health.
It may be noted that out of pocket expenditure on health is among the highest in Punjab and health indicators of the state are also poor.
“Nearly 30% of the specialist doctors’ posts and 15% of the medical officers’ posts are lying vacant. This meagre increase will not be able to fulfil the requirements. To bring healthcare in the state to a satisfactory level, the health budget should be a minimum of 11% of the total. Regarding new medical colleges it has not been clarified whether these will be opened in the state sector or the private sector,” said the IDPD.
