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Nothing for Punjab in interim budget: Cheema
Commenting on the budgetary proposals, Cheema said that Punjab is not going to get any benefits and “injustice” to the state is pretty evident in the interim budget. “The central government had only cheated Punjab during the last 10 years and only took decisions that disappointed Punjabis,” he alleged in a statement here.
Punjab finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Thursday said that there is nothing for Punjab in the interim budget presented by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Commenting on the budgetary proposals, Cheema said that Punjab is not going to get any benefits and “injustice” to the state is pretty evident in the interim budget.
“The central government had only cheated Punjab during the last 10 years and only took decisions that disappointed Punjabis. They show that the BJP always discriminated against Punjab and tried to deprive Punjabis of any economic benefits,” he alleged in a statement here.
Cheema said that funds worth thousands of crores of rupees, which were to be given to the state under various national schemes, are outstanding with the Centre. “We had written several letters to the Union finance minister and requested the release of funds, but till now the central government has not released even a single rupee,” he added.
He said no special provisions have been made for farmers in the Budget which has also disappointed the youth of the country. He also accused the central government of presenting a false picture of the poor in the country. “Today 80 crore people are living below the poverty line, and that is why there was a need for the government to provide food grains to them. It is clear from these figures that poverty in the country has not decreased, but increased,” he said.
