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Opposition decries cut in Punjabi university’s allocation
Claiming that the Punjab government had allocated ₹750 crore for publicity, leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa suggested that this amount should be added to the budget of state universities. After the finance minister’s budget speech on Friday, the university stated that with the decision of the government to implement the Pay Commission, the salary bills had inflated by ₹100 crore.
Opposition leaders on Saturday decried the cut imposed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the budget allocation of Patiala-based Punjabi University.
Raising the issue during the Zero Hour, leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa said that finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema, who proposed a budgetary outlay of ₹990 crore for providing assistance to various state universities, had slashed the budget allocation of Punjabi University from ₹200 crore last year to ₹164 crore for the financial year 2023-24.
He said the university had 2.15 lakh students and the budget cut would affect its functioning. “If the government wants to run the university, it should raise the allocation to ₹360 crore,” he urged, quoting Punjabi University vice-chancellor Dr Arvind.
Claiming that the government had allocated ₹750 crore for publicity, Bajwa suggested that this amount should be added to the budget of state universities. After the finance minister’s budget speech on Friday, the university stated that with the decision of the government to implement the Pay Commission, the salary bills had inflated by ₹100 crore. Dr Arvind said the state government had pushed the university further into financial crisis instead of providing any relief.
SAD legislator Manpreet Singh Ayali also raised the issue and urged the state government to increase the allocation. Chief minister Bhagwant Mann later assured the House that funds will not be a problem for any university. “Whatever the vice-chancellors want from us, we will provide,” he said, pointing out that Punjabi University got much more than the outlay kept in the budget during the current year.
‘Maintaining top ranking now AAP govt’s responsibility’
Continuing on the subject of education, Congress MLA and former school education minister Aruna Chaudhary said that due to a number of initiatives such as border area cadre, online transfer policy, teacher rationalisation and pre-primary classes taken by the previous government, the state topped in Performance Grading Index and National Achievement Survey. “The responsibility to maintain the top ranking now rests with them (AAP government),” she said during the discussion on the budgetary proposals.
On the issue of school principals’ training in Singapore, Chaudhary suggested that those who have received training should hold training sessions to guide others.
Raising the issue of monthly allowance of ₹1,000 to all women, she urged the state government to fulfill the promise quickly.
Congress MLA Rana Gurjit Singh, while speaking on the flight of students abroad, said they promised to stop brain drain but this is actually “capital drain” with ₹36,000 crore flowing out of Punjab each year. “We need to stop it,” he said. He also termed the allocation of ₹1,000 crore, announced by the finance minister for crop diversification, including marketing intervention for basmati procurement, inadequate. “What will happen with this amount? You need anywhere between ₹5,000 crore and ₹10,000 crore,” he said, suggesting to the state government to create ‘Punjabi Basmati’ brand.
MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira raised questions over the state government’s fiscal parameters, such as debt and fiscal deficit, pointing out that the government borrowed ₹31,000 crore during the current year and proposed to raise another ₹35,000 crore next year. The first deficit was ₹10,000 crore more than the budget estimate, he added. He also strongly advocated opening of the border trade with neighbouring Pakistan.
