Punjab budget: ₹13.89 cr for agriculture, ₹17k cr for education and more
Punjab finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Friday tabled the state budget for 2023-24 in the assembly in Chandigarh. It is the first full budget of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the state as in June last year, monetary allocations were made only for the remaining part of the year.
The Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab presented its first complete state budget Friday, one which chief minister Bhagwant Mann said would be in the public's best interest. "Last year, on this day, we got the mandate of the people of Punjab in the election results. Today our government is going to present its first complete budget," he tweeted, calling it a 'historic day' for Punjab.
The budget was presented by state finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema, who said education and health were among the government's focus areas. With reference to the former he said 26,797 jobs had been created, so far, by the Mann administration, and more than 10.5 lakh had received medical aid at the AAP's 'Aam Aadmi clinics' set up across the western state.
Here are the top points of the 2023/24 Punjab budget:
1. Harpal Cheema said education and health sectors are among the priority sectors for the government.
2. On the health sector, the minister said 10.50 lakh people have been treated in 'Aam Aadmi Clinics' in the state so far.
3. Cheema said 26,797 jobs have been given so far by the Bhagwant Mann government.
4. Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of Punjab to be ₹6.98 crore for FY23/24.
5. A total of ₹13,888 crore has been allocated for agriculture and allied sector, up by 20 per cent. The government will soon come out with a new agriculture policy for which a committee of experts have been formed for the purpose, state finance minister said.
6. For Sports, Cheema proposed an allocation of ₹258 crore which is 55% more than FY 2022-23, he claimed.
7. For Education, Cheema proposed an outlay of ₹17,072 crore for school and higher education, which is 12% higher than the previous year. ₹20 crore have been allocated for latest training of school principals in the budget.
8. A budgetary provision of ₹4,781 crore has been allocated for health and family welfare in FY 2023-24 which is 11% higher than the previous year 2022-23(RE).
9. For maintenance of law and order, a provision of ₹10,523 crore has been made for police which is 11% higher than FY 2022-23 (BE).
10. A budgetary outlay of ₹26,295 crore i.e. 13% higher than FY 2022-23(BE) has been allocated for the infrastructure development.
(With agency inputs)
