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Manmohan to guide Punjab’s expert group on post-covid revival plan
Montek Singh Ahluwalia chairs the 20-member group formed on April 25; in the first meeting with members, CM Amarinder says state losing Rs 3,360 cr in revenue a month
Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday said former prime minister Manmohan Singh has accepted his request for guiding a 20-member group of experts that the state has formed to come out with a post-covid-19 revival strategy for the state. The group, formed on April 25, is headed by former planning commission chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and held its introductory meeting with the CM on Monday, via video-conference.
Montek told the meeting that the group of experts that had co-opted two more members had been further divided into sub-groups of finance, agriculture, health, industry and social aid.
Amarinder told the group that the state’s financial situation was grim, with monthly revenue losses to the tune of Rs 3,360 crore. This includes losses on account of GST (Rs 1,322 crore), state excise on liquor (Rs 521 crore), motor vehicle tax (Rs 198 crore), VAT on petrol and diesel (Rs 465 crore), electricity duty (Rs 243 crore), stamp duty (Rs 219 crore) and Non-tax Revenue (Rs 392 crore).
The state’s cash inflows had completely dried up, said the CM, adding that power consumption had declined by 30%, casing a daily loss of Rs 30 crore. The state’s industry has been shut down, with less than 1% of working, he added. Group member and industrialist SP Oswal said the state and the industry were facing a hard time.
Group’s deliberations a
futile exercise: Bir Devinder
Former deputy speaker of Punjab Vidhan Sabha Bir Devinder Singh has claimed that the group’s deliberation will be a futile exercise. “It has no practical knowledge of Punjab’s problems; hence I am afraid that the deliberations of the expert group would merely be a futile exercise of optics without any cogent objectivity and meaningful delivery for the purpose it has been constituted,” he said.
“How will the state government, or for that matter, the expert group, will ascertain and visualise a post-covid scenario, when you have no idea when Punjab would be free of the virus,” he added.
