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35% of budget allocations released in five months: Cheema
Cheema said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government is meeting the budgetary allocations and targets set by it in its first budget. He listed the fund releases – ₹5,341 crore to power department for power subsidy, ₹200 crore for payment to sugarcane farmers, ₹100 crore for Punsup bailout and ₹525 crore for Nabard loan repayment – made to key departments
CHANDIGARH: Punjab finance and taxation minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Tuesday said the state government has released 35% of the budgetary allocations earmarked for various departments in the budget for financial year 2022-23, in the first five months.
Cheema said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government is meeting the budgetary allocations and targets set by it in its first budget. He listed the fund releases – ₹5,341 crore to power department for power subsidy, ₹200 crore for payment to sugarcane farmers, ₹100 crore for Punsup bailout and ₹525 crore for Nabard loan repayment – made to key departments.
The finance and taxation minister gave the account of the performance of his departments at a joint press conference he held with health minister Chetan Singh Jouramajra, education minister Harjot Singh Bains, agriculture minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal and power minister Harbhajan Singh in which they presented their departments’ report card as the AAP government completed five months. Cheema said that against the projected growth of 27%, the goods and services tax (GST) collection is up by 24% between April and July 2022 over the tax collected during the corresponding period last year. The GST collection will increase during the festive season. “In the first four months of the current fiscal, the excise revenue has grown ot ₹3,108, a jump 43.47% over the previous year,” he said.
No let up in borrowing, ₹10,729 cr raised
Cheema said the state government has taken a loan of ₹10,729 crore in the current fiscal while repaying ₹12,339 crore, including the principal amount of ₹6,349 crore and loan interest of ₹5,989 crore. The figures reflect the classic “debt trap” situation the present government had talked about in its white papers on the state finances two months ago. The government borrowing is significantly higher than the principal amount repaid and slightly less than the total of principal repayment and interest payment, indicating that part of it is being used to meet the interest liability.
School survey infra to identify gaps
School education minister Harjot Bains said that a large-scale recruitment campaign is being conducted in the school education department soon, under which deserving youths will get jobs, adding that the detailed survey of 19,123 schools of the state is being conducted with the aim of improving school education and to get equitable information about condition of the schools. He said that 100 schools of eminence will also be established in the state.
2,829 mobile phones confiscated from jails
Bains, who is also the jails minister, said that 2,829 mobile phones and 1544 sim cards have been confiscated from various jails of the state during the present government. He said the government is in touch with reputed companies including BSNL, BECIL, ECIL and BEL to install jammers in jails. “A drug survey of 26,000 prisoners has been conducted. Of them, about 2,600 drug addict prisoners have enrolled for a peer support programme,” he said.
Audit of private sugar mills
Dhaliwal said that the state government has ordered the audit of the private sugar mills to find out sugarcane arrival and production of sugar. Jouramajra, who spoke about ‘Aam Aadmi Clinics’, said that 253 community health officers, specialist doctors and others have been recruited and 296 staff have been empanelled for these health centres. “In the next five years, there will be a medical college in every district because there are 11 districts which do not have any medical college,” he said, adding that a medical college at Malerkotla is under the consideration of the Union ministry of minorities.
