Punjab Budget 2023: Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema Presents Rs 1.96-Lakh-Crore Budget; Agriculture, Education, Health Key Focus Areas

Chandigarh, March 10: Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema presented a Rs 1.96-lakh-crore state budget for 2023-24 in the assembly here on Friday which focussed primarily on agriculture, education and health sectors. Cheema announced various new schemes such as a market price risk mitigation scheme for the horticulture sector, solarisation of agriculture pumps, a young entrepreneur scheme and two coaching initiatives for students in the first full budget of the AAP government.

Speaking in the Assembly, Harpal Singh Cheema said education, health, and agriculture are among the priority sectors for the government. Total budget size has been increased by 26 per cent to Rs 1,96,462 crore for 2023-24 over the previous year, the state finance minister said.

It was the first full budget of the AAP government. After coming to power in March 2022, the AAP government first passed a vote-on account on March 22 and then it presented its budget in June for the remaining part of the year.

Opposition Congress MLAs staged a walkout from the House while FM was reading out the budget speech after the Speaker did not allow Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring to raise a point of order.

During his speech, the state finance minister said the AAP government is working to provide clean, effective and efficient governance and he targeted the previous regimes of leaving the state in a financial mess. He also targeted the Centre, accusing it of turning a deaf ear to the long pending legitimate demands. Punjab Finance Minister Tables State Budget for 2023-24.

The Finance Minister proposed an allocation of Rs 13,888 crore for the agriculture and allied sector, up by 20 per cent over the previous budget. The government will soon come out with a new agriculture policy for which a committee of experts has been formed, he said.

A sum of Rs 1,000 crore has been allocated for crop diversification. A revolving fund for Basmati crop purchase has also been set up, he said.

The government has decided to launch a new risk mitigation scheme--Bhaav Antar Bhugtan Yojana for horticulture producers.

Cheema said that Rs 125 crore has been allocated for direct sowing of paddy and moong crop purchases. The AAP government intends to solarize all diesel-based agriculture pump sets in the next five years and the entire agriculture pump sets by 2030.

On the stubble-burning issue, Cheema said that there has been a drop of 30 per cent in stubble-burning incidents. Cheema said that a free power subsidy of Rs 9,331 crore for the farm sector has been earmarked for 2023-24. He said 26,797 jobs have been given so far by the Bhagwant Mann government.

On the health sector, he said 10.50 lakh people have been treated in 'Aam Aadmi Clinics' in the state so far. Against the initial target of establishing 117 "Aam Aadmi Clinics", 504 have already been set up while another 142 clinics are expected to be operational in the next few days, he said.

The effective revenue deficit and fiscal deficit have been pegged at 3.32 per cent and 4.98 per cent of the gross state domestic product (GSDP) respectively. A sum of Rs 74,620 crore has been proposed towards the committed expenditure, a jump of 12 per cent in comparison to FY 2022-23,

Effective capital expenditure is pegged at Rs 11,782 crore, an increase of 22 per cent in comparison to the previous fiscal.

The AAP government is trying hard to remove the obstacles left by our predecessors, he said. He said the present government inherited the financial mess left by previous regimes. Without naming anyone, Cheema said "many of those who looted Punjab are already behind the bars. Once omnipresent powerful mafia, which operated with impunity, is now nowhere to be seen".

"Many sectors which reeked with corruption and mafia raj have been purged with clear political will and honest intentions," he said. Targeting the Centre, Cheema said "in spite of repeated requests being made to the Union government, I feel sorry to state that it has been turning a deaf ear to the long pending legitimate demands amounting to Rs 9,035 crore of the state".

"For instance, the sub-committee constituted by the 15th Finance Commission under the chairmanship of Dr Ramesh Chand, in its report had duly verified the rightful claims of Rs 6,155 crore related to Clean Term Loan amounting to Rs 31,000 crore, which has not been paid to the state.

Further, Rs 2,880 crore relating to Rural Development Fund being charged at 3 per cent of MSP on the procured grains that was earlier being reimbursed by the FCI have also not been released at the Centre, he said.

He claimed that in spite of difficulties being created by the Centre and "legacy financial morass left by our predecessors", the AAP government is leaving no stone unturned to provide well deserved financial relief to common Punjabis through our programmes and policies.

In education sector, he said that 117 schools have been identified for upgrading them as "Schools of Eminence". Of these schools, work for upgradation on pilot basis has already started at four schools in Amritsar district.

Under the education sector, Punjab Young Entrepreneur Programme has been launched to encourage Class 11 students to propose their original business ideas. They would be supported by the government by providing seed money of Rs 2,000 per student. An allocation of Rs 30 crore is proposed for this purpose.

The finance minister proposed an allocation of Rs 100 crore for the installation of a rooftop solar panel system in government schools. The finance minister proposed two new schemes--Professional Coaching for Employment and Soft Skill and Communication Training, under which coaching on professional lines will be provided to students by establishing dedicated employability coaching centres in government colleges. On the law and order, he said some evil forces are always looking for opportunities to disturb peace and order in the border state, and warned the enemies of Punjab to fall in line else the state government shall destroy them from the root.

He said the state government is preparing its law enforcing agencies and police forces for all odds. The counter-intelligence wing of Punjab police is being fortified with the latest equipment and infrastructure, he said. For maintenance of law and order, he proposed Rs 10,523 crore, up by 11 per cent over the previous year. He also mentioned about series of steps taken by the government to rein in gangsters and other criminals.