look news india
Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema has presented the annual budget of Punjab with an expenditure of Rs 2,04,918 crore and a fiscal deficit of Rs 23,198 crore. This time no new tax has been announced. This can provide great relief to the general public.
This time the government has paid special attention to agriculture and education sectors. Being a general election year, everyone was hopeful that the Aam Aadmi Party led government would definitely include a proposal of Rs 1,000 per month assistance for women in its third ever budget, but it was a bit disappointing as it did not happen. such thing. The second major concern is that the debt burden on Punjab has now increased to Rs 3 lakh 53 thousand 599 crore.
In the budget, the total domestic production of the state has been estimated to increase at the rate of 9 percent to Rs 8,02,701 crore. Another big challenge for Punjab is the further decline of groundwater level. Due to the problem of underground water, 114 out of total 150 blocks of the state have already been declared 'dark zones'. With this, an increase of 12 percent has been recorded in tax income till January 2024. The minister also said that the Central Government has withheld Punjab's share of Rs 8,000 crore.
Being an agricultural state, Rs 13,784 crore has been earmarked for agriculture and allied sectors and Rs 575 crore for crop diversification. Rs 7,780 crore has been earmarked for continuing free electricity service to residents of the state and Rs 9,330 crore has been earmarked for providing free electricity to farmers. This is a good practice to reduce the cost of farming for farmers.
With a special focus on education, the government has earmarked an amount of Rs 10 crore for refurbishing 100 government senior secondary schools and giving them the status of 'Schools of Brilliance'. Moreover, a total of 118 government schools in the state are to be included in the 'excellent' category, out of which 14 such schools have already started functioning. 'School of Happiness' is also to be opened for the first time in Punjab, for which Rs 10 crore more has been kept.
Similarly, Rs 10 crore each has been set aside for setting up 'Mission Saksham' and special skill development schools of essential skills for primary and upper primary school students. Rs 1,133 crore has been earmarked for medical education and Rs 1,425 crore as assistance to state universities. Rs 40 crore is to be given to Punjab Agricultural University for agricultural research and Rs 40 crore is to be given for hostel facilities in Punjab University. Rs 272 crore have been earmarked for sports and Rs 5,264 crore for health services. Maharaja Bhupinder Singh Punjab Sports University has been given a budget of Rs 34 crore.
