Congress calls Budget ‘demoralising’ - BUDGET DEBATE

Saturday, 21/03/2015

http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=127134&boxid=57983&uid=&dat=2015-03-21

Chandigarh : Terming the state Budget as ‘demoralising’, the main Opposition Congress on Friday alleged that “no section of the society, including farmers and traders, was satisfied with it.”

Initiating debate on the Budget during the ongoing Assembly session here, former Finance Minister and senior Congress MLA Lal Singh alleged that “the budget is demoralising from which no section of the society whether farmers, traders and employees is satisfied.”

“Even the treasury benches are not satisfied with the budget, but they have no other alternative than to shower praise for it,” he claimed.

The budget was presented by state Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa on March 18 in the Assembly.

Lal Singh said that the total debt on the state at present stands at whopping Rs 94,000 crore on which the government is paying an interest of Rs 9,900 crore.

“Every single day the government is paying an interest of Rs 28 crore on the mounting debt,” he pointed out. He alleged that the “Budget is misguiding the people of the state and is directionless.”

“Tall promises made by the Akalis before coming to power in their election manifesto have not been fulfilled,” he said, adding that “the government is short of resources to generate funds.”

Lal Singh sought clarification from the state government whether it is serious on the issue of drugs.

“Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed concern over drugs recently,” he said.

The total drug de-addiction centers in the state are 45 in which some 28,665 patients have been treated, he said.

“But no provisions have been made to tackle the problem of drug in the budget. The state government availed overdraft for 126 days last year for four months the government was in ICU. How can this government save its people,” he said.

He alleged that Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley too had refused a financial package to the state.

He asked Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his flock to do introspection and stand up against the NDA for what he alleged discrimination against Punjab.

With the unbundling of FCI, Punjab is set to face a tsunami in which farmers and commission agents will get perished, he said. He asked Badal to become aware as the Centre is contemplating to do away with subsidy on foodgrains.

However, BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia hailed the Budget.