Budget work in progress: FM

Chandigarh, March 25

If the ongoing financial year was one of the toughest for Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Badal, the upcoming fiscal will be no different. Though he won’t have to go in for day-to-day cash management to meet the state’s committed liabilities, he is aware he will face resistance from various quarters for the two taxes he has proposed in the Budget.
Already, the Opposition is crying hoarse over the proposed Punjab Development Tax at Rs 200 per month on all income tax payers. But Manpreet Badal is unfazed. Backed by CM Amarinder Singh, who has himself been advocating additional resource mobilisation (ARM), he says tough times require tough decisions. “Saba ne phir dar-e-zandan pe aake dastak di, seher qareeb hai, dil se kaho na ghabraye (Dawn is imminent, tell your heart not to fret),” he read out in his Budget speech.
Talking to The Tribune, he said though the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections had shown a rise in total revenues, the imposition of the Rs 31,000 crore legacy food credit loan settlement and the burgeoning public debt was eating into the state’s revenues.
“The two taxes have been necessitated to ensure that Punjab is on its own feet once again. The Congress government is like trustees of the people of Punjab. Most states have increased their non-tax revenues, and in this Budge, I have tried to rationalise these receipts too,” he said, adding that the state GST collections would also see a jump to Rs 21,440.55 crore, up by more than Rs 2,600 crore from 2017-18.
The minister said he had tried to ensure that committed liabilities, including salaries and pensions, did not see a sharp rise. Even the power subsidy — to agriculture consumers, SCs/BCs and BPL families had been kept at Rs 8,950 crore. Farm subsidy this year was only Rs 7,500 crore, he pointed out.
“The Budget presented today is a work in progress, it is carrying forward all initiatives announced by the Congress before and after the polls. We have set aside Rs 4,250 crore for the crop loan waiver scheme and Rs 10 crore for smartphones. The promise to provide employment will be fulfilled. For this, we are setting up a skills development university and ‘Punjab Naujawan Humar Vikas Yojana’. As mandated by the CM, I have tried to ensure that the Budget boosts job creation, revives the manufacturing sector and focuses on youth, agriculturists and rural and urban development. This year, infrastructure, too, will get a push,” added the minister, exuding confidence.