In what may be construed as ‘good news’ for Punjab on the fiscal front, the visiting 15th Finance Commission on Wednesday made it clear that the State’s lost glory need to be restored underlining that India cannot be prosperous till Punjab is prosperous. Commission chairman NK Singh maintained that the State has “many positives” which are expected to take Punjab back to its top position which “has been narrowed in recent times and we have to find out the ways to rebuild it”.

He insisted that we should recognise the Punjab’s role in providing food and national security to the nation, and the state’s demands for fiscal package, higher evolution of funds, besides other demands should be considered sincerely.On three-day visit to the state, the 15th Finance Commission on Wednesday had a detailed meeting with the State Government led by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh. The Commission, on Tuesday, held deliberations with the panchayati raj institutes, urban local bodies, and representatives of all political parties.

On Thursday, the Commission would be visiting Amritsar where it will hold meetings with the State Representatives of trade and industry, besides conducting site visits to see development works happening in the State. Singh said that the issue of legacy debt is the main concern for the state fiscal health as the high interest payments, coupled with the historical legacy of accumulated debt, which further got augmented due to the additional debt burden on the back of UDAY Scheme of approximately Rs 15628 crore and takeover of the legacy Cash Credit Limit (CCL) gap of approximately Rs 31,000 crore into long term loan.

He maintained that the State Government has assured him that “in case the legacy debt was taken care of by the Commission, in some way or the other, similar thing would not be repeated in future what happened in the past”.

Considering the same, the Commission has set up a panel under its member Prof Ramesh Chand “to look on all options within the trajectory in which it will be possible

“Impressed” by the current leadership in Punjab, Singh underlined that the state has already taken “credible steps” and we are going with a lot of hope and feeling of optimism.

Earlier taking up the issue during the meeting, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh stated that the Central Government should take over the debt while referring to Rs 31,000 crore food account which the SAD-BJP government had taken over in its last days.“Or else, Punjab should be given matching revenue deficit grant to offset the committed annual interest payment liability of Rs 3,240 crores,” he demanded.

Mooting increase in devolution to states to allow greater flexibility to use devolved funds qua relevant centrally-sponsored schemes, the Chief Minister also sought an increase in Punjab’s share in devolution from 1.5 to two percent, noting that the same had been reduced from 2.45 to 1.57 percent in last 40 years.

The Chief Minister suggested addition of certain new elements within the existing parameters like SC/ST to facilitate equitable distribution of resources among the states.

Capt Amarinder also pointed that with a debt of Rs 2.10 lakh crore, which his government had inherited from the erstwhile SAD-BJP regime, Punjab was a revenue deficit state. he added that the previous Finance Commission had omitted the state from revenue deficit grant states, though it was included by the 12th Finance Commission.

Punjab demands...

• Waiving of CCL or division amongst stakeholders Centre, Punjab and the Banks
• Rs 2,694 crore in lieu of payment for security loan during militancy period (1980-95)
• Special debt relief package to improve fiscal performance
• One-time package to enable payment of entire debt of Punjab’s distressed farmers
• Urged Commission to recommend graded compensation tapering formula to the Centre for states like Punjab beyond June 30, 2022, under GST
• Special package of Rs 12,000 crore for water cycle management in cities and villages
• Financial assistance of Rs 500 crore for river cleaning programme
• Rs 3,682 crore for ground water improvement by river augmentation through afforestation
• Special package of 1,000 crore for stubble burning
• Special package of Rs 1900 crore for providing revival to debt stressed farmers
• Special one-time infrastructure development package of Rs 500 crores for improving border area
• Special recommendation to address issue of disaster relief along the lines SDRF to address the issue of crop damages
• Provide for deficiency price support in maize and cane production to the extent of Rs 12,350 crore and Rs 300 crore to give a boost to allied activities in farm sector
• Rs 300 crore for expansion and strengthening of OOAT clinics to rehabilitate patients of drug abuse
• Seeks support of Rs 5,500 crore and Rs 6,719 crore to its power infra and road infra, respectively
• Rs 100 crore for strengthening cancer infrastructure
• Rs 505 crore for providing sewerage facilities in villages on periphery of our towns