Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday let its coalition partner in Punjab, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), wanting for “something more”.
In its first-ever Budget presented by Narendra Modi-led NDA Government, the State has been promised an Indian Institute of Management (IIM), and some other sops. But, its long pending demand for an industrial package, on the lines of awarded to the neighbouring hill States, was largely ignored.
The Budget evoked applause from the SAD, in general, but discontentment of sorts was apparent by the reaction of the State Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa, who is scheduled to present the State’s Budget on July 16.
He said: “…something more could have been granted to Punjab….Punjab was expecting industrial package at par with the hilly States Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.”
Maintaining that he was “not disheartened” by the absence of any financial relief for the State in the Union Budget at the time when the ruling SAD-BJP alliance had been pushing for special packages to battle its economic woes, Dhindsa said that the State is hopeful of industrial packages “in due course of time”.
“It is difficult for the Centre to bail out any State at this point, particularly when there is fiscal stress and not-so good economic conditions,” Dhindsa justified, adding that they would aggressively push for financial package in the near future.
Akali-BJP Government in Punjab had been demanding industrial incentives on the lines of package given to hilly States like Himachal Pradesh in order to boost the state's industrial growth, and restructuring of loans.
The State had been claiming that tax concessions to the neighbouring States including Himachal had led to an unwarranted flight of industry from Punjab.
At the same time, Dhindsa dubbed the Union Budget presented by Jaitley as “pro -growth” and appreciated it for announcing steps like Rs5,000 crore for warehousing facility and giving an IIM to Punjab.
Congress Deputy leader in the lok Sabha and Punjab’s former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh seems to have sensed the “disappointment” in the Akali camp over the Union Budget “as Punjab did not get anything from the Centre to battle its financial woes”.
“Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal had made out as if Arun Jaitley was going to wave some magical wand…But the Finance Minister did not give any special package for Punjab on the pattern of Himachal Pradesh as demanded and expected by the Badals,” said the Amritsar MP.
The Congress party also wasted no time to take a dig at the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who presented the budget estimates for the year 2014-15. The State Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa claimed that Jaitley has taken a revenge for his defeat in Amritsar in the lok Sabha polls.
Describing the budget as totally disappointing, Bajwa said: “Jaitley seemed to have avenged his defeat from Amritsar by ignoring this border State….None of the pressing problems including mounting debt burden and capital flight to the neighbouring states had been addressed in this Budget.”
Various farmers’ organisations have termed the Union Budget as “deception with the farming community”. “The Centre has announced to give more loans to the farmers by giving an option for availability of loan on seven per cent interest rates, but it did not mention anything for the high debt on the state’s farmers who are committing suicide,” said the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Mann) national president Bhpinder Singh Mann.
After the BJP-led NDA Government came to power, Punjab had sought a special financial package for the State including reimbursement of Rs2,694 crore already repaid out of Special Term loan.
The State had also demanded release of Rs5,000 crore as non-plan grant for the current financial year till 14th Finance Commission's report was out, and was hoping for debt waiver from the Centre. The State Government has attributed its huge debt largely to militancy and inadequate support from the erstwhile central governments.
Already carrying a dubious tag of “debt-stressed” State, Punjab's total outstanding debt is projected to cross whopping Rsone lakh crore mark in the previous fiscal.
Punjab Government had presented a Vote-on Account of Rs25,292.96 crore in March facilitating the Government to run its expenses for four months — from April to July, and had decided to come out with a full budget for 2014-15 in light of fresh and people friendly policies of the “favourable “central Government.
Besides IIM, Jaitley has announced to include the “holy city” Amritsar in the centre’s ambitious scheme — National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) — for conserving and preserving city’s heritage character.
For the purpose, the Centre has set aside a sum of Rs200 crore for five cities, including Amritsar. The Project will work through a partnership of Government, academic institutions and local community combining affordable technologies.
The city found another mention in Jaitley’s speech who announced that Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial master planning will be completed expeditiously for the establishment of industrial smart cities in seven states — aimed at promoting industry and crating more jobs.
In addition, the Centre also announced to scale up the existing nascent agri-biotech cluster in Mohali by including plant-genetic and phenotype platforms.
Secondary agriculture will be a major thrust in Mohali through collaborations in the public and private sector, Jailtey added.
Terming the Budget as a roadmap of “New India”, Chief Minister Parkash Singh badal said that it was “development-oriented” besides being reflective of pro-people policies of the NDA Government.
“Budget would certainly boost tempo of country’s all-round development, be it in the sector of agriculture, industry, infrastructure, power, education, health besides empowering the women and weaker sections of the society….Decision to set aside Rs50 crores for development of indigenous cattle breeds and an equal amount for starting a blue revolution in inland fisheries would help in promoting allied sectors of dairying and fishery thereby helping farmers to supplement their income and encourage to go for agriculture diversification,”
said Badal.