"Fraud perpetrated on Punjabis in state budget": SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal
Mar 05, 2024
New Delhi [India], March 5 : Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal launched a scathing attack on the Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government over the state budget 2024-25 presented on Tuesday.
"The government has perpetrated fraud on Punjabis in the State budget 2024-25 with no allocation of the Rs 1,000 per month allowance promised to women two years ago," he lashed out.
He added that this amounts to a backlog of Rs 24,000 per woman till now.
Slamming the Punjab government over the implementation of the Old Pension scheme, he said, "Similarly, the government has run away from allocating any money for implementing the Old Pension Scheme despite having notified the same one year back."
Further hitting out at the Punjab government, Sukhbir Singh Badal said that the government hasn't appropriately allocated money for other important schemes and works.
"It has also allocated measly amounts for crop compensation (Rs 130 cr), youth entrepreneurship & Hunar vikas schemes (Rs 61 cr) and incentives to industry (Rs 50 cr) making it clear that its only purpose is to serve Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and get fake publicity through heavily paid advertisements," he added.
Further taking a jibe over less amount allocated for capital expenditure in the state, he said, "Punjab will also lose out on development and infrastructure building with only Rs 7,400 crore out of the 2 lakh budget being allocated for capital expenditure."
Earlier in the day, State Finance Minister Harpaal Singh Cheema presented the Budget 2024-25 in the legislative assembly, quoting the total expenditure for the fiscal year 2024-25 at Rs 2,04,918 crore while outlining a comprehensive plan aimed at driving growth, development, and prosperity across various sectors of the state's economy.
The state government aims to address the key challenges while capitalizing on emerging opportunities under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, he said.
