Harpal Singh Cheema , the Finance Minister of Punjab presented the budget for the state of Punjab on March 5,2024 2024. The budget was presented for the year 2024-25. Through this budget the government has planned to transform the ‘School of Happiness’ and the ‘School of Brilliance.’The focus of the budget was on health, agriculture, and education. Along with this,the government proposed a new project of building a canal and of Sustainable Entrepreneurship. A new key focus area is that of horticulture, to develop Punjab Horticulture Advancement.
The School of Happiness & The School of Brilliance
A total of Rs. 10 crore has been earmarked for transforming hundred senior secondary government schools of Punjab to ‘School of Brilliance’ and hundred primary government schools will be converted into ‘ School of Happiness’. The total budget proposed for ‘School of Happiness’ is also Rs.10 crore.
School of Eminence
A total of Rs.100 crore is allotted for School of Eminence.In the previous year the total fund allocated was Rs.200 crore which has been reduced to 100 crore this year.
Besides this, an allocation of Rs 1,425 crore has been said for all the major state universities and colleges and Rs. 40 crore has been proposed to be utilized for the development of major research projects.
Rangla Punjab
The Finance Minister of Punjab, has not announced any new fresh taxes.The budget remains silent on the promise made by AAP government in 2022, about giving Rs.1000 to each woman on monthly basis. However, the Finance Minister Cheema calls it a people friendly or pro people budget.
The Chief Minister, Bhagwat Mann, said that the 2024-25 budget is a good step towards ‘Rangla Punjab’ as it keeps the essence of inclusivity and balance intact.
The AAP government has proposed an outlay of 2,04,918 crore in this budget. A total of Rs. 7,780 crore for giving free electricity of 300 units to domestic consumers for every month. Additionally,16,987 crore is allocated for the educational sector and Rs. 575 crore for the schemes relating to crop diversification. As per Cheema , the Finance Minister , the revenue from excise will go up to 10,350 crore in this financial year.
Criticism on the Budget
The budget received criticism as the opposition leader called it an unsuccessful or failed budget. This remark was made by the Congress leader, who is in opposition.
The President of Punjab BJP, Sunil Jakhar, said that this budget seems to be a visionless budget like the previous three budgets. Jakhar criticized that the government lacked in coming up with an analysis for crop diversification and has no vision for various issues like on the conservation of groundwater. He showed his disappointment on the overall state of loans and debt , which stand at approximately 4 lakh crore in the state of Punjab. As per him, the AAP government’s budget is full of fake promises and its vision for development is shallow with the state drowning in debt. Additionally, he slammed the budget for not proposing a proper plan on development of urban areas and its infrastructure.
