News Analysis India

Tag: punjab budget

  • Punjab Governor Vs AAP govt: Assembly summoned on March 3, SG Tushar Mehta tells apex court

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Amid a tussle with the AAP government, Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Monday told the Supreme Court that he has summoned the Assembly for the budget session on March 3 even as the top court told both sides that constitutional discourse has to be conducted with a sense of decorum and mature statesmanship.

    The court, which was hearing the state government’s plea against the governor’s alleged “refusal” to summon the Budget session for March 3, said the Punjab government is duty-bound to furnish information as sought by the governor and at the same time the governor is also duty-bound to accept the recommendations of the Cabinet on the convening of assembly.

    The apex court said there was no occasion for the Punjab governor to seek legal advice on whether to convene a Budget session as he is bound by the aid and advice of ministers.

    A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud took note of the submission of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the governor, that the plea filed by the Punjab government does not survive in view of the governor’s decision to convene the Assembly.

    WEB SCRAWL | Raj Bhavans metamorphosing into political war rooms threatens Indian democracy

    “While this court is cognisant of free speech and expression, the constitutional discourse has to be conducted with a sense of decorum and mature statesmanship, particularly in the context of constitutional dialogue between functionaries. Political differences in a democratical polity are acceptable and have to be worked out with sobriety. Unless these principles were borne in mind, the effective implementation of constitutional values is liable to be placed in jeopardy,” the bench also comprising Justice PS Narasimha said.

    Senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for the Punjab government, alleged that the governor was hijacking the Constitution. “A constitutional authority is acting in ignorance of the Constitution. He is hijacking the Constitution,” Singhvi said.

    Mehta told the apex court that the plea filed by the Punjab government has become infructuous and will not survive. “Governor never refused and he said he is taking legal advice,” he said.

    The top court earlier in the day agreed to hear the plea of the Punjab government as Singhvi requested for urgent hearing on Tuesday itself.

    The tussle between Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had worsened last week with Purohit indicating he is in no hurry to summon the assembly’s budget session, and reminding the CM about his “derogatory” response to a letter from the Raj Bhavan.

    In that February 13 letter, the governor had asked Mann to explain the process of selecting 36 government school principals for a training seminar held recently in Singapore, and raised other issues as well.

    Mann had responded that he was only answerable to three crore Punjabis, not to a Centre-appointed governor and also questioned the Centre’s criteria for appointing governors.

    Purohit had called Mann’s replies not only “patently unconstitutional but extremely derogatory” also, saying he was compelled to take legal advice.

    Purohit’s letter to CM Mann had come two days after the Punjab Cabinet decided to call the assembly session on March 3 and requested the governor to summon the House.

    The governor had told Mann that he will take a call on summoning the budget session only after taking legal advice on the CM’s response to the issues raised by him in an earlier letter.

    “Since your tweet and letter both not only patently unconstitutional but extremely derogatory also, therefore, I am compelled to take legal advice on this issue. Only after getting legal advice, I will take a decision on your request,” said Purohit in the latest letter.

    Purohit had questioned the selection of school principals for a foreign trip for a training seminar, saying he has received complaints of “malpractices and illegalities”.

    He had also raised issues of “illegal” appointment of the Punjab Agricultural University vice-chancellor and promotion of an IPS officer who was shunted out for alleged misconduct, among others.

    Claiming that Mann “never cared to reply” to his letters in the past, Purohit had told the chief minister that people did not elect him to run the state according to his “whims and fancies” and that as per the Constitution, he is “bound to furnish” any information sought by the Raj Bhavan.

    The governor had asked the chief minister to reply to his letter within a fortnight, failing which he would seek legal advice for further action.

    Last year too, there had been a squabble between the governor and the AAP government over holding a session of the Punjab Assembly.

    The governor had withdrawn the permission to hold a special session on September 22 after seeking legal opinion when the AAP government wanted to bring a confidence motion only in the House.

    Later, the governor gave his nod only after the government provided details of the legislative business.

    In October, Governor Purohit had refused to approve the AAP government’s pick for the vice chancellor’s post at Faridkot’s Baba Farid University of Health Sciences.

    NEW DELHI: Amid a tussle with the AAP government, Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Monday told the Supreme Court that he has summoned the Assembly for the budget session on March 3 even as the top court told both sides that constitutional discourse has to be conducted with a sense of decorum and mature statesmanship.

    The court, which was hearing the state government’s plea against the governor’s alleged “refusal” to summon the Budget session for March 3, said the Punjab government is duty-bound to furnish information as sought by the governor and at the same time the governor is also duty-bound to accept the recommendations of the Cabinet on the convening of assembly.

    The apex court said there was no occasion for the Punjab governor to seek legal advice on whether to convene a Budget session as he is bound by the aid and advice of ministers.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud took note of the submission of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the governor, that the plea filed by the Punjab government does not survive in view of the governor’s decision to convene the Assembly.

    WEB SCRAWL | Raj Bhavans metamorphosing into political war rooms threatens Indian democracy

    “While this court is cognisant of free speech and expression, the constitutional discourse has to be conducted with a sense of decorum and mature statesmanship, particularly in the context of constitutional dialogue between functionaries. Political differences in a democratical polity are acceptable and have to be worked out with sobriety. Unless these principles were borne in mind, the effective implementation of constitutional values is liable to be placed in jeopardy,” the bench also comprising Justice PS Narasimha said.

    Senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for the Punjab government, alleged that the governor was hijacking the Constitution. “A constitutional authority is acting in ignorance of the Constitution. He is hijacking the Constitution,” Singhvi said.

    Mehta told the apex court that the plea filed by the Punjab government has become infructuous and will not survive. “Governor never refused and he said he is taking legal advice,” he said.

    The top court earlier in the day agreed to hear the plea of the Punjab government as Singhvi requested for urgent hearing on Tuesday itself.

    The tussle between Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had worsened last week with Purohit indicating he is in no hurry to summon the assembly’s budget session, and reminding the CM about his “derogatory” response to a letter from the Raj Bhavan.

    In that February 13 letter, the governor had asked Mann to explain the process of selecting 36 government school principals for a training seminar held recently in Singapore, and raised other issues as well.

    Mann had responded that he was only answerable to three crore Punjabis, not to a Centre-appointed governor and also questioned the Centre’s criteria for appointing governors.

    Purohit had called Mann’s replies not only “patently unconstitutional but extremely derogatory” also, saying he was compelled to take legal advice.

    Purohit’s letter to CM Mann had come two days after the Punjab Cabinet decided to call the assembly session on March 3 and requested the governor to summon the House.

    The governor had told Mann that he will take a call on summoning the budget session only after taking legal advice on the CM’s response to the issues raised by him in an earlier letter.

    “Since your tweet and letter both not only patently unconstitutional but extremely derogatory also, therefore, I am compelled to take legal advice on this issue. Only after getting legal advice, I will take a decision on your request,” said Purohit in the latest letter.

    Purohit had questioned the selection of school principals for a foreign trip for a training seminar, saying he has received complaints of “malpractices and illegalities”.

    He had also raised issues of “illegal” appointment of the Punjab Agricultural University vice-chancellor and promotion of an IPS officer who was shunted out for alleged misconduct, among others.

    Claiming that Mann “never cared to reply” to his letters in the past, Purohit had told the chief minister that people did not elect him to run the state according to his “whims and fancies” and that as per the Constitution, he is “bound to furnish” any information sought by the Raj Bhavan.

    The governor had asked the chief minister to reply to his letter within a fortnight, failing which he would seek legal advice for further action.

    Last year too, there had been a squabble between the governor and the AAP government over holding a session of the Punjab Assembly.

    The governor had withdrawn the permission to hold a special session on September 22 after seeking legal opinion when the AAP government wanted to bring a confidence motion only in the House.

    Later, the governor gave his nod only after the government provided details of the legislative business.

    In October, Governor Purohit had refused to approve the AAP government’s pick for the vice chancellor’s post at Faridkot’s Baba Farid University of Health Sciences.

  • Punjab: Opposition dubs AAP govt’s first budget ‘bunch of lies’; demands answers on Rs 1,000 to women

    By PTI

    CHANDIGARH: Opposition parties in Punjab on Monday called the AAP-led government’s maiden budget a “bunch of lies” and claimed it “disappointed” every section of the society.

    Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Monday presented the state budget for 2022-23, providing 300 units of free electricity to households from July 1, setting up of 117 Mohalla Clinics and upgrading 100 schools as ‘schools of eminence’ in the state among other proposals.

    Reacting to the budget, Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring dismissed it as a “bunch of lies” that lacks both content and quality, and is a betrayal of the people of the state.

    “Budget is not just a financial statement, but also a means to set the course for future progress and was the best chance for the government to show what ‘badlaav’ (change) it envisioned for the state and it has miserably failed on that,” he said.

    “Not a single promise that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) made before the elections has been touched in the budget,” he said, adding that there was no mention of providing Rs 1,000 per month to all women, leaving them ‘cheated and betrayed’.

    He further said there is no clarity about the “300 units of free power”.

    Other than the token announcement, the finance minister did not elaborate as to from where the government will get the money as there is no budgetary allocation made for the scheme, he said.

    “Normally, the first budget of the government lays out the roadmap for next five years for the government, but this budget contains nothing like that; neither a roadmap, nor any vision nor any direction,” he added.

    Warring also alleged that the budget in no way spells out how the state will cover the massive revenue gap.

    “Now they must have realised that the government does not run on rhetoric,” he said while questioning how AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann could claim that they would generate tens of thousands of crore from sand mining, which according to them, was pocketed by the corrupt.

    He said several schemes like modernisation of bus stands were old ones and initiated by the previous Congress government.

    “It is like old wine in new bottles,” he added.

    Taking on the AAP government over the poll promise of Rs 1,000 to each woman per month, Congress leader and Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa said, “The government of Punjab has made no announcement regarding the Rs 1,000 per month to every woman above 18 years.”

    “This promise I fear will not be seen till the last six months of the AAP government in 2027. This is a serious breach of trust committed by the government of Punjab. It clearly shows that their big promises are untenable under proper scrutiny,” he said in a statement.

    BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh said after facing a humiliating defeat in the Sangrur Lok Sabha by-election, the AAP has presented a budget which has made a “mockery” of the common man in Punjab.

    “Instead of addressing the economic crisis that Punjab has been facing for so long, the AAP government budget is only fudging the figures to build up a rosy picture. It is intriguing that the budget is silent on electoral promises like giving Rs 1,000 each to women, among others, and is making a rigmarole statement,” he said.

    The budget has disappointed all sections of the society be it traders, farmers or the service class, claimed Chugh in a statement.

    “There is no word on how the mafias in the state would be checked and how corruption will be fought after AAP’s own health minister was sacked following corruption charges,” he added.

  • More than 20,000 suggestions received for ‘Janta budget’ of Punjab, says finance minister

    Express News Service

    CHANDIGARH: Punjab Finance and Planning Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said that more than 20,000 suggestions have been received for the state budget, with two-third coming from the youth who raised demands for better education with state-of-the-art academic facilities and more job opportunities.

    Cheema said, on the instructions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann towards a collaborative and participative budget, it was decided to consult the public before preparing it and there has been an overwhelming response.

    “People made suggestions very openly,” said the Finance Minister, adding that while presenting the budget of Punjab, the suggestions and consultations put forward by industrialists, trade associations, youngsters, women and representatives of all walks of life would be taken into consideration. The main issues coming out of this exercise were creating new employment generation avenues, larger spending on education and health infra, improving power and industry infra for holistic development of the state, he said.

    “More than 500 written memorandums were also received from industrialists, who demanded a business-friendly environment, ultra-modern infra, elimination of inspector raj, ease of doing business with simplification of rules and better enforcement to keep check on illegal practices,” he said, adding that one in five suggestions was received from women. They demanded equal opportunities for girls coupled with better healthcare facilities and education prospects.

    Cheema mentioned that out of total 20,384 suggestions, 14,859 were received on the Janta portal, 5025 on emails, while 500 letters and memorandums were received manually. Divulging demographic data, he said 72.70 per cent suggestions were received from males with highest from 31 to 40 age group (45.42 per cent) and 19.89 per cent from females with highest 48.75 per cent from 31 to 40 age group.

    Cheema said that suggestions received on the Janta Budget portal, which may be considered in future, included restoration of old pension scheme, reduction of probation period from current three years, equal work-equal pay, power and transports subsidies, benefits to single girl child in education, enhancement of budget for higher education, promotion of information technology related industry, tax free zones or special economic zones near border cities to boost economic growth in these areas, establishment of liquor corporation, formation of sand and mining corporation and reservation/preference to residents of Punjab in all jobs.

    He said that he covered all 23 districts during his week-long tour and received many suggestions from Ludhiana (10.61 per cent), Patiala (10.12 per cent), Fazilka (8.14 per cent), Bathinda (6.03 per cent) and Amritsar (5.81 per cent). “We have also received suggestions from Punjabis residing across the globe, especially in large numbers from neighbouring states Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan,” he added.

  • Punjab announces loan waivers for farmers in budget amid ongoing protests against agri laws

    Express News Service
    CHANDIGARH: With less than a year left for the assembly polls and amid the ongoing farmers’ protest against new farm laws, the Congress-led Punjab government has decided to loosen its purse strings in times of spiraling state debt for the time-tested populist loan waivers.

    For 2021-22 the government has decided to waive loans amounting to Rs 1,186 crore of 1.13 lakh farmers and Rs 526 crore of landless farmers in the next phase.

    There’s more for women and students of government colleges: they will be allowed free travel in state transport-run buses.

    The state government will create 48,989 posts in state government to be filled in the first phase against 1 lakh vacancies. It has decided to raise the old age pension from Rs 750 per month to Rs 1,500.

    Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal tabled the last budget of the Congress government on Monday.

    The state budget has an outlay of Rs 1,68,015 crore for the financial year 2021-22. The state’s debt has risen to Rs 2,73,730 crore with the debt-to-GSDP ratio reaching an unprecedented 45.05. Manpreet announced the loan waiver, saying a debt amounting to Rs 4,624 crore has already been waived.

    Besides, a free power subsidy amounting to Rs 7,180 crore will be given to farmers. A new umbrella scheme ‘Kamyaab Kisan Khushal Punjab (K3P) with an outlay of Rs 3,780 crore will be implemented during the next three years.An outlay of Rs 1,104 crore has been earmarked for 2021-22.

    Also under Krishi Vikas Yojna, an allocation of Rs 200 crore has been set aside for 2021-22 for ensuring more inclusive and integrated development of agriculture and allied services.

    The social sector expenditure has been increased from Rs 2,320 crore to Rs 4,000 crore.After presenting the budget, Manpreet said he would not be the next Finance Minister if the Congress returns to power in the 2022 polls.

    Chief Minister Amarinder Singh in a lighter vein said that would be decided by the party, not him.

    Meanwhile, Assembly Speaker Rana K P Singh revoked the suspension of 10 SAD legislators who were suspended for disrupting the proceedings of the House.

    He made this announcement after Akali MLA Lakhbir Singh Lodhinangal raised the issue of suspension when Manpreet Singh Badal was about to present his budget proposals.

  • Farm agitation casts shadow on Punjab’s Budget session

    Express News Service
    CHANDIGARH: The first day of the Budget session of Punjab Assembly got off to a stormy start on Monday in the backdrop of the ongoing farmers’ agitation against three new farm laws.As Governor VP Singh Badnore began his address, he was interrupted by Shiromani (SAD) Akali Dal MLAs led by Bikram Majithia who raised the slogan of ‘Go back Governor’. SAD MLAs questioned the Governor for not sending the amendments passed by the Punjab assembly on farm bills for presidential nod. They rushed to the well of the House and threw papers in the air. They were later joined by the Aam Aadmi Party MLAs.

    Addressing the media later, Majithia, a former minister, said Monday’s protest had exposed the Congress which proved that it was hand-in-glove with the Centre. He said SAD legislators had appealed to the Congress to launch a joint protest against the governor for not recommending the Assembly’s objections to the President. “The Governor has been sitting over the recommendations, which is an insult to Punjabis,” he added. Majithia termed the Congress protest over fuel price hike as “hypocrisy”.When the session resumed in the afternoon, the Assembly paid tributes to the farmers who died during the agitation.