Cabinet gives nod to budget proposals

FINANCE MINISTER MANPREET BADAL WILL PRESENT BUDGET TODAY

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab council of ministers led by chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday gave its formal approval to the budgetary proposals to be presented by state finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal in the Vidhan Sabha on June 20.

PIDF TO BE ROUTED THROUGH COFFERS

In another decision, the cabinet approved certain amendments in the Punjab Infrastructure (Development & Regulation) Act, 2002, through a draft bill.

The proposed Punjab Infrastructure (Development & Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2017, will be tabled in the current budget session for enactment to enable crediting of the receipt of infrastructure development fees to the consolidated fund of the state instead of Punjab Infrastructure Development Fund. It will also enable provision of budgetary grant to the fund.

RESTRUCTURING REFORMS PANEL

It also approved restructuring of the departments of governance reforms and removal of grievances departments by merging them and renaming the merged entity as department of governance reforms and public grievances on lines of Government of India.

NOD TO HORTICULTURE VARSITY IN STATE

The council also approved the setting up of a dedicated horticulture university to promote crop diversification in the state, to help in bringing changes in cropping patterns to include the planting of vegetables, fruits, herbs, aromatic and medicinal herbs, fibre and tuber crops, sericulture, fodder crops and floriculture. At present, the total area under fruit plants and vegetables is approximately 3-lakh hectares in Punjab, constituting only approximately four per cent of the total land in agrarian Punjab and a fraction of the country’s total area.