Eye on polls, Capt govt cuts petrol rate by ₹5, diesel by ₹1
CHANDIGARH: Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal on Monday made a raft of announcements, including fuel rate cut, loan waiver for landless farm labourers and suicide-hit farmer families besides fund allocation for scholarships for Scheduled Castes and other backward classes, to woo voters ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Presenting the third budget of the Capt Amarinder Singh-led government, Manpreet Badal slashed the rates of petrol and diesel by ₹5 and ₹1, respectively, from Monday midnight. “Buoyancy in revenue receipts, along with better cash flow, has made the rationalisation of fuel rates possible,” he said. He also announced expansion of the farm loan waiver scheme to include landless farm labourers and the families of farmers who committed suicide due to debt. No new taxes were imposed in the budget.
The FM’S speech was disrupted by slogan-raising Akali MLAS led by Bikram Singh Majithia against local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu for his remarks on the Pulwama terror attack. Sidhu and the SAD MLAS resorted to finger-pointing and name-calling, leading to the adjournment of the House in the middle of the speech.
Speaker Rana KP Singh ‘named’ and suspended SAD and BJP MLAS for the day and then adjourned the House for 20 minutes but the ruckus did not end. Congress ministers and legislators started blaming each other with Sidhu and cooperation minister Sukjinder Singh Randhawa alleging collusion with the Akalis. As the budget speech was being telecast live, the Congress bickering was broadcast and then the video clips were shared on social media, leaving party leaders red-faced.
Centre had reduced fuel prices by ₹2.5 per litre in October 2018 with Bjp-ruled states going in for additional cuts, the state refused to bring down its fuel rates. The difference between petrol and diesel prices in Chandigarh and Punjab was about ₹9 per litre and ₹2 per litre.
₹3,000 CR FOR LOAN WAIVER
The finance minister, while announcing the waiver of loans of landless farm labourers and suicide-hit farmer families, proposed allocation of ₹3,000 crore for these sections in 2019-20. “Loans of landless farm labourers and families of farmers forced to commit suicide will be waived in the next phase of the wood-based industries to attract investment
Iconic sports of international standards to be set up in Jalandhar
New medical colleges in Gurdaspur, Pathankot and Sangrur under PPP mode
allocated for smartphones to youth
Old age homes in Bathinda, Mansa districts
scheme,” he said.
Crop loans up to ₹2 lakh of 5.83 lakh marginal and small farmers have been written off. There are 2.6 lakh landless farm labourers in the state. Despite the debt waiver, farmer suicides have continued. Nearly 900 farmers have ended their lives in two years, according to surveys by non-government organisations. The state government disputes these numbers, though.
Besides listing the new schemes in health, employment and rural development, Manpreet earmarked ₹938 crore for pending post-matric and prematric scholarships for students of Scheduled Castes and other backward classes (OBC).