Chandigarh, January 19
The much-awaited two-member committee report on suggesting ways for additional resource mobilisation for Punjab, which is reeling under severe fund crunch, has finally been made public. The report gives a new nomenclature to farm subsidies besides suggesting reviving abiana and recommending upward revision of VAT, bus fares and collectorate rates.

It also recommends introduction of new taxes on property, institutions, DTH service, electricity duty on power generation for captive consumption and surcharge on VAT as immediate measures to generate additional Rs 4,000 crore per annum.

In a clever exercise of mopping up resources months before the state Budget, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and Industries and Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia have orchestrated a report that not only sings a coherent alliance tune but also attempts to make much-needed corrective measures to battle fiscal discrepancies.

Interestingly, this will silence the BJP outcry against rural subsidies. All other subsidies, including atta-dal, shagun, old-age pension and welfare schemes for women Dalits and economically weaker sections, will continue.

The recommendations, subject to acceptance and endorsement by the Council of Ministers, would also set in motion the flow of funds, grants and matching contributions both from the Centre and financial institutions like the World Bank that were earlier held up for want of fiscal reforms in various subsidies offered to different sections of society.

The subsidies which remain unchanged have been given a new nomenclature. Also, the suggestions take a huge burden off the cash-strapped Punjab State Electricity Board. However, it directly puts additional pressure on the state government, which will have to compensate farmers with productivity bonus equivalent to power bills paid by them.

Realising that new taxes and restructuring of the existing VAT system need to be compensated by citizens’ welfare measures, the report has suggested several new measures, including raising retirement age to 60 years from 58, exemption from payment of any stamp duty on transfer of commercial or industrial property to legal heirs, reducing duty on sale deeds in favour of women by 1 per cent to 3 per cent, delaying implementation of revised power tariff till April 1 this year and also reducing the tax on private vehicles being used for transportation of people.

The committee also promises to improve quality of life in both urban and rural areas, as it also promises to review the External Development Charges (EDC) and the Change of Land Use (CLU) charges.