|
|
|
|
|
Budget 2012-13 Finance Minister PS Dhindsa during his Budget speech in the House. Tribune photo: Manoj Mahajan
Debt load getting unsustainable
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Govt goes off track, succumbs to populism
Police Dept gets Rs 3203.99 cr
No new scheme for welfare of ex-servicemen
Committed
expenditure to consume 80% of revenue
Budget a mixed bag: CII
Rs 189 cr will put PAU on track: VC
Allocation up but veterinary varsity not too pleased
Rs 25 cr for restoration of Gobindgarh Fort
Textile institute for Ludhiana
|
Budget 2012-13
Though the government has not imposed fresh taxes, Finance Minister
Parminder Singh Dhindsa says the state will shortly go in for
additional resource mobilisation to remain afloat. Shortly after his
Budget speech, he talked to Naveen Garewal on the need to generate
more income
Why no new taxes when the deficits are rising? The
state is in a dire need to mobilise Rs 2,000 crore. There is a need to
generate more income. The method to be employed for this needs to be
worked out. The people will have to help the state come out of its
financial state. What was your brief for preparing the Budget? The
party wanted that all subsides like atta-dal, old-age pension etc
should remain. In line with the SAD-BJP manifesto, I was asked to
focus on social welfare, education, agriculture and the youth. And
that is what I have done, emphasising on e-learning, sports and skill
upgradation. How do you intend to generate Rs 2,000 crore? We
actually need Rs 3,000 crore.The austerity measures imposed will yield
Rs 250 crore. We hope to get another Rs 500 crore from the Centre
under JNURM. We will rationalise taxes and where required impose new
levies and taxes. No new tax has been imposed, but this is not a
tax-free Budget. Was the poll manifesto taken into account while
preparing the Budget? We have fulfilled 12 or 13 promises made in the
manifesto. By and by, all election promises will be honoured. Are
you satisfied with the Budget proposals? I am happy to the extent
that the Budget conforms to the directives of the 13th Finance
Commission and has something for everyone. Health, education and youth
are our priority areas.
|
Agriculture Done: The government has increased the allocation for Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) from Rs 124 crore last year to Rs 189 crore now. It has allocated Rs 87 crore for an integrated scheme for oilseeds, pulses and maize and intensive cotton development. A sum of Rs 88 crore has been kept for the national horticulture mission and Rs 137 crore for strengthening agriculture and allied services. Kheti Bhawan will come up at Mohali at a cost of Rs 15 crore which will house all offices of the Agriculture Department. A sum of Rs 48 crore has been earmarked for rainwater harvesting and Rs 35 crore for micro irrigation. Not Done: The Budget says that the wheat- paddy-cropping pattern is not sustainable but falls short of giving a concrete solution to the problem. It claims the state is making efforts to increase the area under cotton, maize, oilseeds and pulses. But it has neither earmarked money nor spelt out incentives for opting for diversification. Expert’s view: Economist Ranjit Singh Ghuman feels the Budget has missed an opportunity to spell out a plan for diversification. He says crop diversification alone will not help. Public sector investment is needed in the agriculture sector. This alone will result in the private sector also chipping in. Minister speak: Dhindsa says diversification will come about via research and the government has taken the first step by increasing allocation for research. He says the government has taken the initiative to set up the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) at Ludhiana which will focus on improvement of maize and wheat varieties. Medical
Education Done: The outlay for medical education has also increased from Rs 132 crore in 2011-12 to Rs 198 crore this financial year. The important projects include Rs 60 crore additional central assistance for cancer diagnostic and treatment centre at Bathinda, Rs 78 crore for upgradation of three medical and two dental colleges, Rs 35 crore for Baba Farid University of Health Sciences and Rs 12 crore for Guru Ravi Das Ayurvedic University, Hoshiarpur health This has been made a priority sector. The government plans to spend Rs 1,369 crore on this sector, with Rs 260 crore under the Plan and Rs 1109 crore under non-Plan. The important allocations include Rs 424 crore for providing health care to rural population, Rs 21 crore for emergency response services, Rs 42 crore for strengthening urban health infrastructure, Rs 30 crore for treatment of cancer patients, Rs 20 crore for cash incentive of Rs 1,000 to women for deliveries in government hospitals, Rs 69 crore for upgradation for gynaecology and children wards in various districts, Rs 60 crore to provide free generic drugs to all patients in government hospitals and Rs 5 crore for setting up food and drug administration. education Done: The Plan allocation for education has been increased from Rs 748 crore in 2011-12 to Rs 1,095 crore in 2012-13. The government has committed the lion's share of Rs 1,067 crore for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Rs 253 crore for the mid- day meal scheme, Rs 247 crore for the ICT project to impart computer education from Class VI to XII, Rs 369 crore for Rashtirya Madhyamik Sikhsha Abhiyan. For higher education and technical education, the outlay has been increased from Rs 228 crore to Rs 313 crore. Not Done: The government has decided to give tablets and not laptops as promised in its manifesto to Class XII students. Minister speak: Dhindsa says tablets are more user-friendly. Next year these would be provided to both Class XI and Class XII students.
power Done: This sector with an outlay of Rs 3,300 crore gets the lion's share- 25 per cent of the total Plan outlay. A sum of Rs 1,095 crore has been earmarked for transmission, Rs 731 crore for generation, Rs 769 crore distribution, Rs 680 crore for the reforms programme. Not Done: The Budget mentions that work is on full steam for completion of three private sector thermal power projects of 3920 MW but fails to allocate money for any project to be commissioned by the state. Minister speak: Dhindsa says only tentative figures have been given as the Electricity Regulatory Commission is yet to come out with the final figures. industry Done: Industries has been given a benefit of Rs 426 crore under a one-time settlement policy. The government has allocated Rs 15 crore for NIIFT, Mohali, Rs 10 crore for upgradation of Focal Points, a Rs 10 crore dedicated fund for meeting state's share in various schemes, Rs 5 crore for development of human resources in IT and Rs 5 crore for promotion of the IT industry. Not Done: No concrete plan to develop Mohali and Amritsar as IT and knowledge hubs as promised in the poll manifesto. The Budget speaks of the need to develop facilities for cold chain processing and marketing of agriculture produce but no money put aside for this. Employment Done: An outlay of Rs 28 crore has been provided for employment generation and training. Under this, Rs 15 crore has been earmarked for Maharaja Ranjit Singh Armed Forces Services Preparatory Institute, Rs 10 crore for Centres for Training and Employment of Punjab youth (C-PYTE) and Rs 3 crore for skills development and training. Not Done: The government has tweaked the promise made in its manifesto to give an unemployment dole of Rs 1,000 per month. This has been turned into a skill upgradation allowance which will be given to only 30,000 unemployed youths registered with employment exchanges. Minister speak: Dhindsa says the manifesto had clearly mentioned this promise as an employability allowance. Farm Debt The Budget says rural debt at Rs 35,000 crore has assumed alarming proportions. It says a scheme for financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh to the dependents of such families will be launched this year for which Rs 30 crore has been provided. Not Done: The government had in 2001 announced to provide Rs 2.5 lakh for dependents of farmers driven to suicide. Now, the government has reduced this figure sports * Rs 40 crore for State College of Sports, Jalandhar, for upgrading to Punjab Institute of Sports * Rs13 crore for playground facilities in 1,233 villages * Rs10 crore for synthetic hockey surfaces in district stadiums * Rs9 crore for gymnasium equipment * Rs7 crore for upgrading stadiums and purchase of sports equipment * Rs1.5 crore for scholarship to sportspersons Irrigation * Rs80 crore for relining of Rajashthan feeder * Rs60 crore for relining of canals * Rs245 crore for completion of 18 km of Kandi canal Phase II project * Rs300 crore for lining of water courses * Rs109 crore for flood protection and anti-waterlogging Rural Development * Rs330 crore for MGNREGS * Rs120 crore for rural livelihood mission * Rs88 crore for Indira Awas Yojana * Rs150 crore for construction of rural toilets Animal Husbandry * Rs101 crore for GADVASU * Rs91 crore for upgrading veterinary institutions * Rs5 crore for Animal Welfare Board * Rs11 crore for development of fisheries Dairy Development * Rs50 crore for modernisation of verka and other two milk plants * Rs24 crore for quality and clean milk production * Rs14 crore for strengthening the Punjab Dairy Development Board Urban Development * Rs60 crore for National River Conservation Programme * Rs50 crore for Amritsar sewerage project * Rs106 crore for JNURM * Rs30 crore for Rajiv Awaas Yojana * Rs100 crore for STPs for treating water for irrigation * Rs50 crore for providing water supply, sewerage and setting up of STPs
|
|||||
|
Debt load getting unsustainable
Chandigarh, June 20 While presenting the Budget, Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa said: “The level of debt is not sustainable. The gross borrowings for the year 2012-13 are likely to be Rs 13,204 crore out of which Rs 3,606 crore will be paid as principal and Rs 6,662 crore as interest, leaving only Rs 2,936 crore in the hands of the state
government”. The government has to pay interest and the principal amount as installment to repay its outstanding loans. The most worrying aspect is that more than 80 per cent of the net borrowing is utilised to meet the revenue deficit and only 20 per cent is left for capital expenditure. In other words, the major part of the borrowed money is used to meet
committed liabilities and not for any productive purpose (to create assets) and capital formation. The annual interest payment in terms of percentage of revenue receipts increased to 23.45 per cent during the last fiscal year. “This figure is one of the highest in the country for any state”, said
Dhindsa. Punjab is on the verge of falling into a debt trap. Most of the money it takes
as loan goes into repaying interest on the outstanding debt. Debt has remained a political issue in the state for the past few years. It was brought to the centre stage by Manpreet Singh Badal when he was Finance
Minister in the previous SAD-BJP government. At that time nobody took the issue seriously and Manpreet Singh was shown the door. A blame game has been on between the SAD and the Congress for the past few years on the issue. Recently, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal spoke to the Prime Minister and Union Finance Minister in this regard. He wanted that the Centre should waive Punjab’s small savings loan of Rs 21,158 crore. With the state’s dismal financial position, the government will find it extremely difficult to spend on development activities. The government will have to find a way forward, especially as the
SAD-BJP alliance claims to have been voted back to power for the second time in a row on the development card.
|
|||||
|
Govt goes off track, succumbs to populism
Chandigarh, June 20 Succumbing to populism, the state has gone completely off track from the fiscal consolidation roadmap drawn for it by the 13th Finance Commission because of its burgeoning revenue deficit. The public debt has escalated to a whopping Rs 78,236 crore and the Budget has made no provisions whatsoever for increasing taxes or mopping up additional resources. The state remained on track and managed to rein in its revenue deficit to less than 1.80 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) till last financial year (2010-11). But the additional capital expenditure incurred by the SAD- BJP government at the fag-end of 2011 (just before the announcement of assembly elections) has led to the revenue deficit growing by 100 per cent over the projected estimates. It is learnt that the revenue deficit has grown to a mind-boggling Rs 6,838 crore (2011-12), as against an estimate of Rs 3,379 crore. This means that the revenue deficit is now almost 2.75 per cent of the GSDP, thus putting a lot of stress on the Finance Minister to rein in the revenue deficit over this year. The 13th Finance Commission has laid down that Punjab brings down its revenue deficit to 1.2 per cent of the GSDP in 2012-13, 0.6 per cent by 2013-14 and become a zero deficit state by 2014-15. But to attain this target, it will take much more than cutting down on administrative expenditure and plugging tax evasion in order to cut down on the revenue deficit and bring it down to Rs 3,123 crore in the current fiscal. It is not just the cutting down of the revenue deficit that is a cause of worry for the first-time Finance Minister. He also has to implement the sops promised by his party before the assembly elections such as bicycles to girl students and employability allowance. All this, will translate into an additional revenue of Rs 3,000 crore per annum. So far, with the limited resources at his disposal, the minister has made allocations of just Rs 150 crore for implementing some poll promises. While the laptops have been replaced by low-cost tablets, the minister has kept aside Rs 110 crore for the purpose. In this fiscal, the government also proposes to give away employability allowance to 30,000 youths at the rate of Rs 1,000 per month. With the target of cutting down on the revenue deficit by more than 100 per cent and the promise to fulfill all other poll vows, the minister has clearly hinted that there is little room for compromise. “Punjab needs to raise an additional Rs 2.000 crore-Rs 3,000 crore this financial year. We will soon have a meeting with our alliance partners once Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal is back. We will have to take decisions to increase the tax net vertically as well as horizontally,” the minister said.
|
|||||
|
Police Dept gets Rs 3203.99 cr
Chandigarh, June 20 Interestingly, though the state is spending so much on the police, the crime graph continues to rise. There were 760 cases of murder in 2007. The number went up to 769 in 2008, 853 in 2009 and 907 in 2010. Likewise, robberies and burglaries also increased during this period. The number of cognisable crimes increased to 36,648 in 2010 from 24,374 in 2000. “There is a no basis for such a high expenditure on the police in a small state like Punjab”, said former Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal.
|
|||||
|
No new scheme for welfare of ex-servicemen
Chandigarh, June 20 A significant portion of the Budget has been allocated for infrastructural development. A sum of Rs 5 crore has been earmarked for the construction and renovation of Sainik Rest Houses in the state and an equal amount for Maharaja Ranjit Singh War Museum at Ludhiana. At present, there are 14 Sainik Rest Houses, including the one at Chandigarh, functioning under the Department of Defence Services Welfare. These rest houses are located at district headquarters. While some of these need to be upgraded and refurbished, the department has initiated projects to construct new rest houses in new districts or places with a high number of visiting ex-servicemen. Fatehgarh Sahib, Nawanshahr, Mohali, Mansa, Moga, Pathankot and Tarn Taran are among the places identified for the purpose. The Budget has also proposed to spend Rs 4 crore for pre-recruitment training for wards of ex-servicemen as well as civilians belonging to the state. This includes expenditure on infrastructure and training costs at the state-run centres. In addition, Rs 3 crore has been earmarked to pay incentives to youngsters from the state getting commissioned as officers in the armed forces. Two years ago, the state government had devised a policy to give an incentive of Rs 1 lakh to each cadet. For the welfare of martyrs’ families, Rs 2 crore has been provided for.
|
|
Committed
expenditure to consume 80% of revenue
Chandigarh, June 20 The net debt of the state had increased to Rs 77,585 at the end of 2011-12. The total committed expenditure on salaries, pensions and interest payments was Rs 24,015 crore in 2011-12 against the total revenue receipts of Rs 32,027, which means 75 per cent of the total revenue expenditure was consumed by committed expenditure. The survey says the annual interest payment for debt servicing amounted to Rs 6,530 crore in the fiscal 2011-12, which was about 20.39 per cent of the revenue receipts. It maintains that this levelof debt is clearly unsustainable. Equally worrisome is the fact that the state has failed to achieve the revenue deficit target of 1.8 per cent of GSDP as per the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2011, which fixed a target of 2.75 per cent of GSDP for 2011-12. The state is now practically borrowing the entire permitted amount of 3.5 per cent of GSDP. The state would cross borrowing of Rs 12,983 crore during 2012-13 leaving a balance of only Rs 2,466 crore for utilisation. There has also been a slippage in revenue deficit that is likely to be 2.39 per cent against the target of 1.80 per cent. It has been calculated at Rs 6,838 crore for 2011-12 against the projected deficit of Rs 3,379 crore. In case the targets for revenue deficit, fiscal deficit and debt to GSDP ratio are not achieved by 2014-15, the state would lose the annual financial relief of Rs 500 crore from the Centre. On
the positive side, the survey says prudent economic policies and
financial management resulted in a whopping increase in VAT collection
of almost 100 per cent from Rs 5,342 crore in 2007-08 to Rs 10,017
crore in 2011-12. Likewise it says there has been a hike of 62 per
cent in excise revenue from Rs 2,101 crore in 2009-10 to Rs 2,373
crore in 2010-11. Revenue receipts of the state are expected to be Rs
3,206 crore during 2011-12 as against Rs 30,475 crore during
2010-11.
|
||
|
Budget a mixed bag: CII
Chandigarh, June 20 Appreciating the allocation of Rs 72 crore for tree plantation, he suggested that effort needs to be more sustained. The government’s extra thrust on creating infrastructure was a welcome step. Allotting Rs 1209 crore for core infrastructure, including roads, rural water supply and sanitation, would benefit the common man, Mittal said. However, there was a need to strengthen industrial infrastructure. “Industry in the state expected more incentives which could have enhanced their competitiveness in today’s challenging times”, said DL Sharma , Vice-Chairman, CII Punjab State Council. “The agriculture sector would receive a boost from the 54% increase in the budgeted expenditure”, said J B S Sangha, Co-convenor, CII Punjab Agriculture Panel. He said the allotment of Rs 189 crore to PAU should bolster research. The direct beneficiaries of the research would be the farming community. Kamna Raj Aggarwalla, former Chairperson, CII Punjab State Council, appreciated the provision of Rs 100 crore for upgradation of ITIs and knowledge centres. “ Skill development centres will help meet the shortage of skilled manpower for the industrial sector”, she said.
|
||
|
Rs 189 cr will put PAU on track: VC
Ludhiana, June 20 “The university had asked for Rs 189 crore for meeting the salary expenses and Rs 80 crore for disbursement of pension. Both the requirements have been met. Apart from Rs 189 crore, an additional amount of Rs 80 crore has been allocated to the university from the Rural Development Fund,” said Dhillon. The VC said in the present economic scenario of the state, the university could not have asked for more. “The university cannot work in isolation. It is part of the state and we have to take cognisance of the economic constraints of the state,” he added. Dhillon said with the employees getting their salaries in time, the work culture in the university would improve. On the research front, he said, the university had reasonable funds for various ongoing projects. The PAU Employees’ Union said the budgetary allocation of Rs 189 crore had raised their hopes that the employees would get their salaries in time and the arrears would also be paid. Meanwhile, AS Bhullar, professor, Economics Department, PAU, said earmarking Rs 30 crore for the families of the farmers in Punjab, who had committed suicide, was insufficient to tackle the problem.
Wheat and maize research centre Experts said the wheat and maize research centre in Ludhiana would bring the focus on regional studies. "A research centre in the wheat belt would benefit not only Punjab but the entire country," said Dr NS Bains, a wheat expert from PAU. Referring to the research centre, Baldev Singh Dhillon, VC, PAU, said, "The Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) at Laddowal in Ludhiana, which is a project of Cimmyt (Mexico) in collaboration with the Government of India and the state government, will have a positive impact on research." "The institute will have access to the latest technology. It will help in developing our local human resources," he added.
|
||
|
Allocation up but veterinary varsity not too pleased
Ludhiana, June 20 University Vice-Chancellor Dr VK Taneja said the figure of Rs 101 crore looked impressive but actually the state government had reduced the amount of the non-plan scheme to just Rs 27 crore, which was Rs 45 crore in 2011-12. The VC said the university used to pay salaries to the employees from the non-plan amount to the tune of nearly Rs 42 crore. The non-plan amount had been reduced to Rs 27 crore, which would badly affect the salary component, he said.— TNS
|
||
|
Rs 25 cr for restoration of Gobindgarh Fort
Amritsar, June 20 At present, conservation work under the supervision of the Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board to the tune of Rs 26 crore was under progress. Funds have been arranged partly from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Central Government. Officials said the on going conservation work would require at least Rs 5 crore for the boundary walls of the fort, Rs 2.5 crore for the Darbar Hall and Rs 3 crore each for four bastions and other part of the fort, which has rich cultural and monumental values. After completion of the first phase, visitors would be able to visit the legendary building of Maharaja Ranjit Singh distinguished by its 20-foot high circular plinth, which has already been restored. The British had constructed a colonial-style bungalow after demolishing some of its floors. The building, erroneously shown as the residence of General Dyer, would be restored as an artifacts based museum which would showcase defence equipments of the Maharaja’s army, which was termed as Asia’s only modern army at that time. Apart from this, a historical narrative showing defence strategy of the Maharaja in decimating Afghan rulers and preventing invasions from uncertain western border would also be on display in this section. The ADB had already provided Rs 7 crore for the second phase of restoration. This phase would see two-acre parking at the entrance of the fort, landscaping, construction of moat walls, four gates, northwestern bastion, rampart walls and the Toshakhana. The spacious hall described in defence records as Durbar Hall was actually a six-bedded hospital constructed by the British. It has been proposed to convert the hall into a restaurant and the Toshakhana into a cafeteria. There would also be a separate 20-room rest house with environment-friendly tents in the open space. An official said the state government had sent a proposal to the Union Government demanding Rs 50 crore for the entire project. Confirming this, Punjab Tourism Principal Secretary Geetika Kalha said the Central Government did not reciprocate to the proposal. But the package announced by the Punjab Government would speed up the restoration work of the fort. “Nothing specific has been finalised yet as to how different pockets of the fort would be put to use. But, if everything goes according to plan, we would be able to open the first phase within a year’s span,” she said.
|
||
|
Textile institute for Ludhiana
Ludhiana, June 20 "This is the announcement which has lifted the spirits of the ailing textile industry in the city. We are already short of skilled manpower and it was our long-pending demand to set up a technical institute which has been finally accepted by the state government," said Vinod Thapar, chairman of the Knitwear Club. Further, he said the institute would not only help the textile industry by providing skilled manpower but also new technologies. “With IT being used in every field these days, it has become mandatory to be upgradated with new techniques and skills,” he said. Ajit Lakra, president, Federation of Knitwear and Textile Associations, said the announcement to set up PITTR was a welcome step. "But the government should complete the institute within two years with the help of private agencies so that the announcement can be converted into a reality. The institute will produce trained manpower, which is the need of the hour," he added. Ajitpal Singh, an exporter, said the industry in general, and the textile industry in particular, was facing an acute shortage of labour while skilled manpower was hardly available. "Setting up of a textile institute in the city will give a boost to the local textile industry," he said.
|
||
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Though the government has not imposed fresh taxes, Finance Minister
Parminder Singh Dhindsa says the state will shortly go in for
additional resource mobilisation to remain afloat. Shortly after his
Budget speech, he talked to Naveen Garewal on the need to generate
more income
Ludhiana, June 20
Amritsar, June 20
According to the
Economic Survey 2011-12 released today, the state’s committed
expenditure is likely to increase to Rs 30,560 crore which amounts to
80.44 per cent of its revenue receipts for the current fiscal year.
This is more than double the government expenditure of Rs 14,468 crore
incurred in the year 2009-10. An increase in salaries, pensions,
besides power subsidy is responsible for this situation. Under such
circumstances, dependence on fresh borrowings would rise with total
outstanding debt expected to increase by 12 per cent to Rs 87,517
crore in this fiscal.