Punjab: State government seeks central assistance of Rs 1,000 crore
Punjab: The state government has sought central assistance of Rs 1,000 crore to strengthen police infrastructure and security arrangements in border districts. During a pre-budget meeting held with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Jaisalmer, incentives similar to the industrial incentives given to Jammu and Kashmir and neighbouring hill states to support MSMEs in border and sub-hill areas of Punjab were also demanded. Disclosing this in a press release on Sunday, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said that the state strongly raised the demand for reduction of NABARD’s short-term seasonal agricultural operations (ST-SAO) limit from Rs 1,100 crore to Rs 3,041 crore for FY 2024-25. He said that this restoration is necessary to prevent farmers from going to money lenders. For road connectivity in Rajpura under Pradhan Mantri Gati Shakti, the state government has sought Rs 100 crore for construction of a 45-metre wide and 5.6-km long approach road connecting NH-44 to Rajpura’s integrated manufacturing cluster. He also demanded Vande Bharat train to connect Bathinda, incentive of Rs 2,500 per acre (Rs 2,000 per acre by the Centre and Rs 500 per acre by the state) for crop residue management, increase in grant under Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awas Yojana from Rs 1.2 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh per beneficiary, increase in honorarium of cook-cum-helpers under Pradhan Mantri Poshan Abhiyaan from Rs 600 to Rs 2,000 per month and Rs 300 crore for purchase of 250 new electric buses and setting up charging stations. He also demanded reimbursement of pending rural development fee of Rs 6,857 crore.
