Punjab: Will soon fulfill the pre-election promise of giving monthly allowance to women
Punjab: Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Cheema, while announcing the budget proposals for 2025-26, said that he is happy that they have been able to carry out fiscal consolidation this year, keeping the state’s revenue deficit at 2.51 per cent and fiscal deficit at 3.84 per cent of GSDP. Speaking to Ruchika M Khanna, Cheema said that they have tried to fulfil the aspirations of all sections of the society. Excerpts from the interview:
What was your focus while preparing the budget?
My main focus was on weaning our youth away from drug addiction. No attempt was ever made by any other government in the past to tackle this issue. Rather, the drug mafia flourished under the Akali-BJP and Congress rule. So I am calling my budget a roadmap for “Badla Punjab”.
What are the other priority areas?
We have put a lot of emphasis on sports, education and health sectors. In the healthcare sector, we have given free health insurance to all families in Punjab and increased the cover for cashless treatment in all hospitals from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. This shows why Punjab is a welfare state.
The pre-poll promise of giving Rs 1,000 allowance to every woman has not been fulfilled. Will the AAP government ever do it?
Of course, we are morally bound to fulfill the promise made to our sisters of Punjab. The social security and women and child development departments as well as the finance department are working on the nuances of the scheme. We had given five guarantees before the elections. All other guarantees, including 300 units of free electricity, increase in honorarium to families of martyrs and improvement in school and education infrastructure, have been fulfilled. This too will be fulfilled very soon.
No new tax has been imposed, but you have promised to earn an additional Rs 8,000 crore. How will you achieve this?
I am counting on a jump in tax collection. You must have seen how we have been able to exceed our targets in GST, VAT and excise collections. By ensuring better tax compliance and plugging loopholes, we will be able to easily meet the revenue collection targets.
