People disappointed

K S Chawla

The Budget session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha concluded on March 28. The session was marred by acrimonious scenes, including abuses and personal attacks. The major event of the session was the spat between the two estranged cousins of the Badal clan. The Budget session did not show any seriousness on the part of the treasury and

Punjab Chief Minister Amrinder Singh

Bikram Singh Majithia Opposition benches to discuss the important issues facing the state, including unemployment among the youth and the exodus of the youth to the overseas countries in search of jobs, suicide by farmers, loan waivers for farmers, and the deteriorating law and order situation in Punjab.
The Budget session began with the address to the house by the Punjab Governor. The SAD-BJP combine organized a big show of demonstration against the failure of the Congress government led by Amarinder Singh in fulfilling the promises he made during the election campaign to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha in 2017.
The opposition parties AAP (AAM AADMI PARTY), Shiromini Akali Dal and Lok

Sukhbir Singh Badal Insaf Party raised the issues of illegal sand mining and the failure of the government to provide complete loan waiver to the farmers. The main opposition party AAP and LIP had split immediately as the national convener of the AAP Arvind Kejriwal tendered an apology to Bikram Singh Majithia, former minister, in a defamation case. The apology by Kejriwal to Majithia caused a set-back to the AAP . There was threat of split in the party. Just half of the AAP legislators participated in the meeting convened by Kejriwal in Delhi to explain his position for tendering apology to Majithia.

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said that the state government would cancel all those licenses of trucks and buses which were issued by the SAD-BJP government in a non-transparent manner. The government had already banned the cartelization of truck operators and truck unions. He announced that such permits would be issued to unemployed youth.

Manpreet Singh Badal The session witnessed a spat between the local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu and Bikram Majithia over the issue of alleged involvement of Majithia in drug trafficking in Punjab.
The final touch to the ugly scenes of launching personal attacks against one another was provided by the exchanges between Sukhbir Singh Badal and his estranged cousin Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal. Sukhbir charged Manpreet with incompetence. Sukhbir was supported by Majithia.
Manpreet, in his reply, made scathing attacks on the senior Badal and Sukhbir alleging amasing huge wealth and exploiting the state treasury. Sukhbir replied to the charges next day in a statement and asked Manpreet to prove his charges or quit politics. These ugly scenes have left the people of Punjab very much disappointed as they feel that the leaders were more keen on settling personal scores than doing any constructive business for the welfare of the state.
In this melee of allegations and counter allegations, the government conducted its business and passed its budget without any resistance. The government passed taxes worth Rs. 1500 crore.
The people of Punjab have strongly reacted to the levies under the social security bill. The worst of all was the levy of surcharge of five per cent on monthly electricity bill. The Vat levy is already high in Punjab, as a result of which petrol and diesel are costly in Punjab compared with other states.
The Punjab Finance Minister levied a professional tax of Rs. 200./- per month. This will be applicable on those who are income tax payees and those having monthly income of more than Rs. 30,000/-.

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, while participating in the debate on the motion of thanks to the Punjab Governor, said that the state government would cancel all those licenses of trucks and buses which were issued by the SAD-BJP government in a nontransparent manner. The government had already banned the cartelization of truck operators and truck unions.He announced that such permits would be issued to unemployed youth. He claimed that the income from the transport sector had increased as a result of these steps. The Chief Minister announced that the state government would work out a financial assistance package for the kins of those youth who were killed by the ISIS terrorists in Iraq.
The Punjab government has appointed a large number of Guardians of Governance comprising exservicemen in the rural areas of the state.
This programme is working under Lt. General T S Shergill (Retd), who is advisor to the Chief Minister.



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The Budget session did not show any seriousness on the part of the treasury and Punjab Chief Minister Amrinder Singh Bikram Singh Majithia Opposition benches to discuss the important issues facing the state, including unemployment among the youth and the exodus of the youth to the overseas countries in search of jobs, suicide by farmers, loan waivers for farmers, and the deteriorating law and order situation in Punjab. The Budget session began with the address to the house by the Punjab Governor. The SAD-BJP combine organized a big show of demonstration against the failure of the Congress government led by Amarinder Singh in fulfilling the promises he made during the election campaign to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha in 2017. The opposition parties AAP (AAM AADMI PARTY), Shiromini Akali Dal and Lok Sukhbir Singh Badal Insaf Party raised the issues of illegal sand mining and the failure of the government to provide complete loan waiver to the farmers. The main opposition party AAP and LIP had split immediately as the national convener of the AAP Arvind Kejriwal tendered an apology to Bikram Singh Majithia, former minister, in a defamation case. The apology by Kejriwal to Majithia caused a set-back to the AAP . There was threat of split in the party. Just half of the AAP legislators participated in the meeting convened by Kejriwal in Delhi to explain his position for tendering apology to Majithia. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said that the state government would cancel all those licenses of trucks and buses which were issued by the SAD-BJP government in a non-transparent manner. The government had already banned the cartelization of truck operators and truck unions. He announced that such permits would be issued to unemployed youth. Manpreet Singh Badal The session witnessed a spat between the local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu and Bikram Majithia over the issue of alleged involvement of Majithia in drug trafficking in Punjab. The final touch to the ugly scenes of launching personal attacks against one another was provided by the exchanges between Sukhbir Singh Badal and his estranged cousin Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal. Sukhbir charged Manpreet with incompetence. Sukhbir was supported by Majithia. Manpreet, in his reply, made scathing attacks on the senior Badal and Sukhbir alleging amasing huge wealth and exploiting the state treasury. Sukhbir replied to the charges next day in a statement and asked Manpreet to prove his charges or quit politics. These ugly scenes have left the people of Punjab very much disappointed as they feel that the leaders were more keen on settling personal scores than doing any constructive business for the welfare of the state. In this melee of allegations and counter allegations, the government conducted its business and passed its budget without any resistance. The government passed taxes worth Rs. 1500 crore. The people of Punjab have strongly reacted to the levies under the social security bill. The worst of all was the levy of surcharge of five per cent on monthly electricity bill. The Vat levy is already high in Punjab, as a result of which petrol and diesel are costly in Punjab compared with other states. The Punjab Finance Minister levied a professional tax of Rs. 200./- per month. This will be applicable on those who are income tax payees and those having monthly income of more than Rs. 30,000/-. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, while participating in the debate on the motion of thanks to the Punjab Governor, said that the state government would cancel all those licenses of trucks and buses which were issued by the SAD-BJP government in a nontransparent manner. The government had already banned the cartelization of truck operators and truck unions.He announced that such permits would be issued to unemployed youth. He claimed that the income from the transport sector had increased as a result of these steps. The Chief Minister announced that the state government would work out a financial assistance package for the kins of those youth who were killed by the ISIS terrorists in Iraq. The Punjab government has appointed a large number of Guardians of Governance comprising exservicemen in the rural areas of the state. This programme is working under Lt. General T S Shergill (Retd), who is advisor to the Chief Minister.