BUDGET A DEPICTION OF AAM AADMI’S VOICE IN THEIR OWN LANGUAGE: SAYS CM

Chandigarh: Hailing Punjab’s Budget as depiction of Aam Aadmi’s voice in their own language, the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann termed the budget as specifically quality education and health care services centric to ensure these basic facilities are available to economically weaker sections of the society.

Participating in a debate on budget in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, the Chief Minister said that it was for the first time the Finance Minister presented the budget for each and every section of the society in simple language coupled with crystal clear facts and figures, which reflects the reality that in the first year of his government, the state is on high economic growth trajectory. His government, he said, has set up over 500 Aam Aadmi Clinics, besides ensuring 600 units of electricity per billing cycle free of cost, setting up 117 Schools of Eminence, and providing more than 26,000 government jobs within a year as well as repaid the loan of Rs.36000 crore in just a year.
Assuring the House, the Chief Minister said, “This budget shows our seriousness, diligence and dedication towards Punjab as we have presented a complete road map before the people to spend every penny of the treasury on the welfare of the people.” Bhagwant Mann also extended gratitude to all the members of the House for presenting constructive suggestions during the budget debate.
Taking a dig at the former Finance Minister, the Chief Minister said that earlier the so-called poetic language of the budget made this occasion merely a boring exercise and people were misled by citing paradigms of other countries. Bhagwant Mann said that the same Finance Minister who presented budget for nine years during successive Akali-BJP and Congress governments brought the state on verge of disaster. He ridiculed the former finance Minister for criticising the government for the budget and called him a chameleon who switched parties very frequently for his own vested interests.
Describing education and health as core sectors in the budget, the Chief Minister said his government was setting up 117 Schools of Eminence in the first phase, wherein children from poor families studying in government schools would be groomed for competitive examinations to enable them to realize the dreams of their parents.
The Chief Minister, while terming Aam Aadmi clinics as a landmark initiative for the poor people, said our government has set up more than 500 clinics, and around 12 lakh people have been treated so far in these clinics. He said that Special provisions have been made in this budget for these two core sectors for ensuring ‘Sehatmand Punjab’.
Referring to the funds for the universities, the Chief Minister assured the house that his government will not allow any universities to suffer any financial loss, reiterating that education should never be under any debt and no stone will be left unturned for the betterment of the universities. He categorically his long association with Punjabi University, Patiala.
Slamming BJP to show off affection for the state, the Chief Minister said that if BJP really have some fondness for the land of Punjab, then why Punjab was not even mentioned in the Union Budget. He said that Punjabis still very well remembered that the BJP-led Union Government disrespected the sacrifices of the brave warriors of Punjab by pulling out the tableau of Punjab from the Republic Day Parade. Bhagwant Mann said that how can a party that imposed conditions like Rail-Ship-Rail (RSR) route to bring coal via Sri Lanka, be well wisher of Punjab.
The Chief Minister said, “BJP leaders told that the Union Government was helping Punjab by providing funds. But he said that state is not begging for funds as these funds from central pool are our constitutional right.’’ He said that we are collecting GST for the Union Government and demanding our rightful share from this. Describing collection and assessment of GST as a complicated process, Bhagwant Mann said that this system has not yet been understood even by the traders.
Training guns towards those who raised questions about the facilities being provided to the common people by the Aam Aadmi Party governments in Delhi and Punjab, Bhagwant Mann said, “we are helping the people to get basic facilities, while the representatives of the union government are terming these as freebies. However he quipped that these leaders forget their leader’s electoral stunt of announcing Rs. 15 lakh to each family and providing 2 crore jobs every year”.
Talking about sending a batch of principals for training in Singapore, the Chief Minister said, “the poverty can only be weeded out by providing quality education and equal opportunities, thereby imparting world-class training to government school teachers for ensuring that our children could get quality education.”
Making a scathing attack at the former chief minister’s claim of cancelling his US visit, Bhagwant Mann said that it is ridiculous that those who were responsible for sinking the Congress ship are doing PhD on the rise and fall of the Congress party. He said that some politicians plundered Punjab’s exchequer by tricking virtues.
Exhorting MLAs to follow the footsteps of humbleness towards people, the Chief Minister said, “People of Punjab have given us an opportunity to serve the state, so the onus is on our shoulders to use this opportunity for the people and not against the people. We must not give up humility at any cost and serve the people with missionary zeal, he added. He also urge the MLAs to pay heed to the opposition MLAs as they too represent the people of their constituencies.”
Referring to the lavish weddings, the Chief Minister said his government was considering setting up community halls for family functions in villages to save the people from this financial burden. When the intention is clear, the destination is not far, said the Chief Minister, expressing hope that the state of Punjab will soon emerge as Rangla Punjab.