OPINION:PUNJAB BUDGET 2013 lacks funds generating measures

The budget at the state or centre level is always important for the overall development of the country and it depends upon the Finance Ministers while presenting the budget, as to how they maintain the balance between the in-flow and out-flow of money. The more important is that common man is not affected by the budget that is real vote bank of any political party in power, for the next elections. 

But , the Punjab Finance Minister, Parminder Singh Dhindsa, while presenting his second budget, in the Assembly, has shown Rs.1,746 crore loss in the budget of   Rs.69,051 crore.  The only measure for resource mobilisation required to pull the state out of its financial crunch are increasing of tax on drinks and cigarettes to the extent of Rs.180 crore and the remaining loss would be covered by the  government by stopping the tax evasion. 

While the Punjab Finance Minister, Parminder Singh Dhindsa has claimed the tax free budget for 2013-14 whereas the newly appointed Punjab Pardesh Congress Committee President, Partap Singh Bajwa, out-rightly rejecting the budget proposals as directionless.  The out-going Congress President Capt Amrinder Singh has commented as hopeless and worst ever budget as it sans any promise or vision.

Whosoever may the government, it is the tendency of the politicians in the opposition to condemn the budget with one or the other reasons.  But basically the importance has been given to the development in the budget.  In fact, Akali-BJP government in Punjab is trying to play a long term strategy by giving importance to the development works in the state, for which the every common man is benefited, by working on the pattern of  Narender Modi in Gujarat and Nitish Kumar in Bihar and focusing approach on pro-people and development oriented policies.

The over-all view of the budget is that Dhindsa has not been able to take a leap forward in his second budget and lacks to mention of measures for generating the funds. Merely talking about tough measures for resource mobilisation required to generate the funds to cope with the financial crunch would not suffice, the Finance Minister has to be serious in his attitude to see the economic effects besides making a policy for reduction in spending of the administrative expenses, cutting down the unproductive expenditure, adopting other austerity methods, better tax administration and tax compliance, by belt-tightening at all levels.

(Disclaimer: The views expressed by the author in this article are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of City Air News.)