Describing the drug addict census as a mere gimmick, he said it is a cruel joke on them. “Do you want to parade them and humiliate them?” he asked, while pointing out that the health department already has a record of drug addicts in the state.Former deputy chief minister and senior SAD leader Sukhbir Singh Badal said the AAP and CM Bhagwant Mann had betrayed Punjabis in the state budget 2025-26 by going back on all promises made to them and discriminated against farmers, women, youth, trade and business, government employees and weaker sections of society. “The budget has no funds for capital expenditure with only Rs 10,000 crore being allocated for this head even as the state debt will rise to Rs 4.17 lakh crore, with a debt of Rs 1.54 lakh crore being accumulated during the AAP tenure alone. This means there will be virtually no funds for development. It is all fluff and no substance,” he said.Reacting to the state budget presented in the assembly, Badal said, “There is no mention of the promised Rs 1000 per month to women. There is nothing for the youth, including any unemployment allowance. The old age pension has not been increased to Rs 2,500 as promised.”Union Minister of State for Railways and Food Processing Industries, Ravneet Singh Bittu likened the budget to the proverb “empty vessels make the loudest noise”, saying the AAP government had failed to fulfill its promises.”The AAP government has utterly failed to deliver on its flagship promise of Rs 1,000 per month for women in Punjab. It has added around Rs 1 lakh crore to the state’s debt — a sum nearly equal to the Rs 3 lakh crore accumulated over the previous 30 years. With rising crime and drug trafficking, the budget offers no concrete measures to address law and order issues,” Bittu said.Prem Singh Bhangu, President All India Kisan Federation and senior SKM leader, dubbed the Punjab government budget completely directionless, anti-farmer and anti-people, saying it did not suggest any clear road map to resolve the agricultural crisis in the state and the continuously mounting debt. “Only Rs 14,500 crore kept for agriculture is a meagre amount as the state economy is predominantly dependent on agriculture. The budget is silent regarding providing MSP to crops other than wheat and paddy like basmati, oilseeds, moong, potatoes, matar, gobi etc in order to boost diversification. There is no provision for debt relief though farmers are reeling under heavy debt and dying by suicide,” he said.
Source link
