By PTI
CHANDIGARH: Terming the Punjab government move of seeking people’s suggestions on the state budget as a political stunt, state Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring on Wednesday said preparing the budget is the government’s constitutional responsibility, which cannot be outsourced.
The ruling Aam Adami Party, however, asserted that the Punjab government’s forthcoming budget will truly be the budget of the common people, which is going to be a historic one for the state.
During the previous governments, budgets were used to be framed after consultation with some of the chief minister’s close leaders, favourite officers and his corporate friends, which consequently benefited the capitalists and political leaders only and not the common people, AAP leader Malvinder Singh Kang said.
The Bhagwant Mann government in Punjab on Monday had said it would seek suggestions from the general public for the state budget for the year 2022-23.
In a statement on Wednesday, Punjab Congress chief Warring said it revealed gross ignorance and ideological bankruptcy of this government about the process and procedure of preparing the budget.
“People of Punjab have vested you with the power and authority to run the government and budget is one of your important responsibilities,” Warring told Mann, adding “please stop playing political stunts with such unconstitutional gimmicks and these serve no purpose.”
“I don’t know what idea this government or the chief minister has about the budget preparation but let somebody tell them that it does not mean buying groceries from the neighbourhood shop,” Warring said in a scathing attack on the chief minister allegedly for trying to trivialize the most important function of the government for the populist purpose.
Warring said preparation and presentation of the budget is a constitutional requirement under Article 202 of the Indian Constitution.
“Baba Saheb Ambedkar’s Constitution has clearly spelt out the process and procedure of budget preparation and Baba Saheb, whom you often quote for your convenience, never told us to go to the people to make the budget,” the PCC president said, alleging that this is just financial quackery.
“Let the experts do the job what they are supposed to do,” Warring told the chief minister.
“People’s job finishes the moment they elect a government which is authorised to make the budget taking guidance from the experts,” he said.
“If the people have to make the budget, what is the government there for?” he asked.
AAP leader Kang, however, asserted that the Punjab government led by Chief Minister Mann has decided to end the old tradition and follow the basic principles of democracy and prepare the budget by considering public opinion.
Punjab’s budget will no longer be prepared by capitalists and politicians, the people of Punjab will decide the budget, Kang said.
He also added that Punjab’s budget for 2022 will benefit every section of the state.
“The suggestions received from farmers, labourers, youths, students, women, elder people, businessmen and traders, will be included in the budget and the budget will be prepared according to these suggestions,” said Kang.
He said with the inclusion of the common people in the budget process, they would be able to convey their problems and suggestions directly to the government, so that the problems would be resolved quickly and easily.
