New Delhi: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann-led government will present its first budget on Monday. Earlier, the CM had said that a budget carved out from the opinion of the common people would be presented for the first time in the history of Punjab. Earlier, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led government had sought suggestions from the common people for the Budget for the financial year 2022-23 and termed it the ‘Janata Budget’.
The Assembly had passed the vote on account for the first three months (April to June) of the financial year 2022-23. The budget session of the Punjab Legislative Assembly started on June 24 and will continue till June 30.
The finance minister will present the Budget for 2022-23 today followed by a discussion on the same. The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General for 2018-19 and 2019-20 along with Financial and Appropriation Accounts for 2019-20 and 2020-21 will also be tabled during the session, reported news agency IANS.
With a view to preserving natural resources in terms of groundwater, besides improving soil health and generating additional income for the farmers, the Cabinet has approved providing the minimum support price (MSP) on summer moong at Rs 7,275 per quintal for 2022-23 by Markfed, the state nodal agency for the purchase of crops.
The Cabinet also decided to provide viability gap funding to the agency at the rate of Rs 1,875 per quintal, amounting to nearly Rs 66.56 crore.
In an hour-long address to the Punjab Assembly on Saturday, Mann termed the Emergency a “big blot” on India’s democracy lambasting it as a period when people’s voice was suppressed. Mann mentioned the emergency during his address in the state Assembly, winding up the discussion on the governor’s address, on the day the measure of the special power completed its 47th year since it was first imposed in the country.
Meanwhile, Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) leader Simranjit Singh Mann won the Sangrur Lok Sabha bypoll on Sunday. This comes as a major setback to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab as Sangrur is the home turf of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.