Punjab’s Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema has said that the AAP government will increase its revenue in the state and fulfill all the guarantees given to the people. He stated that the government has already fulfilled the promises of free electricity and some other guarantees, and the remaining guarantees will also be fulfilled in the near future. Referring to the GST, he mentioned that the central government had promised compensation in case of losses during its implementation. He said that there was no improvement in GST revenue during the previous Congress government, while under the AAP government, revenue has consistently increased, and tax evasion has been curbed.
Harpal Cheema mentioned that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had a meeting with farmer organizations, discussing issues related to farmers. He said that the Chief Minister’s vision is for Punjab’s farmers to progress and for advancements in the agriculture sector. Punjab is an agriculture-centric state, and by increasing production in the agriculture sector, Punjab can progress in the country. He mentioned that revenue is also increasing from excise, and the policies of previous governments have not been effective.
During the current government’s tenure, revenue from excise has exceeded 9800 crores. He stated that illegal liquor trade has been curbed. He mentioned that during the previous Congress government, 128 deaths occurred due to the consumption of fake and adulterated liquor in Punjab. Officials of the Excise Department have been instructed not to allow the sale of illicit liquor in the state under any circumstances.
He said that a new dog squad is being formed in the department, which will help in immediately identifying illicit liquor buried in the ground. Before this, it was quite difficult to detect illicit liquor buried in the ground.
The Finance Minister said that Punjab has a debt of 3 lakh crores, and besides repaying it, the Punjab government is committed to paying monthly salaries to its employees and providing facilities to the people. He said that many times the existing government has to take loans to repay old debts. He said that the government has saved 18 crores annually by cutting pensions of former legislators. He mentioned that the previous government could not fulfill a single promise made to the public. He said that the previous government had forgiven only 4700 crores for the farmers, while the government had taken a loan of 10 thousand crores. He mentioned that the Punjab government will negotiate with the central government regarding the implementation of the old pension scheme.
