Process Begins to Provide ₹1,000 Per Month to Women: Harpal Cheema

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab has begun working on its promise to provide ₹1,000 per month to women. Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema announced this in the state assembly while discussing the budget.

He said that out of the five key promises made by AAP, four have already been fulfilled. The government is now focusing on implementing the fifth one. This year’s budget, called Badalda Punjab (Transforming Punjab), reflects the government’s plans for development.

Increase in GST revenue

Cheema highlighted how Punjab’s GST revenue has grown under Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s leadership. He compared it with the previous Congress government, which collected ₹21,286 crore when GST was introduced in 2017. Now, the revenue has increased to ₹64,253 crore over the last three years.

He criticized the former Congress finance minister, who later joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), for focusing more on poetry than financial policies. He also challenged Congress leaders Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa and Aruna Chaudhary to admit whether they understood the budget during their time in office.

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State’s financial challenges

Cheema blamed the previous government for Punjab’s financial difficulties. He said that their reliance on GST compensation led to a ₹20,000 crore debt. If they had worked on increasing GST revenue, the state wouldn’t have needed to borrow so much. He also rejected the opposition’s claims of “tax terrorism,” pointing out that the Congress government never created a tax intelligence unit or stopped tax evasion.

To improve Punjab’s finances, the government has invested ₹8,000 crore in a sinking fund to manage short-term loans.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Rana Gurjeet Singh raised concerns about the rising power subsidy costs for free electricity to farmers. He suggested that Punjab should focus on agricultural diversification, as small farms of two to four acres are not profitable, even with MSP. He also criticized the budget, pointing out that the government had allocated ₹575 crore for diversification last year but spent only ₹37 crore. This year, the amount has been reduced to ₹115 crore, raising doubts about the government’s seriousness on the issue.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Manpreet Singh Ayali asked the government to clarify whether all 117 legislators in Punjab would receive constituency development funds.