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Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Monday alleged the BJP-led Centre of “completely ignoring” the state’s needs in the Union Budget.There is no mention of Punjab anywhere in the budget and no reference to the long-pending rural development fund (RDF) of Rs 8,500 crore that is legitimately due to the state, Cheema said.Calling the budget “anti-farmer, anti-education and anti-health”, the finance minister said the state has once again been pushed to manage on its own despite bearing the burden of national food security, facing the impact of repeated natural calamities, and responsibly handling RDF-related obligations.Cheema said the budget represents a “deliberate attempt to derail” the growth of Punjab, a state that has made unparalleled sacrifices for the nation.The finance minister said the state has been “completely sidelined” for the 12th consecutive year in the budget presented by the BJP-led central government.”The memorandum submitted by Punjab to the Union Finance Minister has been blatantly ignored. Punjab has always stood firm in the defence of the country and has not reduced its contribution to the central pool. In fact, our contribution has increased every year,” he said. He added that because Punjab has continuously replenished the country’s food reserves, 117 blocks of the state’s groundwater have gone into the dark zone.Taking strong objection to the approach of the 16th Finance Commission, Cheema said the Centre has turned “a blind eye towards the states”.”The poor financial condition of states has been completely ignored. The vertical devolution, which is the total share of all states in the tax pool, has been kept unchanged at 41 per cent. There is no increase at all despite the fiscal stress faced by states,” he said.Cheema said that the 16th Finance Commission has not recommended any revenue deficit grants, whereas the 15th Finance Commission had done so.Conditions imposed on the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) are overly restrictive and will severely affect states like Punjab in effectively mitigating and managing disasters,” he said.The Union government has once again ignored the legitimate concerns of Punjab’s farmers, exposing its “hollow claims” of being pro-farmer, he said.”There is neither any increase in the agriculture infrastructure fund nor any concrete assistance to strengthen mandi infrastructure. There is absolutely nothing for farmers of Punjab,” he said.”States will now be forced to do all this from their own funds. The budget talks about high-value crops but has completely left out Punjab,” Cheema added.
