Photo Source: Babushahi Bureau
MP Vikramjit Singh advocates for more budgetary provisions for Punjab
Babushahi Bureau
New Delhi/Chandigarh, February 1, 2023: While appreciating the progressive aspects of Union Budget 2023-24, Vikramjit Singh Sahney, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha said that steps like New Tax regime in which individuals under a total income of 7 lakhs will not have to pay income tax and making it progressive in rates and slabs, while the idea of Saptarishi- 7 priorities also looks reformist but there are lot more areas where the government could have done more.
Mentioning the groundwater depletion of Punjab Sahney said that as per Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), Punjab’s groundwater in the first 100 meters will get exhausted by 2029 and it will drop below 300 metres by 2039.” We produced water-prone crops like paddy since green revolution to ensure the food security of the country, which resulted in this decline of groundwater level. The central government should have given such financial assistance to Punjab as well to deal with this problem.
Sahney added that there is no mention of an increase in budgetary allocation on MSP procurement nor on food preservation and processing units.
Speaking about Punjab Sahney said that Announcements made for Agriculture and Cooperatives like making India Global Hub for Millets “Sree Anna”, Building Digital Public Infrastructure for Farmers, Setting Up Agriculture Accelerator Fund for start ups, Agricultural Credit target of 20 lakh crore., Setting up Widely Available Storage Capacity etc. looks very optimistic but the government should also focus on policies like inclusion of Millets in PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) and Mid-Day Meal so that the problem of millet consumption will be solved. A holistic Program of Digital Training of Farmers to build digital public infrastructure should be implemented. Government should ensure that increase in storage capacity of food grains should not result in artificial inflation of food commodities by hoarders.
Sahney said Green Growth is one of the Saptrishi priorities of this budget, Finance Minister also much empathized on this in her budget speech, but Custom Duty on all types of E-Vehicles and Bicycles have been increased in purview when we are not reducing VAT or giving any subsidies on Petrol and Diesel, increasing custom duty on them is not a very good step.
"I wish the central government to implement all the policy announcements which they effectively made in the budget so that the laymen should get some relief from inflation," he added.