Punjab Budget: Government says will waive off loans worth Rs 1,186 crore of 1.13 lakh farmers

Updated : March 08, 2021 06:01 PM IST

Punjab government announces free travel for all women passengers and students in state government buses

Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal presented the state budget for FY21-22 with an outlay of Rs 1,68,015 crore on Monday (March 8) and said that the state government has decided to waive off loans of 1.13 lakh farmers.

Apart from the farm loan waiver of Rs 1,186 crore and Rs 526 crore of landless farmers, Badal announced that the government had made provisions for free power for agriculture pump sets in 2021-22 at a cost of Rs 7,180 crore. The announcements come as farmers continue to protest against three farm laws passed by the Centre in 2020.

Another announcement was the free travel for all women passengers and students in state government buses. For this, an amount of Rs 170 crore has been allocated. This apart, hostels will be built for working women in Jalandhar, Patiala, Ludhiana, Mohali, Mansa, Barnala and Amritsar.

#IMPORTANT #ANNOUNCEMENT #PunjabBudget2021

Free travel for women across Punjab in all Punjab Government Buses.
ਸਰਕਾਰੀ ਬੱਸਾਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਭਰ ਵਿੱਚ ਮਹਿਲਾਵਾਂ ਲਈ ਮੁਫਤ ਯਾਤਰਾ।
सरकारी बसों में पूरे पंजाब में महिलाओं के लिए मुफ्त बस यात्रा।@INCIndia @INCPunjab pic.twitter.com/NHjUCJ9zsl
— Manpreet Singh Badal (@MSBADAL) March 8, 2021

This is the fifth budget of the Captain Amarinder Singh government.

Meanwhile, Badal also announced the launch of a new umbrella scheme — Kamyaab Kisan Khushaal Punjab. Under this scheme, a centre of excellence for vegetables will be set up at Fazilka, a PG institute of horticulture research will be set up in Amritsar and mobile vending carts will be provided to farmers. A total of Rs 3,780 crore will be spent on this project over the next three years, of which Rs 1,104 crore has been allocated in FY21-22.

Key highlights of the budget speech include:

Raising old-age pension from Rs 750 per month to Rs 1,500 per month.
Increasing amount under the Shagun scheme from Rs 21,000 to Rs 51,000.
Allocating Rs 200 crore for understanding crop diversification measures.
Earmarking Rs 300 crore for sugarcane farmers.
Allocating Rs 60 crore for modernisation of sugar mills of Gurdaspur and Batala.
For setting up a PG institute of horticulture research and education in Amritsar, allocating Rs 24 crore.
Increasing monthly pension of freedom fighters from Rs 7,400 to Rs 9,400.
Allocating Rs 90 crore for cash-strapped Punjabi University, Patiala.
Spending Rs 432 crore to set up an interfaith institute in Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.
Allocating Rs 100 crore to celebrate 400th birth anniversary of Guru Teg Bahadur.
Setting up museum in the name of BR Ambedkar in Kapurthala by spending Rs 100 crore.
Setting up AI-enabled video surveillance and monitoring system at all 10 central jails of the state.

Published : March 08, 2021 05:52 PM IST

Punjab Budget: Government says will waive off loans worth Rs 1,186 crore of 1.13 lakh farmers

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