CHANDIGARH: Punjab Finance and Planning Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said that more than 20,000 suggestions have been received for the state budget, with two-third coming from the youth who raised demands for better education with state-of-the-art academic facilities and more job opportunities.
Cheema said, on the instructions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann towards a collaborative and participative budget, it was decided to consult the public before preparing it and there has been an overwhelming response.
"People made suggestions very openly," said the Finance Minister, adding that while presenting the budget of Punjab, the suggestions and consultations put forward by industrialists, trade associations, youngsters, women and representatives of all walks of life would be taken into consideration. The main issues coming out of this exercise were creating new employment generation avenues, larger spending on education and health infra, improving power and industry infra for holistic development of the state, he said.
"More than 500 written memorandums were also received from industrialists, who demanded a business-friendly environment, ultra-modern infra, elimination of inspector raj, ease of doing business with simplification of rules and better enforcement to keep check on illegal practices," he said, adding that one in five suggestions was received from women. They demanded equal opportunities for girls coupled with better healthcare facilities and education prospects.
Cheema mentioned that out of total 20,384 suggestions, 14,859 were received on the Janta portal, 5025 on emails, while 500 letters and memorandums were received manually. Divulging demographic data, he said 72.70 per cent suggestions were received from males with highest from 31 to 40 age group (45.42 per cent) and 19.89 per cent from females with highest 48.75 per cent from 31 to 40 age group.
Cheema said that suggestions received on the Janta Budget portal, which may be considered in future, included restoration of old pension scheme, reduction of probation period from current three years, equal work-equal pay, power and transports subsidies, benefits to single girl child in education, enhancement of budget for higher education, promotion of information technology related industry, tax free zones or special economic zones near border cities to boost economic growth in these areas, establishment of liquor corporation, formation of sand and mining corporation and reservation/preference to residents of Punjab in all jobs.
He said that he covered all 23 districts during his week-long tour and received many suggestions from Ludhiana (10.61 per cent), Patiala (10.12 per cent), Fazilka (8.14 per cent), Bathinda (6.03 per cent) and Amritsar (5.81 per cent). "We have also received suggestions from Punjabis residing across the globe, especially in large numbers from neighbouring states Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan," he added.