CHANDIGARH: After scrapping the controversial land pooling scheme, the cash-strapped AAP-led Punjab government seems to have landed itself in trouble. It is presently struggling to raise revenue to fund its populist schemes.
In order to secure a loan to fund the schemes, the government has asked the Housing and Urban Development Department to prepare an inventory of the Rs 20,000 crore worth of property belonging to the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) for auctioning.
The properties to be auctioned, after consultations with the Finance Department, includes residential, commercial and industrial sites in Mohali.
This matter was discussed at a recent meeting headed by Chief Secretary KAP Sinha.
However, GMADA at present owes a loan of nearly Rs 5,000 crore to financial institutions.
Interestingly, out of the eight urban development authorities, only GMADA and the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority are financially viable in the state.
The other six housing authorities, Amritsar, Bathinda, Patiala, Jalandhar, Anandpur Sahib (Urban) and Dera Baba Nanak, are allegedly unable to even meet their expenditure.
Sources further said that a part of the total inventory could be used to raise a loan from financial institutions to fund populist schemes, such as providing Rs 1,100 monthly assistance to women above 18 years of age.
Defending the move, sources claimed that this kind of practice is not new, as previous governments had also mortgaged assets of the state to raise loans and had even pledged future income to raise resources.
During the SAD-BJP rule, the then government had raised a loan of Rs 2,000 crore by mortgaging its properties to banks. Later, the properties were transferred to the Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) for auction after developing them under the optimum utilisation of vacant government land scheme.
On the other hand, sources said that the decisions on proposals received from deputy commissioners of some districts for increasing the collector rates have been kept in abeyance for the time being. While the government has increased the collector rates by 5–50 per cent in 12 districts, the proposals sent by administrations of some of the remaining districts to the state revenue department have so far not been implemented.
The Ludhiana administration had sent a proposal to increase the collector rates by 25–40 per cent, which is still awaiting approval. In Bathinda, the rates have been increased by five per cent, but the approval for a further increase in some of the posh areas is awaiting clearance from the revenue department.
It is learnt that the state government allegedly wanted to increase the revenue collection from stamps and registration to Rs 7,000 crore this year, compared to Rs 5,750 crore earned last year.
Sources said that the government is yet to issue a notification to scrap the land pooling scheme, which was scrapped amid opposition from farmers’ unions. “The notification is being prepared,” said an official, adding that the government is likely to summon a cabinet meeting for scrapping the policy.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has decided to continue its protest against the land pooling policy until an official notification regarding its withdrawal is issued.
The farmer leaders have asked the state government to clarify the issue by August 20, or they would be forced to intensify their struggle. Senior SKM leader Balbir Singh Rajewal said the farmers’ rally, to be held on August 24 in Samrala regarding the land pooling policy and other demands of farmers and labourers, would be held as announced.