More than a month after the Bhagwant Mann ministry was sworn in, there is a growing realization among AAP leaders that ruling a full-fledged border state with rising debt burden is different from administering a financially secure Delhi. ET takes a look at why the AAP government may have to halt its populist pitch in Punjab, urgently address revenue generation to save the state from hurting the economic gulf and what happened in Patiala recently Yes, intelligence has to be used to stop him.
debt trap
The AAP government has postponed the implementation of its most popular election promise of free 300 units of electricity for all domestic consumers. As in the rest of India, high temperatures have pushed electricity demand to unprecedented levels and with power plants operating at sub-optimal levels, the government heeded the advice of the Punjab State Electricity Corporation and promised until the monsoon arrives in July. Implementation has been postponed. However, the state government is finding it difficult to fulfill its big promise of Rs 1,000 per month for women above 18 years of age. Behind the moratorium on implementation of election promises lies the story of decades of fiscal mismanagement.
“The outstanding debt of Punjab in 2021-22 is `3 lakh crore. About 20% of Punjab’s revenue goes towards interest payments. Presently the total debt is 4.5 times of revenue and 42% of GDP. In my opinion, This government’s guarantee is freebies – 300 units of free electricity to all domestic consumers and ‘12,000 per year to all women – will add to the debt burden. The government is focusing on freebies and subsidies without any economic consideration. Free to everyone Couldn’t happen for, “economist R.S. Professor Ghuman of the Chandigarh-based Center for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID) told ET. He said that there is a need to target free facilities to the deprived sections.
According to Ghuman, the government needs to focus on mobilizing resources. “The government needs to mobilize resources and it can generate ‘28,500 crore’ without levying new taxes. This would mean preventing evasion of excise duty, GST, power theft and social welfare schemes and property tax on sale of immovable property.” and to collect stamp duty.What has been added to the problems of the government is that the orientation has shifted from economy to law and order after the Patiala clashes.
Law and order
Conflicts have shown that law and order is an important aspect of governing a border state. Unlike Delhi, the Punjab government is administratively responsible for law and order. The conflicts have exposed the influence of extremist elements in the state, who have spent years fighting terrorism. Heads are rolled after the Patiala clashes, but this is clearly revealing an intelligence failure. Punjab Police has released a video of accused Barjinder Singh Parwana instigating a mob in Patiala on April 29 – which is celebrated as Khalistan Foundation Day.
Former DGP Shashi Kant said, “There is a district special branch in Patiala and also an office of a central agency. It is unlikely that there was no intelligence on such incitement of the mob. Preventive arrest was done to defuse the situation. should have been done.” The high rate of unemployment is also a factor behind the rising unemployment and incidents of violence. The government has approved the recruitment of 26,454 posts in various departments, fulfilling the election promise. However, there is a long way to go to overcome the state’s 8% unemployment rate.
drug danger
For Punjab elections, AAP had promised to end the politician-drug mafia nexus and curb the drug menace. Kant said, “Successful governments have vowed to address Punjab’s drug problem, but have failed. Recent drug seizures have shown that Punjab is still on the way and even That also for medicines coming into India by sea,” Kant said. Apart from the cross-border narcotics in Punjab, the government needs to crack down on the synthetic drug trade going on within the cities. Experts say that synthetic drug factories run in connivance with politicians, businessmen and police.
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