Hailing the Union Budget 2016-17 as a pro-farmer, growth oriented, balanced and a realistic budget, the Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today profusely thanked the Union Finance Minister Mr. Arun Jaitley for allocating Rs 100 crore to mark 350th birth celebrations of tenth Sikh master Sri Guru Gobind Singh ji. In a statement, the Chief Minister said that it was a matter a great pride for all of us that Union government has made a special provision of Rs 100 crore in the budget for celebrating the birth anniversary of great Sikh Guru in an unsurpassed manner. He said that this pro-minority stance of the NDA government was a humble tribute of Government of India (GoI) towards the supreme sacrifice made by the tenth Sikh Guru. Mr. Badal said that this unprecedented decision of Union government was a supreme gift for every Punjabi in general and Sikhs across the globe in particular.Welcoming the announcement to reorient GoI’s interventions in the farm and non-farm sectors to double the income of the farmers by 2022, the Chief Minister said that it would be very helpful in mitigating the woes of farming community.
He said that it was a matter of great satisfaction and pride that the NDA government has almost doubled the budgetary provisions kept for Agriculture sector in fiscal 2016-17 than the current financial year. Mr. Badal also expressed happiness over the decision to encourage farmers to take up allied farming activities to supplement their family income. The Chief Minister said that the announcements like introduction of ‘Pashudhan Sanjivani’, an animal wellness program and provision of Animal Health Cards (‘Nakul Swasthya Patra’), an Advanced breeding technology, creation of ‘E-Pashudhan Haat’, an e market portal for connecting breeders and farmers and a National Genomic Centre for indigenous breeds at a cost of Rs 850 crore would go a long way in making allied farming sector far more remunerative to the farmers. He further said that these decisions would act a catalyst to supplement the income of farmers and make farming a profitable venture. Mr. Badal said that the budget presented by Union Finance Minister was a step forward towards ensuring the well being of farmers.
The Chief Minister also welcomed the announcement to develop 300 Rurban Clusters under the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Rurban Mission as these Clusters would act as incubate growth centres in rural areas by providing infrastructure amenities and market access for the farmers adding that they would also expand employment opportunities for the youth. Mr. Badal also hailed the decision of creating a dedicated Long Term Irrigation Fund in NABARD with an initial corpus of about Rs 20,000 crore and initiating a major program for sustainable management of ground water resources at an estimated cost of Rs 6,000 crore. Likewise, he said that the decision to hold national level competition among 674 Krishi Vigyan Kendras with total prize money of Rs 50 lakh would help in improving the efficiency and performance of these Kendras besides boosting the research in agriculture sector.
The Chief Minister also welcomed a health insurance scheme which protects one-third of India’s population against hospitalization expenditure and decision to provide BPL families with a cooking gas connection, supported by a Government subsidy. Likewise, he said that move to set up a Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) with an initial capital base of Rs 1,000 crores and set up 1500 Multi Skill Training Institutes across the country at a cost of Rs1,700 crore was a step forward towards opening new vistas of higher education and skill training for the youth to make them gainfully employed.