The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) lauded the Punjab government's budget 2023-24 and said that the budget reflects the vision of the Mann Government to take Punjab forward for all-round progress. This budget has set the motion for the progress and further development of Punjab.
Addressing a press conference along with party spokespersons Govinder Mittal and Advocate Ravinder at the party headquarters on Saturday, AAP Punjab chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang said as Punjab is an Agrarian state, the budget has made provisions especially for Punjab's farmers, to further improve the condition of farming in the state.
Kang said that this time the budget for agriculture has been increased by 20 percent compared to the previous budget. This shows that Mann government is committed to the development of farmers. Along with increasing the agriculture budget, the Mann government emphasized on crop diversification in the budget and allocated Rs 1000 crore for this.
Last year, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had boosted the morale of Punjab farmers by giving MSP on direct paddy sowing and moong crop, which yielded much better results.Lamenting the previous governments, Kang said the condition of sugarcane farmers was pitiable during the Congress and Akali-BJP governments.
They could not even get the MSP on time. The Mann government not only paid the dues of sugarcane farmers but also increased the MSP of sugarcane to Rs 380 per quintal, the highest in the country.Kang said that in this budget, the Mann government has paved the way for the smooth functioning of many government institutions of Punjab by giving them bailout packages which contribute to rural development.
This time the government gave Markfed a bailout package and made provisions in the budget to build 13 new godowns so that Markfed could become a brand worldwide. Apart from this, the government also gave bailout package to Punjab Gramin Bank, PUNSUP and Sugarfed.
Kang attacked the opposition leaders and said that the they have nothing to criticize the budget, so they are now trying to mislead the people with their bogus claims while the reality is that some good provisions have been made for every sector in the budget for the inclusive development of the state.