Chandigarh: Punjab Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa on July 16 presented a Rs.73,593 crore budget for 2014-15 with a deficit of Rs.4,252 crore. He proposed only Rs.109 crore to fight drug addiction and cancer, two major problems the state has been facing in the past few years.
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal termed it a “balanced and growth-oriented budget”. He said it will propel growth and development of the state.
The opposition Congress dismissed the budget as directionless and uninspiring. Former chief minister Amarinder Singh said the budget was a “statement of admission of fiscal failure and incompetence” of the Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state. Amarinder Singh lashed out at Badal for not being present in the assembly when the budget was being presented. “This only reflected his lack of sincerity and seriousness towards the state,” he said.
