Congress rejects budget proposals of Punjab government

Leader of Opposition Sunil Kumar Jakhar told reporters outside the Assembly that "its not even a budget, but mere statement of accounts just to stay within the norms of Planning Commission".

He said that the state governments had miserably failed on all fronts and could not fulfil even a single promise the SAD made in its election manifesto.

The budget proposals are "mere cosmetic attempts" to reduce the state's debt, he said adding that no provisions had been made to increase the amount paid through pensions, Shaghun scheme and unemployment allowance.

On the fiscal front, the state government failed to address a single problem, he said adding that "it appears that the Finance Minister failed in fiscal management completely."

The budget proposals appear like that the state government is relying more on borrowing just to put down the fiscal debt and in the way are likely to put the state under severe fiscal crunch, he said.