Punjab cuts fuel expense entitlements of depts by 25 pc

The Punjab government on Tuesday announced cost-cutting measures, including an immediate 25 per cent reduction in existing entitlements for petroleum product expenses of all government departments.

However, the frontline departments of health, medical education, police, food and agriculture are exempted from this reduction, an official statement said here.

The reduction will remain in force till the Department of Finance resubmits its proposal to review the vehicle entitlements, vehicle models and Petrol/Diesel limits for the consideration of the chief minister.

The decision was taken at a video conference meeting of the sub-committee on finance, chaired by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who stressed on an exit strategy, pointing out that the state could not be kept under lockdown indefinitely.

The report of the 20-member expert committee working on the strategy is expected this week.

Amid concerns expressed by Finance Minister Manpreet Badal over the "critical fiscal situation" in the state in the light of all revenue receipts "drying up", the meeting decided that tough decisions needed to be taken, as an interim measure, to help the state tide over these difficult times.

The meeting also decided that the norms and expenditure on security of people not holding public office any longer/have never held public office would be reviewed by May 15 to decide on possible cuts on this count, the statement said.

It may be recalled that the security of several protected persons in the state, including the Chief Minister, has already been cut down to divert police personnel to curfew enforcement and Covid relief duties.

In another step to generate the revenue, all the Administrative Departments in the state have been asked to deposit the balances available with the Societies under them in the state treasury by April 30.

There are around 40 such societies functional in various departments, the statement said.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister has asked the Health Department to prepare a comprehensive budget for COVID related expenditure.

It was decided that the Department of Finance, after meeting requirements of Health and Medical Education Departments, as also the requirements of relief and rehabilitation, would provide for committed liabilities only till June 30, 2020, and the fiscal position of the State would be reviewed again in the first week of June 2020.