2 years on, Punjab women await Rs 1,000 even as Kejriwal lures Delhi women

Chandigarh: Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Wednesday informed the Assembly that the state government will fulfil the "guarantee" of giving Rs 1,000 to women.

His statement came after the opposition parties accused the Bhagwant Mann government of not fulfilling the pre-poll promise of giving Rs 1,000 each month to women in the state.

Earlier this week, the Arvind Kejriwal government scheme under which eligible women were promised Rs 1,000 every month turned out to be a gimmick for Lok Sabha elections as Finance Minister Atishi Singh Marlena said that the scheme is likely to be rolled out in September-October.

Responding to issues raised by the MLAs during a debate on the state budget, Cheema said the state government has fulfilled four out of five "guarantees", including free electricity and the opening of 'aam aadmi clinics'.

"We implemented four guarantees out of five within two years. One guarantee related to women is pending. I am saying this with full responsibility in the House that this guarantee will also be fulfilled," the state finance minister told the House.

Taking on the opposition Congress MLAs, Cheema said they were not aware of the fulfilment of these four "guarantees" as they are related to the common people of the state.

Because most of the MLAs of the Congress party belong to the "elite" category, they neither visit 'aam aadmi clinic', nor do their children study in government schools, he claimed.

Rejecting the opposition's claims that the budgetary allocation for the education sector has decreased, Cheema said, adding that on the contrary there was an 11.5 per cent increase in funds for education.

In reply to a question by the opposition, he said no state-owned corporation took any loan. However, during the previous Congress government, a total of Rs 9,530 crore, including Rs 5,450 crore through the Rural Development Board and Rs 4,090 crore through the Mandi Board, was availed, Cheema said.

Out of these funds meant for farm debt waiver, only Rs 4,400 crore was waived by the previous government, he said.

Cheema said the AAP government paid the pending liabilities of Rs 6,279 crore of the previous Congress dispensation.

He further informed the House that the state government implemented UGC scales and the Judicial Pay Commission which was due from January 1, 2016.

The Punjab finance minister said the Union government has not disbursed Rs 8,000 crore designated for the National Health Mission, Rural Development Fund, Mandi Development Fund and Special Assistance to State for Capital Investment.

Citizens of the state equally contribute to the union treasury, thus the state has an equal right over it, he said.

On the regularization of teachers, Cheema said their salaries, which used to be Rs 5,000 to 6,000 per month, were increased to Rs 25,000 by the state government.

Later, the House passed the Punjab Appropriation (No 3) Bill 2024 which was presented by Cheema in the assembly.