Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], March 8 : Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema claimed that the AAP government during its five-year tenure has "fulfilled every promise" it had made to the people of the State.
Addressing a Punjab Legislative Assembly after presenting the State budget, Minister Cheema said, "This budget is dedicated to the mothers and daughters of Punjab. Under the leadership of Bhagwant Singh Mann, the day the Aam Aadmi Party government took charge of this State, we promised that the guarantees given to the people would not be mere decorations on paper. I want to say with great pride before this august House that there is no other government that has earned the complete trust, confidence, and capability in its five-year tenure and has the courage to say that every promise made to the people of Punjab has been fulfilled... Therefore, I am naming this budget the Guarantee Fulfilment Budget..."
The Minister also highlighted the efforts of the government in its war against the drug menace.
"As part of the 'Yudh Nashe De Virudh' campaign, last year, 36,686 cases were registered under the NDPS Act. Over 33,000 kilograms of drugs were recovered... 12,000 village defence committees formed. Our campaign against drugs will continue...," Cheeam said.
Before presenting the Budget, Minister Cheema congratulated the women on International Women's Day and boasted that AAP is the "first government" to present a budget on Women's Day.
"First of all, on International Women's Day, I congratulate all my mothers, sisters and children on behalf of the Aam Aadmi Party. Today, the historic budget of Punjab, which is being presented on Women's Day, is a great honour for women. To date, no party, no government has presented a budget on Women's Day. For the last four consecutive years, the Punjab government has worked for every section...," Cheema told reporters here.
Punjab Leader of Opposition Pratap Singh Bajwa lashed out at the AAP-led Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann Singh government for allegedly backtracking on the poll promises. He further claimed that the government will announce financial aid, keeping in view the elections.
"When they took the vote, Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann promised that women would be given Rs 1,000 after forming the government. 48 months have passed. They are announcing after 48 months. And the inside information we have from the government is that they will make this announcement today, and the instalments will start coming from August. They have also requested the BJP to prepone the elections by two to three months. The elections are likely to be in December, so this instalment will be for two months, or at most three months, so fraud is being committed..."
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