Asian Tribune 12 March 2021

Issue 276 (6) Asian Tribune 12 March, 2021
Editorial
Poll-year populism
THE Congress government’s last
Budget before the 2022 Punjab Assembly
elections is, as expected, populist to
the core. With the state’s farmers spearheading
a protracted agitation against
three farm laws enacted by the Centre,
the Capt Amarinder Singh dispensation
has intensified its focus on the agriculture
sector in a bid to woo this all-important
vote bank. The FM has announced
to waive Rs 1,186 crore owed by 1.13
lakh farmers, while the landless ones
won’t have to repay loans to the tune of
Rs 526 crore. It was on the back of poll
promises such as the crop loan waiver
scheme that the Congress had wrested
power from the Akali-BJP alliance in
2017. Though loan waiver is at best a
short-term palliative measure that
doesn’t address the problems plaguing
Punjab’s agriculture — depleting water
table, shrinking landholdings, wheatpaddy
fixation — the Congress is staying
the course due to political compulsions.
Even as the state’s debt has risen
to Rs 2,73,730 crore — it was around
Rs 1,53,773 crore in 2016-17 — the government
has allocated Rs 7,180 crore to
provide free electricity to farmers. For
obvious reasons, power subsidy has remained
sacrosanct for successive governments
in Punjab, even though the
Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG)
has repeatedly red-flagged this largesse
as a key contributor to the state’s abysmal
economic condition. The FM has
also announced schemes to promote
horticulture and crop diversification, but
it would require wholehearted efforts to
make such ventures viable and sustainable
for growers.
The Budget has something in
store for virtually every section of society,
be it government employees, old-age
pensioners, students or industrialists. It
seems the cash-strapped government
will yet again be living beyond its means.
Mobilising resources and enforcing fiscal
discipline to ensure that there is no
paucity of funds for the social sector,
which has for long suffered neglect in
Punjab, continue to be a tall order. Curbing
the menace of tax evasion, which has
been eating into the state’s revenue, is
another challenge. Rationalising of subsidies
can help to reduce the financial
burden, provided there is strong political
will to look beyond electoral gains in the
state’s interest
Yash Sharma
Editorial Team
Prof . Harjinder Walia,
Ph.D (Journalism)
Former Head of Journalism
Punjabi Universty Patiala. (Punjab) India
Patron
Yash Sharma,
M.Sc (Hons), DMM
Publisher & Editor in Chief
780-200-0246
Sat Paul Kaushal
Associate Editor, Calgary
403 903 8500
Raghbir Bilaspuri
Bureau Chief ( Punjabi)
Sunny Sharma
Bureau Chief (English)
Atul Seth, CPA,CGA
Financial & Management Consultant
Tejinder Singh Bhateja
Advisor(Marketing)
587 889 2340
English Page
Anita Sharma
M.A.(Hindi)
Bureau Chief (Hindi)
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