Assembly witnesses two walkouts

While placing a detailed report on the table of the House, Finance Minister Kanwaljit Singh said that nominations were made on the recommendation of the deputy commissioners and added hurriedly that since the matter was pending in the High Court it should not be discussed.

Arshi objected and said that Singh was blocking the debate by saying that the matter was pending in the HC and added if the matter was sub-judice why was the Minister giving a detailed reply on the issue. Heated words were exchanged between the treasury benches and the opposition with Congress legislatures also participating in it.

As the Speaker did not allow further discussion on the subject, the entire opposition comprising 7 MLAs of the Congress, 2 of the CPI and 1 of SAD (Amritsar) staged a walkout.

The second walkout by the Congress was witnessed, when leader of the opposition raised the issue of government treasuries not clearing the expenditure bills.

Food and Supplies Minister Madan Mohan Mittal advised the opposition against raising the issue in the zero hour since House needed sufficient time for debate on budget. The Congress MLAs demanded assurance from Kanwaljit Singh in this connection.

The Finance Minister said perhaps leader of the opposition Chaudhary Jagjit Singh wanted to score a point over former chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, who had unilaterally announced boycott of the proceedings of the House.

Bhattal, who was removed from the position of the leader of the opposition when she went to the US, has not attended even a single sitting of the House during this session.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal while replying to a question said that the person killed in Ludhiana, allegedly by a police cat, was not an SGPC member. The DIG had been instructed to investigate the matter. Three officers had already been transferred. Arshi had alleged in the House that the pistol used in the murder was given to the accused by a police officer.Tohra loyalist Inderjit Singh Zira raised the issue of dilapidated buildings of government schools in Zira constituency and went on to support the opposition benches on non-grant of the old age pensions.

Hardev Arshi during the question hour wanted to know why the medical reimbursement bills of insured persons (ESI scheme) were not being passed and what was their number. He wanted time bound sanction of such bills.

Replying to a question by Luxmi Kanta Chawla (BJP), the Chief Minister assured the House that action would be taken against those police officers who delayed action or were liberal in handling the stripping incident in Abohar tehsil.

Punjab budget anti-poor: Cong
Opening the debate on the budget, leader of the opposition Chaudhary Jagjit Singh termed it as anti-poor and said it would lead the state into a debt- trap.

The leader of the opposition lamented the SAD-BJP government was taking a large amount as loan from the financial institutions by mortgaging public properties. At present, he said, the public debt payable by Punjab was to the tune of Rs 35,000 crore and it was paying an interest of Rs 1,400 crore per year.

Chaudhary demanded the government should table a white paper in the House, showing how much loan it was taking and how much it had inherited from the previous Congress government. The Congress leader said such was the plight of the government that it was not able to pay pensions and wages in time to its employees. Even items like bicycles, three-wheelers and desert coolers were being taxed heavily. Soaps, detergents and pulses too have been made costlier.

He said the employees had not only been deprived of their annual bonus, but also of leave travel concession. The hike in house rent to 10 per cent of the salary was also a big burden on the staff. The Scheduled Castes were being throttled. Stipends to the SC students were not released. When requirement was of Rs 45 crore for stipends, only 20 crore was placed for this purpose, Chaudhary said.

Welcoming the development at Anandpur Sahib during the tercentenary year of the Khalsa, Chaudhary alleged that corruption was rampant at the site. He demanded that a road be laid to the gurdwara built in the memory of Bhai Jaita. CPI MLA Hardev Arshi called the budget as pro-capitalist and industry- friendly. He also saw a trend in the budget presentation to privatise various sectors or at least an increased private participation in social and industrial projects.

Arshi felt that if tax collection department was made to perform with efficiency and honesty, there would be no need to impose fresh taxes.

The CPI MLA lamented the burden of increased house rent on the employees and wanted the UT pattern of house rent charges for the Punjab employees.

He demanded that some money could be saved by sending the required quota of 42 IPS officers on deputation to the Centre.

On the contrary, Manpreet Badal (SAD) declared the budget was a bold attempt by the Finance Minister to cut on outdated subsidies and non-plan expenditure. The cut on non-plan would save about Rs 400 crore.

He appealed to the benefactors of employees to think for a while. Employees formed only 2 per cent of the total population of the state and a total of 62 per cent of the budget income was being spent on their salaries. He also praised the floating of an infrastructure board, which was to invest Rs 100 crore in this vital sector.

The debate will resume in the House tomorrow.