LAHORE: Punjab Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb has said the provincial government has presented a people-friendly budget and no new taxes have been levied in the budget.
She expressed these views while addressing a post-budget press conference along with Punjab Finance Minister Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman here on Friday. She underlined the importance of paying taxes, saying everyone has to pay their taxes to bring prosperity to the country, “every individual has to contribute”.
While outlining the Punjab government’s focus and various projects announced in the budget, she said that the new budget served as a policy statement, making difficult decisions while providing stability to both the people and the economy.
She averred that the provincial government has taken important steps for the people during the past three months, adding that their prudent decisions have brought down the inflation and subsequently, providing much-needed relief to the people. “Our forward-looking approach is based on people and development to provide relief to the people and generate jobs for the youth,” she added.
Showcasing prominent features of the budget, the Senior Minister emphasised that the subjects of health and education have been prioritised while the budget also focuses on agriculture, local government and other vital sectors.
Regarding the allocations for the health sector, she said that the basic health units and other health facilities would undergo complete reconstruction in this budget. She also highlighted the benefits of the recently launched initiatives of Clinic on Wheels and Field Hospitals, stating that over 0.6 million people benefited from the Clinic on Wheels initiative and thousands from the Field Hospitals project.
“The Clinics on Wheels programme would be expanded, and funds have been allocated for the repair and maintenance of all basic health centres. Major hospitals, including the Nawaz Sharif Cancer Hospital and others in various cities, were included in the budget. Additionally, a health insurance scheme for journalists has been initiated,” she added.
Moving on to the education sector, she said that the budget places special emphasis on education, with the allocation for the education sector increased to Rs670 billion. “There is a particular focus on children’s education, and a new initiative will provide IT skills to village girls from their homes.
Moreover, for the first time in the education sector, there was an increased focus on teacher training and the quality of education,” she added.
Touching on agriculture, she averred that the agriculture sector receives special attention in the Punjab budget as the government prioritizes the prosperity of farmers, with dedicated funds for crop seeds and solar systems. She said the agriculture budget includes the Kisan Card and Tractor Scheme, and a scheme related to livestock. “An Agriculture Mall is also being developed, and a programme to manufacture tractors in Punjab is part of the budget. The Punjab government initiated the Kisan Card interest-free loan scheme to facilitate the farming community,” she added
Talking about different plans and initiatives of the government, Marriyum said that funds to the tune of Rs120 billion were earmarked for solid waste management and an end-to-end solid waste management plan will be implemented across Punjab. At the same time, the budget also includes a project for tourism revival throughout the province.
“For the first time, a Punjab Socio-Economic History project has been initiated,” she said. She added that sports projects have been included down to the union council level under the ‘Khelta Punjab’ initiative. Regarding environmental changes, she said that a Smog-Free Lahore project has been introduced, with allocated funds to ensure its implementation.
Regarding salary and pension increases, she said that a 17 percent increase in pension was approved in Punjab and the minimum wage had been increased to Rs37,000, adding that funds amounting to Rs1 billion have been spared in the budget for the journalist community.
On this occasion, she denied accepting the assertion made by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), saying that the incumbent Punjab government did not place their plaques on projects launched by the former PTI provincial government.
While addressing the media, Punjab Finance Minister Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman said that the tax rates have not been revised to avoid putting an extra financial burden on the people; however, the provincial resources targets set in the budget after expanding the tax base in Punjab.
He continued that they presented a tax-free, surplus budget with a record allocation for the Annual Development Programme (ADP).
He noted that it is a cash-back budget, meaning that they have the money in the kitty to meet the expenses of the entire ADP, adding that by the end of the next fiscal year, everyone would need a visible improvement in the utilisation of the development funds. “Our budget covered all the sectors, no one was left out,” he added.
He was confident that the measures taken in the budget would generate 100,000 jobs in Punjab during FY2024-25. He credited the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government for bringing down the inflation rate from 30 percent to 11.8 percent and he was confident that it would decline to 5 percent. He noted that gradually poverty would decline; it takes time, but the people’s lives would improve.
The Finance Minister clarified that there was no increase in the property tax; only its mode of calculation was being changed. “Right now, the property tax was calculated on a property’s rental value, but from the next fiscal year it would be calculated on the value of a property based on DC rates; this was an international standard. It would be implemented from January 1, 2025, as the work on this transition was still in progress,” he added.
He also told the media that Rs10 billion has been earmarked for the local government elections, adding that their government has taken several initiatives in the past 100 days to restructure government departments and subsequently, improve governance in the province.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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