Along with the opposition, journalists also recorded their protest against the defamation law as they walked out of the press gallery of the assembly hall.
LAHORE: Punjab Finance Minster Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman presents a provincial federal budget with a total volume of Rs5,446 billion, including Rs842 billion allocated for development expenditure and a surplus of Rs630 billion.
Today’s Punjab Assembly budget session has started with Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan in the chair.
The Punjab is likely to get Rs3,700 billion from the Federal Divisible Pool under the National Finance Commission (NFC) award while the provincial revenue target is over Rs1.025 billion.
Opposition, Journalists protest amid Punjab budget presentation
During the budget session in the Punjab Assembly, the opposition members were in front of the speaker’s dais. The opposition tore the budget documents waved them in the house and shouted slogans against the PML-N Punjab government.
Along with the opposition, journalists also recorded their protest against the defamation law as they walked out of the press gallery of the assembly hall.
At the outset of his speech, Punjab’s finance minister praised the leadership of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and said that the journey of the development of Punjab started on February 26, 2024.
“Maryam Nawaz has proved in 100 days how to serve the public, she will further accelerate the journey of public relief and business development,” he added.
The Finance Minister added that the Punjab provincial cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has approved the largest tax-free surplus budget in the province’s history. The development and prosperity of Punjab will start from the budget, provincial revenues are increasing in the budget, and government size and expenditure are being reduced significantly.
He said that they are introducing the biggest farmer package in history, the CM Punjab laptop scheme is being re-introduced at a cost of 10 billion.
Main points of the Punjab budget 2024-25
- No new taxes were imposed on the people
- Approval of 77 new mega projects in the annual development plan
- 130 billion rupees allocated for the welfare of the poor
- Rs6 billion allocated from the Laptop scheme
- A 53% increase in revenue from fiscal sources without raising taxes
- A record Rs842 billion was allocated for development expenditure
- Rs5 billion allocated for the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute (PKLI) Endowment Fund
- A historic increase of one billion rupees in the Minority Development Fund
- Allocation of 26 billion rupees for agricultural implements, 10 billion for the Kisan Card, and 30 billion for the CM Green Tractor Program.
- Two billion rupees each for the livestock card and Himmat and Nighaban cards
- Approval of 26 billion rupees for restructuring education
- Rs8.5 billion allocated for providing free textbooks
- Rs22 billion rupees allocated to deal with the challenges of climate change
Major allocations in Punjab budget
Energy – Rs7.5 billion
Local government – Rs61 billion
Water supply – Rs8 billion
Public building – Rs30 building
Livestock – Rs2 billion
Police – Rs187 billion
Ramazan Package – Rs30 billion
Laptop scheme – Rs6 billion
Education – Rs669.7 billion
Sports – Rs4 billion
Special Education – Rs2 billion
Daycare centres – Rs1 billion
Air ambulance service – Rs452 million
CM Roshan Gharana programme – Rs4 billion
Transport – Rs24.3 billion
NFC share
The Punjab will get Rs3,700 billion from the Federal Divisible Pool under the National Finance Commission (NFC) award while the provincial revenue target is over Rs1.025 billion.
Development
A sum of Rs842 billion has been earmarked for the development budget including Rs8 billion for the Central Business District (CBD). The development budget is 28.5% higher than last year.
In the development budget outlines, 1,863 total schemes will be presented – 1,617 are ongoing schemes and 246 new schemes will be launched. The road sector allocation is over Rs22 billion.
More than Rs10 billion have been set aside for industry development, Rs37.3 billion for Planning and Development, and Rs24 billion for industry and commerce.
Increase in salary, pensions
Following the federal government, the Punjab government also increased the salaries of the government employees by up to 25 percent. The provincial government increased the pension of the retired employees by 15 percent.
The government allocated Rs595 billion for salaries, Rs445 billion for pensions, and Rs840 billion for service delivery costs.
following the Federal government, The Punjab budget has also set the minimum wage of Rs 37000, increasing 5,000 from the previous Rs 32000.
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Social protection
The Punjab government has allocated Rs130 billion for social protection with an increase of record Rs110 billion.
