Chandigarh, March 6 (IANS) BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh on Friday demanded that the AAP-led Punjab government should first account for the promises made in last year’s state Budget before presenting a new Budget on March 8.

Chugh said the AAP government has repeatedly made tall claims in its Budgets, but the reality is that most of the major projects announced last year have not seen any progress on the ground.

He said that the Bhagwant Mann government had announced a Drug Census with an allocation of Rs 150 crore to gather real-time data on drug addiction in the state, but not a single rupee has reportedly been spent on the initiative.

Similarly, the announcement of setting up 3,000 indoor gyms and upgrading 13 Centres of Excellence has remained largely invisible on the ground, raising serious questions about the utilisation of the allocated funds, he said.

Chugh further pointed out that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government had allocated Rs 159 crore for the PM Ekta Mall in Amritsar, and the state government had also claimed to allocate additional funds for the project.

However, till date even the land for the project has not been finalised, he alleged.

Chugh said announcements regarding developing Nangal as an eco-tourism hub, constructing new court complexes at Dera Bassi, Khanna and Patran, and establishing technology extension centres in several districts also remain unfulfilled.

He added that Rs 115 crore was allocated to install 2.5 lakh streetlights in villages across Punjab, yet many areas continue to remain in darkness even after a year.

Chugh also reminded that the AAP had promised Minimum Support Price (MSP) on all crops during the 2022 Assembly elections, but no allocation for such a scheme has appeared in any of the state Budgets so far.

On speculation that the AAP government may announce a scheme to give Rs 1,000 per month to women in the upcoming Budget, Chugh questioned why the Mann government took four years to even announce the scheme and asked whether the government would also pay arrears for the 48 months during which the promised assistance was not given.

He said the people of Punjab deserved answers before the AAP government makes new announcements in the upcoming Budget.

–IANS

vg/pgh