The Aam Aadmi Party-led government in Punjab has announced a special allocation for improving the infrastructure in the border districts of the state. The state’s Rs 1,96,462 crore budget was tabled by State Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, the first full budget by the AAP government that came to power in March 2022. The budget has seen a major push towards infrastructure spending, healthcare and agriculture.
For the first time, the government will be looking to spend Rs 40 crore to improve the infrastructure in Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Firozpur and Fazilka districts that share a boundary with Pakistan’s Punjab Province in the West. The state also shares land boundaries with Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Himachal Pradesh on the northeast and Haryana and Rajasthan on the south.
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The state’s major disputes, however, are towards Haryana. While the two states share a capital, a High Court, and several water systems, they have a long history of border disputes. The latest is the joint state capital of Chandigarh.
Punjab also has several long-lasting border disputes with neighbouring Himachal Pradesh. Most of these disputes stem from the Punjab Reorganisation Act of 1966, which carved out the state of Haryana from Punjab, and gave Himachal Pradesh several of the hilly regions that previously belonged to Punjab.
Apart from the infrastructure improvement in border districts, the Budget has also set aside a total of Rs 26,295 crore for infrastructure development. Of this amount, Rs 3,319 crore has been allocated for the development of rural areas and panchayats while Rs 6,596 crore has been earmarked for local government and urban development. The total capital expenditure for the financial year 2023-24 has been set at Rs 11,782 crore, a 22 percent increase over the previous fiscal’s budget.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
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