Nothing new for Jalandhar district in government’s last Budget

Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, March 8

The last Budget (2021-22) of the Amarinder Singh-led Punjab Government had nothing much for the district. The industrialists here had been pinning hope on getting projects like a new Focal Point or some advanced health facility but eventually all hopes dashed for them. The 101-page Budget document mentions Jalandhar just six times and these too are only budgetary allocations for the already sanctioned or ongoing projects.

The sanctioned/ongoing projects include construction of Chugitti flyover, Rs592-cr 24x7 surface water supply scheme, works under Smart City Mission and working women’s hostel (seven to be set up across state for Rs50 crore). The only two fresh announcements are repair of table tennis stadium for Rs50 lakh (which certainly was much needed owing to its poor condition) and setting up of a local office of the District Bureau of Industry and Investment Promotion (DBIIP).

Industrialist Narinder Saggoo termed the move of setting up a local office of DBIIP completely useless. “We had been seeking a new Focal Point here. We got Focal Point here 30 years ago. There are several industrialists who want to set up big units in Jalandhar including those for alloy wheels in a five-acre plot but no such space is available here and hence no new job creation too.”

He added, “The only good thing in the Budget is that the state government has introduced no new tax. We had also demanded that the way the government started OTS on C-forms, it should offer a similar scheme of no penalty and no interest on clearing of property tax and other dues by the Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation (PSIEC). But no such benefit came to us”.

Even Jalandhar Central MLA Rajinder Beri agrees. “The Budget has nothing new for Jalandhar. I agree that most of them are sanctions of funds for ongoing projects”. The Jalandharites believe that owing to no pushy, dominant leader from the city, Jalandhar could not see any new sanction coming even in the last financial year of the government wherein maximum announcements are usually made.

On the contrary, a small city like Kapurthala went better off getting projects worth Rs63 crore sanctioned in the new budget. The biggest, of course, was the facelift of 164-year-old Nawab Jassa Singh Ahluwalia Government College with Rs7 crore. The college is perhaps one of the oldest educational institutes of the state.

Principal of the college Prof Jatinder Kaur Dhir said the funds would be utilised for general upkeep in addition to solar panel installation, rain water harvesting system, new library, laying of inner roads, computer lab etc.

A new project coming in the city is Dr BR Ambedkar Institute of Management, which is proposed to be set up at IKGPTU, Kapurthala with an objective of achieving international-level quality in the field of Management Education. Besides that Dr BR Ambedkar Museum is proposed to be set up at IKGPTU, Kapurthala, wherein the biography and achievements of Dr BR Ambedkar will be displayed.

Besides that an allocation of Rs5 crore is proposed in this financial year to improve the condition of Sainik School, Kapurthala. Pushpa Gujral Science City has also got Rs11 crore in the Budget.

Though the setting up of a new medical college here was announced in the last Budget, the payment of first instalment of Rs40 crore is expected to come this year. The proposal Shri Guru Nanak Dev State Institute of Medical Sciences is in totality a Rs650 crore project at Kapurthala.

Thanking the CM and Finance Minister, Kapurthala MLA Rana Gurjit Singh said Kapurthala could emerge as a new medical hub in the state. About the NJSA Government college renovation, he said “with the new infrastructure this historic institution would retain its glory”.

Hoshiarpur, too, has got new projects including the setting up of a wrestling school. The Budget also has provision for armed forces preparatory institute, an already sanctioned project in the district at Bajwara village.

Kapurthala gets projects worth Rs63 cr

• The Budget allocates Rs7 crore for the facelift of 164-year-old Nawab Jassa Singh Ahluwalia Government College. The college is perhaps one of the oldest educational institutes of the state
• A new project coming in the city is Dr BR Ambedkar Institute of Management, which is proposed to be set up at IKGPTU, Kapurthala with an objective of achieving international-level quality in the field of Management Education
• Besides that Dr BR Ambedkar Museum is proposed to be set up at IKGPTU, Kapurthala, wherein the biography and achievements of Dr BR Ambedkar will be displayed
• An allocation of Rs5 crore is proposed in this financial year to improve the condition of Sainik School, Kapurthala. Pushpa Gujral Science City has also got Rs11 crore in the Budget

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