Punjab Budget Session: Governor's address marred by Congress walkout

The Punjab Assembly Budget Session began on Friday with the Governor's address.

Congress MLAs entered the Assembly wearing black armbands to protest against the state government's "ill-treatment of farmers" and its alleged failure to properly handle the issue of a colonel being beaten up by police in Patiala.

They entered the Well of the House and raised slogans against the government before staging a walkout.

The Governor's address will be followed by obituary references. The Budget session will last till March 28.

Governor Gulab Chand Kataria, addressing the opening session, said: “The Punjab government has circulated a draft agriculture policy to all stakeholders, including farmers and labourer unions, seeking comments.”

He said: “The policy has been prepared by an 11-member committee based on inputs regarding environmental, cultural and crop aspects for sustainable agriculture, protecting natural resources, and increasing farmers' income.”

He said, "The government has ensured more than eight hours of power supply to agricultural consumers during the paddy season without any cuts to domestic, commercial, or industrial consumers."

"To compensate for GST on goods purchased at the Golden Temple and Durgiana Mandir in Amritsar, the Government has released Rs 2.7 crores."

Says the government has constituted a high-powered committee under Finance Minister Harpal Cheema for the war against drugs campaign.

A special focus is on breaking the economic chain of the network.

Properties of drug smugglers are being demolished to send a strong message of the state government's firm conviction to eliminate the drug menace.

As many as 33,079 public awareness meetings were held, and 19,523 village defence committees were formed. The Anti-Gangster Task Force Police arrested 1,588 criminals, neutralised 13 gangsters, busted 571 modules, and recovered 1,477 weapons. From January 1, 2024, to November 28 last year, the police busted nine terror modules, resulting in 59 arrests.

The discussion on the Governor's address will take place on March 24. The state budget for 2025-26 will be presented on March 26, and the discussion on budget estimates will take place on March 27.

On Wednesday, Punjab Police detained several farmer leaders, including Sarwan Singh Pandher and Jagjit Singh Dallewal, in Mohali while they were returning from a meeting with a central delegation.

Police also evicted farmers from the Shambhu and Khanauri protest sites, which had been blocked for over a year. Temporary structures and stages were also dismantled by police using JCB machines.