Badal for impartial distribution of tax collected from states

by Punjabnewswire4u

HOSHIARPUR, NOV 3

            Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said that rather then discriminating with the states the Union Government must impartially disburse the taxes collected from states in order to ensure the overall development of the country.

            Talking to the media persons here today, the Chief Minister said that it was the need of the hour to revise the formula for devolution of Central funds because the states needed more funds for their primary developmental needs. Mr Badal said that they had been demanding that the states should be given at least 50% share in taxes collected from them adding that the allocation of funds to the states should in fact be made growth dependent, so as to encourage the states to perform better. Laying stress on the need for strengthening federalism by increasing devolution of Central funds to states from the present 32% to 50% along with change in the devolution criteria, he said that if more funds were placed at the disposal of the states an era of unparalleled development could be heralded in them.

The Chief Minister categorically said that by giving the central funds the Union government was not doling out anything special to the states rather it was duty bound to repay back their share from the revenue collected in form of various taxes from the states. Assailing the Union government for ignoring the welfare of people by formulating the policies autocratically without concerning the state governments, the Chief Minister said the tendency of the Centre government to usurp the powers of the state governments was very dangerous as it not only violated the fundamental principles of democracy but also weakened the Federal structure of the country.

Blaming the successive Congress led Union governments of meting out step motherly treatment with Punjab, the Chief Minister said that these governments have irrelevantly meddled in social, political, economic and even religious matters of the state. He said that the result of such discriminatory policies of the Congress was that Punjab which was once considered as most prosperous and advanced state of the country has now lagged behind in many sectors. 

The Chief Minister lamented that the Union government has hardly done anything for the safeguarding the interests of the beleaguered farmers of the state due to which the food growers of the state, who have played a pivotal role in making country self reliant in food production, have been left at the mercy of the Center. Mr Badal asserted that as Punjab was serving the needs of the country regarding food grain production so it was the bounden duty of the Union Government to extend special facilities to the state.

Training his guns against the Union government, the Chief Minister said that a wave of resentment was brewing amongst countrymen against the misrule of the UPA government. He said that unprecedented hike in essential commodities coupled with widespread corruption by the UPA leaders has broken the backbone of common man. Terming these steps of the UPA as anti-people, anti-farmers and anti-poor, Mr Badal said that the countrymen wee fed up from the incumbent Union government and they would show the door to them in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.

The Chief Minister also said that the BJP would form government in Himachal Pradesh for a second consecutive term as the people were fully satisfied by the performance of the incumbent state government. Moreover he said that the Congress party hardly had any agenda to pursue in the Himachal elections. “Like Punjab, the people of Himachal will create history by electing BJP government for second consecutive term’ he added.

The Chief Minister was accompanied by Chief Parliamentary Secretary Mr Sohan Singh Thandal, MLA Mr Surinder Singh DIG Lok Nath Angra and Deputy Commissioner Mr Deepinder Singh.