CM asks Dhindsa to incorporate pro-poor proposals in ensuing state budget

Chandigarh, July 7, 2014: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today impressed upon the Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa to incorporate pro-poor proposals in the annual budget 2014-15 with a special thrust on the core sectors of Health, Education and Social Security.  
During an interaction with Dhindsa, after laying the foundation stone of Vit-te-Yojana Bhawan here at Sector 33-A, the Chief Minister said that the budgetary proposals should be aimed at ameliorating the lot of poor and disadvantaged sections of the society to provide them basic civic amenities of potable drinking water and sewerage besides Health care facilities at affordable rates. He said the budget proposals should be rural growth oriented as it was the need of the hour to bridge the ever widening gulf between the rural and urban populace, as far as the basic facilities were concerned. Badal said that a balanced growth could only be achieved by adopting an approach of "inclusive development".
The Chief Minister lamented that this crucial aspect to transform the lives of masses had been unfortunately ignored by the successive union and well as state governments. He emphasized the need to evolve a development model based on the welfare of poor people especially the economically weaker ones, otherwise the lopsided development arising out of the economic disparities between haves and have not's would not ever resolve this crux issue.  Badal categorically said, "We can wait for the infra structure projects to come up on the ground but can't afford to have delay in the implementation of welfare schemes meant for the common man". Meanwhile, the Principal Secretary Finance Vinnie Mahajan informed the Chief Minister that the upcoming building would house all the offices of Finance and Planning departments scattered in Chandigarh and Mohali, here under one roof to facilitate the state government to have better coordination on one hand and benefitting the people coming from far off places of the state to get their works done in a hassle free manner, on the other.  She said that Vit-te-Yojana Bhawan would come up at a cost of about Rs 60 crore over a total area of nearly two acre adding that the seven storey building would have total built up area of 1,31,055 square feet, including basement.   
Prominent amongst other present on the occasion included Chief Parliamentary Secretaries Nesara Khatoon and Babu Parkash Chand Garg, Secretary Expenditure Jaspal Singh, Director Treasuries Gurneet Tej, Special Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Ajoy Kumar Sharma and Director Planning HS Dhillon.