NEW DELHI: On Sept.12, The President of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Devinder Singh has suggested to the 10th Finance Commission that it should recommend waiver of Rs,11,000 crores given by the Center to Punjab in the last 10 years to eradicate terrorism.

in a memorandum submitted to KC Pant, Commission Chairman, the Chamber also suggested special grant for modernization of the police, upgradation of in frastuctural facilities and economic development of the State.

Singh said despite the quantative achievements of Punjab’s economy, the problem of insufficiecnt opportunities for investment in the nonfarm sector and employment of surplus man power has led the social tension. The problem is likely to become more serious in the context of the present economic structure

The Chamber President stressed the need to alter the present structure of development ting into consideration the absorption of local resources. There is also a need to upgrade the infrastructure facilities to take on fresh investment, Changes in the educational setup were also necessary to fill the gap between manpower and requirements of the economy.

The Chamber’s note also points out that Punjab’s efforts at additional resource mobilization have been offset on account of a steep rise in nonPlan expenditure. Increasing expenses on the police and payment for deamess allowance instalments to employees twice a year are two major reasons for heavy expenditure. The latter has grown at an average rate of 22.78% during the last decade.

In Punjab the rise of expenditure has far exceeded the rise in revenue receipts, The former grew at a rate of 17.5%, per year, and later at a rate of 12.5%, per year, during 198283 to 199192, The State has the highest revenue deficit of Rs.1,093 crores among the 25 States in the country.

During 199192 and 199293 the development expenditure in Punjab declined by 25.1% as against an increase of around 22% in Kamataka and West Bengal. During the same period the nondevelopmental expenditure, according to the PHDCCI note registered a growth rate of 56%, the highest in the country.

Article extracted from this publication >>  September 17, 1993