With the opposition slamming the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab over the issue of the delayed salaries to state government employees this month, state Finance Minister, Harpal Singh Cheema on Wednesday said the financial health of the state is well maintained and the treasury has released more than Rs 3,400 crore against pending payments including salaries.
The Minister said that payments including salaries of Punjab government employees were delayed as the state was gearing up for the revival of the Special Drawing Facility (SDF) as per the guidelines and norms of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Thanking the government employees and other stakeholders for bearing with the state government, Cheema said the treasury has released Rs 2719 crore including salaries and General Provident Fund (GPF) besides releasing Rs 600 crore to the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited as power subsidy and Rs 75 crore to SUGARFED.
Rejecting rumours regarding any financial crunch or crisis at the state’s end, the Minister said that majority of the pending payments have been made with today’s release by the treasury and any other pending payments will be cleared within a few days. He said the delay in payments was all due to a financial exercise done to ensure financial welfare of the state in the long-term.
Reiterating Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s commitment to put the state back on rapid growth track, Cheema said that it is an open secret that Punjab was reeling under financial mess when the AAP gained the people’s mandate in March 2022 Assembly poll results.
“Now, the state government is putting all efforts to revive the fiscal health of the state besides fulfilling the guarantees given to the people of Punjab,” he said.