Chandigarh, March 5 – The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Thursday demanded that Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema allocate funds to fulfill promises made to women, farmers, government employees, and the common people, or face the "gherao" (surrounding) of its legislators when they visit towns and villages to campaign for the party in the 2027 state Assembly elections.
Addressing the media here, senior SAD leader N.K. Sharma said, "The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has betrayed every section of society. We (SAD) demand Finance Minister Harpal Cheema to allocate ₹1.57 lakh crore for various schemes it promised to implement in the upcoming budget."
Sharma added that the AAP had promised all women above the age of 18 years a monthly allowance of ₹1,000 per month in Punjab. "This allowance was to be paid to one crore women. The accumulated amount due to women for the 60-month duration of the AAP tenure is ₹60,000 crore. The Finance Minister must ensure that this entire allocation is kept in the upcoming budget to ensure the party's promise can be fulfilled."
The SAD leader said that young people in Punjab had been promised a monthly unemployment allowance of ₹3,000, and according to the Rozgar Portal, there are 22.60 lakh unemployed youth who are registered with it. "If all these youth are to be given the promised allowance, the state government must allocate ₹40,000 crore for this purpose."
Asserting that the state government had promised health insurance of ₹10 lakh to each citizen in Punjab, Sharma said the AAP government needed to allocate ₹10,000 crore for this scheme. "In the last budget, ₹773 crore was allocated for this scheme, but the entire amount was spent on advertising it only. I also appeal to the Finance Minister to provide a list of persons who have been given an insurance cover of ₹10 lakh under this scheme, so that the truth about this scheme is known to everyone."
The SAD leader added that farmers had also not been given the ₹12,000 crore in compensation, which was the amount from the Central disaster relief fund that the AAP-led state government had misused.
He also demanded that Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema keep aside ₹10,000 crore to be used to implement the Old Pension Scheme as promised to government employees, as well as the Pay Commission and the release of 16% Dearness Allowance.
He said the state government should allocate ₹10,000 crore to the state electricity utility to pay off its outstanding dues, as well as allocate funds to ensure that industry could be provided power at ₹5 per unit as promised.
