Punjab's agriculture expected to grow by 3.70 per cent: Minister
Darpan News Desk IANS, 10 Apr, 2023 09:58 AM
Chandigarh, April 10 (IANS) Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Cheema on Monday said agriculture and allied sectors in the state are expected to grow by 3.70 per cent, industry by 4.33 per cent and services sector by 6.78 per cent, as per advance estimates of 2022-23.
"As compared to agriculture in general, the allied sectors are showing faster growth over the recent years," he said while quoting 'Punjab State at a Glance 2022', a collection of important statistical data, which was released here.
The livestock sector, he said, with rapid growth is becoming a major contributor to the growth of the agriculture and allied sector.
"The livestock sector is likely to grow by 4.18 per cent in 2022-23," Cheema said, while adding the livestock sector's share in total Gross State Value Added (GSVA) of Punjab was 11.1 per cent during 2022-23.
He said the per capita income of Punjab is expected to be Rs 1,73,873 in 2022-23 as per advance estimates compared to Rs 1,70,620 at the national level. State inflation figures were also remained below than those at the national level with few exceptions.
The inflation was at its peak in April 2022 and showed a downward trend in the next few months with the exception in June 2022. "It remained benign till October when it touched the bottom with 4.5 per cent but it started an upward trend in November and December 2022."
Cheema said Punjab has a large chunk of working population in the age of 15-64 years, which stood at 70.15 per cent of the total population in 2021. "A total of 26.11 per cent of them belong to the age of 15-29 years. It is both an advantage as well as a challenge for the state," said the Finance Minister, while adding the government has taken initiatives to provide good education and better job opportunities to channelise the youth energy under the mission 'Rangla Punjab'.
Thanking the Finance Minister for releasing the book, Vikas Pratap, Principal Secretary Planning, said the source agencies of the sectoral data contained in this book has been indicated under each table.
The single volume handy book carries data on all important items relating to different sectors of Punjab economy, besides reflecting the latest available data on important socio-economic indicators of Punjab's economy.
Tight security arrangements are being put in place for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Ayodhya on Sunday. International guests, diplomats, Union Ministers and celebrities are expected to join the Deepotsav festivities on Sunday. Key events will be organised at the Ram Katha Park.
Paying tributes to the martyrs, Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said the Punjab Police is an exceptional force which served the country both in times of peace and disturbance. He said 1,792 police officers had sacrificed their lives while fighting terrorism during the period from September 1981 to August 1992.
The spokesperson said the employees will be given option for adopting the old pension scheme or the new pension scheme. The old pension scheme was discontinued in 2004 and ever since then the employees are being given the new pension scheme. However, the employees have been since long demanding the restoration of the old pension scheme.
Two petitioners, engaged in storing and selling of green crackers, approached the High Court challenging the Delhi Pollution Control Committee's (DPCC) order to completely ban the manufacture, storage, sale, and bursting of all kinds of firecrackers till next year in the capital city. The plea stated that the air quality in New Delhi has been moderate or better at least since August 15 this year.
Meanwhile, according to sources in the know of things, Tharoor, who got 16 members from Kerala to put their signature in his nomination form, has managed to secure 130 votes out of the 297 votes from his home state, which is a very tall figure given the fact practically all the bigwigs from Kerala stood rock stock and barrel for Malikarjuna Kharge, who beat Tharoor by a mile.
"This is a revolutionary step aimed at supplementing the income of the farmers to bail them out from the agrarian crisis," he said after inaugurating Verka's newly-built milk processing and butter plant here. The Chief Minister said that the state government has inked an agreement with the Delhi government in this regard.
