Ludhiana: Punjab Finance Minister
Manpreet Singh Badal said today that special job fair being
organised at various places to provide employment to women was
a "concrete step essential for encouraging women empowerment".
The finance minister said development of infrastructure
was meaningless unless the youths of the state were getting
rewarding jobs.
In his brief address at a job fair organised at the
District Industrial Centre here, Badal said that ensuring
financial independence was a must for women empowerment.
He said the Punjab government under its 'Ghar Ghar
Rozgar' programme has committed to provide job opportunities
to 25 lakh youths in the next five years that include wage
employment and self-employment.
Giving a call to industrialists to join hands with the
'Ghar Ghar Rozgar' Mission to accelerate Punjab's development,
Badal said that employers can contribute as a driving force
for the employment growth.
Replying to media queries, the finance minister said the
state government has prepared a road map to convert Punjab
from a "fiscal deficit state to revenue surplus state".
"Punjab has adopted a fiscal plan to restore the fiscal
health of the state after 33 years. We have taken immediate
measures to ensure efficient use of resources by minimising
waste and improving accountability to make state revenue
surplus by 2020," said the finance minister.
Batting for bringing petrol, power and stamp duty under
the Goods and Services Tax (GST) while replying to another
media query, Badal said that this issue would be raised during
the next meeting of finance ministers to be held in Guwahati
on November 10.
On problems being faced by sick industrial units of the
state, Badal said the Punjab government has introduced one-
time settlement policy with a view to bring blocked industrial
investment into productive use and to revive industry.
He said that this policy would provide the much-needed
relief to those industrial units that raised loans from
state-level financial institutions as they can opt for paying
back only principal amount.
