Dhindsa seeks Rs100 cr to check drugs

Chandigarh, Punjab Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa, during a pre-Budget consultation with his Union counterpart Arun Jaitley at New Delhi, sought a special grant of Rs 100 crore to check the increasing drug menace in the state.A government spokesperson said the Finance Minister also demanded setting up of a large-scale unit in Punjab as there had been no such investment since long in the state. He also urged the Centre to provide a grant of 100 crore to check the incidence of cancer. He said money was required to check growth of cancer that had become a major public health concern.He also sought help in cultivation of alternate crops like maize and basmati to ensure diversification in the agriculture sector. He demanded that the Centre to fix MSP for basmati as has been done for Maize crop and to put in place efficient marketing mechanism for procurement of these crops through a designated agency.Finance Minister said that to improve the productivity of pulses and soya bean in the State, a Regional Centre of ICAR for research in these crops should be established in the State and assured marking for alternate crops should be created. Finance Minister requested Government of India to declare allied agricultural activities like dairy, poultry, piggery, goatry & fishery etc. at par with agriculture for benefits like exemption of Income Tax, interest rate etc. The import of machinery for dairy farming, poultry farming and machinery relating to fodder should be exempted from custom duty.Finance Minister requested Government of India that before converting the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Ordinance dated Oct 21, 2014 into legislation in the coming winter session of Parliament, this Ordinance should be amended so that additional levy of 295 per MT in case of PSPCL is not levied and PSPCL can participate in re-allocation/allotment of coal mines, which is vital for sustained generation at thermal power stations of PSPCL.