JAMMU: Minister for Revenue, Haj & Auqaf and Parliamentary Affairs, Abdul Rehman Veeri has congratulated the Finance Minister Dr Haseeb A Drabu for presenting a very conscious budget that caters to the concerns of all stakeholders across sections including common masses, employees, businessmen, traders, youth, poor and marginalized in the Budget.
“With special focus on uplifting rural economy and empowering the marginalized, this budget will give necessary thrust to the State in all sectors especially horticulture and local industries”, the Minister said.
He appreciated the Finance Minister for also being conscientious towards needs of the employees who are the backbone of any administration with measures like implementation of recommendations of 7th Pay Commission, Group Medi-claim Policy, ‘Assured Career Progression Scheme’, creation of corpus fund of Rs 12,000 crore for making timely GPF payments to the Government employees in future, reduction in the eligibility for full pension from 28 years of qualifying service to 20 years besides, a well-knit social security net for all employees.
The Minister called the Budget as an innovative effort in the budgetary history of the State and said that the initiatives highlighted in the Budget will go a long way and have fruitful implications.
`Veeri also welcomed the special initiatives presented by the Finance Minister for the Revenue Department including provision of Rs 10 crore for improvement of infrastructure in the field, creation of ‘Revenue Infrastructure Development Fund’ and approval to charge minimum 2 percent of the amount involved in the land acquisition in each case as service fee which will be further utilized for meeting the departmental infrastructural needs with the consent of Finance Department.