Chandigarh, Feb. 3 -- Finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Monday called out the BJP-led central government for completely ignoring Punjab's needs in the budget. Cheem said that there is no mention of the state anywhere in the budget speech and no reference to the long-pending rural development fund (RDF) of Rs.8,500 crore.

Addressing a press conference here, Cheema claimed that Punjab has once again been left to manage on its own despite bearing the burden of national food security, facing the impact of repeated natural calamities, and responsibly handling RDF-related obligations, while receiving no meaningful support from the Centre for the 12th consecutive year.

"The budget represents a deliberate attempt to derail the growth of t...