Chandigarh: Punjab needs to promote less-water guzzling crops like pulses, oilseeds, cotton, maize, millet, vegetables and fruits - by providing improved seeds and ensuring that farmers get a fair price for these crops through a market support mechanism. The area under paddy cultivation should be reduced and high value crops like cotton, fruits, vegetables, canola, menthe and turmeric should be grown to raise their cropping area from 3.4%.Industry body Assocham has mooted the proposal to the newly elected government for announcement of comprehensive industrial policy for Punjab. A joint vision paper for the new government brought out by Assocham and Thought Arbitrage Research Institute (TARI), was released by the former's secretary general D S Rawat and director, TARI, Kshama V Kaushik.It said that ad hoc policies like ban on export of foodgrains, limits on private stocking and tax on purchase of food grains (14.4%) should be revisited and withdrawn wherever possible. The fertilizer subsidy policy needs to be revisited to achieve balanced use of nutrients and subsidy should be transferred directly to farmers. It further sought reviewal of power policy. Octroi and cow cess should be withdrawn and cheaper power available to new industries should be extended to the existing ones. IT and ITeS industries should be developed in Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana, it went on.The state has no clear and defined health policy despite the alarming level of cancer and drug addiction and high cost of hospitalisation, etc. The health expenditure needs to go up to Rs 5,000 per capita by 2030 from the current level of Rs 1,015 (2014-15), the proposal said. The public health infrastructure needs drastic restructuring at sub-centre, PHC and CHC levels to ensure adequate healthcare coverage, including treatment for cancer and drug addiction, it stated.

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