Salaries, pensions, interest payments and power subsidies account for 98% of Punjab’s revenue receipts, constraining the fiscal space for development expenditure on areas such as education and infrastructure, according to a report released on Thursday by PANJ Foundation, a Chandigarh-based policy think-tank.

The report titled “State of Punjab: Data Story of 15 Years” presents an overview of the key changes and challenges in the state’s economy and finances, employment, human development, crime and drug-related issues and environment over the past 15 years.

The report, which comes just a few months before the state polls, provides a consolidated picture of how Punjab has changed, what has remained persistent and where significant shifts have taken place.

On Punjab’s economy and finances, the report examines the state’s growth trajectory, fiscal position, revenues, expenditure, debt and other indicators of public finances. Economist Upinder Sawhney, highlighting one of the report’s key findings, said almost everything that Punjab earned was spent even before a rupee reached a school or infrastructure.

“Salaries, pensions, interests, and power subsidies took more than 98% of the revenue receipts,” she said.

The report also examines employment, including the changing nature of employment opportunities and the broader labour-market challenges confronting Punjab. At the release event, economist Lakhwinder Singh also cited a crucial finding from the report, stating that graduate unemployment rose from 13.1% to 16.9% between 2017-18 and 2023-24, while India’s fell from 17.2% to 13% during the same period.

On crime and drugs in Punjab, the report highlights that NDPS cases per head in Punjab were 4.4 times the national rate in 2022-23.

On human development, the report brings together indicators relating to education, health and other dimensions of the quality of life of Punjab’s population.

“Government colleges per lakh young people match the national average, but enrolment in government colleges has decreased,” Prof Aswini Kumar Nanda, an advisor to PANJ Foundation, said, quoting from the report.

According to the report, even as infant mortality in Punjab fell from 28 in 2012 to 18 in 2020, female infant mortality has seen a rise. The full report can be accessed by writing to info@panj.org.in.