Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today exhorted the people of state to exercise restraint and observe anniversary of Operation Blue Star on June 6 peacefully.Interacting with the media persons on the sidelines of Sangat Darshan program in Lambi assembly segment here today, the Chief Minister said that state government was committed to maintain peace, communal harmony and brotherhood in the state at every cost. He said that the state government was keeping a strict vigil over the entire situation and every effort would be made to maintain law and order in the state. The Chief Minister said that peace and communal harmony was the need of the hour as they were the catalyst of overall development in any state. He bemoaned that state had already suffered a lot during the black days due to which the economic development of state was stalled on one hand and several thousand precious lives were lost on the other. “So the need of hour is that all of us should join hands to strengthen the ethos of peace, communal harmony and brotherhood in the state” added Mr. Badal. Terming the orders issued by Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee (SGPC) on the media coverage on June 6 inside Golden Temple Complex as unfortunate, the Chief Minister said that he had called up the Chief Secretary of SGPC today morning and urged him to reconsider these orders.
He said that such orders were totally against the spirit of democratic nations as media was the fourth pillar of democracy.
Asked to comment on the proposed agitation of Congress in village Badal on June 18, the Chief Minister termed it as an entirely ‘political gimmick’. He said that when the state government was already probing the issue thereby was hardly any need for protest by Congress leadership. However, Mr. Badal said that state Congress leadership was hell bent upon wasting its energy by politicizing this issue.Replying to another query, the Chief Minister said that the state government has issued orders for ‘complete weed eradication’ of the Malwa region to prevent the attack of white fly in near future. He said that the state government was very serious on this issue and all out efforts were being made to ensure that the farmers of state do not fell prey to recurrence of white fly attack any more. Mr. Badal said that the state Chief Secretary was already holding serious of parleys to check this menace.
On another question, the Chief Minister said that the state government was committed for providing interest free short term crop free loans to the farmers of the state to bail them out from the current agrarian crisis. He said that it was a firm commitment of the state government and it would be honored at every cost.The Chief Minister said that he had also asked the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences to review its decision of making centers of the PMET exam in neighboring states. He said that the centers for these exams must be set up within the state as Punjab was having excellent educational infra structure.Meanwhile, the Chief Minister addressed public gatherings in village Bhullerwala, Hakuwala, Bhitiwala, Kandukhera, Tarmala and Dhani Telian Wali during Sangat Darshan program. The Chief Minister was accompanied by Chairman Punjab Agro Jathedar Dyal Singh Kolianwali, Chairman Tejinder Singh Middukhera, Mr. Avtar Singh Vanwala, Mr. Mandeep Singh Pappi Tarmala, Member State Women Commission Bibi Veerpal Kaur Tarmala, his Special Principal Secretary Dr S Karunaraju, Deputy Commissioner Sumit Jaranghal, DIG Mr.Yurinder Singh Hair and SSP Mr. Gurpreet Singh Gill.