Minister for Power and Irrigation Rana Gurjeet Singh today gave a clarion call to the people of the state to play their effective role in eradicating menace of drugs from state by the end of year 2107 besides rehabilitating all the drug addicts as it would be a real tribute to Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh.Rana Gurjeet Singh gave this call at the state level function organised to mark the martyrdom day of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev here at the ancestral village of Shaeed Bhagat Singh. He said that Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has deputed him to attend this function as he was in Delhi for meeting with Prime Minister and Finance Minister to raise various state issues and concerns including SYL and wheat procurement. Remembering the great sacrifices of freedom fighters and martyrs, Rana Gurjeet Singh said that Sheed Bhagat Singh, who had dreamed of a free and democratic nation, had never thought that the future generation of this land would fall prey to drugs. He said that Congress government’s topmost priority was to fulfil the commitment of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh of making Punjab a drug free state.“The seriousness of Captain Amarinder Singh to completely eradicate drugs can be judged from the fact that he had called the cabinet meeting within two days of assuming his office to give clear signal to all the ministers and state officials that he is committed to fulfil all the promises he had made with people of the state. He is appointing the best police officials to curb this menace at the earliest. We all ministers, Congress MLAs and MLA candidates, party leaders and workers have promised Captain Amrinder Singh that we will initiate a strong drive against drugs.
No one involved in drug trade would be spared in any case”, added Rana Gurjeet Singh.Rana Gurjeet Singh while addressing the state level function also saluted the family members of great martyrs present on the stage including Mr. Zorawar Singh Sandhu, nephew of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Mr. Vinod Thapar, Mr. Ashok Thapar, Mr. Sandeep Thapar, nephews of Sukhdev and Tribhuwan Thapar, grandson of Sukhdev. He also instructed district officials to ensure in future that at least one seat should be reserved for the family member of martyrs in the first row at the stage.Minister for Power and Irrigation also raised the issue of ignorance of Doaba region by previous SAD-BJP government. He said that he had even raised the demand of strengthening the canal water irrigation system in the region during at the floor of Punjab Assembly during his last term. “Now, we will strengthen the irrigation facility in the region by setting up an advanced irrigation system of channelizing water from river to farms through pipes”, said Rana Gurjeet Singh.Rana Gurjeet Singh thanked Ms. Ambika Soni for her contribution in development of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar. “I also want to thank then union minister Ambika Soni for allocating grant for the museum at Khatkar Kalan, which is now in its final stage”, said Rana Gurjeet Singh.
Launching a frontal attack on the SAD-BJP led previous government, Rana Gurjeet Singh said that Shaheed-e-Azam had never thought of that there would be such leaders in his country of dreams who would use power to loot and beat the common people. He said that everyone witnessed the way drugs spread in the state during last decade and previous government used its power to mint money and lodging police cases against its opponents. He reiterated the commitment of Captain Amarinder Singh of bringing Punjab back on the path of growth and prosperity.Earlier, Rana Gurjeet Singh accompanied by MLAs Ch. Darshan Lal Mangupur, Angad Singh, Former MP Satnam Singh Kainth, paid floral tributes to Shaheed-E-Azam S. Bhagat Singh at Khatkar Kalan Museum.Ch. Darshan Lal Mangupur and Angad Singh (both MLAs), Satnam Singh Kainth, former M.P. and Satbir Singh Palli Jhikki, District President, Congress also addressed the state level martyrdom function while Prominent amongst others, included Sushil Rinku MLA Jalandhar West, Guriqbal Kaur Nawanshahr, Malkiat Singh Dakha and Sarwan Singh Phillaur (All three former MLAs) and Deputy Commissioner Sonali Giri and SSP Naveen Singla.