Reiterating zero-tolerance to corruption and assuring trade and industry of a level-playing field, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has once again ruled out a rollback on his government’s decision to abolish truck unions.During a discussion on Friday with various stakeholders on the new draft industrial policy being formulated by his government, the chief minister assured them that all concerns of the industry would be taken into account before finalization of the new policy.His government, said Captain Amarinder, would follow `Business First’ philosophy and act as a facilitator to help trade and industry scale new heights to play a critical role in the state’s progress, according to an official spokesperson. He said his government was committed to making Punjab number one in ease of doing business.Promising sympathetic consideration of all industry demands and issues, the chief minister said the new policy would provide for a congenial environment for existing as well as new industry to prosper, according to an official spokesperson.
Reiterating his government's zero tolerance to corruption, Captain Amarinder directed his Chief Secretary to issue necessary guidelines to all department with the aim ensure hassle-free working environment to all existing and new industrialists, and warned that anybody found involved in corrupt practices would be severely dealt with.During the meeting, CII Chairman CII S P Oswal thanked the Chief Minister for his landmark decisions to freeze power tariff at Rs. 5/- per unit and to abolish truck unions, which he said would galvanize the growth of industry in the state. Expressing concern on the impact of the depleting ground water level on the Textiles industry, he urged the Chief Minister to intervene and formulate a State Ground-Water Authority on the lines of Himachal Pradesh.Other issues raised by the industry leaders included demand for incorporation of Agriculture and Intellectual Property Rights in the new policy, CLU policy for all Focal Points in the state to ensure their proper maintenance and upkeep and revival of Border District Incentives Scheme which Captain Amarinder had initiated during his previous tenure but which was discontinued by the SAD-BJP government.
A demand for excluding shawls and juttis out of the GST purview was also raised, while representatives of the steel industry requested the Chief Minister to take immediate steps to revive the ailing units of Mandi Gobindgarh, which had been forced to suspend operations due to the ill-conceived policies of previous SAD-BJP government.The meeting was attended by Health Minister Brahm Mohindra, Finance Minister Manpreet Badal, Power Minister Rana Gurjit, Local Bodies Minister Navjot Sidhu, Technical Education Minister Charanjeet Singh Channi, Senior Advisor to CM Lt. Gen. (Retd.) T S Shergill, Media Advisor to CM Raveen Thukral, Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary Local Bodies Satish Chandra, Additional Chief Secretary Development M P Singh, Additional Chief Secretary Housing and Urban Development Vini Mahajan, Principal Secretary to CM Tejveer Singh, and Secretary Industries Rakesh Verma.