Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday slammed the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Vijay Sampla for his politically motivated statement on the nine months of the Congress rule, saying not just nine but more than 100 poll promises had already been fulfilled by the government.Captain Amarinder ridiculed Sampla’s statement challenging him to list at least 9 of the poll promises he had fulfilled in the past 9 months in office, saying the statement, made a day before the MC elections, was clearly aimed at misleading and manipulating the voters. What was the BJP doing in the past 10 years when its own ally, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), was busy looting the state and plunged into an abyss of total lawlessness, unemployment, industrial and agricultural ruin, and economic devastation? Why did Sampla choose to come out with his outrageous allegations on MC poll eve, asked Captain Amarinder, adding that the BJP was clearly trying desperately to find a foothold in Punjab, where it had absolutely no presence and where its alliance with SAD was on the rocks following the latter’s ignominious defeat in the Assembly polls. If Sampla expected the Congress government to set right the damage caused over 10 years by the SAD-BJP regime in less than 10 months, especially with the state exchequer reeling under unprecedented debt, then he was not only politically immature but also totally disconnected from the ways of governance, said Captain Amarinder.
The Chief Minister said it was evident that Sampla did not know what it meant for a scheme to be notified or a decision to be ratified by the cabinet. The farm debt waiver scheme had already been notified and was set to be rolled off in two weeks, while the Rs. 5/unit power tariff for industry had been approved by the Cabinet, he pointed out, adding that Sampla was clearly sleeping while the government was busy implementing these decisions. Referring to other key promises made by the Congress in the run-up to the Assembly elections, the Chief Minister said while most of them had been already executed, others were in the process of implementation. On the drugs issue, the Chief Minister pointed out that anyone who had even remotely suffered due to the drugs menace in the state during the SAD-BJP rule would endorse the success of his government’s anti-drugs campaign, as a result of which drugs had gone completely out of the reach of the people.Employment opportunities had been created, as promised, with job letters already issued to 27000 unemployed youth, including 3000 government jobs, under the `Ghar Ghar Rozgar’ scheme, while district bureaus of employment and enterprise had been established in all districts to take the programme forward. What’s more, as many as 34 MoUs had been signed with the aim of providing employment to around 2.8 lakh youth, besides immediate recruitment of another 50,000 people across various categories in government departments and organisations, said the Chief Minister.The plan to give smart phones to youth was also under the process of implementation, with the government in discussion with various companies on the issue, Captain Amarinder further added.
Increase in social security pension from Rs 500 to Rs 750 and in financial assistance under Ashirwad Scheme from Rs 15000 to Rs 21000 were just some of the programmes initiated for the social welfare of the people, especially for the underprivileged sections, said the Chief Minister. As for women’s empowerment, has Sampla forgotten about the 50% reservation doe for them in PRIs and ULBs, or the free education for girls, Captain Amarinder asked.Captain Amarinder said either Sampla was totally unaware of all these initiatives of the government or was choosing to conveniently ignore them to further his party’s political agenda. Had the SAD-BJP government undertaken less than 10 per cent of what the Congress government had done so far, it would have been a different story altogether, said the Chief Minister, lamenting that, far from learning its lessons, the BJP continued to indulge in political games at the cost of the welfare of the people of the state.