Punjab Chief Minister Mr Parkash Singh Badal today said that the discontinuing the international flights from Sri Guru Ram Dass International Airport, Amritsar and perting them to Indira Gandhi International Airport at Delhi was nothing but a deliberate attempt of the Union government to make the airport at national capital a profitable venture at the cost of Sri Guru Ram Dass International Airport, Amritsar, which had a tremendous potential for setting huge revenue as Amritsar was the tourist hub due to Golden Temple where lakhs of devotees from across the world intend to visit this holy shrine to offer their prayers.
Talking to the media persons on the sidelines of the fifth day of Sangat Darshan program here today, the Chief Minister categorically said that the Amritsar International Airport was incurring heavy losses due to financial non viability as the international flights to Toronto had been discontinued just because of bad intention of the Center to extend profit to the Delhi airport. He said that it was the height of step motherly treatment with the state as despite of being the most profitable international airport in the country the Union government had earlier discontinued the flights from Amritsar to Toronto and had now stopped even the national flights to Chandigarh. Mr Badal said that the sole aim behind all such gimmicks was to give severe blow to the economy of the state, which was not at all acceptable at any cost.
Replying to another query, the Chief Minister said that it was a well known fact that due to the denial of permission for mining by the Center the cost of small minerals like sand and gravel had gone up in the state. He said that it was unfortunate that despite of knowing all these facts the state Congress leaders were issuing baseless statements on the issue just to mislead the people. Mr Badal said that the state government has always conducted the auction for the mines in a transparent manner and that too in the presence of media so there was hardly any scope for extending the largesse to any particular person.Daring Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) Chief Mr Partap Singh Bajwa to not to pass the buck of the center’s failure to Punjab, the Chief Minister categorically said that Punjab had been forced to levy property tax in the state in order to seek grants from center under Jawahar Lal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) Reforms. He said that rather than issuing the baseless statements the PPCC Chief must verify his facts.
Earlier addressing the gathering during the Sangat Drashan program, the Chief Minister while assailing the Congress led UPA government for its anti-farmers stance, said that the ill conceived policies of the center have virtually ruined the beleaguered peasantry of the state by bringing them on the verge of economic disaster. He said that it was unfortunate that the hard working and resilient farmer of Punjab which had played a pivotal role in making the country self reliant in food production was not getting the remunerative MSP for their crop despite of the fact that the ever accelerating costs of agricultural inputs have reduced farming to a non-profitable preposition. Mr Badal said that such policies of the Union government have increased the agonies of the farmers manifold.
However the Chief Minister said that the SAD-BJP alliance government was indebted to the farmers of the state for their immense contribution in making the country self sufficient in food production due to which they have been providing free power to them by bearing an additional burden of Rs 5700 crore. Mr Badal said that they were well aware of the fact that in the absence of free power it would become very difficult for the peasantry of the state to sustain so the SAD-BJP government was making this humble effort to recognize the valuable contribution of farmers.
The Chief Minister said that not only this but the state government had made every endeavor to ensure that all the needy sections of the society get their due in the welfare schemes. He said that the path breaking initiatives of the state government in enacting welfare schemes like that Shagun, Atta-Dal, Bhai Ghaniaya Health Scheme and others hardly had any match in the country. “SAD-BJP government represents all the sections of the society and we are firmly committed for their welfare and prosperity” added Mr Badal.Meanwhile during the Sangat Darshan program the Chief Minister disbursed a grant of Rs 1.31 crore for developmental works in villages including Nidhanwala, Daulatpura Ucha, Daulatpura Neevan, Sadda Singh Wala, Kahan Singh Wala, Jogewala, Daroli Bhai and Dagru.