Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today demanded the setting up of a new constituent assembly to frame a fresh constitution for the country along genuinely federal lines.
Winding up the debate on the motion of thanks to the Governor's address in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Mr. Badal lamented that the states had been now gradually reduced to the status of beggars as the meager powers given to states were progressively eroded by the Centre.
Mr. Badal said that constitution was not in tune with the requirements of the changing times and as a result the country was not able to fully utilize its potential for development and prosperity. He however, said that states were the best qualified to understand and address the problems of the people in an effective manner. “Shiromani Akali Dal was the first to raise this demand because it is in the interest of the country to grant autonomy to the states”, asserted Mr. Badal.
Pleading for recasting of formula for devolution of funds to the state, Mr. Badal said that “strong states mean strong nation”. He demanded that 50% of the revenue collected by the Centre should be given to the states to carry out development works according to their felt needs. He pointed out that the norms devised by GoI for the distribution of resources and devolution of central funds were too stringent to deliberately exclude the states like Punjab from these centrally sponsored schemes.
The Chief Minister made a strong pitch for the transfer of Chandigarh and other Punjabi speaking areas to the state and declared, “Chandigarh is the soul and spirit of Punjab and must be transferred to us without further delay”. He also demanded a resolution of the river water dispute as per the national and internationally accepted Riparian Principle forthwith.
Highlighting the sheer injustice done to Punjab on industrial front, the Chief Minister pointed out that the Centre deliberately opted not to sanction big industries in the state probably for the reasons best known to it. He said; “Whatever industry we had in our state was left with no other option except to shift its base to the neighbouring states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand and Jammu & Kashmir due to several concessions and incentives given to the industry thereby resulting in utter decay of local industry in Punjab”. He demanded a special industrial package for Punjab too from Centre as it richly deserved being a border state.
The Chief Minister also decried the Congress’s move to capture SGPC by whipping up passions over the issue of setting up of a separate Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee in Haryana. He also rued the Centre for inordinate delay for calling the co-opt session of the newly elected SGPC which was mandatory for the election of office bearers and subsequently the passage of its annual budget before March 31st. All this would lead to financial chaos thereby hampering the functioning of the Sikh’s religious organization, added Mr Badal.
On the issue of National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), the Chief Minister said that SAD-BJP alliance had vehemently opposed this move which aimed at usurp the powers of the state governments contrary to the spirit of federalism. He said that this was a planned and deliberate attempt of the Centre to dilute the federal character of our country to make it unitary, which would be ever opposed by our government tooth and nail.
Dwelling on the spectacular performance of SAD-BJP alliance in the recent concluded assembly polls, Mr. Badal said that the historic mandate given by the Punjabis for creating a history in Punjab to bring back an incumbent government for second term was an ample proof of people’s unflinching faith and confidence in its policies and programs. Record turnout of voters nearly 80% who exercised their franchise in these polls was also a testimony to SAD-BJP’s triumph. He made a firm resolve to fulfill the aspirations of the electorate in the fresh term with renewed zeal and far more commitment. He also appreciated the Punjabis and the state government for ensuring peaceful, free and fair elections in Punjab. “These election results are also a strong mandate in the favour of peace, communal harmony, all around development, good governance and social security”, remarked Mr. Badal.
Mr. Badal also stated that politics of confrontation and vendetta had no place on government’s agenda and sought whole hearted co-operation from the opposition to put Punjab in the orbit of high growth trajectory. He called upon the members of the House especially the opposition for constructive outlook and shun negative approach to ensure all out development and prosperity in the state.
Taking pot shots at the Congress leadership, Mr. Badal said political immaturity, vendetta politics, five star culture, inaccessibility and arrogance mainly led to party’s debacle at the hands of SAD-BJP alliance in the assembly elections. He said the top state Congress leadership was day dreaming for forming next government in the state. They even went to the extent of making appointments of highest offices of DGP, CS, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister etc. even before the results were declared. Mr. Badal also made oblique reference to some officers of top brass who shifted their loyalties to other side sensing their victory. He however, advised the officers to be always impartial and remain loyal to the chair irrespective of the state government run by any political party.
Questioning the media’s role during the assembly elections, Mr. Badal opined that the practice of opinion poll and exit poll should be dispensed with because it was often biased and unfair. He advised the media to play a constructive role being the watchdog of democracy and also recalled its outstanding contribution in the Indian freedom struggle and SAD’s crusade against emergency to uphold the values of democracy. He however, said that he had always held media in high esteem being the fourth estate of democracy. He lamented how these opinion and exit polls had considerably impacted these electoral results on atleast 10 seats of SAD.
Listing the bold initiatives and achievements of the SAD-BJP during its last regime, Mr. Badal said that Rs.464 crore had been spent on the construction of rural latrines, cycles for girls in Class XI & XII of Government schools, Atta Dal scheme, new ration cards, timely payment of shagun scheme and financial assistance to other beneficiaries under various social security schemes was the top most priority of the government. Prudent fiscal management was likely to garner Rs.12000 crore from VAT and CST during 2011-12 as compared to Rs.5136 crore from 2006-07 during Congress regime. Likewise, the excise collection was likely to touch Rs.3200 crore during SAD-BJP regime by 2011-12 as compared to Rs.1363 crore during previous regime of Congress during 2006-07. SAD-BJP government released grants worth Rs.6154 crore to Local Bodies as compared to Rs.1207 crore during Congress government. Commercial production had already been started in December 2011 at Rs.19000 crore Guru Gobind Singh Refinery at Bathinda. Capital subsidy of Rs.405 crore had been disbursed by the SAD-BJP government whereas no such distribution was made by the previous Congress government.
On the infrastructure development, the Government had undertaken four laning of Jalandhar-Pathankot, Amritsar-Pathankot, Ludhiana-Moga-Talwandi Bhai at a cost of Rs.2188 crore besides a new gigantic project of four laning of Ziralkpur-Patiala-Sangrur-Barnala-Bathinda had also been sanctioned at a cost of Rs.2800 crore.
Concerted efforts of the SAD-BJP government rated Punjab as No.1 state in school infrastructure. 17 new colleges worth Rs.208 crore, 4 new universities had been set up to herald a new era in higher education. He also said that the state government would soon extend the free bicycle scheme to girl students of 9th and 10th class besides free education to all girl students up to MA.
Mr. Badal revealed that the GoI, in its 4th report of the common review mission published in January 2011 rated Health Infrastructure in Punjab as excellent and stated that Punjab would the first state in the country to provide all facilities as per norms.
Reiterating his commitment to maintain peace and law and order in the State at every cost, Mr. Badal equivocally declared that "Punjab Government was fully alive to its responsibility to maintain peace and amity in the state and no one would be allowed to disturb peace in the state”.
To perpetuate the rich legacy of our cultural heritage amongst our younger generations, the state government had recently announced to set up freedom struggle Martyrs’ Memorial in Doaba. A Service Selection Centre (North) would soon come up at Ropar over an area of 200 acre. A sum of Rs.16 crore had been spent on the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Museum at Khatkar Kalan. Apart from these, three historic memorials namely Baba Banda Singh Bahadur War Memorial at Chappar Chiri in SAS Nagar, Wadda Ghallughara at Kup Rohira in Sangrur district and Chhotta Ghallughara at Chamb Kahnuwan in Gurdaspur district besides prestigious Virast-e-Khalsa Complex at Sri Anandpur Sahib had already dedicated to the nation. A sum of Rs. 18 crore had been spent on the holy Ram Tirath Temple of Bhagwan Valmiki ji in Amritsar for its beautification and connectivity. The government has decided to construct a world-class memorial at a cost of Rs. 10 crore at village Khuralgarh in Hoshiarpur district to pay tributes to Sri Guru Ravi Dass ji. Likewise, Bhagwan Parshuram Taposthali is also being developed at village Khatti in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar to pay respect to Bhagwan Parshuram ji. A Rs. 90 crore project of Golden Temple Entrance Plaza was under execution. Naina Devi temple was being connected with Sri Anandpur Sahib through ropeway to facilitate the pilgrims to visit the holy temple. Moreover, Idgah at Malerkotla, Bhawans for Christians, Muslims and other communities would also been constructed shortly.
In the concluding remarks, Mr. Badal said that the SAD-BJP government during its last tenure have turned a new leaf in revenue generation, infrastructure development, employment & skill development, power generation, governance reforms international air connectivity, education, health care, rural and urban development. The path breaking initiatives undertaken by the state government would be taken to their logical end during the present term of SAD-BJP alliance. “We have been successfully able to create excellent environment for good governance, responsive administration and efficient service delivery system which would now emerge Punjab as a front runner state in the country ", said Mr. Badal.