Slamming the Congress party for irrelevantly meddling in the affairs of the Sikhs, the Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said that the people of state would never forgive the Congress for vitiating the atmosphere of state by pursuing the politics of pide and rule. Addressing a mammoth gathering during the state level function on the Martyrdom day of Shaheed Udham Singh here today, the Chief Minister said that the move to constitute separate committee in Haryana for managing the affairs of Gurdwaras in the state was the latest step of the Congress to pide the Sikh brethren in the country. He said that it was a third major assault on the Sikhs by the Congress, the other two being Operation Blue Star and 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Mr. Badal said that the Congress party has always inflicted serious blows to the state both economically and religiously, so the wise people of Punjab would never forgive it for these sinister moves.
The Chief Minister, while terming the Congress party as the biggest enemy of the state, said that the decade long misrule of Congress led UPA government has broken the backbone of Punjab’s economy. Squarely blaming the UPA government for the woes of the peasantry in the state, Mr. Badal said that due to the ill conceived policies of previous union government the farmers of state were today reeling under a whopping debt of Rs 32000 crore. Likewise, he said that mass exodus of industry had taken place during the tenure of UPA because it had extended industrial incentives to the hilly states. However, Mr. Badal said that with the formation of NDA government at the Centre the days of discrimination with the state were over.Reiterating his firm commitment to provide transparent, responsible and corruption free governance to the people, the Chief Minister said every section of society including the media should play a proactive role in eliminating the menace of corruption from the state.
Paying rich tributes to Shaheed Udham Singh, the Chief Minister said that the supreme sacrifice of this great son of the soil, who avenged the Jallianwala Bagh massacre by killing General O'dwyer after 21 years, would ever remain as a source of inspiration for our younger generations to fight against tyranny, oppression and injustice. He said that despite of being merely two percent of country’s population, the Punjabis have made more than 80% sacrifices in the national freedom struggle due to which they have a prominent place in the Indian history. Mr. Badal said that the rich legacy of unprecedented sacrifices made by martyrs would ever act as a light house to guide the destiny of our future generations. The Chief Minister further said that in order to perpetuate the supreme sacrifices made by our great national heroes the state government was constructing Jang-e-Azaadi memorial at Kartarpur near Jalandhar. He said that coming up at a cost of Rs 200 crore, this unique memorial would showcase the supreme sacrifices made by our freedom fighters to make the country free from the yoke of British Imperialism.
Interacting with the media persons, the Chief Minister said that the state government has made all out efforts for delivering corruption free administration to the people adding that the state government has ensured 100% transparency in the recruitment for the government jobs. He said that if any case of corruption was brought in their notice then strict action was taken against the guilty person. Mr. Badal also sought fulsome support and cooperation of people for checking corruption in the state.
Responding to another query, the Chief Minister said that on account of deficit rainfall in the state, he had already taken up the matter with the Union Ministers to assist the state in dealing with the drought like situation. Mr. Badal said that the state government has sought financial assistance worth about Rs 2000 crore to deal with this crisis as it was the bounden duty of everybody to bail out the hardworking and resilient farmers of the state, who had played a key role in making the country self reliant in food production. “We have vehemently raised this issue with the Government of India (GoI) and I am hopeful of a positive outcome of our efforts” he added.
When asked to comment on the problem of drug menace in the state, the Chief Minister said that the Punjab government has declared a crusade against drugs in the state and concerted efforts were afoot to wipe out this curse from the state. He said that besides providing world class facilities for detoxifying the drug addicts, the state government was also making efforts to ensure proper rehabilitation of the drug addicts in Punjab. Mr. Badal said that 22 Rehabilitation centers were being opened by the state government across the state to rehabilitate the drug addicts by imparting them skill training so that they could live a life with dignity and self respect.
Earlier paying homage to the great martyr, Finance Minister Mr. Parminder Singh Dhindsa in his address said that the people of country would ever remain indebted to Shaheed Udham Singh for the supreme sacrifice made by him, which has made every Indian feel proud for this rare act of patriotism. He appealed the youth to imbibe the spirit of self sacrifice, patriotism and nationalism amongst themselves to serve the nation with utmost zeal and commitment. Mr. Dhindsa also lauded the Chief Minister for taking unprecedented step of erecting Jang-e-Azaadi memorial to showcase the history of great national heroes to the younger generations.
On the occasion, the Chief Minister also unveiled a book on Shaheed Udham Singh authored by Mr. Prem Kumar Guglani. Earlier, the Chief Minister also paid homage at the ShaheedUdham Singh Memorial in the local stadium.Prominent amongst other who addressed the gathering included Chief Parliamentary Secretaries Sant Balbir Singh Ghunas and Babu Parkash Chand Garg, MLA Mr. Iqbal Singh, Administrative Director of PSPCL Mr. Gurbachan Singh Bachi and former Minister Mr. Gobind Singh Kanjla.