Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Capt Amarinder Singh today expressed grave concern over the mushrooming of substandard educational institutions like private universities and engineering colleges where students do not get any placements after spending huge amount of money."The rot in the education system is the symptom of what is going wrong all around Punjab", he remarked, while warning against the frustration, despair and alienation of the educated youth who see no ray of hope after completing their education and getting the degrees.Replying to a question by a young participant during his public interaction organised by the Mohali District Congress Committee here today, Capt Amarinder said, there was a need to improve the quality and standard of education and make it job oriented according to the modern day requirements.The former Chief Minister also announced creating a special land bank for the industry so that it gets parity with the states like Gujarat and Chhattisgarh where land is available at very cheap prices as compared to Punjab. He said, the Kandi areas along Ropar-Hoshiarpur-Pathankot belt can be developed into an industrial hub after the Congress formed the government in the state.
Responding to the questions about creating employment opportunities in the state, he said, the government cannot provide many jobs and the only solution was industrialisation. He criticised the Akali-BJP government for failing the industry in Punjab. "Their only policy is to promote the Badal clan and its business", he said, while pointing out, that is the reason the Badals have grown richer and richer while Punjab has become poorer.Capt Amarinder fielded a wide range of questions relating to the organisation, indiscipline by some party leaders and demand for strong action against them. The workers also came out with suggestions to be incorporated into the party's election manifesto.Capt Amarinder did not deliver any speech but only replied to the questions from the workers. He said, these interactions he was holding to listen to the workers' problems and suggestions only.Prominent among those present included CLP Leader Charanjit Singh Channi, Balbir Singh Sidhu, Jagmohan Singh Kang, Deepinder Dhillon, Bunny Sandhu, Ms Lakhwinder Kaur Garcha, Harkesh Chand Sharma Machli Kalan, Bhagat Singh Namdhari, Gurpreet Singh GP, Rajinder Singh Rana, and others.