Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday reiterated his government’s commitment to waive off farmers’ debts, saying the State Farmers’ Commission would work out the modalities and give viable recommendations on the issue within two months.Talking to media persons on the sidelines of his maiden visit to the Punjab State War Heroes Memorial and Museum in Amrtisar on Sunday evening, the Chief Minister said he was personally committed to implementing all Congress poll promises in the state, including farm loan waiver, elimination of the drugs menace and exemplary punishment for those found guilty of sacrilege.Responding to questions, Captain Amarinder said the Uttar Pradesh government had merely announced debt waiver for farmers to the tune of Rs. one lac without any practical framework to implement the same. His government, on the other hand, would formulate a comprehensive mechanism to free the beleaguered farmers of Punjab from their debt burden, he promised.
On the drugs issue, Captain Amarinder said the Special Task Force under ADGP Mr. Harpreet Singh Sidhu was tackling the problem aggressively and in right earnest. However, some time was needed to rid the state completely of the menace, which has been thriving for the past over ten years due to the patronage of the erstwhile SAD-BJP regime.Considering that his government had just completed 60 days in office, the results were quite positive and drugs were in short supply as a result of the crackdown by the police, as was evident from the fact that the prices of drugs had skyrocketed, pushing them beyond the reach of drug addicts, said the Chief Minister. He expressed the confidence of total elimination of the drugs scourge soon.On incidents of sacrilege and desecration of holy Sikh and other religious scriptures, Captain Amarinder said some unscrupulous elements were deliberately indulging in such heinous activities in order to disrupt the peace and harmony of the state. Referring to the involvement of a Gurdwara granthi in the sacrilege incident at Tarn Taran recently, the Chief Minister said the granthi had done this unpardonable and dastardly act to settle a score with the local gurdwara management after he was ousted from his job a few days back.
Captain Amarinder pointed out that his government had already set up a fresh Commission of inquiry to probe all cases of desecration and identify the culprits. Based on the report of the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission, the government would severely deal with all those found guilty of such heinous crimes, he added.Earlier, talking to media persons in Tarn Taran, the Chief Minister said his government had successfully broken the backbone of the drugs mafia in the state.In response to a question about the escalating sand prices, he said mining was controlled by the mafia, which his government was trying to destroy by auctioning more mines.Prominent amongst other who were present on the occasion included; Navjot Singh Sidhu and Rana Gurjit Singh both Cabinet Ministers, MP Amritsar Gurjit Singh Aujla, PPCC President Sunil Kumar Jakhar, MLA Rajasansi Sukhbinder Singh Sukh Sarkaria, MLA Amritsar North Sunil Datti, MLA Amritsar Central Om Parkash Soni, MLA Attari Tarsem Singh, MLA West Raj Kumar Verka, MLA Ajnala Harpartap Singh Ajnala and MLA Baba Bakala Santokh Singh Bhlaipur.