Lauding the role of defence personnel in safeguarding the country’s freedom, Punjab Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, on Saturday said that under his government all ‘faujis’ will get due respect at every administrative office, be it the tehsil or the thana (police stations). Promising all around development for the Gurdaspur region, the Chief Minister said that a vote for Sunil Jakher would be a vote for development.“Your sacrifices for the nation cannot be ever forgotten and the least my government can do is to ensure that you get respect and justice from my government”, he told the ex-servicemen while addressing a rally here. “Don’t hesitate to approach me directly in case you have any problems”, he said.Urging the ex-servicemen to support the party nominee, Sunil Jakhar, in the ensuing by-election, Captain Amarinder Singh said the PPCC president is the best bet for the region. “He is a gem of a person and will fight for the rights of the people of Gurdaspur region in the Lok Sabha”, he said adding that Jakhar’s presence in Delhi would add to the Congress strength in Parliament, ensuring that the people’s voice is heard there.
Dismissing opposition’s propaganda that Jakhar is an “outsider”, Captain Amarinder Singh said that because of the Akalis, Punjab had been reduced to a small state. “Before partition, Punjab extended from Lahore to Delhi. The Punjabi suba movement by the Akalis resulted in bifurcation of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, making Punjab a very small state”, he said, adding that calling any Punjabi an “outsider” only exhibited the petty mindset of such people.Saying that a vote for Jakhar would be a vote for development, the chief minister said that his government had already initiated steps for industrialisation of the region and the proposed industrial policy had a special focus on it.Referring to his government’s 'Guardians of Governance" (GOG) scheme, Captain Amarinder said that this voluntary force of ex-servicemen would ensure the honest and sincere implementation of all government schemes and programmes to ensure that benefits of these schemes reach the most deserving people.
Recalling former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi’s famous statement that only 10 paisa of every Re 1 of government grants and schemes actually reaches the beneficiaries, the Chief Minister said that the GOG would ensure that every penny is spent for the people it is meant for.He said under the scheme a monitoring mechanism will be put in place to ensure its smooth functioning at village, cluster, tehsil and district level. This scheme would be instrumental in harnessing the available pool of distinguished ex-servicemen to oversee the implementation of various government schemes and programmes.The chief minister said that his government will be setting up a Sainik school for the children of defence personnel and two training institutes, one in Majha and other in Malwa region.Later Captain Amarinder Singh joined the people of Pathankot in celebrating Dussehra and vowed to destroy the demons of drugs and crime. Speaking at the Dussehra Ground here, the chief minister said his government’s sole agenda is development. He said his government would ensure the development of the hilly and border areas and has already asked for a special package from the centre.Saying one needs to take lessons from history, Captain Amarinder Singh said that in today’s world, drugs and crimes were the main evils and his government was committed to destroying them.The Dussshera event was attended by a large number of Congress leaders, including AICC General Secretry and in-charge Punjab affiars, Asha Kumari, MLAs, Amit Vij and Joginder,DCC President, Anil Vij, former MLA, Raman Bhalla, Sukhdev Wadhera and Vibhuti Sharma.