Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has lashed out at the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) for misleading the people over the government’s Rs. 9500 crore farm loan waiver scheme, which would benefit 10.25 lakh farmers in the state.Lambasting SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal for playing with the sentiments of the people with fraudulent and baseless charges against the government, Captain Amarinder questioned the former chief minister over his failure to take any initiatives for the farmers and other sections of the society during his 10-year tenure, and now criticizing the steps being taken by his government for the welfare of the people.Pointing out that his government had announced the loan waiver scheme in the Vidhan Sabha in June this year, Captain Amarinder noted that Badal failed to even turn up for the session. In fact, the Akalis did not have the patience to hear the government then on the issue, said the Chief Minister, adding that it was evident that they did not have a positive programme and were merely indulging in political gimmickry to boost their political interests.Captain Amarinder warned the Akalis against pursuing a negative agenda, saying the people of Punjab were not willing to give them a long rope now and would not tolerate such ploys as they only wanted to live and progress in peace.The Akalis were concerned only about promoting their own political and personal interests, as they had been doing all these years, at the cost of the development and progress of Punjab and its people, Captain Amarinder said.
Reacting strongly to the SAD core committee’s rejection of the government’s notification on farmers’ debt, the Chief Minister challenged Parkash Singh Badal and party president Sukhbir Singh Badal to prove even a single allegation made by them on the loan waiver issue. Having failed to take any step whatsoever for the welfare of the farmers during the decade of their rule, the Badals now had the audacity to demean the initiatives being taken by the Congress government despite the financial crisis inherited by the state from the erstwhile SAD-BJP government, said Captain Amarinder.On the SAD allegation regarding closure of certain government schools, the Chief Minister noted that, once again, the party was misguiding the people by mutilating the truth. The fact was that the government had merely decided to merge 800 government schools with less than 20 students with adjoining schools situated within a kilometre of its radius.Like on all other counts, the education system of the state had also been destroyed by the Akali-BJP combine during its tenure, with most institutions lying in shreds, the Chief Minister observed. From schools to colleges to technical institutions, everything was in a total mess, Captain Amarinder said, adding that his government was trying to bring the state’s education system back on the track. The decision to merge certain schools would lead to better utilization of the teaching staff, which was in critical shortage, thanks to the ill-conceived policies of the Badals, he added, ruling out any possibility of the move affecting the lives of the students.
The Badals had destroyed every system in the state, from education to health, industry and agriculture, for which they had been duly punished by the people, who had outright rejected them in the Assembly elections, the Chief Minister said. It was clear that SAD was now desperate to woo back the people of Punjab and was resorting to all kinds of deceitful acts towards this end, he said, adding that the people were not going to allow themselves to be fooled by the Badals.The people gave them 10 years to do something for the development and progress of the state but the Badals failed miserably to come up to their expectations. On the contrary, they actually used this period to loot the people and fill up their own pockets, leaving the state exchequer reeling under an unprecedented burden, said the Chief Minister. Instead of supporting and cooperating with the government in the interest of the state and its people, the Akalis were once again back to playing their dirty games, he pointed out.His government, said Captain Amarinder, was committed to implementing every promise made in the Congress manifesto and would continue to find ways and means of bringing the state back on the path of growth and development, notwithstanding the economic crisis it had inherited from the Akalis.