Reiterating the commitment of SAD-BJP government to maintain law and order in the state at every cost, Punjab Chief Minister Mr Parkash Singh Badal today said that the government was duty bound to preserve the hard earned peace and amity in the state. Interacting with the media persons after addressing the public gathering converged at the Baisakhi conference here today, the Chief Minister said that the single point agenda of the state government was to ensure peace, amity, brotherhood and communal harmony in the state for its all-round development. He said that the state government was keeping a strict vigil over the law and order situation in Punjab adding that no one would be allowed to disturb the hard earned peace of state. Mr Badal further said that every step of the state government was aimed towards guaranteeing the well being of resident of the state for which stupendous efforts were being made by them.
Replying to another query the Chief Minister said that the days of the Congress led UPA government at the centre were numbered and people were eagerly waiting for the general elections slated to be held in year 2014 to constitute the NDA government at the centre. He said that SAD being a key constituent of the NDA was strongly with the BJP and the alliance between both the parties was firm as always. However on a query regarding support of SAD to the Prime Ministerial candidate of BJP, Mr Badal said that this was not the right opportunity to comment on the issue as it would decided amicably after the discussions by alliance partners in the coming days.
Earlier addressing a mammoth gathering during the annual Baisakhi conference, the Chief Minister said that the Congress has always meted out step motherly treatment with Punjab despite of enormous contribution of state during the freedom movement and consequently in making the country self sufficient in food production. He said that the successive Congress governments at the Centre have always ignored the interests of state. Mr Badal pointed out that Punjab has been worst sufferer of the apathetic attitude of the Union government because the centre was deliberately formulating stringent parameters to exclude the state from the ambit of these schemes.
Lashing out at the Congress led UPA government for ruining the Agriculture of the state, the Chief Minister categorically said that the anti-farmer stance of the Union government has virtually brought the hard working and resilient peasantry of the state on the verge of economic disaster. He said that it was unfortunate that instead of rewarding the farmers of state for their laudable contribution in making the country self reliant in food production, the Union government have virtually brought them on cross roads by means of massive hike in agricultural inputs coupled with non-remunerative MSP of the food grains. Mr Badal said that the states which were well connected with the farmers at ground root level were hardly consulted by the centre while determining the MSP or framing the agricultural policy due to which the agonies of peasantry has increased manifolds.
The Chief Minister further said that due to the adverse policies of the union government the peasantry of the state was reeling under a heavy debt of Rs 32000 crore. He however said that the state government was highly indebted to the farmers of the state for their valuable contribution due to which it was bearing an additional burden of Rs 5700 crore annually to supply free power to the farmers. Had the SAD-BJP government not made this humble effort the situation of farmers would have aggravated, Mr Badal added.
Exhorting the people to wipe out the Congress in the coming general elections by extending full support and co-operation to the SAD-BJP alliance, the Chief Minister said that the need of the hour was to start a crusade for wiping out the UPA government from the centre so that a pro-people NDA government could be formed. He said that the rights of the state could be safeguarded only if the Congress led UPA government was ousted from the power. Mr Badal said that the formation of NDA government at the centre would herald a new era of unprecedented development in Punjab.
The Chief Minister said that if Punjabis want that their state should reach the zenith of development then the only way for it was to increase the share of MPs in the Lok Sabha which was possible only by ensuring the win of all the SAD-BJP candidates in 13 Parliamentary seats of the state. If we would have more MPs in the NDA government we would get lion’s share in the central grants and projects needed for development of the state, Mr Badal added.
Listing out the achievements of SAD-BJP government, the Chief Minister said that due to the persistent efforts of the state government Punjab today leads the country in the field of education adding that state’s infra structure in Healthcare has been adjudged excellent by an agency of the Government of India (GoI). He said that in order to further give a fillip to the ongoing development in the state the SAD-BJP government was making endeavors for preparing the master plan of each town and city after thorough study of its needs. Likewise Mr Badal said that efforts were afoot to provide all the basic civic amenities in the rural areas thereby bringing them at par with the urban areas.
The Chief Minister said that not only this but the state government was playing a pivotal role in perpetuating the rich cultural legacy of the state for its coming generations. He said that the state government has already constructed state of art Virasat-e-Khalsa memorial at Sri Anandpur Sahib, memorials of big and small holocaust in Kup Rahira and Kahnuwan respectively and Baba Banda Singh Bahadur War memorial at Chappar Chiri. Likewise Mr Badal said that in order to showcase the contribution of Punjabis in the Indian National Freedom Struggle the state government was constructing a world class ‘Jang-e-Azaadi’ memorial at Kartarpur near Jalandhar.
In the same manner the Chief Minister said that a memorial was being erected at Amritsar to commemorate the supreme sacrifices made by Punjabis in Armed forces of the country while fighting for preserving the sovereignty of the country since independence. Besides Mr Badal said memorials of Bhagwan Parshuram, Baba Jiwan Singh, Baba Moti Ram Mehra and Swami Vivekanand would also come up soon in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Sri Anandpur Sahib, Fatehgarh Sahib and Amritsar respectively.
Earlier in his address the Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal said that despite of being only two percent of the total population of the country, the Punjabis have left an indelible mark in almost every field. However he said that the successive Congress governments at the centre have infringed the rights of Punjabis due which the SAD had to wage a number of wars. Terming the SAD-BJP government as the true representative of Punjabis, the Deputy Chief Minister said that apart from ensuring the welfare of all the sections of the society their government has put the state on the orbit of high growth trajectory to further boost its overall development.
Lashing out at the Punjab Pradesh Congress Chief Mr Partap Singh Bajwa, the Deputy Chief Minister said that the state Congress chief was not even acquainted with the entire geography of the state. Daring Mr Bajwa to re-contest the elections from Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat in coming general elections, he said that the poll would clear all the whims of the state Congress chief regarding his popularity amongst the masses.
The Deputy Chief Minister said that the coming years would be instrumental in the complete facelift of the state as major initiatives were being taken by the state government to ensure the welfare of the people and development of the state. He said that in coming months the complete overhaul of the irrigation system of the state would take place adding that soon Punjab would become the first state of the country to be Power Surplus. Likewise he said that in coming four months the upgradation and strengthening of the rural roads network in the state would be undertaken at a cost of Rs 1700 crore adding that Rs 12000 crore were being spent on four laning and six laning of major roads of the state.
Likewise the Deputy Chief Minister said that New Industrial Policy of the state would be unveiled next month which would give a big boost to the industrial development of the state. Reiterating that the SAD-BJP government has adopted zero tolerance policy towards the drug peddlers in the state, Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal exhorted the people to play a proactive role in the campaign as public support was vital for carrying out any such campaign in an effective manner. Listing major initiatives taken by SAD-BJP government to ensure welfare of peole he said that for the first time in the state emphasis has been laid on the education of poor but bright students adding that all senior secondary students in government schools securing 80% or above marks would get an annual scholarship of Rs. 30,000 under a new Dr. Hargobind Khurana Scholarship Scheme.
Likewise the Deputy Chief Minister said that all BPL families would get Rs 30,000 Medical Insurance for each member under a new Bhagat Puran Singh Health Welfare Scheme and all government hospitals would provide free medicines to the poor in the state. Likewise he said that all Government ITI's in the state would provide Free Professional Education for girls.
In her address Lok Sabha MP from Bathinda Mrs Harsimrat Kaur Badal said that today was a historic day for the Punjabis to introspect that were they following the tenets of Sikhism preached by Guru Gobind Singh Ji in true spirit or not. She said that the Sikh Panth has a rich tradition of sacrifices which were a major source of inspiration for the coming generations. Mrs Badal said that the immense contribution made by Punjabis in freeing the country from the yolk of foreign imperialism and consequently in preserving the sovereignty of the country besides making India self reliant in food production were really laudable.
Striking an emotional chord with the people Mrs Badal exhorted the people to wage a war against the prevalent social maladies like Dowry and Female foeticide by following the noble ideals shown by the great Sikh Gurus. The Lok Sabha MP said that such endeavors would be a real tribute to the great Sikh Gurus who had shown us the true way of life. She called upon the people to work relentlessly for strengthening the party, nation and the Panth.
In his address the President of Youth Akali Dal and Revenue, Information and Public Relations Minister of Punjab Mr Bikram Singh Majithia while equating the regime of Congress led UPA government with the tyrannical rule of Ahmed Shah Abdali said that the coming general elections was a golden chance for the people to teach the Congress and Gandhi family a befitting lesson for their misrule. He said that today the youth of Punjab were fed up from UPA because despite of vast contribution of the state they have not get the due projects and grants in the state. However Mr Majithhia said that all the projects and grants of the UPA government were confined to Rai Bareilly and Amethi which were represented in Lok Sabha by Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Mr Rahul Gandhi respectively.
The Minister said that people must vow on this sacred occasion to wipe out the Congress from the state so as to fulfill the dream of Guru Gobind Singh to carve out an egalitarian society free from injustice and tyranny. He said that the SAD-BJP government of the state under the leadership of Chief Minister Mr Parkash Singh Badal was working exclusively for the development of Punjab and welfare of its people adding that there was hardly any match of the pro-poor schemes initiated by the government in the country.
Training his guns against the state Congress Chief Mr Partap Singh Bajwa, Mr Majithia said that the PPCC Chief was pursuing the agenda of pide and rule by baselessly issuing statements regarding the development of different regions of state. He said that it was a known fact that Punjab had witnessed unprecedented development during the SAD-BJP government’s regime due to which Mr Badal has became the Chief Minister for record fifth term. Daring Mr Bajwa and the Union Ministers from the Punjab to list their single achievement for the people of the state, the Minister categorically said that it was on record these leaders have not done anything for the welfare of the state.
Prominent amongst those present on the occasion included Cabinet Ministers Mr Janmeja Singh Sekhon and Mr Sikander Singh Maluka, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Mr Sarup Chand Singla and Sant Balbir Singh Ghunas, MLA Mr Darshan Singh Kotfatta, Rajya Sabha MP Mr Balwinder Singh Bhunder, former Union Minister Mr Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, former MPs Prof. Prem Singh Chandumajra and Mrs Gurcharan Kaur.