The Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said that the SAD-BJP alliance government was making all out efforts, within the parameters of law, to ensure release of Sikh prisoners languishing in Jails across the country.Interacting with the media persons on the sidelines of thanks giving tour in Dhuri assembly segment here today, the Chief Minister said the state government had been making persistent efforts to ensure the release of such prisoners, who were overstaying in jails after having completed their sentence. Badal said that this was a sensitive issue and state government was making all out efforts to deal with the situation arising out of it in an apt manner. He exhorted the people to properly understand the matter and refrain from getting swayed away by provocations on this emotive issue without verifying the facts.
The Chief Minister further said that law and order would be maintained at every cost and no one would be allowed to disturb the hard earned peace of the state.He said that the state government was firmly committed to maintain peace and communal harmony in the state for which every necessary action was being taken. Mr. Badal categorically said that it was bounden duty of the state government to promote the ethos of communal harmony and brotherhood in the state.Terming the incident of protest against Cabinet Minister Jathedar Tota Singh in USA as highly unfortunate, the Chief Minister said that such incidents harm the interest of the state. He said that people who were not aware of the ground realities were indulging in such activities, which was totally wrong adding that Punjab has already suffered a lot due to such incidents. “Do the supporters of these incidents want to bring back the black days in the state” asked Mr. Badal.
On a query related to the havoc created in the state due to Ghaggar river, the Chief Minister said that the state government was making concerted efforts to ensure that this grave problem was solved in an year. Mr. Badal said that he had been racking up this issue with the Union government for its early resolution adding that half of the work of channelization of this river has already been completed. He said that they would against raise this issue with the Union government to ensure that this project was completed in the coming year so that people could be saved from scourge of Ghaggar water.Replying to another query, the Chief Minister said that former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh was habitual of misleading the people by making false claims. He said that the allegations of Lok Sabha MP against him and the state government were baseless and were far away from truth. “Captain had been leveling such allegations since long but they were totally irrelevant” added Mr. Badal.
Earlier, while addressing the gatherings in village Maana, Issi, Lohaar Majra, Kheri Jattan, Mimsa, Cheema, Burj Gohar, Sedha, Jaakhlan, Sherpur Sodhian and others, the Chief Minister said that in order to emerge out of the current agrarian crisis, the Punjabi farmers must take the initiative of opting for the allied farming activities like Dairy farming, piggery, apiary, goatery and others. He said that this would help the farmers to bail out from the crisis by supplementing their income. Mr. Badal also advised the farmers to adopt the technique of using the farm equipments on custom hiring basis to curtail the heavy cost expenditure meted out on farming. He said that the state government was already giving huge subsidy on this project. “Adopting this technique will not only reduce the cost of farm input but will also enhance your profits” he added.The Chief Minister was accompanied by Cabinet Minister Mr. Parminder Singh Dhindsa, MLAs Mr. Gobind Singh Longowal and Mr. Iqbal Singh Jhunda, Special Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mr. KJS Cheema and Deputy Commissioner Mr. AS Thind.