UPA GOVERNMENT HAS LOST PUBLIC FAITH DUE TO RAMPANT CORRUPTION – BADAL
PUNAJB POISED FOR UNPRECEDENTED ECONOMIC RESURGENCE – SUKHBIR
SRI ANANDPUR SAHIB MARCH 19:
Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today strongly pleaded for establishing true federal structure with more powers and financial autonomy to the states as it was practically impossible to achieve overall development and progress in true perspective.
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| Punjab Chief Minister S. Parkash Singh Badal interacting with students during his visit at Sri Dashmesh Academy Anandpur Sahib (Rupnagar) on 19-03-2011. |
Addressing a massive religious congregation on the historic occasion of annual Holla Mohalla festival on the 'birth place of Khalsa' here after paying obeisance at Gurdwara Takhat Sri Keshgarh Sahib, Mr.Badal said that the existing unitary system of Government provided meager resources at the disposal of State Governments and virtually reduced them to the level of dignified municipalities which led to the poverty, economic backwardness and illiteracy in the country. This kind of discrimination with the states must end for ensuring speedy growth and development of the country as a whole, he added.
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| Punjab Chief Minister S. Parkash Singh Badal interacting with a student in hostel during his visit at Sri Dashmesh Academy Anandpur Sahib(Rupnagar) on 19-03-2011. |
Lashing at the Congress government in Centre for its apathetic and discriminatory attitude towards Punjab, Mr. Badal said that it had always betrayed the state on every front, be it agriculture, industry and even on the infrastructure development. He said that Central policies were inimical for the interests of Punjab and they deliberately devised stringent parameters for the eligibility of the centrally sponsored schemes and grants. He however, said that the Centre merely showed lip service to our hard working Punjabi farmers for their contribution in the national food pool but never bothered to make a substantial hike in Minimum Support Price (MSP) in view of ever increasing costs of agricultural inputs including diesel, fertilizers and pesticides.
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| Singh Sahib Giani Tirlochan Singh Jathedar Takhat Sri Keshgarh Sahib presenting siorpas (robe of honour) to Punjab Chief Minister S.Parkash Singh Badal at Takhat Sri Keshgarh Sahib at Anandpur Sahib (Rupnagar) on 19-03-2011 |
Mr. Badal further said that the Sikhs would not tolerate any sort of high handedness in their religious affairs by the Congress as its leadership had always instigating the Sikh community to divide them to take over the control of SGPC. He categorically said that the Congress party would never succeed in its nefarious designs to capture the SGPC. Mr. Badal said it was not only astonishing but also ironical that Congress which claimed to be a secular party was deliberately encroaching upon the jurisdiction of Sikh religious matters by indirectly lending support to Sarna & Co. in the SGPC elections.
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| Punjab Chief Minister S. Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister S. Sukhbir Singh Badal sitting at stage during a conference on the occasion of Hola Mohalla at Anandpur Sahib (Rupnagar) on 19-03-2011. |
Referring to the status of Punjab economy, Mr. Badal said that it was quite comfortable as SAD-BJP government had enhanced the income three times in the State through healthy financial management and the developmental process was in full swing. He said that State economy had suffered a major set back due to debt burden put by the Centre pertaining to the period of militancy. The Punjab Government fought against terrorism thus serving the national cause and the Centre Government extended no help, he lamented. Mr. Badal thanked the former Prime Minister Mr. IK Gujral for this debt waiver on his personal request.
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| Deputy Chief Minister S. Sukhbir Singh Badal addressing a conference on the occasion of Hola Mohalla at Anandpur Sahib (Rupnagar) on 19-03-2011. |
To perpetuate the rich legacy of our cultural heritage amongst our younger generations, the state government has already made and endeavour to construct three historic memorials at a cost of Rs. 95 crore at Chappar Chiri in SAS Nagar, Chak Abdalwari in Gurdaspur and Kup Rohira in Sangrur district to commemorate the victory of Sirhind by the legendary Sikh warrior Baba Banda Singh Bahadur and in the memory of Wadda and Chhota Ghallughara martyrs respectively. Mr. Badal also mentioned that Rs.100 crore had already been spent on the upgradation & development of various projects in Sri Anandpur Sahib as a part of the tercentenary celebrations of Gurta Gaddi Diwas. A sum of Rs. 18 crore has been spent on the holy Ram Tirath Temple of Bhagwan Valmiki ji in Amritsar for its beautification. The government has decided to construct a world-class memorial at a cost of Rs. 10 crore at village Khuralgarh in Hoshiarpur district to pay tributes to Sri Guru Ravi Dass ji. Besides, the Government has also undertaken a comprehensive plan to develop village Ghuman in Gurdaspur district associated with Bhagat Naamdev ji. Likewise, Bhagwan Parshuram Taposthal was also being developed at village Khatti in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar to pay respect to Bhagwan Parshuram ji. A Rs. 70 crore project of Golden Temple Entrance Plaza was in the advanced stage of implementation and rapid transport system was also being introduced in Amritsar shortly to enable the devotees to pay obeisance at Golden Temple in a hassle free manner. Naina Devi temple was being connected with Sri Anandpur Sahib through ropeway to facilitate the pilgrims to visit the holy temple.
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| Deputy Chief Minister S. Sukhbir Singh Badal addressing a conference on the occasion of Hola Mohalla at Anandpur Sahib (Rupnagar) on 19-03-2011. |
Mr. Badal also said that our government had already spent Rs. 148 crore to ensure better civic amenities in the 11 religious towns namely, Dera Baba Nanak, Sri Chamkaur Sahib, Sultanpur Lodhi, Tarn Taran, Sri Hargobindpur, Baba Bakala, Khadur Sahib, Goindwal Sahib, Chohla Sahib, Kiratpur Sahib and Sri Muktsar Sahib.
On the major initiative of employment generation, Mr. Badal said that the state government had so far recruited 85000 persons in various departments and the services of nearly 8000 adhoc/daily wage employees in different departments would be soon regularized.
Addressing the media persons on the sidelines of Holla Mohalla here, the Chief Minister today blamed the UPA-led Congress government for having lost confidence of the public due to rampant corruption and unlawful democratic practices especially in the wake of Wikileaks expose on the issue of alleged bribery to the MPs of opposition in the parliament to secure the trust vote in July 2008. He said that Congress and corruption were the two sides of the same coin. He said; "Congress is even worst than termite which had eaten up the entire democratic system of administration through illegal and unlawful practices thereby paralyzing the governance at all levels". Citing the examples of infamous alleged scam of Rs.1.76 lac crore 2G spectrum, Common Wealth Games scandal worth Rs.8000 crore and the Adarsh Housing scam, Mr. Badal said that scam after scam in the Congress led UPA government had exposed its real face as its allies had also accusing it for the rampant corruption.
On the turban issue, Mr. Badal said that it was not merely a religious issue but also an emotional one and sought personal intervention of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to immediately resolve it through using all the diplomatic channels and it was all the more important for him being a Sikh. Mr. Badal also said that he was perturbed over the incidents of Sikhs being humiliated on the pretext of security in different foreign countries and said this must come to an end and Sikhs should not be embarrassed anymore. He also said UPA Chairperson Mrs. Sonia Gandhi should also intervene to address this issue especially in her home country Italy where many Sikhs have been allegedly humiliated under the garb of security checks.
Speaking on the occasion, the Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal said that the historic budget of 2011-12 was aimed at the empowerment of women. Novel schemes like free education and bicycles to the girl students studying in class XI and XII, Babe Nanaki Ladli scheme of giving grant of Rs. 15000 at the time of birth of girl child, extension of shagun scheme of Rs.15000 to the backward classes and economically weaker sections of the society upto annual income of Rs.30000 besides SCs and Christians.
Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal also declared that the Punjab economy has undergone complete transformation and the state was poised for unprecedented economic resurgence. He said that the development seen in the state over the past four years has no parallel in the history of the state and its economic position was looking far healthier than what we inherited it from the previous Congress governments.
Dwelling on the overall development in the state the Deputy Chief Minister said that his government had initiated many power projects with generation capacity of 10000 MW, four universities, 17 new colleges, 8 polytechnics, 15 new model schools besides record recruitment of 45000 school teachers. He also mentioned that huge plans worth Rs.250 crore for up-gradation of medical & health services, Rs.400 crore medical education & research and Rs.1000 crore on strengthening of road network was under execution. He pointed out that Rs.150 crore had been earmarked for the promotion of sports and youth activities in the current budget.
Coming down heavily on the Congress Government which pushed the state into deep debt of Rs.50000 crore due to its wrong economic and financial policies, Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal said that our government had made concerted efforts to revive the state's derailed economy through its prudent fiscal management.
The Deputy Chief Minister further said that the governance reforms initiated by the SAD-BJP government first time in the history of 63 years of independent India would ensure all the public centric services to the people in a transparent and hassle free manner.
In his address SGPC President Mr. Avtar Singh said that the stage was all set for the forth coming SGPC general elections and urged the Sikh community to beware of the tactics of Congress to divide Sikhs keeping an eye to capture the control of the SGPC. He urged the youth to wean away from the menace of drug-addiction so that their unbounded energy could be channelized in constrictive manners.
Prominent amongst others who were spoke on the occasion included SAD Secretary General and Member Rajya Sabha Mr. Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Advisor to Chief Minister Dr. Daljeet Singh Cheema, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Ch.Nand Lal, SAD General Secretary Mr. Prem Singh Chandumajra, MLA Sri Anandpur Sahib Sant Baba Ajit Singh, Chairman District Planning Committee Mr. Madan Mohan Mittal, SAD District President Ropar Mr. Tara Singh Ladal, Mr. Maheshinder Singh Garewal, Bibi Jagir Kaur and Bibi Satwant Kaur Sandhu (all ex-Minister), MC President Ropar Mr. Amarjit Singh Satyal, Mr. Gurinder Singh Gogi and Mr. Kashmir Singh Briar (both Member SGPC), Youth Akali Leader Mr. Harpreet Singh Basant and Mr. Parminder Pal Singh Binta.
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