The six
months of Congress rule in Punjab have proved to be non- performing one. Captain
Amarinder Singh Government. has not moved an inch towards the fulfillment of
any of the promises made in the election manifesto. In 2017 poll manifesto, the
Congress party promised complete debt waiver of farmers. In
the first budget of Congress Govt. , a
cap of Rs. 2 lac for crop loan for 10.25 Lac farmers was put on the farm debt
waiver, but that too has not been met yet. The farmers in Punjab are facing
catch-22 situation. The Bank loan of the
farmers has been kept piling up , owing to nonpayment of loan by Congress Govt., and on the other hand farmers
are not getting loan for the next crop
from Banks or from Artias. Even
after the submission of farm debt waiver
committee report headed by T. Haque, the farm debt waiver notification is still
to be issued. Similarly , The industrialists of Punjab like farmers are still waiting for the implementation of
the Promise of Rs. 5 per unit electricity supply to their industrial units.
The Congress Government in
Punjab has miserably failed to tackle the
fiscal position so much so that the salary of the Govt. employees are
being deferred to save the Govt. from default. Such a situation never happened
during Akali BJP rule as the Govt. finances
were managed in such a way that fiscal position remained within the
recognized national parameters. The Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has
knocked the doors of Prime Minister Sh. Narender Modi and the finance Minister
Sh. Arun Jaitely to give one time exemption from the provisions of FRBM Act
(Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act), which restrict the borrowing
the to 3% of the GSDP. Will it not amount to pushing Punjab into the debt trap
?
During 14th Vidhan Sabha,
President PPCCI Punjab , Sh. Sunil Jakhar, the then the leader of opposition
exploited every opportunity to raise hue & cry on the high
retail-prices of sand and gravels. Now
during Congress regime the retail prices
of sand and gravels are many times higher than that of Akali BJP rule. The
conflict of interest in regard to the involvement of the employees of the company of family members of
Rana Gurjit Singh the Cabinet Minister and the family members of 11 MLA's is an open secret, why is Sh. Sunil Jakhar mum ?
The silence means acquiescence.
Congress Government has
swapped the poll promise of jobs to 25
lac youth with the scheme of Ghar
Ghar Naukari which is nothing but a
campus placement by professional institutes to provide employment opportunities
to fresh graduates which has been taking place earlier also. The other swapping
is under the scheme of Apni Gaddi Apna Rozgar which is nothing but running a
car taxi on a loan under "OLA Scheme". Thus the Congress Govt. for
which it claims credit for employment by putting banner on both the
schemes has no role to play. Similar is
the fate of Rs. 2500 per month unemployment
allowance to unemployed youth which has been swapped with the Modi Government sponsored
scheme of skill development. Thus Maal Company Da, Mashoori Apni.
Similar is the fate of poll promise of Shagun Scheme and pension
scheme. In the election manifesto pension scheme for old age and widows was
promised for Rs. 2000 per month but in budget announced the increase in the
pension from Rs. 500 to 750 per month only. The nomenclature of Shagun Scheme, initiated by Akali BJP, Govt.,
was changed to Ashirwad Scheme in Congress
election manifesto and was increased from 15000 to 31000 but in budget
announced the increase to Rs. 21000 only. But the announced Shagun
scheme and Ashirwad scheme on floor of the House are also not being implemented.
Thus the promises by Congress are made
to be broken.
Before election, Captain
Amarinder Singh took an oath keeping in hand the Gutka Sahib of eradicating the menace of drugs within 4
weeks of coming to power. After 6 months
in power, can Captain Amarinder Singh Chief Minister Punjab take the same oath
in same way that the menace of drug has been eradicated lock, stock and barrel?
Thus 6 months of Congress
rule in Punjab has proved to be totally fiasco.
Manoranjan Kalia
B.J.P. Senior Leader and Former Minister , Punjab
Date 16 Th Sep 2017
