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