M A I N   N E W S

Punjab to review cases of detained youths
Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 19
The Punjab Government is reviewing the cases of 17 of 51 youths detained in various jails since terrorism days and 13 of 61 cases of police officials allegedly involved in cases of atrocities during the 21-year-long turbulence in the state, the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, announced in the Vidhan Sabha today.

The state government felt that these measures would further strengthen peace and reconciliation in the state and enable it to put behind years of turbulence from 1973 after the adoption of the Anandpur Sahib resolution to 1995, when the then Chief Minister, Mr Beant Singh, was assassinated. What had happened during that period was now a part of history, he said.

He also announced the implementation of the 85th Amendment to the Constitution in the state.

Summing up the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the Governor’s Address, the Chief Minister not only chided the Shiromani Akali Dal President and Leader of the Opposition, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, for his baseless allegations made during the discussion but also held that in the next Assembly elections, the people of Punjab would seek continuity, stability and elect a government that worked.

When the Chief Minister said that he was anxiously looking forward to the next Assembly elections, Mr Balwinder Singh Bhunder of the Shiromani Akali Dal quipped that if the Leader of the House was so confident, why should he not recommend the dissolution of the House today itself and seek a fresh mandate.

Though Mr Badal had challenged the Congress government in the state with rampant corruption by focussing on specific cases like the excise auctions, recruitment of DSPs, alleged irregularities in the allotment of land to Quark and a private company in Jalandhar besides alleged acceptance of a bribe by a Chief Parliamentary Secretary, the Chief Minister defended himself and his son by referring to the Nehra Commission and avoiding reference to other cases raised on the floor of the House.

Referring to VAT, he said that since it had been implemented in Punjab from April 1, as per the national consensus, initial difficulties involved in its implementation were being directed to the Finance and Excise and Taxation Ministers. “We are aware that previously there was no sales tax on CSD items, fertilisers and pesticides. We have now taken up the matter with the National Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers to reconsider the levy of VAT on these items,” he said maintaining that he himself had raised the matter with the Prime Minister during his visit to Chandigarh on April 13. “In case no decision is taken at the Centre we will revise it at our own level,” he added.

The Chief Minister said the victory of the Congress in the byelections of Malout, Kapurthala, Garhshankar and Ajnala had proved beyond any doubt the people had full faith and confidence in the policies and programmes of the government. He said that Mr Parkash Singh Badal had levelled baseless and irrational charges against the government. Mr Badal’s address was nothing but a bundle of lies directed at diverting the attention of the House. Wild accusations made by Mr Badal spoke volumes of his frustration and did not behove the Leader of the Opposition and a person of his stature.

The Chief Minister said that 18 high-traffic corridors were to be built with 22 over/under-bridges. Besides, 1,755 km of district and state roads had been completed and 4,187 km of roads and 99 bridges would be constructed with an investment of Rs 978 crore during the next two years. Three super bus stands in Amritsar, Ludhiana and Jalandhar would be constructed in 2005.

Twentyseven mega industrial projects had been approved with an investment of Rs 7,000 crore. The Bathinda Refinery Project had been re-negotiated with a huge net saving to the state. Industrial production had increased by 25 per cent during the past three years while exports had gone up from Rs 4,400 crore to Rs 11,000 crore. The establishment of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) at Amritsar and Mohali and the Investment Promotion Commission were other steps taken by the government for further economic growth. The pending subsidy claims of industrial units would be cleared in a phased manner.

He further said that the state government was committed to the overall welfare and development of the Dalits and the poor. A social security fund of Rs 450 crore had been established.

He said that at the meeting of Chief Ministers on law and order and internal security held recently in Delhi satisfaction was expressed over the law and order situation in Punjab in general, barring the issue of modernisation of the police which could not be implemented properly due to the paucity of funds as reported in the agenda.
The Chief Minister also commended the initiative taken by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the President of Pakistan, Gen Pervez Musharraf, for setting up a joint Business Council to intensify bilateral economic cooperation and trade between the two countries. He said that this unique initiative as a part of the Confidence Building Measures would considerably benefit the agrarian economy of Punjab, thereby giving enormous opportunities for mutual trade and commerce to Punjabi farmers with the opening up of the Indo-Pak border.

Badal attacks CM on corruption

The Shiromani Akali Dal President and Leader of the Opposition, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, attacked the Punjab Government for what he described as total fiscal, administrative and political collapse besides letting the state down on all fronts.

Describing the Governor’s Address as meaningless, directionless and utterly non-serious, Mr Badal said that it had neither vision nor any sense of purpose nor commitment nor sincerity.

Mr Badal charged the government with burdening the state with a crippling and unprecedented debt load.

Taking the government to task on the issue of corruption, Mr Badal said that there were three main indicators of probity in public life. These, he said, were conduct of government as a trustee of the people’s money, personal example set by the leader and transparency in the delivery of justice to the people through just and merit-based recruitment. He said that on all three counts this government had emerged as the most corrupt in the history of the state. He said that a government that made such a hue and cry over appointments made by Ravi Sidhu also went ahead and threw all norms to the winds to help its favourites in the recruitment of DSPs. The Akali leader went for the jugular and said that the Chief Minister’s office itself had become the fountainhead of corruption, with one of his aides directly involved in the recruitment scandal. He cited the example of the recruitment of a son of one of the Chief Minister’s advisers by ignoring the just claims of several international sporting stars.

The Akali leader referred to the Punjab Internet scam and dared the Chief Minister to prove his honest credentials by referring the entire case to the CBI.

He said the Chief Minister had failed miserably as a trustee of the people’s money as he had helped the liquor mafia. He said that corruption had been taken to unimaginable heights by the present rulers and it had robbed the public exchequer of thousands of crores of rupees.

In addition, the government’s real estate assets worth thousands of crores of rupees were being sold at below even the reserve price. This was broad daylight robbery and the future of the people of the state was being bartered away for personal gain, said Mr Badal.

The Akali leader said that the most dangerous development over the past three years had been the brutal murder of democracy in the state by the ruling party. He said that the process had started from the Malout byelection in 2002 and continued right through to Ajnala.