Chandigarh, October 9
Accusations, allegations and counter-allegations over stepmotherly treatment meted out to one area or region by one popular government or the other has been the bane of Punjab. Most politicians forget that Punjab also exists beyond Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala and Bathinda.

Though the Malwa region has produced more Chief Ministers than the Majha and Doab regions put together, yet many towns and cities in Malwa remain more backward than those in Majha and Doab.

The recent accusation by Congress leaders from Majha that the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janta Party government is diverting all development funds to Bathinda is not without substance.

If one looks at the investments made in the state during the past 10 years, focus has been mainly on developing the greater Chandigarh areas, mainly in Mohali, and Patiala districts and some areas in Fatehgarh Sahib and Ropar districts.

The reason is simple. All multinational companies want to make investments in towns that have good hotels, are air- connected and have modern lifestyle facilities, including golf courses, convention halls and easy accessibility.

This may be one reason for more multiplexes coming up in Mohali, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar than anywhere else.

Posh havelis of the Doaba are nowhere seen in deep Malwa. The region is also far behind in sports infrastructure with exceptions like the NIS at Patiala or the cricket ground in Baradari and cycling velodrome in Punjabi University, Patiala. Gidderbaha, of late, has come up as a new sports training centre, thanks to government patronage.

In spite of a galaxy of Chief Ministers -Justice Gurnam Singh, Lachman Singh Gill, Parkash Singh Badal, Giani Zail Singh, Surjit Singh Barnala, Beant Singh, Harcharan Singh Brar, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and Capt Amarinder Singh - Malwa has cities and towns like Sangrur, Barnala, Mansa, Muktsar, Budhlada and Sunam that are only as good or as bad as Nawanshahr, Dinanagar, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Goindwal Sahib or Taran Tarn in the Doab and Majha areas.

The lesser said the better about infrastructure throughout the state. Old dilapidated and unsafe buildings continue to house hospitals, schools, colleges and even public dealing government offices.

Except for Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana, the remaining towns have witnessed little, scattered or scanty industrialisation. Industries have mainly come up in Hoshiarpur (Asron), Ropar (Kurali), Mohali (Mohali), Sangrur (Malerkotla-Ahmedgarh belt), Patiala (Nabha), Moga (Moga), Kapurthala (Rail Coach factory), Phagwara, Goraya, Batala, and Bathinda (Guru Nanak Refinery). But the scale of the new industry compared to the economic potential of the state is too small to be counted.

Projects that started with pomp and show but finally failed include Goindwal Sahib (Majha) and Punjab Scooters at Nabha (Malwa). Multinational companies like Du Pont came to Malwa . Punjab also witnessed emergence of inorganic farm inputs and electronic industry (Mohali). But these disappeared immediately after subsidies had been coughed up.

Punjab is yet to get a big industrial unit. Its small and household industry has sustained itself in spite of erratic and irregular supplies of inputs that come from other states. Sugar mills in the cooperative and private sector, distilleries and breweries in the private sector and rice shellers are scattered throughout the state.

In education, Malwa remained far behind Majha and Doab. Except for Punjabi University, the only institutions of repute were Government Mahendra College, Thapar Engineering College and Government Medical College - all in Patiala.

The health care system has been faulty too. Malwa residents with serious ailments rush either to Ludhiana or Chandigarh whereas both Amritsar and Jalandhar have fairly dependable secondary and tertiary healthcare facilities. Mohali, of course, has emerged as the new centre.

Though a new medical college named after Guru Gobind Singh was started in Faridkot, owing to government apathy, this institution could not come up to the expected level. The fate of Baba Farid Medical University located in Faridkot is no better.

Work on two new universities - Guru Angad Dev Veterinary University at Ludhiana and Rajiv Gandhi Law University in Patiala - was started during the tenure of the previous Congress government, that also enacted a law to allow Lovely as the first private university of the state in the Doab region. Work on the unique Rural Technical University in Talwandi Sabo was also initiated by the previous government. Malwa needs more educational facilities.

While a new central university will come up in Amritsar, Fatehgarh Sahib will also have a World Sikh University dedicated to studies of Guru Granth Sahib.

(To be continued)