Amritsar, January 21
Stepping up the attack on the ruling SAD-BJP combine, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said that Punjab has lost its status of being the top state in the country under its rule and that the alliance government in the state has completely failed in bringing it back on the track of development.

Addressing a public meeting as part of the Congress campaign here today, the PM termed the fiscal management of the Punjab Government as poor and said it was spending more on works that were not benefiting the common man.

WAR CRY: PM Manmohan Singh holds a sword presented to him by PPCC chief Amarinder Singh in Amritsar on Sunday. Photo: Vishal Kumar

“Punjab and Haryana had started together on the path of progress. However, it is regretful that Punjab today is trailing in the race. The state is under a debt of Rs 1.2 lakh crore. The industry is reeling under power and raw material crunch. The number of unemployed has gone up to 47 lakh while the burden of debt is also increasing on the farmers whose interests are not being protected,” he said.

The PM also accused the SAD-BJP government of trying to take credit for the recruitment of 15,000 school teachers, which was facilitated by the Centre, in Punjab.

During his 30-minute speech in chaste Punjabi, Manmohan Singh charged the ruling combine in the state with neglecting the key healthcare and education sectors. “There are neither doctors nor medicines in the primary health centres,” he added. He also lashed out at the state government for misuse of funds and the poor law-and-order situation.

According to him, the Centre had initiated various programmes for the welfare of minorities and SC/STs including scholarship schemes, besides implementing the Right to Education Act.

“Punjab too has benefited from these schemes, but very less. Had the SAD-BJP government evinced interest in the development of the state, the people would have got more benefits from these Central schemes,” he added.

The PM also raised the issue of corruption in the state. He said the Centre gave its nod to the recruitment of around 2,700 doctors, staff nurses and other paramedical staff, besides facilitating 126 new primary health centres and 216 sub-centres under the National Rural Health Mission.

On unemployment, the PM said, “I feel saddened to see that the youth in Punjab is disillusioned and falling prey to drug addiction. Unemployment is the biggest reason behind this and there is a need to launch a skill-development programme (vocational) on a war footing for their bright future.”

Manmohan Singh also spoke at length about the Central aid that had been provided to Punjab over the past seven years of the UPA rule while stating that the Centre didn’t resort to any bias against the state.

The Prime Minister urged the electorate to throw the SAD-BJP regime out of power and bring the Congress back in the January 30 Assembly elections.

Earlier, addressing the rally, former CM and PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh said, “The economy of the state is in a shambles while the law-and-order situation is deteriorating. The future of our new generation is not safe if the SAD-BJP regime is allowed to continue in the state.”

He said there are two Punjabs - rich and poor - which is evident from the fact that 94% students in state universities come from private schools while the share of government schools is a meagre 6%. He said there was an urgent need to bridge this divide.

Capt Amarinder Singh presented the PM with a shawl, a replica of the Golden Temple and a ‘kirpan’. The PM also met Congress candidates from Amritsar urban and rural seats. Prior to the PM’s arrival, singer Gurdas Mann entertained the crowd.