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STATES Bhaag Punjab bhaag
deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal brought all the bigwigs of Indian industry to Mohali in the first week of December to charm them into investing in Punjab. How much investment actually comes out of it remains to be seen. Despite the staging of a successful World Kabaddi Cup, the state grappled with numerous scams. A shocker was the extent to which the state is infested by big drug lords, a cause of worry, especially for the parents of growing children. Hundreds of kilograms of smack and other intoxicants were seized. The police authorities were able to lay their hands on some bigwigs, who it claimed, were facilitating the dubious drug trade.
Besides the drug mafia, the sand mafia, that continues to thrive, was another big story of the year in the state. Of course, the alleged backing by political forces of the drug and sand mafia also attracted attention. Punjab, too, had its share of scams, though not at a scale to compare with the Centre. The book scam, related to schools and the shamlat lands plunder, were the ones that remained in the limelight. However, later the beating up of a state- cadre IAS officer at Hemkunt Sahib turned into a big political controversy due to which the government faced a lot of flak. It was a struggle on the fiscal front, with the economy in shambles. In the middle of the year, the state government faced problems in paying salaries. It had to suspend payment of bills repeatedly to keep the Treasury business going. The Punjab Government focused on restructuring the farm sector. It prepared the blueprint of diversification in agriculture but is yet to find the right answers. A vast part of the state’s cotton belt in Muktsar-Abohar area was hit by waterlogging due to heavy rains. The waterlogging exposed how official machinery under political pressure erred in laying the drainage system that proved to be counterproductive in the cotton belt.
The challenge is to enhance the share of industrial production in the state to generate revenue and employment. Immediately after the investors’ summit in Mohali, the visit of Pakistan’s Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to the state was another positive development. Shahbaz is a politician who calls the shots in Pakistan’s power pyramid. He can surely play a role in ensuring peace on the India-Pakistan border and to increase the volume of trade via the Attari border. This can give a new turn to state’s economy. Shahbaz, who had come in connection with the World Kabaddi Cup, was given a rousing reception by the Badal government, keen to promote Punjab-to-Punjab initiatives. On the political front, the SAD-BJP combine, especially the SAD, continued to dominate during the year. It registered a big win in violence-marred zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections early this year. The SAD’s presence was felt in the Delhi state elections when, for the first time, it sent three MLAs to the state Assembly. The Congress is still struggling to get its act together. Partap Singh Bajwa was made the new president of the faction-ridden Congress party in the state in March this year. Other political parties remained almost out of focus in the state’s political activity. Hawks in Sikh politics became active to get Sikh detainees released. Reallocation of portfolios * Unhappy over the performance of its ministers in the state Cabinet, the BJP leadership had to tell Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to reallocate the portfolios to the BJP ministers. However, a loser in this reallocation was Chuni Lal Bhagat, who was holding important portfolios of local bodies and medical education but was shifted to forest and wildlife. Gainers were Madan Mohan Mittal, who got industries and commerce and Surjit Kumar Jayani, who was given health and family welfare.
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