Setting up rail coach factory MLA Amarpal Singh's top priority

Ravi Dhaliwal
Sri Hargobindpur, March 21

Advocate Amarpal Singh (37), a first-time MLA from Sri Hargobindpur, is a man in a hurry. He seems to have taken to heart his chief Bhagwant Mann’s words that “Punjab is already late by 70 years” and hence he wants development projects to be fast-tracked.

Amarpal, who did his post-graduation in political science from the LPU, Jalandhar, after completing his law degree from the GNDU, Amritsar, announced his arrival on the political scene in the 2017 polls by garnering nearly 29,000 votes. This was the highest margin recorded by any AAP candidate in Majha barring its then Punjab chief Gurpreet Singh Ghuggi who had managed 30,000 votes from the adjoining seat of Batala.

The MLA says it saddens him when he comes across IELTS centres which have mushroomed almost in every nook and cranny of his seat. “This is the result of non-governance provided by successive governments ever since we got Independence. Youngsters will stop going abroad only if they are given jobs here. We pushed British out of the country yet our children are begging them for jobs in the UK and Canada. If we have some big ticket projects in the area, a lot of employment opportunities can be generated. Why will they seek greener pastures when they will have decent jobs in their own country?” he questions.

Amarpal says it is a bit ironic that just 30 km away in Batala, more than 1,500 small and medium scale industries are flourishing but in his seat of Sri Hargobindpur there are barely a dozen.

The MLA says his area is in dire need of a Rail Coach Factory (RCF) on the lines of the one established in Kapurthala. “I will take up the matter with my government. If the Railways agree to set up such a unit, hundreds of youngsters of Sri-Hargobindpur can prosper. Scores of allied industries, too, can flourish. I understand it is a big ticket project, but there is no harm in trying. We have to take the first steps somewhere,” he said.