Listing his Government’s achievements — right from offering 300 free units of power to introducing MSP on moong to setting up mohalla clinics and tackling corruption, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday said that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had fulfilled its promises in the first year of its rule and his next mission in the upcoming year would be to raise the bar, set up industry, and wage a war against drugs.
“The State Government is working untiringly not for forming the next government but for prosperity of the next generation,” said Mann in a video message to the Punjabis on the occasion of completion of one year in office.
The Chief Minister said that the people of the State had given a thumping verdict in favour of AAP during the assembly elections held last year. “During the last one year, revolutionary changes have been witnessed in the state with the AAP Government making concerted efforts for ensuring the holistic development of Punjab and prosperity of its people. Unlike the previous governments which did everything to form the next government, our government is focusing largely on holistic growth of the next generation,” he added.
“After one year, we will work at a faster speed than the first year. Industry is coming to us, many industrialists are ready to invest money. We will start a campaign against drugs. We are working with transparency. We have nailed corruption as former ministers; bigwigs are in jails. We have taken action against our own Ministers too. Ours is the first government after Independence that has nailed its own Ministers,” Mann said.
“We will raise the bar. Just keep faith in me. I will not disappoint you,” said Mann, while asking the people to keep faith in him the way they had trusted him while casting their votes.
“We had given guarantees and not promises. We have ensured that those guarantees are rolled out in the first year of our rule. We have given 26,797 jobs, regularized services of 14,000 contractual teachers and employees of the Education Department out of 36,000 total employees. The rest would also be regularized,” he said.
Stating that AAP was a party that emerged out of a revolution with no political background or legacy, Mann said that the Government has tried to fulfil all its guarantees in the first year. This was comparable to governments of other political parties that intended to fulfil promises in the last year of their rule, he added.
“When we had promised 300 units of power free of cost, the Opposition parties made fun of us. But we did it. We rolled out the scheme from July 1 onwards, and today, 87 per cent of residents are getting zero bills,” he said.
Mann said that the Government had introduced MSP on moong, a bonus for those taking up DSR (Direct Sowing of Rice) technique of sowing paddy, and that it was for the first time that Sugarfed did not have a single paisa outstanding towards farmers. “We gave them a bailout package of Rs 392 crore,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that the Government had set up mohalla clinics and 12 to 15 lakh people have already benefited from them. “These people did not need to queue up in government hospitals. It is an achievement,” he said.
About the ‘Schools of Eminence’ project, he said that they would be considering the aptitude and interests of children before offering them subjects for further studies so that they will do well.
Stating that the Government had delivered on the sacrilege issue, he said: “We had promised that we will ensure justice. We have produced a challan of 7,000 pages prepared by the SIT…We did not cut a single line out of the investigations by SIT.”
“Justice in these cases is not far as the challan has already been presented in the court to ensure severest of severe action against the culprits…The day is not far away when the culprits of this heinous crime will be seen behind the bars,” he added.
The Chief Minister said that for the first time a government has been formed in Punjab which belongs exclusively to the people of state. “It is neither the government of the Badal nor of Captain but this is the government of every Punjabi,” said Mann while assuring the people that as per their aspirations, no stone will be left unturned for the well-being of the state adding that a new, progressive and vibrant Punjab will be carved out soon.
Under AAP, Punjab Plunged into Economic Mess: Bajwa
Terming the AAP Government's one-year regime in Punjab as a year of bad governance, the Leader of Opposition in Vidhan Sabha Partap Singh Bajwa on Thursday said that under its one-year rule, the state had plunged into an economic mess. Apart from this, the law and order situation in Punjab had collapsed completely.
Senior Congress leader said that the crime rate in the State had shot up ever since AAP held the rein of the state's governance. “Punjab has become a gangland in real. Even today, the Chandigarh Police have arrested members of some notorious gang, who had hatched a plot to execute a crime in Punjab…I need not repeat as the people of Punjab already know. Punjab failed miserably to maintain the law and order situation,” he said.
Some of the gravest crimes that took place in the past year were including an RPG attack on the Intelligence Headquarters in Mohali, the murder of Sidhu Moosewala, false claims by CM Bhagwant on Goldy Brar’s arrest, Nakodar cloth merchant Timmy Chawla’s killing, gangster Deepak Tinu escape, and Ajnala violence, pointed Bajwa.
Bajwa said that the AAP government lied to the people to garner votes before elections in 2022, and its various promises seem to have gone in vain. “The government must explain what stopped it from providing Rs 1000 per month to women above the age of 18…Despite hopeless efforts, sand is still out of reach of common people. Promises with farmers were not fulfilled. Moong dal was not purchased at MSP. No cash incentive was given to farmers for stubble management. In spite of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s tall claims, suicide among the farmers couldn't get stopped,” he added.
The opposition leader said that the economists have already predicted that the debt in the state will touch Rs 3,12,758.24 crore by the end of this month and would further increase to Rs 3,47,542.39 crore by the end of the upcoming financial year 2023-24.
