Sangat Darshan programme, a cover up for poor governance by SAD-BJP government : Bajwa

Partap Singh Bajwa President Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) today told Punjab Chief Minister Mr.Parkash Singh Badal not to mislead the people by his ‘political gimmicks’ and said that the Sangat Darshan Programme of Chief Minister is only an exercise to cover up the poor performance of SAD-BJP government.  Addressing workers meeting here Mr.Bajwa said that Congress would approach Punjab and Haryana High Court to stop Sangat Darshan Programme which is a poor reflection on the administrative capability of Mr.Badal and his cabinet ministers. He said that there was no system in place at district and state level to redress the grievances of common men. He asked Mr.Badal to rename Sangat Darshan as ‘Akali Darshan’.  “Badal has been acting like a medieval king trying to dole out bounties among his loyalists”, he stated.  PPCC President said that the Congress MLAs had visited the Sangat Darshan programme to expose the myth that Mr.Badal was holding these sessions to resolve the public issues and to prove that it was a political stunt. Mr.Badal had expressed his arrogance by not inviting and listening to the elected representatives of people.  He said that Mr.Badal was wasting public funds by distributing cheques of development funds in parts.  “Mr.Badal was doing a job which a Block Development Officer or Panchayat Secretary is supposed to do”, he added.   Mr.Bajwa said that ground realities in Punjab were very disturbing as the SAD-BJP government has filed to perform on all fronts. The rural development, law and order, health, education and welfare schemes, everything is in shambles and people were reeling under heavy tax structure. An unrest prevailed among the state government employees and educated unemployed youth.  He said that the growth rate of Punjab which was 9.05 percent in 2007-08 when previous SAD-BJP government came to power. It is lowest at 5.19 percent in 2012-13. The industrial growth which was 15.90 percent in 2007-08 is now 9.1 percent. He said that the economic performance of Punjab has slipped down to 6th rank from first position during the six and half years of SAD-BJP rule.  PPCC President said that big industry was shifting out of Punjab and there are no concessions for the medium and small industry. The high VAT rates and high power charges have forced the industry to shift to other states. The cottage industry has vanished from Punjab. The industrial hubs like Batala had became haunting towns. In Batala 60 percent industry is shut down. The situation is same in other industrial towns like Mandi Gobindgarh, Goraya and big cities like Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar.  Mr.Bajwa further said that SAD-BJP government has not chalked out any plan in its industrial policy of 2013 for concessions to the existing small and major industry. There is no plan for setting up industry in border belt comprising districts of Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur and Fazilika.  Mr.Bajwa lashed out at Deputy Chief Minister Mr.Sukhbir Singh Badal for opposing special industrial package for the border areas. He said that he had demanded special package for the border areas in the light of fact that land and water were available here in plenty. The land is cheaper than other industrial towns. The labour is easily available. The industrial growth of border areas will not only help this particular belt but will help economy of whole state. Bajwa asked party workers to high light the achievement of UPA government at center particularly the Food Security bill introduced in the Parliament. He said that Lok Sabha elections of 2014 would be an opportunity for the people of Punjab to teach a lesson to SAD-BJP alliance and defeat the communal forces at state and national level.  Others who addressed the meeting included Mr. Ashwani Sekhri AICC secretary, Mr. O.P.Soni Vice President PPCC, Mr.Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Mr.Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Mr.Harpartap Singh Ajnala, Mr.Raman Behal, Mr.Joginder Singh Chheena, Mr.Inderjit Singh Randhawa, Mr.Depinder Singh Randhawa and Mr.Baldish Toor.