Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said Aam Aadmi Party was “ignorant and unaware” of the legal and constitutional niceties as after the SYL matter was referred to the Supreme Court by the President of India and the Prime Minister could hardly play any role.
He said, the AAP instead of trying to stick to its ambiguous stand on the issue, should clearly and categorically come out in support of Punjab.
Mr Singh was replying to a question on AAP’s suggestion that the Prime Minister should intervene to resolve the issue.
“When the matter is pending in the SC how can the executive (the PM) interfere?” he asked, while adding that the PM and his party’s role otherwise also has been “hostile” towards Punjab on the SYL issue and it was naive to expect any fair deal from him.
Talking to reporters along the sidelines of the ‘Halqe vich Captain’ programme here, Capt Amarinder, however held Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal “squarely responsible” for weakening Punjab’s case.
He criticised the BJP led central government for taking Haryana’s side instead of being neutral.
At the same time, he warned Mr Badal against resorting to any misadventure lest it disturb the peace and harmony in Punjab.
The PCC president said that he was not in touch with Navjot Singh Sidhu or Pargat Singh and Inderbir Singh Baloria.
Mr Singh said, he had made his offer to them through the media only, saying they were welcome to join as all the three had strong old Congress connections.
He claimed that once Congress forms the government, the entire Kandi (sub mountainous) belt from Ropar to Gurdaspur will be developed as an industrial hub.
The former Chief Minister assured to formulate an industry friendly policy and promised that it will be provided all the concessions at the pattern of, and at par with, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir if it generated substantial number of jobs.
Projects ‘scrapped’
He claimed that during his tenure as Chief Minister he had sanctioned projects worth over Rs one lakh crores and all these projects were worth over Rs 100 crores each.
He said, for every 100 crores there was a commitment of 1000 jobs.
This, he pointed out, would have solved unemployment problem for good as an estimated ten lakh people would have got direct and indirect employment.
But, Mr Singh regretted, that the Akalis either “scrapped” all the projects or “discouraged” the investors to the extent of even seeking their share in the pie.
“That is why I have been insisting and emphasising that all the political parties in Punjab should make a commitment that the industry friendly policies will be continued no matter which party forms the government”, he said, adding, investment is a long drawn process and needs government cooperation at every level.
Referring to the alleged open loot of the riverbeds, he alleged, the sand mafia was robbing the State, by Rs 5 crore per day.
Pay commission
Mr Singh also promised to set up the Sixth Pay Commission in Punjab with time bound mandate whose recommendations will be implemented in a time bound manner.
He said, the DA instalments will be released on time and the benefits will be extended to the pensioners also.
The former Chief Minister rejected the meagre reduction of 38 paise per unit in power tariff for the industrial sector, saying it was just inconsequential and a big joke on the industry.
He asked as how can industry come to Punjab while it was getting round the clock power in States like Chhattisgarh and that too at half the price only.
The PCC chief also announced that the collection of toll on various roads needs to be examined, reviewed and rationalised.
He said, this was a general demand from across Punjab and once Congress forms the government, a high powered committee will be set up to sort out the issue within three months. - PTI
