 "Punjab CM says demand for debt waiver ignored by NDA")
The Chief Minister of Punjab Parkash Singh Badal and his son who is Deputy Chief Minister had given a comprehensive memorandum to Modi in June 2014 on the financial condition of the state and asked for an immediate relief. The memorandum included request for the debt waiver of a 1.02 lakh crore on count of militancy, a special industrial package for speedy industrialisation in the state, opening of Hussainiwala and Fazilka trade routes with Pakistan, special relief package for the economically distressed farmers, a special package worth Rs 2,000 crore to tackle the menace of cancer. Other demands included support of GOI to plug the drug trafficking across the internal border and development of holy city of Amritsar on the lines of Varanasi among other demands.
The Chief Minister told media that he would again the Prime Minister to seek the special financial package.
Punjab is heading for assembly elections in early 2017. The state leaders of BJP in Punjab after the thumping victory in general elections of 2015 have been indicating that the party may face the 2017 assembly elections independently. The Chief Minister Badal has always denied any rift with BJP but the neglect of the Punjab's demand by the central leadership of BJP has unfolded growing distance between two alliance partners.
The 13th Finance Commission had placed Punjab along with Kerala and West Bengal in the category of revenue-deficit states, recommending to the Union government to find out ways to bail out these states from financial stringency. Punjab's hopes of 'truckloads of cash', as often claimed by deputy CM Sukhbir Badal in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls last year, were dashed when the 14th finance commission rejected the border state's much-argued case of being debt-stressed.
The Planning Commission of India did a mapping of Punjab for the presence of toxins in soil and underground water, the state needs centre's assistance for the diversification of agriculture, containing dwindling water table and improving soil quality.
Punjab needs an immediate attention from GOI because absence of incentives has resulted in flight of industry and lack of employment opportunities has helped the narcotics trade flourish in the state in the past few years.