Punjab to soon lead country: Badal

Punjab would soon lead the country in every field due to concerted efforts of the state government, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said.
Despite suffering major setbacks since the partition of country, Punjab had played a leading role in making the country self-sufficient in food grains besides safeguarding its borders, Badal said addressing a gathering during a function here.
He said the successive Congress governments at the Centre had harmed the interests of the state by deliberately framing anti-Punjab policies.
The fiscal incentives which were provided to neighbouring states by the Congress government had given a fatal blow to the economy of the state due to which mass exodus of industries had taken place, he said.

"But we Punjabis are inherited with qualities of hard work and resilience due to which we are struggling hard to overcome all these problems," he added.
The Chief Minister exhorted the engineering fraternity to play a proactive role in the development of the state by performing their duty diligently and dedicatedly.

He said that engineers were the backbone of development works and its their responsibility to ensure development of the state and country.
Badal called upon the engineers to work hard for expediting the pace of development works in the state.
Listing some pro-employees initiatives taken by the state government, the Chief Minister said the state government employees were drawing much more salary than their counterparts in other states.

Badal said the Punjab government has always tried to ensure the well-being of its employees but then also if they were facing any sort of problem they could meet and discuss the issue with him.
"My doors are always open and anybody can come to me for discussing their problems," he added.
The Chief Minister said that peace-loving Punjabis have always given a befitting reply to the anti-national forces.
He said the people of the state would not fall prey to the divisive agenda of the forces inimical to the interest of the state.
When asked about the logjam in Parliament, the Chief Minister hoped that it would end soon.

The wise Parliamentarians would soon find a way to run the Parliament effectively and smoothly, he added.