)
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today met a group of Congress MLAs protesting outside his residence and assured to fulfil their demands, which included payment of sugarcane arrears to farmers and withdrawal of property tax, "to their satisfaction".
The delegation of Congress legislators led by Leader of the Opposition in Punjab Assembly Sunil Jakhar gave a memorandum to Badal.
The Chief Minister assured that he would soon convene a meeting with officers of the various departments in light of the memorandum submitted by them before taking a final decision, according to an official spokesman.
The key demands included -- payment of sugarcane arrears of Rs 183 crore to farmers, rehabilitation of drug addicts lodged in jails, withdrawal of property tax and release of payments under various schemes to the Scheduled Caste beneficiaries.
Badal told Jakhar that "these issues would be amicably resolved, hopefully to their satisfaction."
The veteran Akali leader said that he always welcomed healthy criticism "but criticism for the sake of criticism was not only unwarranted but also deplorable".
Badal also told Jakhar that the genuine issues of his party MLAs related to the development of their Assembly segments will be sorted out in consultation with the concerned MLAs.
He also promised to get the issue of sub-plan component for Scheduled Castes and payment of the pre- and post-matric scholarship to the SC students thoroughly examined so that the funds allocated for the welfare of the weaker sections must reach to the eligible beneficiaries.
Expressing displeasure over Congress MLAs staging a protest in front of his residence, Badal said he would have been more happy to offer them a cup of tea had they come inside his residence to discuss these issues in a better way.
Referring to the issue of clearing the pending arrears of cane growers, Badal said that he would soon get the entire matter examined at highest level to ensure its prompt payment without any further delay.
Later, Badal told reporters that his government is adopting zero tolerance towards the drug menace. He said he would not spare anyone from his party "provided the Congress or BJP leaders who were making baseless allegations come with a tangible proof."
He categorically said that he could not take any action against anyone without any proof.
