Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said he will leave no stone unturned in ensuring all round development of Punjab and overall growth and prosperity of its people has always been on top of his agenda.
The state government has already accorded approval to initiate new projects for rural and urban development with a huge investment of Rs 12,000 crore, so as to provide the latest basic civic amenities to the residents in these areas, Badal said while addressing a series of Sangat Darshan programmes in Balluana constituency.
He said peace and harmony is the basic fabric to achieve overall development in the state, for which the government has always cemented the bonds of peace, amity and brotherhood in the last nine years of its regime making Punjab the most peaceful state in the country.
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"Inimical forces posing a threat to state's peace and communal harmony would never be tolerated at any cost," he added.
Referring to the initiatives taken by the state government for the welfare of farmers, Badal said a scheme to provide interest free crop loans to small farmers has been launched, which will benefit nearly 10 lakh families from the peasantry.
He said a process for the allotment of new tubewell connections has already begun and his government is providing free electricity in the farm sector worth Rs 5,000 crore every year.
He also pointed out that Bhagat Puran Singh Health Insurance Scheme has been launched for the farmers under which five members of each farmers' family could avail the facility of cashless treatment up to Rs 50,000.
He asked the people to ensure a personal supervision of the development works being executed in their villages for their timely completion and strict quality control as per the prescribed norms.
Commenting on the first few decisions announced by the
Punjab Council of Ministers, Badal said, "Quite honestly, I am surprised that the new government could think nothing beyond announcing the policies and decisions already implemented by the SAD-BJP government."
Except a few cosmetic gestures like red beacons etc., almost 95 per cent of the announcements are either repeat of old policies or are mere empty rhetoric, he remarked.
"For example, one of their 120 points says that drug addicts would be treated with compassion. How else do they think they should be treated?"
On the promise to ban sale of farmers land for loan defaults, Badal said the SAD-BJP government has already implemented that through the Farmers Indebtedness Bill which prohibits sale of farmers land by banks or money lenders and banking institutions.
Similarly, there is already a provision for confiscation of properties of drug peddlers and many properties had already been confiscated by the SAD-BJP government.
The DTOs posts had already been made irrelevant with the introduction of new format of issuance of driving and registration documents. All the Suvidha centres are already fully equipped with digital facility like computers and internet with WiFi etc, he said.
"All these decisions have funnily been included in the 120 points of the new government," he added.
The former Chief Minister, however, said the SAD-BJP would give the new government time to settle down before asking questions.
