by Punjabnewswire4u
JALANDHAR, APRIL 29
In a bid to curb the terrorism, Punjab
Chief Minister Mr Parkash Singh Badal today urged the Union government to make
concerted efforts to evolve political consensus at national level for the
eradication of social maladies like poverty, illiteracy and unemployment in the
country.
Addressing the gathering at
Shaheed Parivar Fund function organized by the Hind Samachar Newspaper Group
here today, the Chief Minister said that these social maladies were the root
cause of wide spread terrorism and in order to provide security to the
countrymen it was the bounden duty of the Union government to make stupendous
efforts for removing them. Advocating the constitution of a national level
forum for discussing such key issues Mr Badal said that at present the state
governments hardly have any forum to raise the matters relating to public
interest before the Union government. He said that as a result of this on one
hand heavy concentration of powers was taking place in the hands of Centre
government and on the other hand due to communication gap between the Union and
state governments the welfare of general public was being adversely
effected.
The Chief Minister further said that
with the constitution of such national level forum all the political parties
would be able to contribute towards ensuring peace and communal harmony in the
country thus paving way for its all round development. Reiterating that the
grants given by the Union government must be disbursed in proportion to the
share of taxes collected from the state, Mr Badal said that it would provide
the required fillip for the development of the states. He also said that the
Centre government must formulate the policies at national level keeping in view
the diversities in the states so that uniform development could be ensured in
them.
The
Chief Minister also demanded that the Union government must take adequate steps
for effectively checking the smuggling of drugs into the states from across the
border. Mr Badal also exhorted the people to come forward and join hands to
support the state government for curbing the menaces like poverty, corruption
and drug trafficking so that a new era of all round development could be
heralded in the state.
The Chief Minister lamented that the
state has adversely affected on the count of long spell terrorism and its
consequences were apparent from the fact that Punjab
which was once the most prosperous region of the world was today lagging behind
in many fields. He moaned that though the people of state had very bravely
fought against terrorism but the Union government had never bothered to fulfill
the economic loss suffered by the state during that troublesome period, despite
the fact that the state fought a nation’s war. However the Chief Minister said
that the silver lining had been that the state government with the active
co-operation of the wise people of Punjab has
been able to maintain peace and communal harmony in the state.
Lauding the role played by Hind
Samachar Newspaper Group in helping the victims of terrorism and in preserving
the unity and integrity of the country, the Chief Minister said that due to
such selfless efforts the menace of terrorism could be curbed from the
country.
Earlier talking the media persons the
Chief Minister said that for successful implementation of the Right to
Education (RTE) act to benefit the weaker sections of society, the Union
government must ensure that the reimbursement to be given to the private
schools for waiving off the fee of poor students must be released in advance.
He said that the financial burden of this act should not fall on the state
governments rather the Union government must release funds for successful
implementation of this act. Mr Badal also said that the Union government must
draft the policies keeping in view its financial implications.
Prominent amongst those present on the
occasion included Bhagat Chunni Lal, Mr Ajit Singh Kohar, Mr Sarwan Singh
Phillaur and Mr Surjit Kumar Jiyani (All Cabinet Ministers), Mr KD Bhandari and
Mr Pawan Teenu (both Chief Parliamentary Secretaries), former Media Advisor to
the Chief Minister Mr Harcharan Bains and Special Principal Secretary to the
Chief Minister Mr Gurkirat Kirpal Singh.
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