By Punjabnewswire4u
AMRITSAR, AUGUST 1
The
Punjab Chief Minister, Mr. Parkash Singh Bada,l today said that the state
government would soon widen the ambit of Atta-Dal scheme by doubling the number
of beneficiaries of this scheme from current 15 lakh to 30 lakh people.
Addressing a mammoth gathering at a function organized to administer the oath
to newly elected Panchs and Sarpanchs here today, the Chief Minister, while
reiterating the firm commitment of the state government to ensure the well
being of the weaker and downtrodden sections of the society, said that this
decision has been taken for facilitating more and more number of people to get
subsidized food grains. He said that even in future the state government would
provide Atta-Dal to the beneficiaries at much more cheaper rates than the
existing Rs 4 and Rs 20 for per kilogram of Atta and Dal respectively. Mr.
Badal categorically said that the sole aim of extending this scheme was to
ensure that not even a single person should starve in the state.
Congratulating the newly elected Panchs and Sarpanchs of
the villages, the Chief Minister said that by electing them people of villages
have entrusted them a huge responsibility of ushering in an era of unparalleled
development in the state. He said that the Panches and Sarpanches should join
hands with the state government for this herculean task by effectively
monitoring the ongoing development works in the rural areas of the state. “On
this solemn occasion every one of us should take the pledge to take the state
on the zenith of development process by ensuring sustainable development in
every sector”, Mr. Badal added.
The Chief Minster further said that owing to the
stupendous efforts of the state government Punjab would soon become a Power
Surplus state. Likewise he said that all the villages of the state would be
soon provided the potable drinking water adding that 1507 RO System would be
soon installed in the villages. In the same manner Mr. Badal said that Rs 349
crore would be spent on the cleaning of Ponds in the villages.
The Chief Minister called upon the farmers to adopt crop
diversification for preventing the further depletion of precious resources of
state on one hand and to supplement their income on the other. He said that due
the escalating costs of agriculture inputs and declining margins of profit,
farming was no longer a profitable venture. Moreover Mr. Badal said that with
the Union government drawing its foot back from purchasing the paddy, it was
the need of the hour that Punjab farmers should adopt crop diversification.
The Chief Minister said that with the stupendous hike in
the Price of petrol and diesel along with other farming inputs, the beleaguered
peasantry of the state was reeling under a heavy debt of Rs 32000 crore. He
said that in this crucial hour it was the moral duty of the state government to
bail them out by giving them free power. Mr. Badal said that though the state
was incurring an additional burden Rs 5000 crore per year for giving free power
to the farmers but it was nothing before the valuable contribution made by the
peasantry in making the country self reliant in food production.
Earlier in his address the Revenue and Information &
Public Relation Minister, Punjab, Mr. Bikram Singh Majithia congratulated the
Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal for
strengthening the democracy at the grass root level by conducting free and fair
Panchayat polls in the state. Mr. Majithia said that it was on record that
every initiative aimed at welfare of the people, whether it was starting of
Atta-Dal, Pension or Shagun scheme, had been taken only during the regime of
Mr. Badal. He said that even the food security ordinance which has been brought
by the Union government was a copied act of SAD-BJP government, which had
started this scheme about seven years ago.
Batting for the enactment of comprehensive need based
scheme for the states, Mr, Majithia said that only such a formula could ensure
balanced regional development in the country. He said that it was the need of
hour that every state was given equal share of funds for development without
any political considerations. The Minister while congratulating the newly
elected Sarpanches and Panches called upon them to work whole heartedly for the
development of the rural areas.
Later on talking to the media persons, the Chief Minister
said that he would take up the matter of displacement of Punjabi farmers in the
Kutch region of Gujarat, with the Chief Minister Mr. Narendra Modi. Mr. Badal
further said that the state government would take every possible step to
protect the interests of the Punjabis living in Gujarat.
Lashing out at the centre for its failure to check the
supply of drugs from Pakistan border, the Chief Minister said that despite of
the fact that he had taken this issue at the highest level in the Government of
India (GoI), the centre has miserably failed to act on it. He said that the
worst thing was that the Union government was not also banning open sale of
poppy husk in Rajasthan, which was proving bane for Punjab.
When asked about the rising demand of formation of new
states in the country, the Chief Minister said that the main reason for surge
in this demand was the discrimination of centre in ensuring the development of
states. Mr. Badal said that formation of Telangana state was a welcome step
adding that centre should also consider the demands of smaller states
sympathetically. He further said that with the centralization of powers by the
union government the Federal structure of country has turned into unitary one
due to which the state governments have virtually became beggars.
Reiterating that only Punjab has legitimate right over
capital city of Chandigarh, the Chief Minister said that the Congress has done
grave injustice with the state by depriving it from capital despite of the fact
that the parent state has the first and foremost right over capital.
The Chief Minister was accompanied by Cabinet Ministers
Mr. Bikram Singh Majithia, Mr. Gulzar Singh Ranike, Mr. Surjit Singh Rakhra and
Mr. Anil Joshi, Lok Sabha MP Dr. Rattan Singh Ajnala, Chief Parliamentary
Secretaries Mr. IS Bularia and Mr. Amarpal Singh Bonny, MLAs Mr. Manjeet Singh
Manna and Mr. Baljeet Singh Jalal Usma, Special Principal Secreatry to Chief
Minister Mr. Gurkirat Kirpal Singh and Director Rural Development Mr. Raj Kamal
Chaudhary.
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