AMRITSAR: Amritsar Vikas Manch demands ban on non-Punjabis from purchasing land in Punjab like Himachal and special status like other states.
Mr. Charanjit Singh Gumtala said that Himachal was a mountainous state with a unique culture and in order to maintain it the residents of other states were barred from buying land. Like Himachal, Punjab has its own language and culture.
Mr Gumtala said that Punjabis are going out in large numbers and non-Punjabi people are coming in from other states in droves. This issue is not in the election intention of any party. Voters must ask the contesting candidates why they did not include it in their election manifesto.
He further said that As far as granting special status to Punjab is concerned, Article 275 of the Constitution of India gives the Central Government the right to provide special financial assistance to any State and they receive 90:10 assistance from the Center. . This means that the Center gets 90% of the projects received by the Center and the State gets only 10%. At present Parliament is in session. Therefore, the Members of Parliament of Punjab should unite and talk to the Prime Minister and get it passed in the current session. There are symptoms such as being very backward.
According to Mr Gumtala , When the government of Inder Kumar Gujral was formed at the Center, he released a grant . The grant for the airport was notified in the gazette, but the border districts could not be notified in the gazette and their government collapsed. The incoming Vajpayee government has given special tax exemptions to Himachal and Jammu and Kashmir instead of giving exemptions to border districts. As a result, Punjab's industries moved to Badi in Himachal Pradesh. Thus the BJP government wreaked havoc on Punjab's industries.
Mr Gumtala said that When we look at the economic condition of Punjab, it is very bad. Punjab also has to borrow to repay the loan. Being a border state, it has endured the wars of 1965 and 1971 with Pakistan. Militancy also hit him hard. It deserves special status.
India has 11 states which have been placed in special category. These include 1. Manipur 2. Meghalaya 3. Mizoram 4. Arunachal Pradesh 5. Tripura 6 Sikkim 7. Uttara Khand 8. Himachal Pradesh 9. Assam 10. Jammu and Kashmir 11. Nagaland, he added.