CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Thursday announced his government would soon get all the cases of corruption and malpractices including the contentious Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) happened during the decade long SAD-BJP regime probed by the Vigilance Department to fix the responsibility of all those involved to derail the state’s economy by looting the public exchequer for their personal vested interests.
While addressing the House after tabling of White Paper on Power Sector (2006-07 to 2020-21), CM Channi reiterated his government’s commitment to nail all such dishonest leaders of the SAD-BJP government who amassed ill-gotten money through various mafias of sand, transport and drugs.
Reiterating his government’s commitment to bring all the culprits involved in the sacrilege cases of the holy scripture Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji to book, CM Channi said that the ongoing investigations in this regard would be certainly brought to the logical end so that all the perpetrators of this heinous crime should be given an exemplary punishment as a deterrent for others.
Likewise, the big sharks involved in the drug mafia howsoever high and mighty they may be, would not be spared at any cost. CM Channi said, “None should consider me weak though I am down to earth but will not brook any pressure from anyone to deviate from my path.” CM Channi said he would not show any sort of complacency as far as any action is warranted by his government for the welfare of state and its people.
CM Channi further said that he was quite hopeful that the drug report would be opened on November 18 with the intervention of Punjab & Haryana High Court. He assured the people of Punjab that he would leave no stone unturned to break the backbone of drug mafia and none would be allowed to go scot free.
Training guns at Majithia, the Chief Minister said that Akali leader was trying to intentionally disturb the special session since its start in the morning just to find an excuse to be ousted from the house and finally, he succeeded when the Speaker was compelled to Name him and his party colleagues for the rest of the day. CM Channi said, “Majithia and his party men didn’t have courage to face the criticism against Akali Dal’s misdeeds of rampant corruption and nepotism during its misrule of over 10 years.”
Lambasting the AAP for ridiculing the state government for taking pro-people decisions with an eye on the forthcoming assembly elections, CM Channi said that he was from the humble background and a Aam Aadmi in the real sense being well versed with the genuine concerns and hardships faced by the common people at grass roots level. On this, he won accolades from AAP Raikot MLA Jagtar Singh Jagga, who lauded the path-breaking initiatives taken by the Channi Government within a period of only 50 days. The Chief Minister said, “What AAP’s convener had been trying to appease the different sections of people by making false promises in wake of assembly polls in the state has been actually done by us in the letter and spirit within a short span.”
To substantiate his claim, the Chief Minister said his government has extended relief to for all categories up to 7 KW load by reducing the rates of electricity by Rs. 3 per unit. Whereas the AAP Convener being the Chief Minister of Delhi was giving free power to the consumers upto 400 units and in case anyone who consumes even one unit over this free limit is bound to pay the entire bill, which is nothing but a political gimmick.
Listing the major landmark decisions of his government, CM Channi said that his government has cancelled the Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), slashed the domestic sector power tariff rates by Rs. 3 per unit besides purchasing solar power on the lowest rates of Rs. 2.38 per unit in the state as compared to Rs. 17.38 per unit of the SAD-BJP government. Apart from these, doing away with the arrears up to Rs. 1500 crore of consumers with 2 KW load besides Rs. 1168 crore worth power bills of panchayats regarding water supply, reduction in water bills of rural areas from Rs. 160 to Rs. 50 and in urban areas from Rs. 105-Rs. 250 to Rs. 50, waiving of water and sewerage bills to the tune of Rs. 700 crore of domestic consumers in the urban areas, regular recruitment of Group- ‘D’ employees, increasing D.A. of pensioners and Government employees by 11 percent, giving benefits of the 6th Pay Commission to the pensioners of the Punjab Government, raising the salary of employees recruited after December 31, 2015 by minimum 15 percent, ensuring benefits of the family pension to the employees and their dependents under the new pension scheme, scrapping the extension after superannuation are the few bold decisions taken by his government, Channi said.
Regularizing the services of 36000 contractual employees, enrolling the 5000 home guard volunteers after a gap of 28 years, government jobs provided to 62748 youth with process in motion to recruit another 45000, bringing even the grandsons and granddaughters of the riot and terrorism affected families under the ambit of the eligibility for jobs, proprietary rights to the people living within the Lal Lakir under ‘Mera Ghar Mere Naam’ scheme and to the 80000 slum dwellers under BASERA scheme, allotting the 5 Marla plots with missionary zeal, constructing more than 25000 EWS houses in different cities, reducing the interest rate on amount payable by the allottees from the Improvement Trusts from 15 percent per annum to 7 percent, investment of Rs. 1.02 crore in four and a half years with Rs. 6522 crore during our government’s 52 days, added CM Channi.
Highlighting several other major initiatives to ensure state’s holistic development to boost its economy, CM Channi mentioned reduction in fixed power charges of MSME industries by 50 percent, big relief to the small time traders by doing away with 40000 out of the pending 48000 VAT cases, annulling the Punjab Institutions and Buildings Tax 2011, bringing PSIDC, PFC and PSIEC under OTS, abolishing inspector raj in Punjab, Patti-Makhu rail link, Reducing prices of petrol and diesel by Rs. 10 and Rs. 5 per litre, exempting langar of Devi Talab Mandir from GST, Cancelling 806 bus permits of 340 private companies, impounded 304 buses and challaned 68 in 52 days, plan to purchase 842 new buses, dream of universal healthcare materialized, reducing rates of sand, gravel from Rs. 9 per cubic feet to Rs. 5.50, Dastan-E-Shahadat theme park at Sri Chamkaur Sahib to be inaugurated on November 19, setting up chairs for research on philosophy of different eminent personalities, Establishing Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar museum at IKGPTU Kapurthala at a cost of Rs. 100 crore, construction and renovation of Ambedkar Bhawans in all the districts, Repealing ‘The Punjab Contract Farming Act, 2013’.
Reiterating his government’s faith in religious coexistence, CM Channi said that chairs would be set up in the names of Bhai Jaita Ji, Maharaja Agrasen, Bhagwan Parshuram and Guru Ravidas ji to propagate their ideology. Likewise, research centres would also be set up to undertake extensive research about the holy scriptures of Shrimad Bhagvad Geeta, Mahabharata and Ramayana and the Shankaracharya would be requested for providing necessary guidance in the regard.
The Chief Minister further announced Rs. 7 crore for Hajj Bhawan at Malerkotla, Rs. 10 Crore for Christian Bhawan at Gurdaspur and Rs. 10 Crore for Brahmin Bhawan at Khati near Phagwara.