Capt derides honour for CM

Monday, 28/11/2011

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Punjab Pardesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Amarinder Singh has ridiculed the suggestion of conferring honours such as Nobel Peace Prize and Panth Rattan on Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

Addressing a Punjab Bachao Yatra rally at Mahilpur in Hoshiarpur district on Sunday, he said: “There cannot be anything more belittling for these awards than seeking these for a person like Badal.” He pointed out that it was Badal who had orchestrated this campaign through the people who owed their positions to his discretion. He asked Punjab Minister Tikshan Sud, who demanded Nobel Peace Prize for Badal and Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh, who sought the Panth Rattan for him, as to what was Badal’s contribution to world peace and the Panth that he deserved these two awards.

Ridiculing these suggestions, he remarked: “Yes, Badal should get the Nobel Prize, but for corruption.” He also pointed out that Panth Rattan was only conferred posthumously and not by the person who ‘controls’ the SGPC.

Amarinder believed that Punjab needed massive industrialisation and investment to generate jobs and resources and agriculture needed to be diversified. He reiterated that Punjab needed high value crops and it could no longer continue with the wheat-paddy cycle.

Congress in-charge in Punjab Thakur Gulchain Singh Charak urged the workers to maintain discipline. He asserted that there was need for unity and discipline, adding, there was zero per cent tolerance against indiscipline.

Among others, Hoshiarpur MP Santosh Chaudhary and Hoshiarpur DCC president Sunder Shyam Arora were present on the occasion.

Pathankot: Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had not done anything great by inaugurating the Virast-e- Khalsa project and did not deserve such praise as the project came up during his tenure as Chief Minister of the state.

“Did they have the funds? I raised the fund of Rs 450 crore for the project.

Even Israeli architect Moshe Safdie wanted to pack up and go home but I dissuaded him from doing so,” Amarinder claimed.

Charging the Badal government with leading the state into a financial mess, he said the state was not even in a position to pay the interest on it.

“As a result, the government has stopped all the welfare measures and is barely able to pay the monthly salary to its employees,” he added.

Addressing the Punjab Bachao Yatra rally here, Amarinder said it was unfortunate that a state like Punjab was not able to pay the benefits of the Fifth Pay Commission to its employees. Similarly, he pointed out, the shagun scheme had been stopped and the widow and old-age pensions were never paid on time.

He said because of this there had been no development in Punjab during the last five years and the projects completed during this time were initiated during the Congress regime.

Spelling out his agenda for the future of Punjab, he said, “If the Congress government comes to power it will be his priority to generate 47 lakh jobs for unemployed youth.”

Besides, he said emphasis would be laid on primary education and healthcare to make it accessible and affordable for all the sections of society.

He said, agriculture needed to be diversified and the confidence among the investors restored so that they set up industry in Punjab which would generate revenue and jobs and improve the economy.