47 promises, not one fulfilled by govt: Bajwa
Wednesday, 17/04/2013
http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=67160&boxid=58194&uid=&dat=2013-04-17
Amritsar : Punjab Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa on Tuesday claimed that the SAD-BJP government had not fulfilled any one of the 47 promises made to the people of Punjab during the 2012 Assembly elections.
He was speaking at the first workshop of the Congress in Majha region, in which MLAs, party leaders and workers discussed plans to strengthen the party.
“In 2007, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal assured the people that by the end of 2010, Punjab would be power surplus and some months ago he made an announcement to export power to Pakistan. Instead of having surplus power, the state is facing power cuts,” Bajwa said.
The state Congress chief said work at the Talwandi Sabo thermal power plant had come to a halt because of the non-cooperative attitude of SAD-BJP government with the private company that was investing in this project.
“The allegations by the company against the government were serious and would dissuade investors from coming to Punjab,” he added.
Bajwa said the project had come to a standstill at a time when the company had already spent Rs 7,000 crore of the estimated Rs 10,000 crore.
He said it was shocking that Sukhbir was “repeated his lie of making Punjab power surplus at Talwandi Sabo on Baisakhi day”. He also questioned Sukhbir’s claim that the first unit of the Talwandi Sabo thermal project would be commissioned by the end of June when no agreement had been signed for the supply of coal.
“This is the stark reality that power projects have been delayed and there’s been an 80 per cent hike in power rates in the past six years,” he said. The state Congress chief said the Punjab government had imposed additional taxes of Rs 3,000 crore on the people but had failed to provide revised Shagun Scheme allowance, hiked pension to the aged and job allowance.
“The government is spending Rs 38 crore on a helicopter, Rs 11 crore on Akshay Kumar’s performance, but does not have money for the welfare of people,” he said.
