‘Badals failed to convince Centre on relief’
Saturday, 30/05/2015
http://www.indiapress.org/gen/news.php/The_Tribune/
Jalandhar : People’s Party of Punjab (PPP) leader Manpreet Badal today blamed Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal for the state being removed from the list of debt-stressed states in the 14th Finance Commission’s report.
He said the state was removed from the list even though the number of distressed farmers committing suicide rose in the recent past. Speaking on the sidelines of the meeting of the 51-member PPP Central Committee, Manpreet said, “The state lost out as the CM and the Deputy CM failed to raise farmers’ issues. They just focussed on building monuments.”
“Though the SAD blamed the Congress for the fund crunch, the state was considered to be one of the three most debt-stressed states in the 13th Finance Commission,” he said.
He further said it seemed that the Union Minister of State for Finance, Jayant Sinha, didn’t know the distress the farmer in the state was in when he flatly said the state didn’t need any special package.
He said the Akali Dal’s claim that handsome grants would be allocated to the state after the BJP’s victory in the LS poll had fallen flat. “The Deputy CM is a management expert. While his company Orbit earns hefty profits, the state is steeped in losses,” he added.
