DESIST FROM PLAYING WITH FIRE BY AMENDING THE DELHI SIKH GURUDWARA ACT: BADAL TO CONGRESS LEADERS

• CM ASSAILS CONGRESS FOR MEDDLING IN THE RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS OF SIKHS 
• BADAL TO MEET PM AND HOME MINISTER OVER THE ISSUE 
• ADVISES RAHUL TO INTROSPECT: WHY CONGRESS WAS INVOLVED IN RAMPANT CORRUPTION 
• REITERATES COMMITMENT OF SAD TO VEHEMENTLY OPPOSE FDI 
• RS 6000 CRORE TO BE SPENT IN NEXT THREE YEARS TO PROVIDE BASIC INFRA STRUCTURE IN ALL THE 145 TOWNS ACROSS THE STATE.

Bhikhiwind (Tarn Taran), October 20 - Punjab Chief Minister Mr Parkash Singh Badal today asked the Congress leadership to refrain from playing with fire by amending the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Act, 1971 which could disturb the hard earned peace of the state.

Talking to the media person after inaugurating the Punjab Institute of Technology here today, the Chief Minister said the move of amending the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Act, 1971 by Congress Government at Delhi was a testimony to the fact that the Congress was meddling in the religious affairs of the Sikhs thereby inciting their religious passions, which could never be tolerated. He said that in the past also due to such misdeeds of the Congress, the state had felt the brunt of terrorism due to which the peace, brotherhood, harmony and progress of the state were adversely affected. However Mr Badal said that the Congress leaders had hardly learnt any lesson from the past due to which they were hurting the sentiments of the Sikhs by fanning such proposals.

The Chief Minister categorically said that the sole aim of Congress leadership behind such tantrums was to give benefits to their ‘B’ team, led by DGMC Chief Paramjeet Singh Sarna and company, who were working at Congress leadership’s behest to weaken the Panth. Mr Badal said that he would soon meet the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde for seeking their immediate intervention in the matter so that the issue could be tackled well before it snowballs into a major political issue. He said that it was the duty of all the Punjabis to preserve the hard earned peace and communal harmony of the state by curbing the nefarious designs of anti-Punjab forces which were bent upon to derail its process of development.

Assailing the successive Congress governments for lopsided development in the state¸ the Chief Minister pointed said that due to the apathy of the Congress leadership the border and Kandi areas of the state have lagged behind in the process of development. However he said that from the day one of assuming power in year 2007 the SAD-BJP government had focused on developing these areas so that people residing in them could reap the benefits of the development. Mr Badal said that realizing well that the education was the vital thing for developing these backward regions the Punjab Government had already laid special emphasis to impart quality education to the students in these far flung areas adding that for the first time in the history of state, the SAD-BJP government has constituted a separate cadre of teachers for both these regions so that the meritious students of these areas could contribute in the spreading quality education.

Likewise the Chief Minister said that he has recently passed directions to the Education Minister and Education Secretary to ensure that all the newly recruited teachers in the education department are asked to serve for atleast three years in these areas so as to give impetus of education in them. In the same manner he said that major thrust was also been laid for providing the basic civic amenities to the people of these areas for which a blueprint has been prepared by the state government to spend Rs 6000 crore in next three years to provide basic infra structure including drinking water, sewerage, roads and streetlights in all the 145 towns across the state.

Listing the top priorities of the state government, the Chief Minister said that their government has paid special attention towards the development of the Health and education sectors adding that as a result of their concerted efforts the state today leads the country in the field of education and has been adjudged excellent by the agencies of the Government of India (GoI) in the infra structural facilities of Health care sector. Likewise Mr Badal said that the state government has also laid special emphasis on the revamping the infrastructure involving an investment of approximately Rs.25000 crore. He said that the work on strengthening and widening of the key roads of the state were already been carried out by the state on war footing.

Reiterating the commitment of the state to ensure the welfare of the poor and downtrodden sections of the society, the Chief Minister said that in order to give the benefits of the welfare schemes like that of Shagun and other pensionary benefits to the beneficiaries in a time bound manner they have already passed on the necessary directions to the concerned departments. He also said that the government has already launched a project for the disbursement of pensions through the Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) scheme under which cash benefits would be disbursed to the beneficiaries directly in their bank accounts, so as to facilitate them and check the fraudulent practice.

Later on addressing the gathering at a congregation in the memory of Sant Kartar Singh Khalsa at village Bhura Kona, the Chief Minister said that rather then introspecting the reasons of his party’s defeat in Punjab, the National General Secretary of the Congress Rahul Gandhi should peep into his conscience to search the reasons that why his party was neck deep in corruption at the national level. He said Rahul must remember that the sole reason of Congress party’s debacle in every poll was that the countrymen were fed up due to the anti-poor policies and rampant corruption of the UPA government. Mr Badal reiterated that these frequent visits of Rahul Gandhi to the state would hardly make any impact on the political scenario of Punjab adding that the SAD-BJP alliance would win all the 13 Parliamentary seats in forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Making a scathing attack on the UPA government, the Chief Minister said that the decision of the union government to allow Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail sector would ruin the small traders of the country. Terming that this decision of the Union government was not in the interest of the common man, Mr Badal said that the SAD was duty bound to oppose this anti-people decision of the UPA government, tooth and nail.

Paying tribute to Sant Kartar Singh, the Chief Minister said that he was a legendary spiritual leader who actively disseminated the teachings and philosophy of Sikhism at grass root level. Describing Sant Kartar Singh as a true democrat, Mr Badal said that he had always raised his voice against the injustice and tyranny which could be aptly judged from the fact that he had vehemently opposed the imposition of Emergency by the then Congress government. However he said it was unfortunate that even today the country was lacking the genuine Federal structure as the Centre was bent upon usurping the rights of the states.

Earlier the Chief Minister also laid down the foundation stones of a Power sub station at village Kalsian and a charitable hospital to be constructed at cost of Rs 2 crore at village Pahuwind.

The Chief Minister was accompanied by Chief Parliamentary Secretary Mr Virsa Singh Valtoha, Member Parliament Dr Rattan Singh Ajnala, Vice chancellor of Punjab Technical University Dr Rajneesh Sharma besides SGPC members, senior leaders and party workers of SAD-BJP alliance.