Written by: Sanjeev Chopra
2 min readPatialaMar 7, 2009 02:02 AM IST
First published on: Mar 7, 2009 at 02:02 AM IST
Despite being caught in a political tug of war between Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh,Patiala town has nothing to complain about. In fact,the Shiromani Akali Dal-led government has pumped in crores for the development of the town,apparently in an effort to create a dent in Amarinder’s stronghold.
The state government has shelled out about Rs 500 crore for Patiala,with a grant of Rs 109 crore for sewerage and improvement of civic infrastructure received recently.
It may be recalled that Capt Amarinder Singh had also showered crores on his hometown as CM,only to be outdone by Badal.
Among the major projects that have come into Patiala include the first of the ultra-modern air conditioned bus stands,besides grants to the tune of Rs 80 crore sanctioned during the sangat darshan programmes.
With the bus stand worth Rs 250 crore and sangat darshan money worth Rs 80 crore,besides the Rs 109-crore Central grant under the Urban Integrated Development of Small and Medium Towns (UITSMT) scheme,Badals have pumped in as much as Rs 439 crore in the town. Besides,another Rs 5 crore has come in by way of an NCR project,which remained pending during the previous Congress regime.
Not surprisingly,the royal town,which now boasts of improved infrastructure,is set to gain the status of being one of the most pampered towns.
While a Congress leader termed the Akali wooing as politically motivated,a senior Akali leader hoped the town would soon have envious infrastructure once all the money is used up.
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