The Punjab Government, which completes 100 days in office next week, does not have too many reasons to celebrate. A controversial beginning and the events that unfolded later—including the Dera Saucha Sauda imbroglio—have kept the state Government on its toes. As the Dera issue settled down, the SAD-BJP combine heaved a sigh of relief. It hopes to leave these three months behind and get down to some real work.The Government has earmarked around Rs 70 lakh just to publicise its “achievements” on Day 100. Many of them, so far, have only been proposals on paper. But even then, the Government is headed for a start. By June end, the annual budget of the state would have been presented. The Government has also set the ball rolling in case of the Punjab “vision statement”.SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal said a Rs 35,000-crore Economic Plan in public-private partnership has been unveiled to propel the state towards growth. Round-the-clock power supply, state-of-the-art infrastructure, an international airport, medical tourism and a lot more has been planned for the next four years. The plan is to double the power generation capacity in Punjab, adding another 6,000 MW in the next three-and-a-half years. This will ensure 24-hour power supply to every household by 2010. The Government has announced that it will grant industry status to medicare in Punjab. It is currently negotiating with top players—including Tata’s, Hindujas, Escorts, Apollo and Ranbaxy—for investment in the healthcare sector. There’s also a proposal to set up an international airport at Mohali on an area of 300 acres with the Airport Authority of India (AAI). The airport will be a civil terminal attached to the defence air field at Chandigarh.The upgradation of the Sahnewal airport near Ludhiana is also on the cards. Five pilot and cabin crew training schools have been proposed at Amritsar, Bathinda, Patiala, Jalandhar and Ludhiana.The Punjab Government also plans to liberalise its policy to allow industrial units to develop captive and co-generation plants, besides open access to power from outside. The Government is fast paddling to meet its August 15 deadline for providing aata at Rs 4 and daal at Rs 20 per kg as announced by the SAD in its pre-poll manifesto.Despite all the lofty plans, there are serious apprehensions that the Government might buckle under pressure of all the controversies, that arose one after another ever since it came to power three months ago.The SAD Government has been accused of indulging in vendetta politics against top cops and Congress leaders.Soon after assuming charge, the Special Judge at Ropar framed charges against Badal, his son Sukhbir Badal and others in a case of disproportionate assets.The CM preferred to hold the Vigilance portfolio, which was the prosecuting agency in his case. He later relieved himself of the charge under pressure. Just days after he became CM, Badal triggered a row after he announced that the Government would scrap Section 5 of the Punjab Termination of Water Agreements Act—which allowed water to states of Rajasthan and Punjab. The Dera issue, of course, was on top of the list of troubles for the SAD-BJP combine.
