Badal to seek funds to tap Ghaggar

He said he had already held a meeting with his Haryana counterpart Bansi Lal to sort out this issue by building a dam at Mubarakpur near Dera Bassi to check flooding of Ghaggar but the latter had expressed his helplessness in the matter pleading that the state was faced with paucity of funds.

The Chief Minister said that he would also take up with the Prime Minister the matter of clearing pending development projects of Punjab. He would seek allocation of more big industrial units for the state among other things.

Badal lambasted the Congress for “ignoring and mortgaging Punjab interests during the last 50 years.” While on the one hand, Punjab had been completely ignored in the matter of industrialisation, the Congress had also deprived Punjab of its river waters and Punjabi-speaking areas that had been left out of Punjab. All through its rule, the Congress had been following a step-motherly attitude towards Punjab, he alleged.

The Chief Minister said that top priority would be accorded to efforts to make agriculture a profitable profession. There was urgent need for diversification of agriculture by setting up small agro-based industrial units.

He said that rural development and employment centres would be set up in villages so that youngmen could be trained to set up own industrial units.

The Chief Minister announced that different demands of the area put forth by local legislator Ajaib Singh Mukhmailpura would be met. He laid the foundation stone of an industrial training institute and a college at Ghanaur. He announced grant of Rs. 5 lakh for the college building.

The function organised in observance of the Quit India Day practically turned into an Akali Dal party function with hardly anybody among the speakers making any reference to the Quit India Day.

Even as the Chief Minister started his address at the public meeting, a group of over 50 discharged teachers, including women, raised slogans against the Punjab government and displayed banners protesting against their discharge from service.

The Chief Minister said that he had instructed district officers to be present in their offices for at least four days and be on field duty for two days. This would help people in the reddressal of their grievances.

Finance Minister Capt Kanwaljit Singh and Member of Parliament Prem Singh Chandumajra addressing the meeting strongly criticised the Congress policies.

Prominent among others who spoke on the occasion included Food and Civil Supplies Minister Madan Mohan Mittal, Public Health Minister Raja Narinder Singh, Public Works Minister Harmel Singh Tohra, Printing and Stationery Minister Surjit Singh Kohli, Rajya Sabha MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and chairman of Punjab Subordinate Services Board Jasdev Singh Sandhu.