GURDASPUR, Nov 2: The Congress has always done great injustice to Punjab and the people of the state, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said today.Addressing a large gathering at the 41st annual sports fair at Jaura Chhatran village, 13 km from here, he said it was unfortunate that Punjab was divided at the time of Partition, adding that the then Governor of East Punjab, instead of extending any help to Punjabis who migrated to India had termed them "dangerous" elements.He said that when Master Tara Singh reminded Prime Minister Nehru of the promises made to Punjabis during the freedom struggle, the latter put Master Tara Singh in jail.The Punjabis, he said, used to have a share of 30 per cent in the Indian Army, which had now been reduced to 2.5 per cent, according to its population percentage in the country. Rejecting the claims of neighbouring states over the waters of Punjab, he said the Congress governments at the state and Centre had dug up the Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal "to weaken the farm sector of the state as Punjab's water would flow to Haryana".Badal said almost all the major leaders of the state Congress - including Capt Amarinder Singh, Jagmeet Singh Brar and Bir Devinder Singh - were Akali defectors.The Chief Minister said it was a result of the wrong policies of the Congress that farming was no more a profitable profession. He announced that farmers of border districts whose cultivable land fell beyond the fencing belt would be given Rs 3,000 per acre as a relief measure.He said that Government High School, Jaura Chhatran, would be upgraded to the Plus Two level from the next academic session, and announced a grant of Rs 5 lakh for the village panchayat and Rs 50,000 for the village mela committee, Sucha Singh Langah, Minister of State for Industry, said that industrial revolution was on the anvil after the green revolution and the state would have a surplus of power with the commissioning of the Ranjit Sagar Dam, Lehra Mohabbat plant and the Goindwal Sahib Thermal Plant.Jagdish Sahni, Kartar Singh Pahra, Ram Lal and Roop Rani, all MLAs from the district, several SGPC members and local Akali leaders also addressed the gathering.
