Strike plan motivated: Bansi

He announced that the state government would spend Rs 150 crore on the repairs of the roads during the current financial year. The repair works, he added, would be completed by March 31 next. More funds would be allotted during the next financial year for this purpose.

Bansi Lal highlighted schemes undertaken, or those which are under way, with World Bank assistance and announced that, with a year, separate power lines would be provided for domestic and tubewell supply.

Opposing giving free power and water to farmers, Bansi Lal said Punjab was finding it difficult to continue providing this facility to the farmers. The state government, he said, would rather ensure 24-hour power supply and adequate water for irrigation purposes.

The state electricity board, he said, had been fiburcated but the two new companies would stay under government control. He said neither would power tariff be raised nor any employees rentrenched. He appealed to the people not to be misled by the false propoganda of opposition leaders whose 8220;only aim was to grab power in the state8221;. Om Prakash Chautala had criminalised politics and Bhajan Lal had commercialised it for their selfish motives, he said.