Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
New Delhi, January 15: Rahul Gandhi welcomed People’s Party of Punjab headed by former finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal to the Congressformalizing the merger of the two parties. Rahul announced that the 12-point agenda of the PPP would now be the agenda of the Congress.
All 55 central committee members and 22 district presidents of the PPP were present.
From the Congress side, those present included Punjab party chief Capt Amarinder Singh, AICC general secretaries Ambika Soni and Shakeel Ahmad, AICC Secretary Harish Chaudhry, Punjab CLP chief Charanjit Singh Channi and former state party chief partapSingh Bajwa.
Earlier, Manpreet presented his party’s agenda to Rahul.
Manpreet made it clear that the decision of his party was dictated by the long term interests of Punjab. The need of the hour is that secular, democratic and progressive forces with a similar commitment to this bigger cause should join hands. The situation calls for putting up a common front against the ruling Akali Dal-BJP alliance where one half represents misrule and corruption, while the other half represents communalism and fundamentalism.
The PPP agenda includes to put decisive end to VIP, VVIP, VVVIP culture in the state and remove nepotism and favourtism from the government functioning, provide social justice to every section of society.
Other issues include to bring Punjab’s agriculture to the forefront of India’s farm sector in terms of quality of produce and returns to the farmers and boost farm sector income through value addition so that the farmers are not forced to commit suicide; to kick start private investment in the state (other than the real estate sector) to create meaningful jobs for the youth and provide them the opportunity to contribute to Punjab’s economic progress, to convert Punjab into land of opportunities; to check rapid decline in state’s finances and remove the ignominious stigma of Punjab being the most indebted state in the country. Drastically reduce wasteful government expenditure and improve revenue, not by implementing new levies but by improving existing tax mechanism and adherence.
Further, the agenda talks of end to stranglehold of a few individuals and families on state’s natural resources and prevent their rampant misuse, zero tolerance for corruption, especially at the cutting edge level in the administration through transparent citizen focused governance; recruitment to be purely on merit and in a totally transparentmanner leaving no scope for favouritism and dealing a deadly blow to drug menace by according it top priority. Manpreet said if Punjab can put an end to more than a decade long politics of violence, there is no reason that this scourge cannot be eradicated.
The agenda aims at restoring rightful place to Punjab’s sports and cultural glory and channelize the energy and enthusiasm of youth to constructive avenues, kill the virus that is eating into the social and moral fabric of Punjab,, to save state’s waters, rivers, soil and air from deadly pollution and lastly, to end the vicious nexus between politicians and police and ensure that police function within the letter and spirit of the law.
