Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Chandigarh, People’s Party of Punjab chief Manpreet Singh Badal today said the rejection of the demand made by the state government for the sanction of Rs 2330 crore as the drought relief betrayed the utter failure and incompetence of the Parkash Singh Badal government in presenting its case convincingly.
In a statement, Manpreet said this had to be seen in the context of the repeated claims having been made by Badal and Deputy Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal of truckloads of money coming to the state from the centre after the change of regime. He asserted this was another rebuff to the Badal government by the BJP government at the centre led by Narendra Modi.
He said it was strange that despite the rainfall being 68 per cent less as compared to normal monsoon, the state government did not declare drought in the state. As usual, the farmers had to depend upon diesel pump sets to irrigate their fields which led to the cost escalation.
“The people have the right to know as to what is the role of Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal in the Modi government in case she cannot even forcefully pursue the case of the people of her own state. The representative from the state is supposed to take care of the concerns of his or her state and being a minister in the Union cabinet was not a ceremonial post”, he added.
He recalled that earlier, the centre had refused to release finances for paddy procurement in the wake of the failure of the Badal government to clear earlier accounts. The state government was hoping to get relief from the centre in view of the financial crisis which was deepening every day due to profligacy and mismanagement.
“Sukhbir is fond of making presentations. How come that in this case, he did not take any interest by making a forceful presentation to convince the Modi government about the gravity of situation in the state necessitating this relief”, he asked.
