Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Chandigarh, People’s Party of Punjab chief Manpreet Singh Badal today urged Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal to follow the example being set by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in austerity.
“If Khattar can travel to Delhi by Shatabadi Express, there is no reason why the Punjab leaders should go to nearby places like in Fatehgarh Sahib and Patiala in helicopters when the state is virtually bankrupt. There have been examples when the Chief Minister travelled to even Mohali from his residence to Mohali by air. The state like Punjab cannot sustain such ostentatious life style. It is the rulers who have to set the example”, he said in a statement.
He said the problem with Punjab was that the rulers had adopted high flying life style, thus wasting precious resources of the state. Even while travelling by road, which is very rare and mainly when clearance is not given to fly due to bad weather conditions, they move in big caravans with a large number of security vehicles, thereby creating problems for the people.
He called for scaling down of such unnecessary expenditure and to divert the same towards the welfare of the people. He pointed out that the Deputy Chief Minister during his raid on a police station in Mohali had himself witnessed the state of affairs where only one munshi was present. That was the situation so far providing security to the people at large was concerned. On the other hand, dozens of security men travelled with both the Chief Minister as well as the Deputy Chief Minister. He said similar was the situation in case of other members of the cabinet and top bureaucrats.
He said Punjab should not continue to hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons. It is the Chief Minister who should set example in austerity at every level, he added.
