Chandigarh April 25:
Taking
strong exception to the media reports of intrusion by the Chinese armed
forces in the territory of Indian Border, the Punjab Chief Minister Mr.
Parkash Singh Badal today asked the Centre to act swiftly with
resilience and commitment to prevent the further movement of Chinese
troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Talking
to the media persons on the side lines of a function jointly organized
by the State Water Supply and Sanitation department and World Bank to
honor 22 Village Water Supply and Sanitation Committees here at Kisan
Bhawan, the Chief Minister in unequivocally terms said that the Centre
should not be complacent on the issue of safeguarding nation’s
territorial integrity.
At
the same time he cautioned the Government of India (GoI) to immediately
resolve this matter of Chinese incursion across the LAC otherwise it
could adversely impact the national security. Mr Badal however said that
the Congress led UPA government had miserably failed in checking the
growing cult of internal as well as external aggression. Citing the
problem of Naxalism and wide spread incidents of terrorism in different
parts of the country, the Chief Minister said that it was an alarming
signal which had already put our sovereignty in peril.
Mr
Badal urged the GoI especially the Ministry of Defence to initiate all
possible measures in defending the Indian borders besides maintaining
national security at all costs. Slamming the Centre for arbitrarily
thrusting its decision to impose wealth tax on the Agricultural land
within the jurisdiction of Municipal limits, the Chief Minister termed
it as a ‘Retrograde step’ to crush the distressed peasantry due to low
returns from agriculture as profession. Mr Badal cited an example of a
farmer in Jalandhar who has been rendered bankrupt due to the draconian
clause of Wealth tax imposed by the union government.
He
apprehended that the wealth tax must be abolished by the centre
forthwith lest it would ruin the beleaguered farmer, who was already
overburdened with heavy debt and several such farmers had forced to
commit suicides. Therefore Mr Badal impressed upon the centre to
immediately roll back the decision of wealth tax which had badly hit the
farming community adding he said that due to the anti-farmer policies
of the UPA, the Punjab farmer was reeling under a heavy debt of Rs 32000
crore and now the levy of this tax would further aggravate the
situation.
Replying
to another query regarding the proposed investments of Tata group in
the state, the Chief Minister said that the Chairperson of Tata Sons Mr
Cyrus P Mistry had evinced keen interest in infrastructure, tourism, IT
and Agriculture sectors. Mr Badal said that a joint committee of senior
officers of the state government and representatives of the Tata Group
would work out modalities in this regard in due course of time.
Earlier
addressing the Village Water Supply and Sanitation Committees, the
Chief Minister appreciated them for the good work done in this regard
and further called upon them to continue their relentless efforts in
providing safe potable drinking water in the rural areas to prevent the
people from being inflicted with various water borne diseases. Mr. Badal
said that the state government has already initiated path breaking
steps in this direction and got the 13739 drinking water samples from
various sources such as canals, tube well etc. tested, of which 1166
samples could not comply with the stipulated parameters of quality and
thus rendered unfit for human consumption. He resolved firmly that it
was the endeavor of the state government to provide quality and safe
drinking water to each and every citizen of Punjab.
The
Chief Minister mentioned that out 15170 villages and Dhanis, 14313 have
been covered under the various drinking water schemes and the remainder
857 would be covered during the current fiscal. Making a scathing
attack on the officers of the state government indulging in malpractices
of corruption and nepotism for favoring sub standard contractors for
allotting works for pecuniary motives, Mr Badal said that when our
responsible officers and engineers indulge in such immoral activities by
wasting the already scarce funds by making use or recommending poor
quality material in the execution of the water supply and sanitation
schemes in connivance with local contractors was nothing less than a sin
which could never be forgiven by anyone even the God.
He
impressed upon them to work sincerely and diligently with utmost
honesty and missionary zeal to serve the mankind because using the
spurious quality material in these projects was not only hazardous to
the public health but also amounted to sheer wastage of hard earned tax
payer’s money. In his address Principal Secretary Water Supply and
Sanitation Mr Suresh Kumar said that the department was committed to
provide the quality safe drinking water free from the presence of heavy
metals and other poisonous elements in every nook and corner of the
state.
He
urged the people to closely monitor these projects initiated by the
department and if they come across any shortcomings or lacunae in the
implementation of these schemes these must be brought to our notice
instantly for prompt action. Mr Suresh Kumar also asked the officers to
work zealously in the larger public interest. He said that there had
been 35% increase in the allocation of funds for the implementation of
these schemes during the current budget adding that Rs 393 crore would
be spent on it during the current fiscal.
On
the occasion Chief Parliamentary Secretary Water Supply and Sanitation
Mr. Virsa Singh Valtoha proposed a vote of thanks saying that today’s
function would go a long way in motivating the other village panchayats
to replicate the success model of these schemes in their villages and
urged them to make judicious use of water by creating awareness amongst
the people.
