Chandigarh, March 10, 2021 (Yes Punjab News)
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today burnt copies of the Congress government’s budget 2021-22 while asserting the document was a pack of lies and a mischievous attempt to hoodwink Punjabis with deceitful repackaging. They also termed chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh and finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal as “Dushman Number One” of Punjabis.
The SAD legislators, who marched to the Vidhan Sabha along with a Congress tree depicting the chief minister and the finance minister which bore only false promises like those given to farmers, youth, scheduled castes, employees and the disadvantaged, said “we are reflecting the sentiments of Punjabis who have rejected this anti-people budget. We will not let the Congress government play a fraud with the people. Now we will take this campaign to expose the government to the people under the Punjab Mange Jawab campaign”.
Briefing newsmen on the occasion along with SAD legislators, former minister Bikram Singh Majithia said the government had cheated farmers by not releasing Rs 5,000 crore allocated for waiving off debts of farmers during the last two years. “Even the promise of Rs 10 lakh compensation for farm suicide victims and a government job has not been fulfilled”.
He said similarly the government had allocated Rs 2,400 crore for the SC scholarship scheme during the last four years but not released any money under this head. Lakhs of dalit students have suffered due to this. He said similarly the government had promised houses for the houseless but did not give either the promised five marla plots or the money to build them.
Speaking about the betrayal done unto the youth, Mr Majithia said the government had promised ghar ghar naukari but now had come down to creating a job portal so that the youth could apply for jobs on it.
“What happened to the forms filled by you four years back? Mr Majithia also said instead of creating any jobs the government had scrapped thousands of jobs in the name of administrative restructuring. “Even the Rs 2,500 per month unemployment allowance has not been released till yet as well as implementation of schemes which visualized giving easy credit to youth to start their own enterprises as well as purchase tractors”.
The SAD legislators, including leader of the SAD legislative party Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, also pointed out how employees had been betrayed by the Congress government. They said Dearness Allowance arrears of Rs 4,000 crore had not been released even as the government had initiated the process of recruiting new employees on the central scale instead of the higher Punjab scale.
He said similarly the Congress party had promised to regularize contractual employees in its first cabinet meeting but was yet to do this till now. “Even the sixth Pay Commission is not being finalized deliberately”, they added.
