‘Political events of last 5 months not based on full understanding of Punjab’: Amarinder in letter to Sonia

Amarinder Singh expressed personal satisfaction at having done his best for the people as chief minister of Punjab which, as a border state, “has many geo-political and other internal security concerns, which I tried to handle effectively without any compromise”.

Hours before he formally submitted his resignation to the Governor Saturday, Captain Amarinder Singh had written to Congress president Sonia Gandhi apprising her of his decision while expressing anguish at the political events of the last five months which, he said, were clearly “not based on full understanding of the national imperatives of Punjab and its key concerns.”

“Notwithstanding my personal anguish, I hope this will not cause any damage to the hard-earned peace and development in the State, and that the efforts I have been focusing during the last few years, would continue unabated, ensuring justice to one and all,” Captain Amarinder had written in his letter to Sonia, indicating his apprehension of instability in Punjab as a result of the political developments in the party’s state unit.

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At the same time, he expressed personal satisfaction at having done his best for the people as chief minister of Punjab which, as a border state, “has many geo-political and other internal security concerns, which I tried to handle effectively without any compromise”. He said he was happy that the State remained fully peaceful, and there was complete communal harmony with no ill-will towards anyone.

While she (Sonia) herself may be personally aware of some of the things achieved in the last four and a half years, “the people of Punjab are looking up to the Indian National Congress for its mature and effective public policies, which not only reflect upon good politics, but also address the concerns of the common man that are specific to this border State,” wrote Captain Amarinder. The Congress veteran has been chief minister of Punjab for a total of nine and a half years, having served from 2002 to 2007 and from 2017 to September 2021.

All these years he had worked wholeheartedly for the welfare of the people of Punjab – a state he loves from the core of his heart, Captain Amarinder said. “This was extremely satisfying for me because not only I established the rule of law, and ensured transparent governance, but maintained ethical conduct even in management of political affairs, winning 8 out of 13 seats in the Parliament Elections in 2019 and the PRI and ULB Elections decisively.”

Referring to the challenges he faced over the last four years in fulfilling promises made by the Punjab Congress in the 2017 polls, Captain Amarinder pointed out that these notwithstanding, his government had fulfilled 89.2 per cent of the promises, while work was in progress on the remaining commitments.

Citing the problems posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Captain said his government faced the same in an effective and well-coordinated manner, ensuring minimum loss of lives. “The State is today nearly free from the pandemic, and persistent efforts are continuing not only to improve health infrastructure, but also to provide due care to the deserving people free of cost to prevent the much-anticipated third wave,” he said, adding that Punjab was fully geared to meet future challenges. “It gives me great satisfaction that Punjab is the only State, which has decided to provide universal health insurance cover at its own cost in keeping with our manifesto commitment. Nearly 55 lakh families are now eligible for free cashless treatment in the State,” he said.

On the issue of the sacrilege cases and the subsequent police action in 2015, Captain Amarinder said his government, which was committed to ensuring justice in the matter, had established a Judicial Commission of Enquiry headed by Justice (Retd) Ranjit Singh, whose report was received on August 16, 2018. The report was accepted and full legal action was taken thereon, he said.

He pointed out that despite legal hurdles and the CBI’s refusal to return the cases, which were transferred to them by the SAD-BJP Government, his government had succeeded in filing 10 challans, while 24 persons had been chargesheeted, 15 police personnel suspended and 10 civilians arrested. “The criminal proceedings in these cases are currently underway and I am sure that in due course justice will be done,” he said.

On the controversial Power Purchase Agreements signed by the previous government for the purchase of expensive power to ensure affordable supply to people in the state, Captain Amarinder said his government had invested Rs 3,709 crore in electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure during 2017-21 and released about Rs 11,000 crore per annum for the benefit of 22 lakh SC/BC consumers, and 14 lakh farmers. “For the first time, we supplied subsidised power to the industry at annual cost of over Rs 2,000 crore,” he said, adding that “the review of the PPAs is currently underway.”

Describing farmers as the backbone of Punjab’s economy, he wrote that in line with its commitment, his government had provided debt relief of Rs 4,624 crore to 5.64 lakh farmers and Rs 526 crore to 2.68 lakh farm workers. “In addition, we have repealed Section 67-A of the Punjab State Cooperative Societies Act, 1961, and also amended the Civil Procedure Code, disallowing attachment of agricultural land up to 2.5 acres,” he added.

Referring to his personal promise to root out the drug menace in the state, Captain Amarinder said he had done so relentlessly by establishing a Special Task Force (STF). Under the government’s three-pronged strategy of Enforcement, De-addiction and Prevention, he said, 62,744 persons had been arrested, 202 OOAT (Opioid Assisted Treatment) clinics established, 6.28 lakh Drug Abuse Prevention Officers (DAPOs) registered and 9.5 lakh Buddy Groups formed.

He also noted that with the revamp of the state’s Mining Policy in 2017, Punjab’s revenue had increased from Rs 35 crore per annum to Rs 300 crore per annum.

Captain Amarinder further shared details of the success of Ghar Ghar Rozgar scheme, for which his government had set up a Bureau of Employment and Enterprise in each of the 22 districts and facilitated jobs for 19.29 lakh people. These include 62,748 government jobs, 7.37 lakh jobs in the private sector and 10,93,000 self-employment, he said, adding that rozgar melas had been held regularly since 2017 and the last of these was scheduled to end on September 23 at Kapurthala.

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Underlining his government’s commitment to the development and welfare of the poor and those belonging to Scheduled Castes and backward classes, he pointed out that debt relief of Rs 50,000 each has been given to 10,151 SC beneficiaries and 4,702 BC beneficiaries. “We had also decided to enact a special legislation to earmark dedicated funds for development and welfare of SC population,” he noted, adding that 200 units of electricity were being given free of cost to all families belonging to SCs, BCs and BPL with a total coverage of about 22 lakh beneficiaries with an annual subsidy of about Rs 2,000 crore. Adequate representation was also given to representatives of SC and other poor communities in nominations on various Boards and Corporations, he said, adding that the Post Matric Scholarship Scheme for SC students, which was withdrawn by the Government of India in April 2017, remained fully operative in Punjab.

Listing rural infrastructure development as another major priority of his government, Captain Amarinder cited the success of the Smart Village Campaign (SVC), under which Rs 3,597 crore had been spent on development through communities and elected representatives. As much as “42,800 km rural link roads have been repaired, and in addition Rs 800 crore has also been provided for construction of new link roads. Out of 66,823 works, 48,445 works have been completed and 18,378 are currently in progress,” he wrote.

On the new Punjab Nirman Programme (PNP), under which elected representatives were provided funds for the development of local infrastructure focusing on the poor and Dalits, he disclosed that Rs 1,260 crore had been provided. Further, for local area development in municipalities, his government had started a new initiative titled ‘Urban Environment Improvement Programme’, under which more than 5,000 works were started in municipalities with Rs 1,351 crore. His government had also focused on major projects and schemes concerning infrastructure development and industrial investment promotion with a new Industrial and Business Development Policy, he said, adding that the state government had achieved industrial investment of Rs 93,908 crore with a potential of 3.47 lakh jobs. “We also succeeded in investing Rs 8,817 crore in building major roads and bridges,” he added.

Captain Amarinder drew Sonia’s attention to the fact that Punjab had been ranked Number One by the HRD Ministry in School Education as a result of consistent efforts and investments in this sector. Of the 19,000 schools in the State, 14,000 had been developed as smart schools, whereas work was under progress in the remaining 5,000 schools. “We have also started eight new universities in the private and public sector, established 19 new Government Colleges, and 25 new ITIs,” he further disclosed.

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