Sangrur, December 22
Continuing his campaign to interact with the people at grassroots level to give fillip to the development of the villages, the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday said that the move is aimed at ensuring world class civic amenities to the villages at par with the cities.
Interacting with the people, Mann, amidst huge round of applause from the masses, said that the holistic growth of villages was the need of hour to give further impetus to all round development of the state. “The state government is already making all out efforts for ensuring public welfare and giving impetus to development of villages. This gigantic task could not be possible without active support and cooperation of the general public,” he added.
Striking an emotional chord with the people, the Chief Minister said that the people and their elected representatives should regularly monitor the ongoing development works in the state adding that this will help in quality execution of work. He exhorted people to make sure that concerted efforts of the state government for giving fillip to the development of villages are successful with their assistance and guidance. “The majority of the population of the state live in villages so the state government was committed to ensure unprecedented development in them,” he noted.
The Chief Minister asserted, “The Punjab government is committed to provide facilities at par with cities to facilitate people and no stone was being left unturned for this noble cause. The sole aim of holding such events was to prepare a road map for giving further impetus to ongoing development of the state and especially in the villages.”
Laying thrust on the comprehensive development of rural areas, he said that the state government has already sanctioned a number of projects for accomplishing this task adding he solicited the support of the general public in strengthening rural infrastructure to further accelerate the pace of development.
Later on interacting with the media persons, Mann said that the state government has no dearth of funds for the development of Punjab adding that all the issues like garbage heaps, street light, sewage problems or others will be resolved soon. “In the last four years unprecedented development has taken place across the state as the Punjab government has never complained about any fund shortage. Contrary to the previous regimes which had landed the state in debt trap his government has been repaying the debts,” he affirmed.
Citing the examples, he said that the state government has bailed out the electricity board, repaid the loans of the sugar mills, Markfed and others. “The Punjab government has been managing many old debts so that past liabilities are cleared, without halting any new development projects. The government has created more than 58,000 jobs, new buildings of the schools have been built, 43,000 kilometers of roads are being constructed as the state government has managed the expenditure with financial prudence,” he pointed out.
The Chief Minister said that the state government has been making strenuous efforts for raising the standard of life in Punjab adding that earlier no one had ever heard that the students from state are becoming pilots. However, he said that now the state government has bought seven planes for imparting this world class training to the students so that they can get into high-level jobs now. “Dreaming is everyone’s right and not just that of the rich class due to which this government is providing benefits to ordinary people, not just to the wealthy,” he asserted.
In a fervent appeal to the newly elected Zila Parishad and Block Samiti Members, the Chief Minister said that the elections last for only 10–15 days but once elected, these elected representatives belong to everyone. “The members represent everyone and even those who didn’t vote for them, so it is their bounden duty to serve the people with missionary zeal. Work must be done for the well being of all, so that Punjab can progress and become frontrunner in every arena,” he affirmed.
