SAS Nagar, October 4 - The Progressive Front Punjab has demanded that the free schemes in the state be reconsidered and the concessions being given to the rich should be stopped immediately. In this regard, the front has written a letter to the Chief Minister of Punjab.
Talking to reporters in this regard, the chairman of the front, Advocate Darshan Singh Dhaliwal, said that due to the wrong policies of the governments since 1997 till now, Punjab has incurred a debt of Rs 3.55 crore, out of which a debt of Rs 1 crore 25 lakh crore has been taken in the last five years alone.
He said that if the government continues to take loans in this way, it will be more than 4 lakh crore by the end of 2025. He said that about 48 percent of the state's GDP has been in debt, which is a warning bell for Punjab and the government should immediately think about it and save Punjab.
He said that PSPCL has become Rs 22,000 crore of electricity subsidy due to which the salaries of the employees may also be stopped in the coming days. He said that due to free bus travel for women, PEPSU and Punjab Roadways have a debt of Rs 800 crore towards the Punjab government and no government bus has been purchased for the last three and a half years. Due to this free travel, both the departments are on the verge of closure and the owners of private buses are also facing losses.
Mr. Dhaliwal said that these free facilities should be provided only to the needy people and it should be stopped immediately for the rest. He said that all the political parties of the state and the current government are doing politics of votes and notes and are giving bribes to the people to get their votes by giving free facilities which is a blatant betrayal of the poor people of Punjab.
Due to these policies of the government, the state is in a very bad condition of roads, schools, hospitals etc. and many government departments are on the verge of closure. He said that the government should immediately stop its advertisements considering the financial condition of the state and use this money for the economic improvement of the state.
Mr. Dhaliwal demanded that the Chief Minister should immediately call an all-party meeting to improve the financial condition of the state and formulate a new policy with consensus to get the state out of this problem. He said that the political parties should take their stand within a month so that the people of the state can also express their views openly.
On this occasion, the President of the Front Mr. Harminder Singh Mavi said that the government should provide free electricity only to small farmers and these facilities of rich farmers should also be stopped. The government should give MSP on 23 crops as per its promise and provide seeds, fertilizers and other agricultural tools to the farmers at cheap prices.
The General Secretary of the Front, Mr. Mahendra Singh Manoli Surat, said that the government should immediately fill the vacant posts in the government departments in the state and make the raw employees permanent and also accept their other demands. He alleged that the Punjab government wants to abolish the government departments of the state including the Electricity Board, Education Department, Health Department, PWD and many other departments and give this work to the private sector. Due to which there will be no one to hold the hand of the poor people. And the situation in the state will further deteriorate, for which the responsibility will be the present government. On this occasion, among others, Dr. Daljit Singh, Rohit Kumar and Paramjit Malakpur were also present.