Express News Service
CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday sought a special financial package worth Rs 1 lakh crore from the Union government for the revival of the state’s economy besides ensuring holistic development and welfare of its people when he called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his office at Parliament House this afternoon.
Apprising the Prime Minister about Punjab’s pathetic fiscal position, Mann said that the previous governments have left a whopping burden of Rs 3 lakh crore on the state and sought an immediate financial package of Rs 50,000 crore each for two years to put the derailed economy back on the rails. He hoped with this financial help, the state’s economy would become self-sustainable and economically viable during the third year.
Mann further said his government on its own would also strive hard to fill the empty coffers by completely wiping out the mafia from the state. He also mentioned that Punjabis have made enormous sacrifices for the country’s independence and even now valiant Punjabi soldiers are protecting the borders from internal and external aggression to safeguard the nation’s integrity and sovereignty.
Raising another sensitive issue of national security in the context of Punjab being a border state, Mann also solicited wholehearted support from the central government to foil the attempts of inimical forces across the border, which are wellequipped with the latest techniques. He, however, assured the Prime Minister that Punjab would also provide all necessary assistance to the Centre in this regard and also requested it to furnish the latest and hi-tech infrastructure to our state forces for anti-insurgency operations.
Terming the outcome of his maiden meeting with the Prime Minister after assuming charge as Chief Minister as positive, Mann said the former promised all possible support and complete cooperation to make Punjab a vibrant state. Mann said, “If Punjab make rapid strides of development then India would also eventually prosper.”
Quoting a few lines from the poem of legendary poet Prof. Mohan Singh, Mann said that Punjab was like a stone studded in the ring of India. He lamented that this stone (Punjab) had gradually lost its sheen with the passage of time due to people’s ill conceived decisions to elect certain governments which ruled the state.
Reiterating his firm commitment, the Chief Minister said that his government would leave no stone unturned to make Punjab the No.1 state in the country which would also bring laurels for the country at the global level.
Responding to the issues raised by Mann, the Prime Minister said he would soon take up this matter with the Ministries of Finance and Home to provide adequate support to the state.
