Published>Tue, Oct 19 10 05:08 AM
Claims Central loan Rs 3,500 cr & not Rs 35,000 cr as projected
With Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders rallying behind their chief Sukhbir Badal in the aftermath of the ouster of former finance minister Manpreet Badal, the confident deputy chief minister made it clear on Monday that the subsidies and "pro-poor" measures of the SAD-BJP regime would continue. Without referring to the former FM, Sukhbir clarified that the total Central loan to Punjab was only to the tune of Rs 3,500 crore and not Rs 35,000 crore, as projected. He said the rest of the debt pertained to loans from banks, financial institutions and small savings, which the Centre had no power to waive off.
Sukhbir said Punjab was among the most less indebted states in the country as its total debt of Rs 64,000 crore was far less than that in other states like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal. He claimed that the state had almost doubled its excise collection to Rs 3,000 crore, and VAT collection to over Rs 10,000 crore within three years.
After laying the foundation stone of the Wada Gallughara Memorial at Kup Rahira, the site of the largest holocaust of Sikhs, Sukhbir said three memorials at Chhappar Chiri, Kup Rahira and Kahnuwan would be built at a cost of Rs 100 crore by Larsen and Toubro. He also announced a girls college at Kup.
Earlier, SAD secretary general Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa said if the former FM mended his ways, he could still be welcomed back to the party fold, though what he had done was "unpardonable".
Dhindsa accused the former FM of being disloyal to the party and disobeying the disciplinary committee, the political affairs committee and the party leadership.
Prominent among others present at the function were ministers Hira Singh Gabria, Parminder Singh Dhindsa and Swarna Ram, SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar, Damdami Taksal chief Baba Harnam Singh Khalsa and Maheshinder Singh Grewal among others.
Source: Web Search
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