SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Sunday said that it was shameful that Punjab, which had secured the number one rank in several parameters in the ease of business rankings during SAD-BJP tenure, had become a laggard State under Capt Amarinder Singh’s leadership and continued to be among the worst performing States for the second year in running.
“The State has secured the 19the rank as per the Business Reform Action Plan-2019 rankings as compared to the 20th rank it had secured in the survey for the previous year…This in stark contrast to the number one ranking achieved by the State in ease of setting up of business in 2015 and number one position secured for single window reforms in 2016 during SAD-BJP tenure,” said Sukhbir.
Stating that the latest rankings were a cause for concern for all Punjabis as the State had witnessed a fall from being the number one State in ease of business rankings after it came out with a new Industrial policy in 2013, Sukhbir said that even Punjab’s neighbours had outstripped the State.
“Himachal Pradesh has jumped from the 16th rank last year to the seventh rank while Haryana has been ranked 16th,” he said adding that earlier in December 2019, Punjab had finished 13th out of 18 big states on the Good Governance Index (GGI).
Asserting that the Chief Minister was solely responsible for this state of affairs, Sukhbir said that Capt Amarinder had downgraded the Invest Punjab Department which had created the one stop clearance system and boosted investment to the tune of Rs 45,000 crore during SAD-BJP tenure. “The reforms commission has been scrapped even as 12,000 Sewa Kendras which were established to provide easy access to citizen centric services have been closed down,” he said.
Asking the chief minister to perform or quit, the SAD president said: “You are presiding over the downfall of the State in each and every sphere. Your fake claims of bringing in investment and holding a sham investment meet have been exposed. Investors have lost confidence to invest in Punjab under your leadership. The situation has become such that Punjab is now being ranked below erstwhile ‘bimaru’ States which has hurt Punjabi pride and prestige also.”
Asking the Chief Minister to stop engaging in excuses and blame games to explain his failures, Sukhbir said that Punjabis want you to lead and that will be possible only if you come out of your farm house and engage in governance.