Widening the ambit of its popular Atta-Dal scheme, Punjab Government on Thursday announced to double the number of beneficiaries under it from 15 lakh to 30 lakh.
“This decision has been taken to facitilate more number of people who get the subsidized food grains,” said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal at a function organised to administer the oath to newly-elected panches and sarpanches. The State Government’s decision comes at a time when the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre is all set to table its much-hyped Food Security Ordinance in the Parliament during the coming monsoon session.
Badal added that even in future, the State Government would provide Atta-Dal to the beneficiaries at much more cheaper rates than the existing Rs four and Rs 20 for per kilogram of Atta and Dal, respectively. Congratulating the newly-elected panches and sarpanches, Badal also asked the panches and sarpanches to join hands with the State Government for effectively monitoring the ongoing development works in rural areas.
lashing out at the Centre for its “failure” to check the drug supply from Pakistan border, Badal said that despite the efforts of the State Government in this regard, the Union Government has not initiated steps to check the menace. “Centre has not banned the open sale of poppy husk in Rajasthan,” he added.
Further, Badal said that with the centralisation of power by the Union Government, the federal structure of country has turned into unitary one due to which the state governments have virtually become “beggars”. Reiterating that only Punjab has legitimate right over Chandigarh, Badal said that the Congress has done “grave injustice” with the state by depriving it from capital despite of the fact that the parent state has the first and foremost right over capital.
Maintaining that the State’s beleaguered peasantry was reeling under a heavy debt of Rs 32,000 crore with stupendous hike in prices of petrol and diesel along with other farming inputs, Badal said that in this crucial hour, it was the moral duty of the State Government to bail them out by giving them free power.
“Though the State is incurring an additional burden Rs 5,000 crore per year for giving free power to the farmers, it is nothing before the valuable contribution made by the peasantry in making the country self reliant in food production,” he added.
Demand for new states due to Centre’s discrimination On the surge in demand for creation of new States, Badal said that the discriminatory policy of the Union Government was responsible for it. “Centre has failed to ensure the development of all states,” he added. Badal said that formation of Telangana state was a welcome step, but “Centre should also consider the demands of smaller States sympathetically”.
“Committed to protect interest of Punjabi farmers in Gujarat” Badal also ensured that he would take up the matter of displacement of Punjabi farmers in the Kutch region with his Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi. “The State Government would take every possible step to protect the interests of the Punjabis living in Gujarat,” he said while talking to the media persons.