Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday exhorted people of the State to exercise restraint and observe anniversary of Operation Bluestar on June 6 peacefully.
Badal, interacting with the mediapersons on the sidelines of his Sangat Darshan program in lambi assembly segment, said that the State Government was committed to maintain peace, communal harmony and brotherhood in the State at every cost. “The State Government is keeping a strict vigil over the entire situation and every effort would be made to maintain law and order,” he said.
Chief Minister said that peace and communal harmony was the need of the hour as they were the catalyst of overall development in any State.
He bemoaned that the State had already suffered a lot during the black days due to which the economic development of the State was stalled on one hand and several thousand precious lives were lost on the other. “So the need of hour is that all of us should join hands to strengthen the ethos of peace, communal harmony and brotherhood in the state” added Badal.
Terming the orders issued by Shiromani Gurudwara Prabhandak Committee (SGPC) on the media coverage on June 6 inside the Golden Temple Complex as unfortunate, Badal said that he had called up the SGPC Chief Secretary on Sunday morning and urged him to reconsider these orders.
He said that such orders were totally against the spirit of democratic nations as media was the fourth pillar of democracy.
Asked to comment on the proposed agitation of Congress in Badal village on June 18, badal termed it as an entirely ‘political gimmick’. He said that when the state government was already probing the issue thereby was hardly any need for protest by Congress leadership.
However, Badal said that State Congress leadership was hell bent upon wasting its energy by politicizing this issue.
GOVT TO START ‘COMPREHENSIVE WEED ERADICATION CAMPAIGN’
To prevent the attack of white fly in near future, Badal said that the State Government has issued orders for ‘complete weed eradication’ of the Malwa region.
“The State Government is very serious on this issue and all out efforts are being made to ensure that the farmers of state do not fell prey to recurrence of white fly attack anymore,” he said.
The State Chief Secretary was already holding serious of parleys to check this menace.
Chief Minister also added that the State Government was committed for providing interest-free short term crop free loans to the farmers of the State to bail them out from the current agrarian crisis. He said that it was a firm commitment of the State Government and it would be honored at every cost.