CHANDIGARH: Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Friday said the present administration in Punjab had been reduced to what he described as a mere “Chutkulon Ki Sarkar”.
Addressing a public rally in Jalandhar, Saini remarked that people were beginning to realise that jokes might entertain audiences in cinema halls, but they could not run a government.
He said the people of Punjab must now collectively decide to teach those who had misled them a lesson through the power of their votes and bring a double-engine government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership to put the state back on the path of development.
Questioning the Mann government's handling of law and order, Saini said peace and stability would be restored in Punjab once the BJP formed the government.
He said Haryana's successful policies would also be implemented in Punjab, including the procurement of all 24 crops at Minimum Support Price (MSP) and merit-based government recruitment without Parchi-Kharchi.
He said more than two lakh hardworking and deserving youth had been provided government jobs in Haryana through a transparent recruitment process, whereas most recruitment processes in Punjab remained entangled in court cases.
Saini said Punjab, which once held the number one position, had fallen far behind in development due to the failures of the present government.
Saini asserted that once the BJP formed the government in Punjab after the Assembly elections scheduled for February, those involved in the drug trade would have only two options: either abandon their illegal activities or leave the state. He said drug traffickers would not be allowed to operate in Punjab or Haryana.
Taking a dig at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, Saini said the party had promised to eliminate the drug menace within six months of coming to power.
However, he said drug abuse had continued to spread, pushing more young people into addiction, while the government lacked both the policy and the political will to tackle the problem.
He said Union Home Minister Amit Shah had resolved to eradicate the drug menace from the country by 2029, and a comprehensive national-level policy was being formulated to achieve this objective. Such major commitments, he asserted, could only be fulfilled by a BJP government, while the AAP and Congress relied on false promises to secure votes.
Referring to employment, the Chief Minister said the AAP had promised jobs to 25 lakh youth ahead of the previous Assembly elections. However, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann now proudly claimed on television that his government had provided only 60,000 jobs during its tenure.
Saini said even these jobs had been secured by children of influential people through corrupt practices, depriving hardworking and economically disadvantaged youth of opportunities and crushing their aspirations.
Saini challenged his Punjab counterpart to disclose how many Mohalla Clinics had been opened in the state, how many people had received free treatment at these facilities and what services were being provided to the public.
Highlighting Haryana's healthcare initiatives, he said Ayushman cards had been issued to 1.5 crore people out of the state's population of three crore, entitling them to free medical treatment of up to Rs 5 lakh annually.
He said 40 lakh people had so far availed themselves of free treatment under the scheme, with the Central and State Governments together spending Rs 6,000 crore.
Saini said the BJP had promised financial assistance of Rs 2,100 per month to women in Haryana before the Assembly elections. After forming the government, it fulfilled this commitment by introducing the Deen Dayal Lado Lakshmi Yojana.
He said the government allocated Rs 5,000 crore for the scheme in its first budget and Rs 6,500 crore in the second. So far, more than 10 lakh women have received financial assistance amounting to Rs 2,500 crore under the scheme.
In contrast, he said, the AAP had promised Rs 1,000 to women in Punjab five years ago but implemented the promise only when elections were approaching, with the intention of securing votes.
