CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday sought a special financial package of Rs 1 lakh crore from the Union government for reviving the state’s economy and ensuring holistic development. Mann made the demands while calling on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
Apprising the PM about the “pathetic” fiscal position of the state, Mann said the previous governments have left a whopping debt burden of Rs 3 lakh crore on the state and demanded immediate financial package of Rs 50,000 crore each for two years to put the “derailed economy back on track”.
He hoped with this financial help the state’s economy would become “self-sustainable and economically viable” during the third year.
Mann further said his government, on its own, would also strive to fill the empty coffers by completely “wiping out the mafia” from the state.
He also mentioned that “Punjabis have made enormous sacrifices” for the country’s independence and even now valiant Punjabi soldiers are protecting the borders from internal and external aggression to safeguard the nation’s integrity and sovereignty.
Raising the sensitive issue of national security in the context of Punjab being a border state, Mann solicited wholehearted support from the Central government to foil the attempts of inimical forces across the border.
He, however, assured the PM that Punjab would also provide all necessary assistance to the Centre in this regard and also requested it to provide the latest and hi-tech infrastructure to the state forces for anti-insurgency operations.
Terming the outcome of his maiden meeting with the PM after assuming charge as chief minister as “positive”, Mann said the former promised all possible support and complete cooperation to make Punjab a vibrant state.
Quoting a few lines from a poem of the legendary poet Mohan Singh, Mann said that Punjab was like a “stone studded in the ring” of India.
Responding to the issues raised by Mann, Modi said he would soon take up the matter with the Ministries of Finance and Home to provide adequate support to the state.
Mann and five newly-elected Rajya Sabha members of the AAP met the party's national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday who asked them to work round the clock for public welfare.
Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh, AAP leader Raghav Chadha, Lovely Professional University founder Ashok Mittal, IIT Delhi professor Sandeep Pathak and industrialist Sanjeev Arora were elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Punjab.
During the meeting with them at his residence, the party said, the Delhi chief minister congratulated the five newly-elected Rajya Sabha members.
"We all have to live up to the expectations of the people together. We have to work day and night for the people of this country. We have to make sure that we remember our goal of fulfilling the dreams of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh and Babasaheb Ambedkar," the party quoted Kejriwal as saying.
The Punjab chief minister and the newly elected MPs assured Kejriwal of putting in their best efforts to live up to the expectations of the people and remain among the people working for their welfare, the party added.
This was the first visit of Mann to Delhi after becoming chief minister of Punjab.
In the afternoon, he called on Prime Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his office in Parliament House and sought a special financial package worth Rs one lakh crore for the revival of the state's economy and ensuring holistic development in the state.
Mann apprised the prime minister about the fiscal health of the state and said the previous governments have left a burden of Rs 3 lakh crore.
(With PTI Inputs)