Amritsar 24 Sep: A huge protest/demonstration has been staged by the Majha Zone Coordinator of Punjab Pardesh Congress Committee (PPCC) Sh. Karamjit Singh Rintu in the North Constituency of Amritsar to register their protest against the atrocities of the SAD/BJP government. The sole purpose of the rally as termed by Sh. Rintu was to inform the ignorant, poor and depressed masses of the Punjab about what we are losing and why Punjab is lagging behind other states of India; which is because of the mandate given to self centered Sadians. The rally was not only joined by the PPCC’s elite but by the SAD/BJP affected citizens also.
During the rally Sh. Rintu informed that this rally is not only a forerun to the 2014 elections but for the 2017 elections also. Sh. Rintu said that as per the instructions of Sh. Partap Singh Bajwa, they began collecting the data of the unemployed youth in each constituency for the registration in employment exchange so that the eligible may get the benefits from the government. He said that from the North (Amritsar) constituency around 2000 applications instantly pooled up within a few days. However the exact figures of the unemployed ones in the North Constituency are not less than 45000 which will end up in a big disaster if no proper employment is generated. He further said that the government is busy in collecting the revenue by hook or by crook so that they may somehow sustain for the remaining period, whereas the huge number of unemployed youth in such a vulnerable border area like Amritsar is turning towards drugs/drug peddling and other crimes which is going to ruin the law and order situation of the area in no time. Explaining the information obtained from Amritsar Employment Office via RTI, Sh. Rintu said that the offices have been instructed by the SAD/BJP tycoons to not to register more of unemployed even if one qualifies so that the load on the treasury may be managed. He said that Employment Exchange and Training office in Amritsar has paid a total of around Rs. 1,65,600 to 82 unemployed Post Graduates and around 18,34,038 to 1212 unemployed Graduates registered with the office from April 2008 to April 2013. He said that as the Congress is collecting the forms for the registration the picture is clearing that how the government is depriving the youth of their rights. Another fact Sh. Rintu explained that the amount paid to the registered candidates is Rs. 150 and Rs. 200 per month to graduate and post graduate per person. He said how one can survive in this petty amount whereas when the union government declared that a person earning Rs. 27-32 per day can make the ends meet, the local SAD/BJP went on beating the platters outside the houses of Congressmen. He said that more the government keeps the commoners ignorant the more it gets easy for them to rule.
Sh. Rintu further said youth is not the only section of Punjab which is neck deep in this pathetic situation; industry, colonizers, government servicemen etc. everyone is in the worst of the situations. Sh. Rintu explained that how the government is devouring the VAT refunds of the traders by not paying them back to the traders. He informed that a total of around 500 crores are to be refunded to the traders by the government which the government is trying to tail off as there are no funds in the treasury. He said that more and more VAT is imposed upon the traders and now another gift of SAD/BJP is there, i.e imposing the processing fee over the filing of VAT reruns. Hotels are under 14% of luxury tax which is destroying tourism as well as hotel industry. Petrol is Rs. 8.25 expensive in Punjab than other states due to high VAT rates. Taxes are imposed on marriage palaces also which amount upto Rs. 1 crore per marriage palace in the city. Electricity meter securities have been recharged again in an unconstitutional and unethical way. Almost all the colonies have been declared unapproved to collect hefty charges. Mocking the funny ways of SAD/BJP, Sh. Rintu said that when all the amenities such as electricity, water supply, sewerage, LPG connections etc. and documents such as voter cards, adhar cards etc. are provided/issued in these colonies how even a government can declare them as unapproved. He said that most of the voters reside in such unapproved colonies who have given SAD/BJP a mandate to rule in a dictatorial manner now must now ask the government to leave their offices as their votes are also unapproved. Sh. Rintu bringing up the hasty and nasty policies of the government said that another major issue which haunted the property dealers and property buyers/seller was the Power of Attorney. He said that the SAD/BJP government first bans such systems and then imposing a few percent more of taxes restart and re-approve the same very systems. He said that another hoax by SAD/BJP is property tax which is a bolt from the blue for the poor people. He condemned that those who failed to pay the hefty amounts of property tax are being traumatized by the officials beating drum outside their houses. Terming such actions as Tuglak shahi orders by Badals, Sh. Rintu said that the drums must be beaten outside the government offices as even the newly recruited police personnel haven’t yet even received a single salary, so the government is itself the defaulter of its own employees and traders. Students are waiting for their Laptops for the last two years so government is a defaulter of theirs too. The 8% DA which was to be paid from Janurary 2013 onwards is also pending.
Continuing his disclosing spree Sh. Rintu further said that Sh. Navjot Singh Sidhu brought a horrible present for Amritsar from Tarn Taran who not only brought corrupt leaders from there but also brought drugs and other menaces. He said that North Constituency of Amritsar gave mandate to Anil Joshi and made his a Cabinet Minister for Industry, Techinical Education and Mining. Talking of 1000 crore scam in PTU, Sh. Rintu pointed out that this fraud has been committed by the minister himself as Rs. 17 crore was paid to a bogus company by the minister for consultation fees in distance education program of the university. The enquired report of this scam is on the table of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and the file is serving a mean purpose of the SAD supremo i.e. keeping the reins of Anil Joshi into his hands to manage the departments on his own discretion.
Sh. Rintu said that as a result of this weak point into the hands of CM, Anil Joshi has become the real cause of industry’s destruction of Punjab. Explaining this Sh. Rintu said that there were around 45000 power looms in the city and around 18000 of these were in North Constituency only, now the situation due to this minister has gone too worse and almost all the power looms units are shut down and people are under heavy debts due to no industrial support policy. Explaining further Sh. Rintu said that the industrial units in Rattan Singh Chowk, Byepass, Batala Road etc. all are almost shut down or shifted to other states as government hasn’t provided any reliefs to the ailing industrial units. Sh. Rintu exclaimed the grief that SAD/BJP has created the milestones of corruption as this is the first time in history that the auction of the mining sites is done in High Court. A few months back CM Badal promised that the government will reduce the toll fees by 50% but now it gifted the state with an increase of 10% in the toll fees.
Talking of CM Parkash Singh Badal’s policy of using religion and region for gathering votes as a fraud with Punjab, Sh. Rintu said that now a days CM Badal is humming around Narender Modi and terming him as the perfect prime minister candidate is another face of Badal’s shrewd politics. He said Badals always used religious and regional sentiments of people to gather vote and the same is done by the Modi, that is why Badals are welcoming Modi so that they may create communal system which can easily be managed by fanatics like Modi. He said that Congress fought all the battles on the grounds of secularism and took all the communities, religions, castes etc. in confidence and then created governments but Modi and Badals are planning to build their future mandate on communal grounds. This is quite clear from CM Badal’s approach towards the issue of 50000 Sikh farmers in Gujarat. Further explaining this point, Sh. Rintu said that Badals provide Kucha Kotha grant to the villages only whereas there are many kucha slums in the cities too, electricity bill exemptions are given only to villages only and why not to cities where below the poverty line people are in abundance. This discrimination policy of Badal between rural and urban dwellers is a good example of how Badals gathers votes by alluring the poor and ignorant using regional tactics.
Sh. Rintu said that center government is always providing various schemes and grants to states as Food Security Ordinance, Land Acquisition Bill, National Rural Health Mission, Nrega, Jnnurm etc which have been acting as respiration for SAD/BJP government, but now due to mismanagement by Badals has put the government on ventilator support as it is consuming on the blood of poor ignorant masses and in near future the financial emergency of the state will push the ailing government to its self dug ditch.
Summing up his speech Sh. Rintu exclaimed that all this is utterly painful and horrible but is true to the depths. Therefore to save the state all the Punjabis and Indians have to come under the flag of AICC so that not only the states but entire country could be saved from the imminent threat of communal disharmony and financial emergencies. He thanked the PPCC chief Partap Singh Bajwa, leader of the opposition Sunil Jakhar, PPCC Vice President OP Soni and all the attendees and the public for support in solidarity mission. He insured Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Sh. Rahul Gandhi and PM Sh. Manmohan Singh that PPCC will surly prove its mettle in 2014 and 2017 elections. He further appealed to the PPCC family to settle petty issues if any so that the state may be saved from the hands of SAD/BJP.