Chandigarh: The AAP on Saturday presented a report card of six months of its government in Punjab and hit back at the opposition parties, daring them to prove any major work done within six months of their governments during their decades old regime. AAP chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang said the ruling dispensation has provided 20,000 jobs, 300 units of free electricity per month, strict action against corruption, minimum support price on 'moong' crop, and opened 100 'mohalla clinics'.
The party's reaction came a day after the Opposition launched a scathing attack against the state government, alleging it sold dreams to people of Punjab before polls, but failed on all fronts after coming to power. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab completed six months in power on September 16.
Addressing media here, AAP leader Kang said under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, this government hit the ground from day one, unlike the previous governments which only befooled the public and spent taxpayers' money to fill their own coffers. He challenged the Congress and Akali Dal to prove that their governments had done more work in the first six months.
"I dare Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa and SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal to list any major work they had done within six months after forming their parties' governments during their decades old regime. They just looted the people and are now so frustrated with the AAP's clean working that they are levelling baseless accusations," Kang alleged.
Listing out the performance of the AAP government, Kang said the Mann government has given 20,000 jobs and regularised services of around 9,000 contractual employees as promised in its poll-promise. He said Punjab is an agri-oriented state, the entire economy of Punjab depends on agriculture despite previous governments failing to bring reforms.
For the first time in the history of Punjab, minimum support price (MSP) was given for the cultivation of moong by the government, he said. In order to save fertility of Punjab's water and soil, the government is giving an incentive of Rs 1,500 per acre to farmers. Pending compensation to cotton farmers of the Malwa region which had been pending since 2020 was also cleared by the Mann government.
The government is giving 300 units of free electricity to people, he stated. Likewise, the Punjab Roadways had always been in loss because fleets of private transporters continued to be encouraged. But now it is in profit and buses for NRIs to the Delhi airport have also been started by the government, he said.
He said the state government started 'Khedan Watan Punjab Diyan' to promote sports in the state and has even started the Balbir Singh Senior scholarship scheme for players. On corruption, he said the Mann government cracked a whip against corrupt people by arresting former ministers and senior bureaucrats stating that the AAP has a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption.
Kang further said the AAP government freed over 10,000 acres of encroached land from the clutches of influential people. With the opening of 100 mohalla clinics, so far 1.50 lakh people have been treated and more than 20,000 free medical tests have been conducted, he said. The state government also formed an anti-gangster task force and more than 300 people associated with organised crime have been arrested, while over 4,000 peddlers have been arrested to break the nexus of drug smuggling in Punjab.
(PTI)
