Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann today said the 2015 sacrilege incidents would never be forgotten by the people of Punjab, no matter how much the Shiromani Akali Dal leadership (SAD) sought to project itself as custodians of the Sikh Panth.
Addressing a “Lok Milni” at Charik village in Moga, CM Mann said the anti-sacrilege law brought in by his government would ensure such incidents were not repeated.
He slammed SAD for allegedly ordering the removal of identity cards carrying his photograph from elderly pilgrims visiting the Golden Temple, Amritsar, under the Tirath Yatra scheme.
CM Mann said the ID cards had been issued to pilgrims, most of them elderly, purely to help identify and trace them in case they got separated amid the heavy rush at the shrine. He alleged that these cards were removed at the direction of SAD, which he said continued to control gurdwara affairs.
Women, whose registrations under the Mawan Dhiyan Satkar Yojana got delayed, would still receive benefits under the scheme, he said.
Canal water irrigation
Listing his government’s initiatives, CM Mann said the decision to provide daytime electricity to farmers had transformed rural life. He pointed out that encroached water distributaries had been reclaimed and canal water was now reaching the tail end villages, with utilisation rising from 22 per cent to 88 per cent.
No instance of corruption
He said corruption had been completely eliminated, asserting that 68,000 jobs had been provided in the state. CM Mann challenged his critics to point to a single instance of corruption in recruitment over the past four-and-a-half years.
CM Mann said the SAD had been reduced to such a state that it could not even field candidates on 117 Assembly seats. He added that the Congress had more aspirants for the chief ministerial post than active workers.
990 mohalla clinics running
He said the state had 990 mohala clinics, with 100 more coming up and 300 further planned, offering 46 tests and 126 medicines free of cost, along with 5.5 crore consultations recorded.