People's Party of Punjab chief Manpreet Singh Badal on Saturday urged chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal to follow the example of Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar in austerity.
"If Khattar can travel to Delhi by Shatabdi Express, there is no reason why the Punjab leaders should go to nearby places like Fatehgarh Sahib and Patiala in a helicopter when the state is virtually bankrupt. There have been examples when the chief minister travelled from his residence in Chandigarh to Mohali by air. A state like Punjab cannot sustain such ostentatious lifestyle. It is the rulers who have to set an example," Manpreet said in a statement.
He said the problem with Punjab was that the rulers had adopted a high-flying lifestyle, wasting the precious resources of the state. Even while travelling by road, which is rare and mainly when the clearance was not given to fly due to bad weather, they moved in big caravans with a large number of security vehicles, creating problems for people.
Manpreet called for cutting down such unnecessary expenditure and to divert this towards the welfare of people.
{{/usCountry}}Manpreet called for cutting down such unnecessary expenditure and to divert this towards the welfare of people.
{{/usCountry}}He said the deputy chief minister, during his raid on a police station in SAS Nagar, had himself seen the prevailing state of affairs. He said that was the situation as far as providing security to the common man was concerned. On the other hand, dozens of securitymen travelled with the ministers, he added.