Guarantees fulfilled, state on path of progress, says Punjab CM Mann

The CM also spoke about providing 300 units of free electricity to domestic consumers, electricity to farmers during the daytime, opening of ‘Aam Aadmi Clinics’ and providing up to ₹10 lakh of cashless medical treatment under Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojna.

Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday said his government has fulfilled all the pre-poll ‘guarantees’ within four years of his term and the state is moving forward on the path of progress.

Chief minister Bhagwant Mann interacting with the media on the completion of four years of his government in Chandigarh on Monday. (Ravi Kumar/Ht)

Releasing a booklet on his government’s achievements, ‘Shandaar char saal, Bhagwant Mann de naal’ (Glorious four years with Bhagwant Mann), the CM, spoke about providing 300 units of free electricity to domestic consumers, providing electricity to farmers during the daytime, opening of ‘Aam Aadmi Clinics’ and providing up to ₹10 lakh of cashless medical treatment under Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojna.

“We have even moved beyond that. Now, in one year (ahead of the 2027 state polls), we will implement all the projects which are underway,” Mann said, while addressing mediapersons here on the completion of four years of the government in the state.

Mann, who took oath on March 16, 2022, said the state cabinet in its first meeting decided to give 300-unit free power to all households, and this decision has benefitted 90% of the state population.

Describing his style of ‘Kamm di rajneeti’ (politics of work), Mann said, “We fulfilled our first poll promise in July. He also spoke about the resumption of coal supply from Pachwara coal mine and buying a 540 MW private power plant at an outlay of ₹1,080 crore.

“We took over the state’s own coal mine in Pachhwara, Odisha, which offered free flow of coal supply to our thermal power stations in Ropar and Lehra Mohabbat and last year, GVK owned a 540 MW thermal power plant in Goindwal Sahib, which was taken over and was renamed Guru Amar Das thermal plant,” he said.

Key achievements

According to the CM, apart from the initiative of free power, his government also ensured that canal water reached 78% of the cultivated area, gave 65,000 government jobs and opened 881 Aam Aadmi Clinics.

“Over 200 more such clinics would come up. The number of OPD visits in these clinics crossed 5 crore, indicating people’s trust in their services,” he said. He further said his government started Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojna under which cashless medical treatment of up to ₹10 lakh will be provided to every resident family.

“Seven new medical colleges are being built in Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Sangrur, SBS Nagar, Lehragaga, Malerkotla and Ludhiana, adding up 600 new MBBS seats,” the CM said.

“Work on 6,000 more grounds will start soon, and free sports kits including cricket, volleyball and football equipment will be provided in all village playgrounds,” he said.

“Our government received an investment of ₹1.55 lakh crore during the past four years, and in the Progressive Punjab investment summit that concluded on Sunday, has Japan, North Korea and the UK as partners, the CM claimed.

Speaking on the agricultural sector, the CM said that farmers in the flood-hit areas have been paid compensation of ₹20,000 per acre. “In the last four years, 76,000 families have received support to build their own homes, including 30,000 families affected by floods,” he said, adding that despite Centre not releasing the ₹8,000 crore rural development fund, the state government is building 40,000km of rural link roads.

Talking about upcoming initiatives, Mann stated that the state is likely to host the Asia Cup Hockey after a long gap. A stadium at Burlton Park, Jalandhar, is being rebuild and the one in Mohali will also be used for the tournament. He also announced a world-class international cricket stadium being constructed in Amritsar. He also announced that the Tata Steel project will start its operations in Punjab on March 20, the company’s biggest investment outside Jamshedpur.

Bishnoi getting ‘VIP’ treatment in Gujarat jail

The CM also accused the Centre of providing ‘VIP treatment’ to dreaded gangster Lawrence Bishnoi in Sabarmati jail in Gujarat.

Mann said the Centre was more concerned about the safety of Bishnoi, as the Union home ministry has issued an order that he can’t be questioned by state investigating agencies anywhere except in the Gujarat jail.

“Union home minister Amit Shah himself spoke about the gangsters during his visit to Punjab, but Lawrence Bishnoi is being given VIP facility in Sabarmati jail in Gujarat,” Mann said.

Lawrence Bishnoi is one of the main accused in the 2022 murder of Sidhu Moose Wala.

On Shah’s promise of bringing an anti-conversion law during a rally in Moga, Mann slammed the BJP for wanting to provoke religious conflicts. “Wherever they form the government, there are inter-religion fights,” he alleged.

“Their (BJP) religious card won’t work in Punjab,” Mann said. He, however, added that religious conversions through “greed” are wrong.