P unjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Navjot Singh Sidhu has written a letter to the party’s interim president Sonia Gandhi, seeking time to discuss issues related to the 2022 Assembly elections. He shared on Twitter on Sunday a copy of the letter dated 15 October, Friday. Talking of the “priority areas that Punjab government must deliver upon” Sidhu requested for a meeting to present his 13-point agenda, which he thinks should be made part of the Congress election manifesto. Calling this “Punjab’s last chance for resurrection and redemption”, he said that he has come to this conclusion “after multiple deliberations and consultations with party workers from across Punjab and with a deep understanding of the public sentiment over 17 years of public life”. “I express with a lot of pain in my heart that this is Punjab’s last chance for resurrection and redemption,” he added. “The issues at Punjab’s heart as understood very well by you, and signified by the 18-Point agenda given to the last Chief Minister are equally relevant today. I stood for each point in that agenda through the responsibility vested in me of the organization, keeping the executive under check, to be the guardian of Punjab’s rights,” said Sidhu in his letter. Sidhu stated that Punjab for decades was the richest state of the country and today it is the most indebted state. He further said that Punjab is submerged under lakhs of crores of debt due to gross financial mismanagement over the last 25 years and diversion of public resources making a few powerful people rich while leaving the state “debt-distressed”. Sidhu in his letter further alleged, “It has been supplemented by 7 years of BJP rule discriminating against Punjab while paying its financial dues such as GST payments, Rural Development Fund payments, Post-Matric Scholarship for Scheduled Castes payments etc. Subsequently, the increasing debt overhead Punjab has led to our financial resources being
used for merely paying off the old debt and interest upon it.”
Sidhu said in his letter, every year, Punjab has to take new debt to support basic development works, to invest in 60:40 shared Central development schemes, providing healthcare, education and infrastructure needs of the stat.
He added that Punjab has nearly one lakh vacant government posts, caused by the “lack of resources”. Government hirings are at “lowest wages” and contractual, school teachers have to work on probation for 4 years on minimum wages, “delays in implementation” of 6th Pay Commission by five years are all due to “state not having enough resources”.
Sidhu also mentioned drug menace in his letter, writing, drugs have “plagued almost an entire generation” of Punjab. He suggested a solution to the problem by writing, “This requires a stern action, as I always reiterate all corruption flows from the top, thus heads must roll from the top. The Big-Fish behind drug trafficking in Punjab as mentioned in the STF report must be immediately arrested and given exemplary punishment.”
On agriculture, the Punjab Congress chief says that while agriculture is the backbone of Punjab, “as we all protest against the Centre’s three black laws, the government of Punjab must reject them completely by announcing that they will not be implemented in Punjab at any cost. As we did in the case of Satluj Yamuna Link Canal (SYL), such stern resolve is needed today. This resolve must be supported on the ground by bringing in structural changes.”
Raising the issue of electricity, Sidhu writes that cheap and 24 hour electric supply should be provided to all domestic consumers, especially urban domestic consumers who suffer the most due to cross-subsidy burden upon them, as power tariff for industrial and commercial use, and give free power for agriculture is decreased. He further said that fixed power subsidy must be given to all domestic consumers, be it the decreasing price of power to 3 Rs per unit or 300 units of free power to all.
Writing on his 13-point agenda, Sidhu also mentioned, “Release White-Paper on Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and cancellation of all faulty PPAs as promised along with considering the present coal-shortage in the country, Punjab must move towards smart, cheap and efficient PPAs to meet state’s power demands, with a special focus on cheap solar power and aggressively pursuing grid-connected roof-top and institutional solar.”
Writing on Scheduled Caste and Backward Class welfare, Sidhu wrote, “Even after High Command’s progressive decision of appointing a Dalit Chief Minister to give the under-privileged more voice in the Government, it has not been supported in the State in equal measure, we should have at least one Mazbhi Sikh in Cabinet, representation to Dalits from Doaba, at least two representatives from Backward Caste Community in the Cabinet. Special package of 25 Crore for development of reserved constituencies.”
“We must fulfil our promise of 5 Marla plots to SCs, money for pakka ceiling for every Dalit household, agricultural lands to landless poor, fixing responsibility and initiating an inquiry into Post-Matric scholarship scam, while clearing dues to the Dalits students for pursuing their education further,” he added.
Stressing on the issue of employment generation, Sidhu suggested filling up of thousands of vacant government posts on a regular basis, while also addressing the grievances of the employees’ unions. “More than 20 Unions are protesting across the state. We must take their demands under compassionate consideration. The government must open doors for discussion, consultation and deliver what it can, considering its fiscal means,” Sidhu’s letter reads. He suggested that more emphasis should be given to bringing industries to Punjab especially in areas such as agro-processing, knitting and hosiery.
The immediate focus should be on implementing more reforms to promote Ease of Doing Business (EoDB), enabling time-bound single-window clearances, supporting MSMEs with a specific focus on employment-generating industries, he wrote
He also recommended that Punjab must bring in a youth policy to increase participation of the youth in governance, adding that emphasis should be on enhancing and enabling infrastructure on sports, skill development and startup culture. Concrete measures should be taken to increase the participation of women in politics, governance and opportunities for employment, he added.
He also raised the issue of liquor by writing, “I have been fighting for this cause since the first Cabinet meeting of our government in 2017, Punjab must monopolise liquor trade in the State, by bringing it under a state-run Corporation, as in case of Tamil Nadu, Punjab should own distilleries and liquor vends, giving at least 20,000 crores more revenue to the state along with thousands of jobs.”
He added, “I further request you to kindly give me a personal audience to present to you the Punjab Model with a 13-Point Agenda to be part of the Congress Manifesto for the 2022 Assembly Elections, which is separate from this by means of its long-term vision to be implemented over a longer period of time, have crafted it through years of consultations with academics, civil society, party workers and feedback from the People of Punjab.”
Following are the issues raised by Sidhu: justice for sacrilege, drugs, agriculture, electricity, PPAs, Scheduled Caste & Backward Caste welfare, employment, single window system and comparative advantage, women and youth empowerment, liquor, sand mining, transport and cable mafia.
