Badal writes to Rajnath, demands joint team for border

In the wake of the Pathankot terror attack, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today wrote to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh seeking setting up of a joint team of officials of the state and Central security agencies to visit the border with Pakistan, identify vulnerable spots and plug them.
Badal sought a team comprising Secretary of Border Management, Home Department; Director General, Border Security Force (BSF); Director, Intelligence Bureau (IB) and State Police to inspect the condition of the border fencing in Punjab -- mainly Gurdaspur and Amritsar districts -- and adjoining area of Jammu, besides identifying the vulnerable points and suggesting methods to seal them, biannually or as required.

In a letter to the Union Home Minister, Badal wanted him to accord top most priority to this exercise to be undertaken by the joint team to ensure security of the border and safety of the people residing in its vicinity.
The Chief Minister informed Rajnath Singh that there have been instances in recent past of suicide attacks in Punjab at Dinanagar on July 27, 2015 and Pathankot airforce base on January 1.
These suicide attackers are suspected to have intruded into India from the international border in Punjab or adjoining area of Jammu and Kashmir, he said.
In last one year, there have been several incidents of border crossing in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab due to the difficult terrain in the region, despite fencing at most parts of the border.

In recent years, BSF and Punjab Police have also seized a sizeable number of consignments of arms and ammunition near the border fencing.

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Badal said the strings of AAP was being pulled by
non-Punjabis who were resorting to "use and throw" policy towards local leaders.
Listing major initiatives of the SAD-BJP government, he claimed it has supplied Rs 50,000 crore worth of free power to farmers in the last 10 years to bail them out from agrarian crisis.
Badal claimed in a first-of-its-kind scheme, farmers will be provided interest free crop loans of Rs 50,000.
It also been decided, all farmers would covered by health insurance of Rs 50,000 and a Rs 5 lakh insurance in case of accidental death or incapacitation as head of family, he said.

Countering Haryana's objection on naming the international airport in Chandigarh as Mohali International Airport, Badal said, "It was justified as the airport was in Mohali and no questions should be raised on it."
Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, yesterday, had slammed Punjab government for prefixing "Mohali" instead of "Chandigarh".
Assailing AAP for giving "frivolous" statements, Badal alleged an AAP leader has equalled their leadership with 'Panj Piyaras' and the act of pasting their election symbol on picture of Sri Darbar Sahib reflects their scant respect for the Sikh religion.
Terming the acts of Congress MLAs as "shameless" in the recently concluded Punjab Assembly, he said, "These leaders have insulted democratic norms. The use of unparliamentary language by Congress legislators was a condemnable act."

"These acts might have helped the Congress leaders in making headlines but has disgraced the democracy," he said, adding Punjab has immensely benefited from the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre.