Centre has different yardsticks for non-Cong states: Pb govt

The Punjab government today accused the Centre for following different yardsticks for non-Congress ruled states and asked it to "stop discrimination" against the state on industrial front.
Referring to a letter written by the Centre to the state government expressing its inability to offer incentives to Punjab at par with hilly states saying, "the industrial backwardness criterion does not hold good in the case of Punjab," state minister Anil Joshi said the Union Government was elected for the entire country, but was following different yardsticks for non-Congress ruled states.
Punjab government has been demanding fiscal packages on the lines of its neighbouring states like Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir.

Joshi claimed he had sought appointments with Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma to discuss granting of special packages to border districts of Punjab, but "Centre has announced the extension of industrial incentives only to Congress-ruled states".