Punjabs 9th Plan Size Proposed At Rs 14,000 Crore

Punjab has proposed the size of its Ninth five-year Plan at Rs 14,000 crore, which is more than double the size of the Eighth Plan of Rs 6,570 crore. This was disclosed by chief minister Prakash Singh Badal at a press meet here today.

Punjabs draft plan is expected to be approved on Monday in Delhi during a meeting between a delegation of the state government to be led by Badal and deputy chairman of the Planning Commission Madhu Dandavate.

The major thrust in the Ninth Plan to be spread over from 1997-98 to 2001-2002 will be on rural development, agriculture, power, irrigation, roads and bridges and building social infrastructure like schools and dispensaries.

Badal stressed that in order to accelerate the pace of economic development, his government was committed to maintaining peace and normalcy in the state. He said some elements, including foreign powers and their agents trying to disturb the peace in Punjab will be dealt with a firm hand. The chief minister said the morale of the Punjab police remains high and ruled out the possibility of a return of terrorism in the state. He also sought the co-operation of all political parties and the public at large for the maintenance of peace in the state.

The Chief Ministervirtually ruled out the possibility of setting up a commission, as promised in the partys poll manifesto to go into the causes of the birth and rise of terrorism in Punjab. He argued : I feel such a commission will not serve any useful purpose. We have to look forward to the future now. There is no point indulging in mud-slinging now.

But he insisted that the centre should favourably settle all the pending issues, including the transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab and fixing an equitable share of Punjab in the river-waters. He remarked : Punjab has been asking for its rights. We have not been seeking any favours. Replying to other questions, Badal said Queen Elizabeth during her coming visit to Amritsar in October should apologise for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. He said he would also take up the matter with the Prime Minister regarding the return of many precious relics, including the famous Kohinoor from the British government. Badal also agreed with a reporter that the central government should apologize for the Operation Bluestar in the Golden Temple in June 1984.

Badal said that his party did not have any major differences with the BJP, the alliance partner. Answering a direct question, he declared that he did not propose to resign as Akali Dal President in order to follow the one-man one-post principle. He quipped : If one gets two shirts to wear, why should one discard one.