Chandigarh, January 1:
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday greeted the people on New Year, with hopes and prayers of early resolution of the problems of the peacefully protesting farmers, and emphasis on the importance of industry and communications for the state’s progress and employment generation for children.
While hoping for freedom from the pandemic, he also appealed to all Punjabis to continue to exercise caution and restraint amid the outbreak of a new more contagious strain of Covid in many parts of the world.
Congratulating the farmers for continuing to exercise their democratic and Constitutional right to protest in a peaceful manner, the Chief Minister said they had won the hearts of the people worldwide with their behaviour. Not a single instance of rioting or violence was resorted to by the agitating farmers earlier during their protest in Punjab, and now at the Delhi borders, he pointed out.
In his live message, the Chief Minister lauded the courage of Punjabis, who had not only fought the pandemic bravely but also continued to deliver excellent performance across agriculture, industry and trade and other fields despite the problems faced during the year gone by. He made particular mention of all the frontline workers, including doctors, nurses, paramedics, police etc, who had bravely fought through the pandemic to protect the people of Punjab. He, however, warned that Covid had not yet ended and urged the people to continue to take care of themselves and their families.
In a tough year, marked by the Covid crisis since March 22, 2020 followed by the prolonged farmers’ fight for justice, the state had witnessed record production of wheat and rice, said Captain Amarinder. In fact, Punjabis had continued to do their duties unwaveringly, with full commitment and courage, on all fronts even in these trying conditions, he said. He also cited the examples of trade and industry, which had revived successfully due to the hard work of Punjabis after facing total shutdown for several months. All the 240000 industrial units in Ludhiana are now open, he noted, adding that even at present, industries worth Rs 65000-Rs 70000 crore were being set up in Punjab.
Stressing that “the world is recognising the accomplishments of Punjab”, the Chief Minister said this underlined the appreciation for Punjabis’ bravery, the state’s success in controlling Covid and the fact that it was free of any law and order problem. “It is important to ensure that investment and industry keeps coming into the state for the generation of employment for our children so that they do not go out of Punjab for jobs,” he added.
Captain Amarinder noted that in the modern electronic age, where communication was critical to progress and speed was of essence, Punjab could not afford to lag behind and needed to move forward with aggression, at a fast pace.
Expressing the hope that 2021 will see a new era of progress being ushered into the state, with the problems of the farmers being quickly solved, the Chief Minister asserted that his government would do everything in its power to push development and resolve any other issues facing the state.
He said he felt blessed to be an important part of the auspicious occasions of the historic Prakash Parvs of various Sikh Gurus for the second time in his life. In his previous term as chief minister, he had led various historic religious celebrations, he said. And in this term, after the momentous celebrations of the 550th Prakash Parv of Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji, he was happy to be steering the glorious celebrations of the 400th birth anniversary of Hind ki Chadar, Sri Guru Teg Bahadur ji, who had given up his life for Kashmiri Pandits, thus underlining the timelessness of Hindu-Sikh unity. This unity has always been there and shall always remain, he said.
Wishing all citizens and their families good health and happiness, the Chief Minister said with the end of what was clearly one of the worst years of his life, he hoped for ‘Chardi Kalan’ for all, with the desires of every Punjabi being fulfilled in 2021.
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