Chandigarh, July 21
Criticising the Punjab Congress government for discriminating against small and medium enterprises and business entities in the state and giving huge power subsidy to a few crony industries; the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) senior leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Punjab Assembly, Harpal Singh Cheema said that the Congress government should stop the discrimination in giving power subsidy and other concessions to the industrialists and traders. He demanded that the Punjab government should formulate a transparent, balanced and streamlined policy to provide more subsidies to the industries including electricity to save the industry and business world which was facing severe financial crisis due to deadly policies and Covid pandemic.
In a statement issued from the party headquarters here on Wednesday, Harpal Singh Cheema alleged that the Captain Amarinder Singh-led Congress government had discriminated against the industries of the state in providing power supply and power subsidy. “The Captain government is looting the state’s treasury on a few of his favorite industrialists. The biggest hit in Punjab is small and medium enterprises,” he added. Cheema said that just as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was looting the coffers of the entire country on his few favorites, so was Captain Amarinder Singh.
Harpal Singh Cheema said that Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, following the footsteps of his boss Prime Minister Narendra Modi; should refrain from benefiting his cronies. He asked that the power subsidy given to the farmers and poor families was being trumpeted by the Captain government, but why crores of rupees of power subsidy given to the rich industrialists were hidden from the people of Punjab. Cheema said that due to the wrong policies of Vajpayee, Dr Manmohan Singh and now the Narendra Modi government at the Center, as well as the Badals and the Captain government; the industrialists were leaving Punjab to set up their businesses in Uttar Pradesh and other states.
The LoP said that shifting of industries which were developed on the map of Punjab from Ludhiana, Mandi Gobindgarh, Batala and Amritsar to other states, was not only a slap in the face of the ruling government but also very detrimental to the economy of Punjab. “As a result, lakhs of private sector jobs have been lost in the state and people have become unemployed,” he added.
Harpal Singh Cheema demanded from the Punjab Government to formulate a sound industrial policy for the betterment of the industries in the state so that small, medium and large scale industries could be given the benefit of subsidy in a balanced ratio. He also demanded a waiver of fixed charge from March 2020 onwards for industries which were suffering due to Covid pandemic.
