Chandigarh: With the Congress government in
Punjab seeking support of the central government on several
state-related issues, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said that
so far, he has received "excellent" response from the Centre
and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The chief minister said that the state government has
been able to resolve some critical issues such as the
enhancement of the Cash Credit Limit (CCL) for food
procurement.
Several infrastructural development works have also
received a fillip following the intervention of the prime
minister and other ministers, Singh said.
On the Centre resolving state-related issues taken up by
his dispensation, he told PTI, "Frankly, I have, so far,
received excellent response from the Centre, including the
prime minister and all the union ministers."
"Of course they have their own compulsions, because of
which we have not succeeded in getting all the help we need to
bring the state back on the path of revival and growth.
"But we have been able to resolve some critical issues
such as enhancing the CCL, which has enabled us to ensure
smooth procurement and payment for the crops from our
farmers," he said.
"Many of the stalled infrastructural development works
have also received a huge fillip following the intervention by
the prime minister or other ministers," the chief minister
said.
Singh had met Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley a
few times after coming to power and had sought an increase in
the state's borrowing limit to fund farm debt waiver,
settlement of a Rs 31,000 crore of CCL legacy gap and
incentive for farmers to stop crop residue burning.
"Naturally, there is a lot more for which we are
expecting the Centre's help, including the critical issue of
incentivisation and compensation for farmers to check the
menace of stubble burning.
"I am hopeful that we shall be able to get things moving
on this and on other counts too. I see the central government
quite empathetic to our problems," he said.
On the Congress's poll promises, including debt waiver
and smart phones, the chief minister said, "We have already
started implementing the debt waiver scheme and I have made it
clear that farmers eligible for benefits would not have
to pay a paisa for the amount waived under the notification
issued."
"We are doing this despite the poor fiscal situation
prevailing in the state," he said.
Lashing out at the his political rivals, Singh alleged
that the opposition has been "misleading" farmers on the issue
for their own petty political gains, without taking into
account the effect it will have on them.
"This is the height of irresponsibility on the part of
the opposition. The opposition should, in fact, appreciate the
fact that despite the huge financial constraints, my
government has waived debt higher than most other states," he
said.
On smart phones, he said the government was in discussion
with some telecom companies to work out a scheme and would
start implementing the same soon.
"Let me remind you that we, at no point, promised
implementation of all our pre-poll commitments within the
first six months of assuming power. Implementation takes time,
especially when the financial constraints are so massive, and
we need to prioritise things," Singh said.
By all accounts, debt waiver was a bigger need than smart
phones, he said.
"Having said that, let me reiterate that not a single
poll promise will go unimplemented by my government," Singh
said.
