Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has said that “revival of confidence” across all sections of society has been the biggest achievement of the Congress government in the State in the last one year.
He said that farm issues remain the priority of his government, which is also focussed on attracting investment, skill development and crop diversification, among other steps required to revive the economic growth.
“Revival of confidence across all sections of society is, in my opinion, the biggest achievement of my government during this one year. In the decade of the SAD-BJP misrule, people had lost all confidence and trust in governance, administrative and police functions,” Capt. Singh said when asked what was his government’s biggest achievement in the first year of the term.
Capt. Singh, along with his Ministers, was sworn in on March 16, 2017, after the Congress stormed to power in the Assembly polls.
“It has been a successful roller-coaster ride for my government. Roller coaster because of the sheer challenge of battling the fiscal mess and overall development crisis that we inherited from the previous government, and successful because, notwithstanding these problems, we have done and achieved far more than was feasible under the circumstances.”
Asked about the major challenges of his government, the Chief Minister said, “The major challenge has, of course, been the paucity of funds and resources. But we are on top of it and have found new ways of generating revenue.”
With the Opposition criticising the Congress government for not fulfilling poll promises like implementing complete farm debt waiver and smartphones, Capt. Singh lashed out at the Akalis and the AAP for resorting to “blatant fabrications and petty street politics”.
“As far as debt waiver is concerned, we had not defined any time frame to complete the process post-government formation… Yet, I have committed to completing the first phase of the waiver (covering 1.25 million farmers) by November this year, and I can assure these farmers that they would be free of their debts in another few months,” he asserted.
Investment proposals
The Chief Minister said his government has received several investment proposals ranging from solar power to tourism, agro and food processing, health, education, and manufacturing.
On prospects of the Congress nationwide, he said, “While things began looking up much earlier, the elevation of Rahul Gandhi as the party president has given a major fillip to the party’s prospects and the results will be even more tangible in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.”
