No one will be allowed to disturb Punjab's hard-earned peace: CM Bhagwant Mann
Chandigarh (PTI): Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday said his government was committed to maintaining law and order in the state and no one would be allowed to disturb the hard-earned peace.
Referring to the insurgency period in Punjab, Mann said the state and its people have suffered a lot in the past and they only want peace and progress.
Though some fissiparous forces are continuously trying to derail the peace and progress of the state, their nefarious designs will not be allowed to succeed, the chief minister said, adding no one will be allowed to disturb the hard-earned peace in the state.
He reiterated that those who carried the Guru Granth Sahib to a police station in Ajnala in Amritsar as a shield cannot be called the 'waris' (heir) of Punjab.
His remarks came days after self-styled Sikh preacher and Khalistani sympathiser Amritpal Singh and his supporters, some of them brandishing swords and guns, broke through barricades and barged into a police station in Ajnala on the outskirts of the Amritsar city on Thursday, extracting an assurance from the police that his aide and kidnapping case accused Lovepreet Singh would be released.
Amritpal heads an organisation called 'Waris Punjab De."
This is an unpardonable crime which must be condemned by one and all, Mann was quoted as saying in an official statement.
Bhagwant Mann said, "The Guru Granth Sahib is a source of inspiration for all of us and we must take inspiration from it rather than taking cover under it for protection from unlawful activities."
The AAP government in Punjab has come under opposition attack which has alleged that the law-and-order situation in the state has broken down.
The chief minister, speaking in Gujarat's Bhavnagar, said that some people funded from across the border are trying to destabilise peace and progress in Punjab.
Such people are acting as puppets in the hands of Pakistan. But the Punjab Police personnel are capable of safeguarding the interests of the state and its people, Mann said.
He said that, earlier, parties used to seek votes on the "divisive agenda".
However, a paradigm shift was witnessed in the political system with the entry of AAP, which forced the traditional parties to reset their agenda, Mann said.
He said the AAP was a party of warriors who can do anything for the well-being of the people.
In mere 11 months, the AAP government has fulfilled the major guarantees promised to the people. Top priority is being accorded to health, education and employment, Mann said.
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Kumaraswamy to visit Andrew Yule's tea gardens in Assam soon
Guwahati(PTI): Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Monday said he would soon visit tea gardens, owned by public sector enterprise Andrew Yule, to revive its estates as workers are facing immense hardship.
Kumaraswamy, the minister of steel and heavy industries, thanked Assam Industries Minister Bimal Borah for apprising him of various challenges being faced by the tea gardens and the need to support the management to alleviate suffering of workers.
"We are concerned about the economic challenges and hardship of the tea gardens owned by Andrew Yule Group in Assam and its impact on the wage earners," Kumaraswamy said at a press conference here.
The tea garden wage earners will also get a 20 per cent Durga Puja bonus, like workers of other gardens, he said.
Referring to his recent visit to the Cement Corporation of India Ltd factory at Bokajan in Karbi Anglong district, Kumaraswamy said there was a plan for the revival of the cement industry in the state by investing Rs 700 crore.
He also emphasised on the need for a cement manufacturing unit in the northeastern states.
On the current development of Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) policy utilisation in Assam, the union minister said more than Rs 2,000 crore would be invested for battery charging stations and nearly 70,000 such facilities will be set up across the country.
More than 18,000 e-buses will also be purchased to fulfil the goal of carbon emission reduction, Kumaraswamy added.
