Demand to declare Batala as district under review: Punjab CM
Darpan News Desk IANS, 07 Sep, 2021 11:45 AM
Chandigarh, Sep 7 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said the demand for declaring Batala as a district was already under consideration and a final decision would be taken after due consideration of various issues involved.
He had received a similar representation from another Congress leader last month and was looking into the matter, said the Chief Minister on Monday, in response to the demand raised by his cabinet colleagues Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.
Further, there have been some reports in the media over the past few days indicating that citizens of Batala have also publicly raised the demand for a new district to be carved out of their region, he pointed out.
The Chief Minister expressed surprise that neither Tripat nor Sukhjinder had seen the reports in the public domain nor deemed it fit to discuss the issue with him before shooting off a joint letter in this manner.
"Had they come to me and spoken about it, I would have told them that I am already looking into the matter, and would have even consulted them in this regard," said Amarinder Singh in a statement, taking a dig at the two ministers.
Amarinder Singh said MP Pratap Bajwa had already demanded a district status for Batala, in his letter dated August 11 and had cited Batala's historic importance and its connection with Guru Nanak Dev, who had married Mata Sulakhni in Batala in 1487.
The Chief Minister said he was cognisant of Batala's significance to the state's history and culture, as well as the public sentiment. He would discuss the issue with various stakeholders before taking a decision, he added.
His government, said Amarinder Singh, had identified 103 places in 79 villages and 24 towns, blessed with Guru Sahib's visit (Charan Chhoh) during his lifetime. Funds had been allocated and efforts were being made to ensure development of each of them in different ways, he said, adding that a lot of thinking and consultation had gone into the process.
The Chief Minister further said steps were continuously being taken to explore ways to ensure the infrastructural development and progress of all historic towns and places in the state, especially those which are in any way linked to any of the Gurus.
He would do everything in his power to ensure that Batala also gets its due, he added.
Two sisters, aged 38 and 40, told police that the accused confined one of them in a room for four days. The technician's friend also allegedly raped one of the victims.
The deceased were identified as Rinki Kumari, Karisma Kumari, Lado Kumari and their aunt Sonam Devi. All of them were residents of Baratandi village. Another minor girl named Vibha Kumari is battling for her life in RIMS Pawapuri.
The BJP government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not allowed a single terrorist act to take place except for a few incidents at the border. The policy is zero tolerance to terrorism. The government has never let down the morale of soldiers and armed forces in the last 7 years, Joshi explained.
Addressing the media here to launch the party's campaign 'Gall Punjab Di', the SAD chief said he would hold 700 public meetings and address each and every section of the society during his 100-day yatra during the course of which SAD workers would go to each and every village and ward in the state.
Amidst the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, the Indian government decided to recall all embassy personnel from Kabul and they were evacuated by an Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft on Tuesday. The IAF aircraft brought back 120 Indian officials, including the last batch of the Indian embassy staff and ITBP personnel, from the Kabul airport.
Newly-appointed Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Monday appointed Jalandhar Cantt MLA and his close confidant Pargat Singh as the new general secretary of Punjab Congress ahead of the Assembly elections in the state scheduled next year.
