DW BUREAU / Sangrur

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann Sunday said his government was following the footsteps of legendary martyrs to ensure the state's development and people's wellbeing, especially those from the economically weaker sections.

He was addressing a gathering during an event to mark the death anniversary of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Dhadogal here today. On the occasion, Mann laid the foundation stone of two road projects in Dhuri that have an outlay of Rs 17.21 crore.

The first road is being built by the Punjab Mandi Board, connecting a link road from Dhuri-Amargarh Road to Dhuri-Chheenta Wala Road, passing through Dhadhogal, Burj Gohra, Burj Seda, Cheema, Bhari Mansa, and Samundgarh Chhanna.

Similarly, the other road is being constructed by the Public Works Department, connecting Amargarh to the Dhuri-Bagrian Road, passing through Dhadhogal, Kheri Jattan, Lohar Majra, and the Electricity Colony.

In his speech, Mann said every inch of this sacred land has the footprints of great Gurus, saints, seers, martyrs and poets.

Punjabis have been blessed with an indomitable spirit of hard work and resilience, due to which they carve out space for themselves, the chief minister said.

"The state government is making concerted efforts to realise the dreams of martyrs to ensure that the fruits of freedom are percolating to every household.".

It is unfortunate that even after more than 75 years of freedom from British rule, the fruits of freedom have still not reached every household, Mann said.

He said that those in power had misused the freedom to spread the tentacles of chitta (drugs), amass wealth by plundering the masses, encouraging corruption along with other menaces. He said that the dreams of martyrs have still not been realized as these people have never made any concerted effort for this.

The Chief Minister said that Punjabis have played a great role in national freedom and no NOC from those in power is required for their patriotism. He said that such type of disrespect to these great patriots and national leaders cannot be tolerated at any cost. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that the earlier governments had never bothered about the people and had ruined the system due to which youth wanted to move abroad.

The Chief Minister said that ironically due to poor performance of the previous regimes the youth of our state wanted to go and work in the same country, the rulers of which were ousted by our martyrs and nationalists. Training his guns at his predecessors, he said that these leaders had built huge palaces by amassing whopping wealth by misusing their official positions. He said that the walls of these palatial palaces were high and the gates usually remained closed for the people and these leaders remained inaccessible to the people due to which they were ousted by the masses.

The Chief Minister bemoaned that the state had lagged behind in the pace of development due to the apathetic attitude of the traditional political parties. He said that the leaders of these parties ruined the younger generations of the state by misusing their power. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that these leaders had never worried about the welfare of the people but they were focused on the prosperity of their own families.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister to commemorate the historic occasion of the 350th Martyrdom Day of the 'Hind Di Chadar' (Protector of India), Guru Teg Bahadur Sahib Ji, the Punjab Government will organize grand and historic events. He said that comprehensive development of places having the footsteps of the Guru Sahib will be ensured for which a detailed plan has been already chalked out. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that the state government is committed for perpetuating the glorious legacy of Guru Sahib for our coming generations.

The Chief Minister reiterated that the state government will adopt no leniency towards the 'Jarnails' who were the perpetrators behind the genocide of youth through the curse of drugs. He said that the Jarnails who had patronized the drug trade have already been put behind bars adding that these leaders not only used to patronize drug trade across the state but ironically they even sold/ supplied the drugs in their official government vehicles. He said that in the past no one had previously dared to arrest these affluent leaders, but now his government has done so and they will have to pay the price for their sins.

The Chief Minister said that when he assumed office, only 21% of agricultural land across the state was irrigated using canal water, but today that figure has increased to 63%. He said that due to the government's effective efforts, for the first time in history, canal and river water is reaching the tail-end villages of the state. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that the Punjab government is duty bound to save the water of the state and no stone is being left unturned for it.

(editor@dailyworld.in)