Badal praises UPA for support to Punjab

Chandigarh, June 11 (UNI) The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-BJP government, which assumed power in Punjan in March this year, has appreciated the positive response of the UPA government towards the problems of the state.

''I have interacted with 10 to 12 central ministers and they have been responsive towards the problems of the state,'' Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said today on completion of 100 days of his government.

''I just don't want to indulge in criticism, just because some of the ministers whom I met in the last month or so were from the Congress,'' he said while addressing a media conference here.

Mr Badal said that all the central ministers had expressed their desire to help Punjab revive its dwindling economy. He also appreciated the positive response of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh towards Punjab.

''For the progress of any state, it is essential to have cordial relations with the Centre,'' he added.

The Centre, on the intiative of Mr Badal, had agreed to extend the wheat procurement date from May to June so that farmers could avail of the Rs 100 per quintal bonus. The Centre also agreed to include Mohali and Jalandhar in the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). So far, Amritsar and Ludhiana were covered under JNNURM.

Mr Badal had at the beginning of his fourth term as Chief Minister indicated that he would be making frequent trips to New Delhi to get maximum benefits for Punjab. He has instructed his officials to speed up the preparation of feasibility reports of various centrally funded projects.

The Chief Minister is nowadays busy preparing a detailed agricultural policy for submission to the Centre. He is hoping the policy would lead to flow of central assistance for the upliftment of the stagnant agriculture sector.

Mr Badal has already established a cell in his government which exclusively caters to the preparation of centrally funded policies and programmes. His immediate task is to get the prestigious Guru Gobind Singh Oil Refinery cleared by the concerened Union Cabinet sub-committee so that work on this project begins.

UNI