Badal woes residents of Amarinders home town with promises

Patiala, Sep 16 (UNI) On the second leg of his 'Sangat Darshan' programme in the city, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today announced that an ultra-modern multi-storied inter state air conditioned bus terminal to be set up in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode at a cost of Rs 250 crore.

Addressing a large gathering in the city, the Chief Minister said that under this mode the private player would bear entire cost of the project and would be allowed to utilise the above four floors for opening shopping malls, offices and other commercial activates.

He further said that the private company would also pay Rs 2 crore annually to Punjab Road Transport Corporation (PRTC).

Mr Badal said that about 300 new buses including 50 AC buses would also be added to the existing fleet of PEPSU Roadways Transport Corporation to make its functioning more efficient and economically viable.

Reacting sharply the statement of his predecessor, Capt Amarinder Singh accusing him of bribing the residents of this through 'Sangat Darshan' programmes, Mr Badal categorically said that such statements were nothing but an outcome of sheer frustration and dejection of Capt Singhs tall claims of being a messiah of Patiala, his home town.

He said that such irresponsible utterances must be condemned by one and all and these theatricals would not help Capt Singh to emotionally blackmail the innocent residents of the city. Capt Singh should respect democracy and its institutions.

He claimed that Capt Singh did nothing tangible for the development of the city which was evident.

The Chief Minister pointed out that he had not any political motive behind these Sangat Darshan programmes as these were organised at regular intervals as a continuous process both in urban and rural areas to ensure clean and transparent governance at the door steps of the people and to bridge the gap between the people and the administration.

The Chief Minister today covered as many as 15 wards in the city and listened to the grievances of the residents both individually and collectively on the spot, as most of the grievances and demands raised by them related to drinking water, sewerage, electricity and street lighting. The Chief Minister asked the district administration and Municipal Corporation to jointly prepare an action plan to address these problems.

He assured the residents that the scarcity of funds would not to be allowed to come in way of the overall development of the city.

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