Navjot Sidhu assumes office, promises to do Captain’s bidding
Navjot Singh Sidhu assumes office as local bodies minister. Tribune photo
Sanjeev Singh Bariana
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 17
Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday assumed office of the Minister for Local Bodies, putting the controversy over the post of deputy chief minister to rest.Addressing his first press conference here, the former cricketer said, “The Captain is like my father. I will take up any role assigned to me. I am happy with anything Captain saab deems fit for me. I have come here to serve Punjab, and not for any personal benefits.”Sidhu arrived in his office accompanied by wife Dr Navjot Kaur and party leaders Rana Gurjit, Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Kuljit Nagra and Pargat Singh.
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When asked as to how he would balance his TV assignments with his ministerial responsibilities, Sidhu said, ‘Janta ki awaaz mein parmatma ki awaaj hai. Jab janta ko koi iteraaz nahin to aapko kyon.
I will work in office till 3 pm before taking a flight to Mumbai. I will shoot till 3 am and be back in Chandigarh before you people are out of bed. Had people objected to my TV assignments, they would not have elected me by a big margin of 43,000 votes.
”Sidhu said, “I am just a soldier in the Captain’s army. There were rumours about the posts the Congress would offer me. I am above all this. The BJP had offered me to contest for Parliament from Kurukshetra, Chandigarh or West Delhi. Later, I was accommodated in the Rajya Sabha, but my heart lies in Punjab.”He said he had given Rs 2 crore from his own pocket to the Amritsar Deputy Commissioner to plant saplings. “I have won six elections in the past 12 years. I dared to call the Badals corrupt.”Sidhu said, “If the Captain had asked me to be just an MLA, I would have gladly done that. The Aam Aadmi Party had offered me a lucrative post. AAP thought it could win just by trolling on social media. The Congress is a tried and tested party.
My father was an advocate general associated with the party for 26 years.”The former Amritsar MP said, “The local bodies department has a lot of potential for public welfare; however, selfish interests have not allowed it to be achieved. It won’t happen now.”Talking about vendetta politics, he said, “Two wrongs do not make a right. We have to rise above vendetta politics and serve people to the best of our capabilities.
Law will take care of the corrupt.”Sidhu praised Pargat Singh saying “he has character”. He also slammed former deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal and former revenue minister Bikram Majithia.He said that for the first time in his life he was feeling the weight of public expectations and wondered if he would live up to those.About challenges to their government, Sidhu said, “The only thing that comes in life without trying is dandruff. One has to try for everything else.”
Farmers’ loans to figure at first Punjab Cabinet meeting tomorrow
Punjab’s new Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh assuming the charge of office in Chandigarh. PTI file
Ruchika M Khanna
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 17
The newly elected Punjab Cabinet that meets for the first time on Saturday will take the issue of farmers’ loans head on, having achieved power on the promise of debt-waiver.The cabinet will set up a committee of experts to assess the total agricultural loan, which the government proposes to waive. This amounts to around Rs 35,000 crore.The cabinet meeting will also authorise the government to come up with a white paper on the state of finances that the Congress government has inherited. The “systematic loot of state resources” will also be part of the white paper.
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The government’s expenses in the last three years will also be audited, as a lot of works were undertaken without approval, say sources.
The cabinet can also order a third-party audit of the power department, as the current political dispensation believes there was much mismanagement in the department.A 150-point agenda is to be discussed by the Cabinet on Saturday afternoon, wherein important decisions on governance and economic reforms will be discussed.
Cong-led govt committed to protect Punjab’s interest on SYL
Chandigarh, March 17
Punjab Power and Irrigation Minister Rana Gurjit Singh said on Friday the Amarinder Singh-led Punjab government is committed to protect the state’s interest on the Sutlej-Yamuna-Link (SYL) canal issue.
“We will save our water and we are committed to it. To protect our interest, we will fight in the Supreme Court,” he said after assuming charge here.
“The government will not allow any injustice with Punjab on the issue,” Singh said.
The newly-appointed minister also held a meeting with Advocate General Atul Nanda on the SYL issue.
Singh, who also holds the Power portfolio, said the priority of the new government would to reduce electricity tariff for the benefit of consumers.
“We had announced to reduce power tariff and we are committed to fulfil it,” he said, adding efforts would be made to reduce wasteful expenditure.
On releasing tube well connections under the discretionary quota, Singh said he would look into any lapses by the power utility.
Meanwhile, Punjab Minister of State (Independent Charge) Razia Sultana said her priority would be to end corruption and bring transparency in the functioning of the PWD Department.
“The department will complete projects within a given time frame to avoid any delay,” Sultana said.
“We will start by constructing internal roads first as they were in bad condition,” the minister said.
Sultana has been allotted PWD, Social Security and Development of Women and Children (Independent Charge).
On a sacrilege incident in Malerkotla last year, she said the new government will arrest the accused. — PTI