The Punjab Chief Minister looks back at the first 100 days of his government. He maintains that there is a new vibrancy in the state’s jaded political, social and economic environment. He also wonders: “Have I measured up to the expectations of my people?”

Report card: President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, Sunil Jakhar, (right) at a press conference in Patiala to mark the completion of the state govt’s 100 days. There should be no politics at the cost of growth. PTI

MEASURED against a 10-year legacy and counted against a five-year journey that has just started, 100 days really seem like a fragment in time. This minuscule of a period, however, becomes important when seen from the perspective of the relevance it has for the people of Punjab, who had been counting the days to when their lives would begin changing for the better.

After living for 10 years in the shadows of fear, economic gloom, regressive development, social destruction and more, when they ousted the Akali-BJP government in February this year, they did it with a lot of hope and a fair bit of optimism. Seen from their viewpoint, 100 days, thus, becomes a significant factor in assessing the success of my government.So have I measured up to the expectations of my people? Have I made a beginning in pulling them out of the misery in which they had been living, or more appropriately surviving, over the past one decade? Have I built on their optimism to make them feel more confident about their future, and the future of their children?It is on these yardsticks that I look back at the first 100 days of my government. And I can say, in all fairness, that we have succeeded in not only setting the agenda for the next four years and 265 days but have also, in fact, brought in a new vibrancy and dynamism in the state’s jaded political, social and economic environment. It is not my intention here to list out every single promise on which we have already delivered, and to showcase every single achievement we have secured in these 100 days. However, I would like to give some examples to endorse the intent with which we have begun, and with which we shall continue to make a difference, in small and big ways, to the lives of our people.I will begin by talking of drugs, the elimination of which was a major promise of the Congress in the run-up to the polls. Quite frankly, I do not understand by what benchmark something as broad as drugs elimination can be measured. Looking, however, from the viewpoint of the thousands of youth who were being lured into this menace by the easy availability of drugs, I can claim, with all honesty, that we have definitely broken the backbone of the drugs mafia. With illegal narcotics no longer within easy reach of the youngsters, and with the so-called big fish on the run since we took over the reins of the government, drugs is no longer the menace it was till about four months ago. As far as the farm loan waiver is concerned, is there any doubt still left in anyone’s mind about our intention to fulfill our promise on this count in entirety? Can anyone deny that the small and marginal farmers were the ones most acutely affected by the debt burden, and by waiving their loans up to Rs 2 lakh we have brought lakhs of them back from the brink of economic devastation? Taking over the loans of farmer suicide victims and hiking the compensation for their families is another important step we have taken to alleviate the woes of the farming community.From industrial revival (just look at the number of leading industrialists and countries wanting to invest in the state as a result of the positivity injected into the system, post- government change), to the destruction of mafias such as sand mining and transport, we have kick-started the process of positive change across the state’s fabric in just 100 days of taking over. Whether you look at the education system, police reforms or social empowerment, the number of initiatives already taken to transform the defunct systems and bring about impactful change underscore the sincerity of our intent to create a more enabling environment for the development of every section of Punjab’s populace.The list of the promises on which we have delivered in a mere 100-day period does not end here. The abolition of the halqa in-charge system, bringing down cases of sacrilege and creating an atmosphere of safety and security for one and all are some of the ways in which we have brought the people out of the abyss of fear that they were living in. Besides enhancing the social security pensions, we have broadened the ambit of the Atta-Dal Scheme to cover more deserving beneficiaries, and have also unleashed sweeping governance reforms to pave the way for the holistic development of Punjab and its people. These are, by any standard, no mean achievements, especially considering the severe financial debt burden my government had inherited. To those criticising and seeking to undermine our accomplishments, therefore, I can only say — stop playing politics at the cost of the state’s growth and development. Punjab deserves better, and I will make sure it gets all it deserves, and even more! The pace of reforms I have set in these 100 days is simply a precursor to the next four plus years that I still have in my hands to ensure that my people learn to smile again, and finally start living the lives they well and truly merit.