The compensation awarded to the victims of 1984 riots is mere beginning of the procedure to balm their wounds, said the Deputy Chief Minister Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal in an interaction with the media persons while inaugurating the ambitious Rs 75 cr Ring Road phase 2 connecting Bathinda - Badal road with Bathinda - Malout Road and the railway over bridge (RIB) over Sri Ganganagar railway line project.
He said that now the Punjab government will build up pressure on NDA government to punish those involved in heinous killings of innocent Sikhs in 1984 so that the wounds of victims are healed. He said that along with compensation, the accused should be awarded strict punishment for which SAD will leave no stone unturned to pressurize the center government. Accompanying him was the Punjab’s Revenue, Rehabilitation and Information and Public Relations Minister Bikramjit Singh Majithia.Terming Rs 50 hike in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of wheat as a small measure he said that the Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi would be approached to increase this hike by at least Rs 150 to Rs 200 per quintal.
He added that the state government stood by its farmers and very soon center government would be approached for considerable hike of MSP. Speaking on the issue of black money stashed in the Swiss Bank accounts he said that the center government should make the list of account holders public so that every Indian could know about it.After having inaugurated the project, while addressing a large crowd Mr Badal said it was due to the malicious policies of Congress led UPA government that the ROB’s construction in the Ring Road phase 2 project got delayed by over two years. He added that due to partisan attitude of UPA government the work on this project as well as commissioning of International Airport in Bathinda lay in limbo. He added that the airport too shall be commissioned very soon. Reiterating the SAD-BJP government’s commitment to provide people of Punjab with the best of facilities, he said that more projects would be brought to the state.
He added that with the commissioning of road and ROB, Bathinda city’s traffic congestion will get major relief as the traffic moving from Mansa, Dabwali, Haryana and other areas would be perted to Malout, Muktsar, Fazilka and Abohar using this road. Even the heavy vehicles such as oil tankers of oil depots and Guru Gobind Singh Refinery will move towards areas of Malout, Abohar, Muktsar and Fazilka using this route.The Ring Road phase 2 is 7 kms long, while the length of ROB on it is 660 m. It has 7.50 m wide two spans and 1.20 m wide central verge. Of the 660 long ROB, The Bathinda Development Authority (BDA) has completed Ring Road 2 and ROB at a cost of total Rs 75 cr. BDA had laid Ring Road phase 2 at a cost of Rs 23 cr and readied it by February 2011.BDA has constructed its 583 m portion of ROB on time, while the 77 m of portion lying in railways’ jurisdiction lay pending for some time. After the MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal intervened and took up matter with the Ministry of Railways, Government of India, the railways completed its portion. Now after the completion of Rs 42 cr ROB, the Ring Road phase 2 has been commissioned.
Prominent among others present at the occasion included Chief Parliamentary Secretary Mr Sarup Chand Singla, former CPS Mr Jagdeep Singh Nakkai, Deputy Commissioner Bathinda Dr Basant Garg, DIG Mr Amar Singh Chahal, SSP Mr Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, former Mayor Baljit Singh Beerbehman, Chief Administrator BDA Mr Varinder Sharma, SAD press secretary Mr Om Prakash Sharma and others.