Centennial commemoration: Akali Dal promises Rs 50K per acre crop insurance

Moga, Dec 14 (IANS) The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Tuesday gave a clarion call for the establishment of a truly federal structure in the country, with genuine cultural, political and economic autonomy to states.

It also announced to implement a Rs 50,000 per acre crop insurance scheme, besides commitment to revive the pre-2004 pension scheme for government employees.

Addressing what he called "the biggest historic gathering of Punjabis in living memory", five-time Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said the SAD-BSP alliance is all set to repeat the performance of their only joint effort in 1996, when the alliance had swept the entire state.

As scores of people turned out to mark the centennial commemoration of SAD, the party "vowed to give to Punjabis a genuinely transparent, accountable and inclusive government".

Badal said the choice before Punjabis is "straight and simple". It's one between having a government of the Punjabis, for the Punjabis and by the Punjabis on the one hand, or having 'boastful puppets' remote controlled by outsiders.

He said it is sad to see the Congress humiliating the poor and Scheduled Castes by first letting it be know that the current Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi was not their first choice.

"Now, they are humiliating him by openly refusing to endorse his performance and not naming him as its CM face," Badal said.

Earlier, they had humiliated seasoned Congress leader Sunil Jakhar's community by first publicising that he would be the next CM, but later leaking out media reports that no one from his community could be made the CM of Punjab by the Congress, he said.

"Such communal games are nothing new to the Congress, but they are both distasteful and dangerous for communal haromny," he said.

The Akali stalwart also warned the government of India against the "dangerous adventurism" of the past and said nothing should be done to disturb the atmosphere of peace and communal harmony in Punjab and outside.

Addressing the congregation, SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal announced that farmers would be offered an insurance cover of Rs 50,000 per acre for crop damage.

He also announced that the next SAD-BSP alliance government would revive the pre-2004 pension scheme for government employees.

He said the next government would also end monopolies in sand and liquor business by giving a person one mining contract and liqour vend to one individual.

He also announced waiver of electricity bills of all religious places of worship. He said the SAD-BSP alliance government would not allow anyone to disturb peace and communal harmony in the state.

He also related how SAD was the first party to raise the voice of federalism.

"Now all regional parties are also calling for strengthening federal rights. If federal rights of states are secure, then black laws like the three agricultural laws cannot be implemented without the approval of the states. We are committing to strengthening the federal nature of the country," he said.

Senior party leader Prem Singh Chandumajra also read out a resolution in this regard, calling for formation of a 'Sanjha Morcha' to espouse the cause of federalism nationally.

The Moga conference also passed a resolution condemning the Congress government's 'attempts' to register false cases against SAD-BSP alliance leaders and warned Chief Minister Channi, Home Minister Sukhjinder Randhawa and PPCC President Navjot Singh Sidhu that they would be responsible for the consequences of pursuing vendetta politics.

The resolution, which was read out by Daljit Singh Cheema, also demanded the resignation of the Chief Minister and the Home Minister in the 'cash for transfer' case.

It also demanded judicial probe into bribery charges levelled against the Home Minister who has been accused by a cabinet colleague of taking money for posting SSPs.

Speaking on the occasion, senior vice-president of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Satish Mishra, said the alliance is set to sweep the forthcoming polls by securing 100 seats.

He said the alliance stands for empowering the weaker sections of the society. BSP's Punjab in-charge, Randhir Beniwal, and state president, Jasbir Singh Garhi, also spoke on the occasion.