CHANDIGARH: Going a step ahead of N.T. Rama Rao, the Beant Singh Government in Punjab proposes to provide free atta and dal total families falling below the poverty line and abolish I and ceiling, to consolidate the Congress bases in two important segments with an eye on the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The 11member coordination committee headed by the Chief Minister, Beant Singh, has already discussed the two proposals the members of this committee include some ministers and office bearers of the Pradesh Congress Committee, Beant Singh also heads the PPCC.
Authoritative sources maintain the state government has set up a committee under the chairmanship of the Finance Minister, Kewal Krishan, to study in detail the proposal to provide attend dal free to the identified families. According to the preliminary estimates, the proposal, if implemented, would cost the state exchequer about Rs, 200 crore per annum. It is likely to be financed through the special component plan for the weaker sections.
The proposal to abolish the land ceiling is aimed at strengthening the support base among the peasantry. The Jat Sikhs are the traditional vote bank of the Akalis. It was this section which virtually totally boycotted the February, 1992 Assembly election.
What has inspired the ruling party to take special care of this traditional ‘kali vote bank is the outcome of the Gidderbaha Assembly by election, “The Congress lost this election by a narrow margin but made considerable inroads in this vote bank in this pocket borough of a former Chief Minister and the Akali Dal president, Parkash Singh Badal, The Bharti Kisan Union has been demanding the abolition of land ceiling for a long time, It is also proposed to reduce the registration fee from 12% to 6%. ‘This will also benefit the land owing classes.
The Beant Singh Government recently took a bold stand on the river water issue to please this very segment. The state government has gone to the extent of demanding the annulment of all the interstate river waters agreements and a fresh look on the controversial Satluj Yamuna Link canal which is to carry waters to Haryana from the Punjab Rivers. This has rattled the Akalis. Ironically, though the Akalis have also been making similar demands, about 75% of the construction of this carrier channel was completed during the Akali regime_ ‘The Akali Dal and the Bahujan Samaj Party combination can pose a formidable challenge to the extent of being ruinous for the Congress in the state. The BSP is considered to be in apposition to influence results in about 30 Assembly segments. The BSP won the Ferozepur Lok Sabha seat in the last election. The proposed strategy aims at countering this threat.
It is proposed to create 19 new subdivisions and 14 sub tehsils. This besides the six new subdivisions already created by the Beant Singh Government.
The party organization is also being revamped beginning at the level of the districts, A five-day exercise.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 28, 1995
