CHANDIGARH: A high level delegation of the Punjab pradesh Congress committee Saturday urged the Union minister of state for communications, Rajesh Pilot, to take up with the Prime Minister the issue of ensuring that a political and economic package is announced before the coming elections in the state.
The PCC’s proposed political package comprises transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab, referring the river waters dispute to the Supreme Court, according second language Status to Punjabi in neighboring states and referring to a commission the issue of identifying and transferring Punjabi- speaking areas of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana to Punjab.
The delegation also urged Pilot that the elections should be held before February 15, the committed deadline for holding polls in the state. This point is also under- stood to have been stressed to the Union minister of state for home, M.M.Jacob, at an all-party meeting held here Friday, The points were stressed to Pilot owing to his active involvement in behind-the-scenes pre-poll parleys on Punjab. He was here Saturday to lay the foundation stone of the switching building of Punjab Communications Limited at Mohali and to attend a meet-the-press program at the Chandigarh Press club.
ECONOMIC PACKAGE: The PCC reportedly pointed out to Pilot that such a package would satisfy the Sikhs in Punjab to a certain degree and enable the Congress to get votes.
The proposed economic package, sent by the Punjab government and currently pending in the Prime Minister’s office, contains 11 points to be implemented be- tween two and five years.
The Congress delegation, led by the PCC chief, Beant Singh, pointed to the vote benefit the Congress might get with such a package apart from the fact that it would generate more employment avenues for the youth.
Pilot, on his part, is reported to have privately agreed that Chandigarh should be transferred to Punjab and elections held by February 15. He assured the delegation that he would take the issue with the Prime Minister on his return from Caracas.
MOVE OPPOSED: Meanwhile, representatives of the Union territory units of all major political parties, including the Congress, Saturday opposed the transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab.
At an all-party meeting with the Union minister of state for home, M.M.Jacob, several parties submitted memoranda to the minister saying that any decision taken without the consent of the people of the Union territory would not be acceptable.
Talking to newsmen after the meeting the local Congress MP, Pawan Bansal, said the Union home minister, S.B,Chavan, and other top leaders had assured him that Chandigarh would remain a Union territory.
COLOMBO: An unidentified gunman stormed in to a court room in Avlangallain Gampahadisinct bordering the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo on Monday, and killed two people, one of them an accused in s murder case, press reports said.
The dead included a former officer in charge of a police station, who faced charges in a murder case, and his father-in-law.
However, the motive behind the killings is not yet known, the daily “Island” said.
NEW DELHI: The minister of state for external affairs, Eduardo Faleiro, has reaffirmed India’s commitment to the cause of the Palestinian people and expressed the hope that the process initiated at the Madrid conference would lead to an amicable settlement.
Speaking at a function held there on the occasion of Palestine Solidarity Day Friday, Faleiro noted with sati faction that all concerned had expressed their commitment to proceed to “the most crucial phase” of the peace initiative – the bilateral talks.
However, “current Israeli procrastination, which contrasts so in favorably with the positive Arab response, is hardly conducive to the creation of a constructive and cooperative atmosphere for meaningful discussions.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 6, 1991
