LUDHIANA: The Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Beant Singh, on Sept 18, said that the Prime Minister, Mr. Narasimbia Rao will visit Punjab in the second or third week of October.
On a day’s tour to the state, the Prime Minister will also address 3 public rallies either in Jalandhar or in Ludhiana.
Talking to media persons here. The Chief Minister said he had met Rao in New Delhi on Saturday and discussed the pending matters relating to Punjab with him in detail He however, declined to make any comment when asked if the Prime Minister will make any announcement regarding Punjab issues during his visit.
When asked if Mr. Rao will lay the foundation stone of some big industrial project, Beant Singh said so far the land for the proposed petro chemicals project to be set up in this district had not been acquired. If the land acquisition formalities were finalized before the visit of the Prime Minister, he might lay the foundation stone of Rs 5,000 crore projects.
Beant Singh denied the allegation leveled by Akali groups that ruling party was interfering in the panchayat samiti and zila Parishad elections out of the way and that nomination papers of Akali candidates were rejected in an irregular manner, On the contrary, the nomination papers of certain candidates detained under TADA were also accepted, he asserted. He challenged the Akali leaders to seek a mandate of the people in the panchayat samiti elections. The ruling party had full faith in democratic principles. *
The chief minister refuted the charge that he and his Cabinet colleagues were avoiding public functions because of | Katia incident.
“Earlier, addressing a function to Celebrate the 112th birthday of Acahrya Samrat Atmaram Jain here, the Chief Minister announced that he had stayed the opening of “the meat factory at Dera Bassi in Patiala district on September 23. ‘He said the government will study 4m depth the resulting loss of cattle heads as sequel to the meat project ‘and a final decision would be taken keeping in view the interests of all the sections.
He, however, added that the decision to set up a meat factory in Punjab was taken on the basis of an agreement between the Government of India and the Portugal government.
Therefore, a final decision to shift the factory from the state could only be take in consultation with the Government of India:
Beant Singh lamented that basic human values were being eroded and humanity was a hard thing to find in this land of great saints and seers. He said Punjab; the land of Guru Nanak Dev has undergone great turmoil and bloodshed during the last decade and more. He said all religious preach peace and love for humanity in their own different ways and added that those indulging in killings of innocent persons could not be believers of any religion.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 23, 1994
