Punjab not up for sale: Badal

Shiromani Akali Dal president Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today lashed out at the assertion of the Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh that he would “give free of cost as much land as was required by the Reliance Industries Limited (RIL)”in the town and villages of Punjab. “Punjab is not up for grabs or for a reduction sale which Amarinder is trying to conduct in return for huge personal favours. If the deal goes through, then every village and town in Punjab would lose all its prime land to this industrial house, reducing the state virtually to an economic colony of the Reliance Industries.”
Mr. Badal told the Chief Minister to stop treating the state as his personal property or a mere extension of the Moti Bagh Palace, and that he could not just transfer land worth thousands of corers to a business house of his choice. “Amarinder cannot be allowed to barter away the entire state for promoting his personal and political interests. The land belonging to Panchayats, Boards and Corporations is the property of the people of Punjab and is a buffer for long term development projects that the state would envisage for future. Decisions regarding these have to taken in a transparent manner, and not on the basis or personal whims of the Chief Minsiter .”
Alleging a scam running into thousands of crores in the RIL deal, Mr. Badal said that the scale and magnitude of the deal was “shocking beyond belief”. “It is a fit case for investigation for an independent central agency. Amarinder must be made to come out with what has transpired behind the closed doors because of which he had promised out of turn favours to the Reliance.”
Terming the deal as “totally unprecedented and undreamt of in the history of the country”, Mr. Badal fired a series of questions at the Chief Minister about the proposed deal. “What are the fiscal calculations behind short-listing Reliance as the only business house to be considered for the project? What experience does Reliance have in vegetable or other farm product retailing in the country? What are the reciprocal guarantees received by the Punjab government in return for the massive favours to be extended to Reliance? What compulsions has RIL expressed in showing unwillingness to buy land for its project through open auction in competition with other business houses in the country? What is the criterion followed in dispensing with all existing norms in giving the most precious public land to RIL virtually free of cost? Has RIL made any return commitments towards providing employment to Punjabi youth in all its concerns, or at least in the concerns to be run in and from Punjab? Why does Reliance require a thirty year waiver on Rural Development Fund, excise, land registration and electricity duties for a period of thirty years? How many other parties did the government contact for competitive bidding on lesser liability on the state?” asked Mr. Badal, adding that these are the preliminary issues to be addressed before any project is cleared by the government.
Describing the Chief Minister’s assertion of his determination to go ahead with the deal regardless of strong reservations expressed by the concerned officials and economic experts as “incredibly”, Mr. Badal said that the Chief Minister must not behave as if he were a law unto himself. “There is a specific Act governing Panchayat properties . There are well laid norms and procedures for contracting projects on government land. The Chief Minister must explain why he was so keen on short-circuiting the whole system just to favour one business house,” he said.