Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has sought a special financial package worth Rs one lakh crore from the Centre for the revival of state’s economy besides ensuring holistic development in the state during his first meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi after assuming charge.
He apprised the prime minister about the poor fiscal health of the state and said the previous governments have left a whopping burden of Rs 3 lakh crore. An official statement from the Punjab government said Mann sought immediate financial package of Rs 50,000 crore each for two years to put the derailed economy back on the rails.
Raising another sensitive issue of national security, with Punjab being a border state, Mann also solicited wholehearted support from the Centre to foil the attempts of inimical forces across the border, which is well equipped with the latest techniques.
“If Punjab make rapid strides of development, then India would also eventually prosper,” the statement quoted the chief minister as saying.
Mann said Punjab was like a stone studded in the ring of India, but lamented that this stone (Punjab) had gradually lost its sheen with the passage of time due to people’s “ill conceived decisions” to elect certain governments which ruled the state.
