July 4, 2013 admin

DELEGATION led by OP Soni meets PM Manmohan Singh

A delegation led by Congress MLA O.P. Soni from Punjab meets the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his residence in Delhi and presents a memorandum.

Amritsar, July 4, 2013: A delegation led by Congress MLA O.P. Soni from Punjab met the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his residence in Delhi and presented few very important demands for the development of the state and to uplift the economic growth of the region which has dipped as the per capita income Punjab has slipped from 6th spot to the 12th spot in the last 6 years and this has been the main agenda for the serious discussions on these grounds.

Soni has presented and put forward some very vital and progressive suggestions. The entire meeting lasted for 45 minutes and the Prime Minister showed keen interest in discussion and was very hopeful that all the points discussed will prove very beneficial for the development of the state. 

Soni alongwith the delegation was very grateful to the Prime Minister as he had recently implemented on his suggestion of railway corridor till Holy city Amritsar.

The delegation comprised of Amrit Lal Jain President Punjab Beopar Mandal, B.K. Bajaj President Indo-Pak Foreign Chamber, Piara Lal Seth President Amritsar citizen Council, Rakesh Verma Industrialist, Dr. Santokh Singh and Sandeep Industrialist.

The delegation under the signatures of OP Soni presented a memorandum to the prime minister. The memorandum reads: “As your good self is aware that Punjab has suffered enough due to Indo-Pak wars from 1965 – 1971, particularly the border Districts of Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Ferozepur. Long spell of ten years of terrorism has given severe jolt to the backbone of these borders districts of Punjab. In the per capita Income Punjab has slipped from sixth spot to twelfth in the last six years as per the latest edition of the Economic Freedom Index (EFI) report by noted economist Swaminanthan S. Aiyar. In-fact, revenue deficit has increased from 1.8% of GDP in 2010-2011 to 2.75% in 2011-2012. In the last few years due to TAX sops to hills states 274 units, involving an investment of  Rs. 3675 crore has moved out of Punjab. Amritsar once the hub of textile and processing units has lost its glory, wrap knitting, bolts and nuts manufacturing units leaving few ones, rest have closed down. Batala / Gurdaspur (Gurdaspur District) as per an affidavit submitted by Punjab Govt. in the Supreme Court of India incurred a loss of Rs.461 crore. 

The various TAX concessions given to hill states of 10 years period to H.P, J&K, Uttarakhand has proved detrimental to Punjab and particularly three border districts of the state and have a cascading effect on the growth of industrial units, rather they have become ill units and tax package of ten years to hills states discouraged new units from coming to Punjab and particularly to three border districts of the State.  I request your good self to grants the same tax sops to the state of Punjab or at least to the border districts of Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Ferozepur for a period of at least ten years to attract industrial investment, resulting employment to thousands unemployed youth and new era of development will usher. Set of ICP at Attari by Central Govt. will provide a good opportunity to boost Export / Import opportunity to the region & our trade will expand up to south east countries.

Duty Free trade between States of J&K and P.O.K. :

The very old and traditional Dry Fruit trade of Punjab & particularly border district of Amritsar which is hub of Dry fruit trade for the last 200 yrs is suffering highly because of the duty free trade routes opened by the Govt. of India for the Trade between the states of  J&K and P.O.K. The detailed memorandum is also attached for your good self to look into this very serious matter.

Railway :

a)         Pawan Kumar Bansal Union Railway Minister announced in this year Railway Budget on 26 Feb 2013 that direct rail link between Amritsar to Ferozepur will be established by linking  Mallawala Khas and Gharyala / Patti on the Amritsar – Khemkaran Line (25.47Kms) which will result that Amritsar will be linked directly with Ferozepur. A distance of about 240 Kms would be shortened from Amritsar to Mumbai and it will prove second defence line. Three surveys has already been done & planning commission has also given the approval. I demand that this project be started immediately and given top priority as it will change the face of Majha-Malwa region of Punjab.

b)         Rail Line between Amritsar – Attari:

It should be made a double line as early as possible to give a big boost for our Exports to Pakistan many times. It will also help in removing the present congestion at I.C.P. wagha.

c)         Goods Wagon :                      

Northern Railway Amritsar workshop which is manufacturing one goods wagon per day be increased upto five goods wagon daily. It will give employment ancillary to thousand of unemployed youths of the State and several units will come up to supply several parts to the railway wagon manufacturing unit.

Power :

Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd. Chairman K. D. Chaudary said recently that it will be daunting task to meet the power demand this summer of Punjab. Power demand is likely 12000 MW and power availability from all sources including purchased Power is 9400 MW. Power cuts throughout the state seem imminent. I request and demand that additional power be allotted from National Grid to Punjab to run our Micro-Small-Medium Industry smoothly.

Interest Rate :

Central Govt. directs Banks in Punjab to provide cheap loans to Micro-Small-Medium industry, so they could increase their production and install new latest machinery.”

Date: 

Thursday, July 4, 2013

 

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