Govt to repair 19,000 km of link roads at Rs 3,500 cr: Mann

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday said his government will spend Rs 3,500 crore in coming days to repair 19,000 km of rural link roads in the state.

The CM, however, did not give any timeline for the beginning of the initiative.

Addressing a gathering at Guru Nanak Dev University, the Chief Minister also accused the Centre of “withholding” Rs 6,000 crore of the state’s share in the Rural Development Fund (RDF), which he said would have been enough to rebuild every road in Punjab.

The RDF is a cess levied on the purchase or sale of agricultural produce, which the state procures for the Centre. The fund is used for the repair of rural roads in the state.

Mann also said his government closed 17 toll plazas, resulting in daily savings of Rs 64 lakh for people.

Mann said when he assumed office in 2022, only 21 per cent of canal water was being used for irrigation purposes, whereas today it increased to 75 per cent.

He claimed that the state’s death count due to road accidents reduced by 48 per cent since the constitution of the Sadak Surakhya Force (Road Safety Force).

The force includes 1,597 freshly recruited trained personnel, including women, equipped with 144 modern vehicles.

The Chief Minister also launched a veiled attack on arrested SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia.

Majithia has been arrested in a disproportionate assets case by the Vigilance Bureau.

Apart from amassing wealth beyond his known sources of income, he has been accused of laundering Rs 540 crore of drug money.

Mann said the “jarnails” (commanders) who had patronised the drug trade had already been put behind bars, a veiled reference to Majithia, who is often called as “Majhe da jarnail” by Akali leaders.

“We will not spare anyone,” Mann said as his remark drew applause as well as sloganeering from a packed auditorium, mostly AAP workers and leaders, including party’s Punjab affairs incharge Manish Sisodia.

The Chief Minister claimed that the state government’s anti-drug campaign “Yudh Nashian de Virudh” had disrupted supply lines and major players involved in the heinous trade had been arrested.

“For the first time, illegally acquired properties of drug smugglers are being confiscated or demolished to act as a deterrent,” he said.

‘Rs 350 cr spent in Amritsar’

The Punjab Chief Minister also inaugurated a public library at Maharaja Ranjit Singh Panorama at Company Bagh in Amritsar.

Mann said his government had already spent Rs 350 crore on development projects in Amritsar.

Mann said Rs 56.36 crore had been spent on the construction of new roads while Rs 287.01 crore had been spent on upgrading road infrastructure.

He said Rs 3.20 crore was spent on the construction of six libraries in the city.

Punjab