To mark the completion of five months in power, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday dished out the achievements of Punjab’s Bhagwant Mann government in what is being seen as an attempt to ward off criticism from the opposition that the ruling party is relying more on optics than any constructive work.
The party fielded five of its senior ministers— finance minister Harpal Cheema, agriculture and rural development minister Kuldeep Dhaliwal, health minister Chetan Singh Jouramajra, jails, mining and education minister Harjot Bains, and power and PWD minister Harbhajan Singh ETO— to list out the works done during the period.
From managing “derailed” finances, to highlighting the anti-encroachment drive on government land, to mohalla clinics, the senior ministers claimed five months of “stupendous” work.
“In the past five months, we have repaid loans and interest taken by previous governments worth Rs 12,339 crore, but borrowed only Rs 10,729 crore. I had promised in the budget that we would increase the GST collection by 27 per cent, and we have registered a 24.15 per cent growth. With the festival season approaching, we will achieve our targeted growth. We have managed to eradicate the liquor mafia and excise collections are up by 43.47 per cent,” boasted Cheema.
Harjot Bains claimed major success in curbing gangster elements. “We have tightened the noose around gangsters and broken the nexus between them and jail officials. In five months, 2,088 mobile phones smuggled in jails have been recovered. A number of technology interventions are being planned to stop smuggling in jails,” he said.
Dhaliwal said that he had ensured that 9,053 acre of land, illegally occupied by encroachers, had been freed.
“A lot of landholding belonging to the rural development department was unidentified. We got the revenue records checked and 7,000 acres of such land has been identified and its rights are being vested back to the department. Auction of village common land has been done smoothly. We are working to empower gram panchayats,” he said.
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