M A I N   N E W S

Manmohan announces sops for Punjab
Tribune News Service

570 cr for Amritsar development Upgradation of Attari station On-port, off-port facilities at Wagah New international airport

Amritsar, March 24
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today announced sops for Punjab, especially his hometown Amritsar, keeping in view the Assembly elections, scheduled for February next year.

These included upgradation of the Attari railway station and the Wagah joint check-post. A total of Rs 570 crore has been announced for the overall development of Amritsar.

The Prime Minister also announced the handing over of 246-year-old historic Gobindgarh Qila of Amritsar to the state government, currently under the Army control.

He said he was delighted to point out that during the recent past, after my last visit, our government had taken several steps to restore the glory of Amritsar.

He said the government had sanctioned Rs 72 crore to complete the Galiara Project around Harmandir Sahib, apart from a centre of research on Guru Granth Sahib Studies in Guru Nanak Dev University. “We have allocated Rs 48 crore for the completion of the Khalsa Heritage Project at Anandpur Sahib. I believe the first phase of it would be inaugurated next month.”

“This is a holy city. A historic city with a great past. An international city whose people reside in all corners of the world,” he said.

He asked the state government to pursue the ambitious projects on a priority basis, announced by the Central Government for the overall development of Amritsar. He promised funding of Sri Guru Ram Das Urban Development Project in Amritsar, costing nearly Rs 240 crore and an elevated road project costing Rs 210 crore. The Amritsar-Wagah Road would be widened and made into a top-class road so that it could become an international highway for trade, travel and tourism.

The Prime Minister said that steps for the upgradation of facilities at the Attari railway station were being taken. He, however, hoped that the sum of Rs 100 crore, earmarked in the Union Budget to Punjab Agricultural University, would pave the way for generating a second Green Revolution in Punjab. “Punjab farmers need to do the same if they are to keep ahead of the rest of the country. We will work with the state government to realise this goal by establishing the necessary marketing and storage infrastructure and transport facilities,” he said.

On better transport facilities, Dr Manmohan Singh said that the high- speed rail freight corridor connecting our western and eastern ports had been extended to Punjab to enable easy transport of goods.“ We are also working towards creating a second international airport in Punjab near Ludhiana and I hope this materialises in the coming months.”

Touching on the facilities being provided to his hometown, he said power supply in and around Amritsar would improve greatly through the creation of a major new sub-station at Amritsar at a cost of Rs 150 crore. On the much-awaited improvement of road structure to the Holy city and other districts of the state, he said he had directed the National Highways Authority of India to complete it at an early date the four-laning of the Amritsar-Jalandhar road, Amritsar-Pathankot road, Kiratpur-Chandigarh road, Ambala-Chandigarh road, and also take up the early the six-laning of the Ambala-Jalandhar road and Ludhiana-Chandigarh road.

The Central Government had also decided to develop on-port and off-port facilities at the Wagah international border. This includes reducing waiting time for immigration and customs formalities at Wagah. He said the government would modernise customs infrastructure at Wagah and speed up the security clearance. We propose to expand immigration, customs and security halls and increase number of counters, and provide better amenities. He said the government would make it easier for the arrival and departure of jathas and delegations.

An animal quarantine station would also be set up for exporters of livestock. “We will improve facilities for the Amritsar-Lahore buses. We are also improving the infrastructure for the Beating Retreat ceremony at Wagah border post”.