Industrialists vent their ire on AAP leadership
Aakanksha N Bhardwaj
Jalandhar, April 20
Industrialists vented out their feelings without any filter in front of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann during a meeting that was held at a private hotel today.
They expressed disappointment and anger, discussed their concerns, demanded support, and asked the AAP leadership not to do what previous parties had done.
“People voted the last government out of power because no one ever worked for the industry. Per pichle ek saal vich tusi vi koi darwaza nai kholeya (even you didn’t open doors for us),” disappointed industrialists told both the CMs. The issue of ongoing raids by the GST department was also raised. “I asked the CM what the raids were for. There was a dehshat (a sense of fear) amongst the industrialists because of it,” an industrialist said.
“Bache saade bahar ja rahe ne, saade nal industry vich nai kamm karna chande. Ethe jawan koi nai bachna. Punjab nu sambhal lo (Our young generation doesn’t want to work with us anymore; they just want to move abroad. No youngster will be found in the state in the near future if the situation remains the same. It is your duty to take care of Punjab),” said Gursharan Singh,
President, Jalandhar Industrial and Traders’ Joint Action Committee.
If the industry is finished, there would be no revenue for the government, he added.
Members of the Jalandhar Industrial Focal Point (Extn) Association, too, reminded Kejriwal of the promises he had made before coming to power. “The industrial growth has decreased over the years because the industrialists are engaged in paying costs and taxes levied by the government. In 2021, before the elections, CM Kejriwal organised a meeting with us where this point was strongly represented, and we were assured that no enhancement will be charged but it is still there,”the members said.
Neeraj Arora, president of the Rubber Footwear Manufacturer Association, told Kejriwal that they were sitting idle these days. “The GST on rubber chappals was increased from 5 per cent to 12 percent last year and since then we have suffering a lot. We request you to please take up this matter with the Centre,” said Neeraj. Kejriwal assured the industry members that this matter would be raised.
Notably, every party has been reaching out to the industrialists since byelections were declared. Two days ago, the AAP leadership met the traders and today, the meeting took place again.
Youth don’t want to work with us
Nothing done in past one year
‘People voted the last government out of power because no one ever worked for the industry. Even you haven’t open any door for us in the past one year. I asked the CM (Bhagwant Mann) what the raids were for.’
Industrialist
‘Our children and young generation don’t want to work with us anymore; they just want
to move abroad. No youngster will be found in the state in the near future if the situation remains the same.’
Gursharan Singh, traders’ body president
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