Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann plans industrial package for Pathankot

Ravi Dhaliwal

Pathankot, February 25

CM Bhagwant Mann told a gathering of industrialists at the ‘Sarkaar Vpaar Milni’ that the Punjab Government was thinking of giving the special border area industrial package to Pathankot district in an attempt to revive the sagging industrial units.

Businessmen, however, were skeptical over such an announcement because they pointed out that similar packages, which include heavy tax rebates, will also be claimed by other border districts of Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur and Fazilka. The consensus was that giving such a status to a border district entails heavy expenditure and it will be “nigh impossible for the state government to fulfil the CM’s prophecy”.

In 2016, former CM Parkash Singh Badal had announced such a package which never materialised. In 2015, then BJP MP Vinod Khanna also spoke to the party’s central leadership to give Pathankot and Gurdaspur a special status. Again, this plan could not be implemented after the secretary level officers in the centre pointed out that the state and Centre should share the expenses. In the run-up to the 2019 poll, incumbent MP Sunny Deol had also touched upon the issue but did nothing.

Significantly, the CM failed to touch upon one of the area’s biggest problems-the elevation of the 3.6 km stretch of the narrow gauge railway track running through the MC limits of the city. There are nine railway crossings on this stretch and all close down simultaneously when the train passes, thus dividing the city into two parts for long durations.

Experts said the only option is to elevate the track and this exercise requires the intervention of both the Punjab Government and the Railways.