Big promises, nothing on ground

Aman Sood & Karam Prakash

Every year political outfits and senior leaders promise the moon to Punjab electorate at political conferences held during the Shaheedi Jor Mela, where lakhs of devotees from across the country and even some from abroad come to pay obeisance at Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib and Gurdwara Jyoti Swarup in December. 

For years, political parties in power announce that they will unleash development works in this holy land. But the announcements remain on paper only. In reality, development has eluded Fatehgarh Sahib. Successive Members of Parliament too have failed to do much for the people here. 

In spite of the fact that the constituency has good rail and road connectivity, and is close to capital Chandigarh, no big industrial investment has come here. For the past two years, the steel industry in Mandi Gobindgarh is showing some sign of revival, thus bringing some succour for the economy of this constituency. 

People here are very vocal about their annoyance with those who are elected to govern them. They had high hopes from MP Harinder Singh Khalsa, who was suspended from Aam Aadmi Party, but according to them he failed to deliver. In fact, in 2014 election, the voters were so sick of the traditional parties that they chose AAP candidate, thinking the third alternative might make some difference. Voters here also express their anger against the Congress government, and have given up on things getting better.  Potholed link-roads, sewage issues and slow pace of ongoing developmental work, are what the residents talk about. People of Sirhind town, an important town of the constituency in the district, claimed that the entire town has been facing sewage issues since long. With the sewage project in limbo due to financial constraints, residents are upset with the pace of work.

On the agriculture front, farmers in the district claimed that the PM had made only announcements and laid down foundation stones, but, on the ground, situation remained the same. They said despite an increase in MSP, the commissioned agents procured the crops arbitrarily. In fact, farmers claimed that the state government made some initiatives, but they were still awaiting benefits, if any, from the schemes. 

Pointing out the lapses in the data collection for the state loan waiver scheme, farmers said that needy ones had been ignored. A small farmer of Chanarthal Khurd village, Gurdev Singh, said: “Only aides of Congress leaders in the district were benefited. I own only 1.5 acres of land, but my name was not in the list loan waiver beneficiaries.”

However, the steel industry in Mandi Gobindgarh, another town of the constituency, is seeing some hope. “The public sentiment is up and new industry is being set up by many. Though the state government claimed that the New Industrial Policy-2017 will change fortunes, but we are still waiting for that to happen,” says Small Scale Steel Re Roller’s Association spokesman, Jatin Sood.