Spent Rs 117 cr in Dera Baba Nanak, claims minister

Tribune News Service

Dera Baba Nanak, October 6

A day after Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal ridiculed the Punjab Government for not taking care of Dera Baba Nanak, Cabinet Minister and local MLA Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa rubbished her claims and said the state had already spent Rs 117 crore on initiating a slew of developmental works ahead of the opening of the Kartarpur corridor.

The minister said instead of indulging in a ‘photo op’ at the corridor site on Saturday, Harsimrat should have taken a round of the city to see how the developmental works had spruced up the entire area.

“During the 10-year rule of the SAD-BJP, the Badals had conveniently forgotten the town because it did not suit their political interests. Now, when the corridor is being established, Harsimrat suddenly remembers Dera Baba Nanak. I fail to understand in which capacity she presided over a meeting of officials of the Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI) and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) at the corridor site. The LPAI and the NHAI are controlled by the Surface Transport Ministry and not the Food Processing Ministry, which she heads. She has committed a serious breach of protocol. It is better for Harsimrat to set her own house in order before pointing fingers at others,” Randhawa added.

He said Rs 117 crore given by the Punjab Government had been spent on bringing in new sewage treatment projects based on the Baba Seecheweal model, upgrading the Civil Hospital, strengthening the roads leading from the city to the ICP, installing LED lights in parks and solar powered lights in streets, developing heritage and food streets, improving power generation and transmission network, and upgrading and shifting the bus stand to a new site.

Randhawa said he could foresee more visits from Harsimrat Badal till the corridor opens on November 9. “She knows this is the time to take some publicity and hence, she will come more frequently in the next few weeks,” said the minister. He, however, asked Harsimrat to refrain from indulging in theatrics.

Name Amritsar IIM after Guru: Harsimrat

• Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Sunday urged HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhariyal to name the upcoming IIM at Amritsar as Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji 550th Centenary IIM.
• In a statement, Harsimrat said dedicating the IIM to the Guru would be a befitting tribute to the institution coming up in Punjab on the occasion of the 550th Parkash Purb.
• Congratulating Punjabis for the establishment of yet another world-class institute after AIIMS-Bathinda, she said the IIM was passed in the first Budget of the NDA-1. “After 10 years of being neglected by the UPA government, Punjab finally became a priority state and got projects like IIM and AIIMS.”