The BJP and its allies, while advocating for promotion of sports in villages, also promised to give cash prizes on the lines of Haryana to the players who have won medals in national and international events.
Chandigarh: The BJP and its allies, Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) and Shiromani Akali Dal (United) on Tuesday released their 11-point 'Sankalp Patra' for the February 20 Punjab Assembly elections. In this resolution issued especially for rural areas, it has been promised to allocate a budget of Rs 5,000 crore for organic and sustainable farming, free rainwater harvesting units to control the depleting water level and promotion of allied agriculture sectors.
The BJP and its allies, while advocating for promotion of sports in villages, also promised to give cash prizes on the lines of Haryana to the players who have won medals in national and international events. The Sankalp Patra was released by Union Minister and election in-charge of BJP in Punjab Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, SAD joint chief Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and BJP leaders Harjit Singh Grewal and Subhash Sharma.
BJP, PLC and SAD joint alliance in Punjab
In Punjab, the BJP is contesting the elections in alliance with the former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh-led PLC and SAD Samyukta. The alliance has announced loan waiver for farmers with less than five acres of land, Minimum Support Price (MSP) for fruits, vegetables, pulses and oilseeds, one lakh acres of Shamlat land for rural landless farmers and every landless farmer under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Yojana.
Subsidy to farmers for installing solar tube wells and solar panels
Talking to reporters in Chandigarh, Shekhawat said if the BJP-PLC-SAD joint alliance comes to power in Punjab, an annual budget of Rs 5,000 crore will be passed for organic and sustainable farming. He said that subsidies would be given to farmers for installing solar tube wells and solar panels on canals. The Union Minister also said that seed banks would be set up for storage and preservation of important traditional seed varieties of different regions of the state.
Policy to overcome the problem of falling water level in the state
According to the 11-point resolution letter for rural areas, pending irrigation projects under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana will be completed and new projects will be started. It has been said in the resolution letter that to overcome the problem of falling water level in the state, free rainwater harvesting units will be created and subsidies will also be given for alternative automatic and smart irrigation systems, which will help in water conservation.
Promise to provide subsidy and credit for small scale industries
The BJP-PLC-SAD (United) alliance has promoted allied agricultural sectors like dairy farming, poultry farming, apiculture, setting up of new cold storages and providing dairy, poultry and women to women belonging to backward classes, scheduled castes and economically weaker sections. He also promised to provide subsidies and loans to set up enterprises in the beekeeping sector.
Establishment of smart schools and free bus service to students
The alliance also pledged to teach rural entrepreneurship skills to rural youth and provide interest-free loans to promote micro, small and medium enterprises. It also assured to set up high quality smart schools to provide quality education in rural areas and provide free bus service to the students to go to school and college.
The alliance also promised to build playgrounds at village level, provide world class facilities to groom international level hockey players and organise kabaddi tournaments in villages.