Tribune news service
Chandigarh, November 3
Since the president did not allow time for a meeting, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh announced on Tuesday that he would lead an MLA dharna relay in Delhi’s Rajghat on Wednesday to highlight the state’s energy crisis and critical supply situation. amid the Center’s outright refusal to allow movement of freight trains, said a state government press release.
As the crisis triggered by the suspension of freight trains further worsened in the state, resulting in the complete shutdown of all power plants, as well as reduced agricultural and plant supplies, the Minister Principal said that he had decided to hold a symbolic dharna relay in Rajghat to inform the Center about the grim situation in the state.
“Since Section 144 was in effect in Delhi, the MLAs will go from Punjab Bhawan to the Father of the Nation’s ‘samadhi’ in rounds of four only,” he said, adding that he would lead the first group at 10.30am.
Captain Amarinder reiterated his call on the MLAs of other Punjab parties to join the dharnas in the interests of the state, which is currently facing a desperate situation with the last of the private power plants shutting down today.
GVK has announced that it will close its operations today at 3pm as coal stocks had been completely depleted. Public and other private power plants in the state had already closed before.
The Chief Minister said the situation on the ground was daunting as the state had run out of coal, urea / DAP and other essential supplies due to the Railways’ decision not to use freight trains even after farmers eased their lock to allow such movement. .
With its unapproved power purchase offer for today, the state was facing an extreme power shortage, all agricultural and vegetable supplies had been cut and the power supply from high-loss feeders had been cut off, it said, adding that the people of Punjab were looking to a dark festival season.
In addition, the ongoing and inexplicable suspension of freight trains by the Railways also faces serious consequences for other states such as Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh, he noted, reiterating his warning that the Armed Forces are becoming easy ducks. for enemies. if they don’t get essential supplies before the snow falls.
Shortly after the Vidhan Sabha session, in which all parties had unanimously resolved to ask the president for time for November 4 to request his intervention on the issue of agricultural laws, the Office of the Chief Minister (OCM) sent, on October 21, a letter to the Rashtrapati Bhavan seeking a meeting.
A reminder was subsequently sent out on October 29, in response to which the CMO received a DO letter on Tuesday rejecting the request for a meeting based on the state amendment bills that are still pending with the Governor for your consideration. Subsequently, the CMO sent another letter yesterday, stating that the Chief Minister and other MLAs needed time to draw the attention of the President to the situation on the ground and seek his intervention to resolve the problems that have arisen.
However, the Office of the President responded by saying that “the request cannot be accepted at this time for the reasons cited above.”
Expressing development concern, the Chief Minister said that with regard to State Amendment Drafts, introduced under Article 254 (ii), the role of the Governor was limited to transmitting them to the President in accordance with constitutional provisions. .
In any case, as the letter from his office made clear, that was not the only issue on which the state needed the intervention of the president, he added.
The Chief Minister also took serious note of the refusal of two Central Ministers to meet with deputies of the Punjab Congress to discuss serious issues of importance to the state. The Ministers had requested time from the Ministers of Railways and Finance to discuss the suspension of freight trains and the non-payment of GST quotas.
The central government’s treatment of Punjab was pushing into a deep crisis, Captain Amarinder said, calling the recent events contrary to the federal character established by the Indian Constitution. The situation, if left unchecked, could turn into a major catastrophe and spell ruin for the nation, whose foundations were built on the ethics of democratic federalism, he warned.