gÉÉŌ A.]ÉŌ. xÉÉxÉÉ

03.08.2010
Sir, Hon’ble Prime Minister has said that the prices will come down if we
have a good Monsoon. If weather-gods have to control the prices, what is the
need of this Government? Why should we spend crores of rupees on electing our
representatives if Monsoons are supposed to deliver the goods?
MR. CHAIRMAN : Please wind up.
Dr. RATTAN SINGH AJNALA : Sir, Punjab is facing a lot of problems. Kindly
allow me to ventilate the grievances of people of Punjab. This is my right. We
provide 60% food-grains in the Central Pool. We have only 1.5% land of the
entire country but we provide the maximum quantity of foodgrains in the
country’s granary. The blood and sweat of the farmers of Punjab is the reason the
country’s granaries are over-flowing. Kindly allow me to speak.
MR. CHAIRMAN : There are other Hon’ble Members waiting for their turn to
speak on this important subject.
Dr. RATTAN SINGH AJNALA : Sir, on one hand, prices of essential
commodities are sky-rocketing. On the other hand, there is rampant adulteration
in food-items. Spurious drugs have flooded the markets.
Sir, the PDS system is in shambles. The foodgrains are not reaching the
poor and the needy. The entire PDS system is mired in corruption. Who is
responsible for this mess?
Sir, genuine people have not been included in the list of BPL families in
Punjab. Only 2 lakh BPL families find their names in the BPL list in my state.
However, in reality, there are at least 12 lakh BPL families in Punjab. People have
this misconception that Punjab is an affluent state. However, there are a lot of
poor people in Punjab. Genuine and needy people have been excluded from the
BPL list. Until and unless we have the correct figure of BPL families, how can
we provide relief to them? But, the Central Government has failed to get
conducted a new survey of BPL families in Punjab.
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