Big chasm between people and govt: Badal

Chandigarh July 17 – The Shirmani Akali Dal today expressed “ grave concern over the fast deteriorating law and order situation in the state”, adding that the people have lost faith in the capacity of the Congress government to deliver, especially in ensuring safety and security to life and property to the people.”
“They were promising the moon in four weeks. But it is four months today and they are taking the state towards lawlessness, chaos and utter mismanagement . Nowhere is this more pronounced than in the alarming drift on the law and order front,” said a Resolution passed at a meeting of the SAD Legislature Party.
In separate resolution, the meeting also expressed deep anguish over the loss of 17 lives of Amarnath Yatra pilgrims yesterday.
Meeting conveyed ‘sincerest condolences and sympathies with members of the bereaved families. The meeting passed another resolution expressing profound concern over eight Punjabi pilgrims who have gone missing after paying obeisance at Hemkunt Sahab, The meeting urged the government to take immediate steps to get relief operations expedited.”They government should take up the issue with Uttrakhand government in this regard,” the resolution said .

The meeting, which was presided over by former Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Parkash Singh Badal, expressed “shock and disbelief” over the tragic killing of Sulltan Masih , a Pastor of a Pentecostal church in Ludhiana last night.

The meeting conveyed his condolences , support and prayers to family and friends of the deceased pastor.
Talking to newspersons after the meeting, Mr Badal described the killing of Sultan Masih as “a grim reminder of the inability of the state administration to preserve the atmosphere of peace and communal harmony which the Congress government had inherited from its SAD-BJP counterpart in March this year.”
MR Badal also speak to Dr Franco Mulakkal Bishop of Jalandhar Dioceses The former Chief Minister said the main reason for the sudden downslide in the law and order situation in Punjab was the preoccupation of those in the government with “ matters extraneous to their assigned duties in public service. It seems that “government appears to be absent and there is vast gap between the people and the government. Having no one to go to in the government for the redress of their grievances, people were feeling frustrated with the situation.”
The former Chief Minister said that those in the government must begin to treat the service of the people as a full time mission and not a part time hobby.”

Mr Badal said said there had been sharp and steep drift in the law and order situation in Punjab and that did not augur well for enhancing the morale of people coming to settle and or invest in the state. “During our tenure, the entire elite of the country’s business,trade and industry remained keenly interested in the state and captains of business and industry kept visiting the state individually and together at the Invest Punjab Summits . Now, there appears to be zero activity on this front and law and order, among other factors, is a major reason.

Expressing concern over the spate of lawless acts including killings , Mr Badal said, “ “The situation is extremely worrisome and
requires immediate steps to invest the administration with a sense of urgency about governance, away from exploitation, repression and vendetta.”