BJP releases "Sankalp Patra" ahead of the Punjab polls 

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), together with its allies the Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt), released ‘sankalp’ (commitments) manifesto on Tuesday, just days before the Assembly election.

Among the promises listed in the document are a budget of 5,000 crore for sustainable agriculture and organic farming, free rainwater harvesting units to prevent depletion of the water table, and promotion of allied agriculture sectors.

Under the ‘Healthy Villages’ scheme, each village will have Aarogya Kendras (clinics) with 24x7 doctor availability and a laboratory where all types of testing may be done.

Within 15 minutes, all rural regions will have access to the ‘108 ambulance’ service. To accomplish this goal, permanent drivers will be hired.

Under the ‘Pakki Chhatt – Har Ik Da Haqq’ (Housing for All) scheme permanent houses will be provided to all economically weaker sections of the society.

Every family will be provided with clean and safe piped drinking water as part of the ‘Har Ghar Jal’ programme.

Every village will have power 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The government would supply free electricity to each household up to 300 units, after which the electricity rate for domestic purposes will be Rs 3 per unit.

In the villages, high-quality smart schools with contemporary classrooms, computer labs, and playgrounds will be built. EWS and disabled kids, as well as all girls from Scheduled Castes, will receive an annual stipend until the tenth grade.

The ‘Samriddh-Pind’ scheme will be launched to promote rural entrepreneurship, with funds distributed annually to support rural enterprises. Rural youth would be granted interest-free and collateral-free loans with an easy payback procedure to support MSMEs.

In addition, BJP and its allies also promised cash rewards for medal winners in international and national games on the lines of those given out in Haryana.

Gold medalists in the Olympics and Paralympics will receive Rs 6 crores each, silver medalists Rs 4 crores each, bronze medalists Rs 2.5 crores each, and competitors would receive Rs 15 lakhs apiece. Anyone who qualifies for these games will receive a minimum of Rs 15 lakhs.

The prize money for gold, silver, bronze, and participation in the Asian/Para Asian Games will be Rs 3 crores, Rs 1.5 crores, Rs 75 lakhs, and Rs 7.5 lakhs, respectively.

For gold, silver, bronze medals, and participation at the Commonwealth Games/Par Commonwealth Games, the prize money will be Rs 1.5 crores, Rs 75 lakhs, Rs 50 lakhs, and Rs 7.5 lakhs, respectively.

The document was released by the BJP’s Punjab election in-charge Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, party leaders – Harjit Singh Grewal and Subhash Sharma – and SAD (Sanyukt) chief Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa.

The event was skipped by former chief minister Amarinder Singh, whose Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) is one of the allies.

The document also promised to promote affiliated agriculture sectors such as dairy farming, poultry farming, apiculture, the construction of new cold storage facilities, and the provision of subsidies and loans to women from backward classes, scheduled castes, and economically disadvantaged groups who want to enter the dairy, poultry, and beekeeping industries.

In addition, pledges were made to promote rural business and provide high-quality smart schools in rural areas. Free bus transportation to educational institutions has been promised to students.

Playgrounds would be developed at the village level, as well as world-class facilities for developing international-level hockey players and Kabaddi competitions in rural regions, according to the BJP-PLC-SAD (Sanyukt) alliance.

According to the document, new irrigation projects would be launched under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayi Yojana, while existing irrigation projects will be completed as quickly as possible.

Punjab will hold elections on February 20 and the results will be announced on March 10.

The Congress is currently in power in Punjab, led by Charanjit Singh Channi, who took over when Amarinder Singh resigned from his office and the party after a fierce feud with Navjot Singh Sidhu.

The Congress won 77 seats in the 117-member Assembly in 2017, ousting the governing Akali Dal-BJP administration, which had been in power for ten years.