After Punjab stood 13th in the Good Governance Index, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the ruling Congress have accused each other of being responsible for the situation.
On Saturday, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal said the “policy paralysis” under Captain Amarinder Singh had not only stalled the State’s development but also ruined its finances. The Chief Minister hit back on Sunday. He said Mr. Badal was deceiving the people with misinformation about the index, which was released last week by the Union government. It was, in fact, a reflection of the “poor governance” under the SAD-BJP government, he said.
Capt. Amarinder Singh said the data used to prepare the index dated back to the financial years 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 when the SAD-BJP alliance was in power.
“Anyone involved in good governance would know that the indices of progress were developed over a period and any development activity could only be assessed subsequently. But Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal would not know it as he has never known the meaning of responsible and good governance,” he said.
In his haste to condemn the government, Mr. Badal did not check out even the basic facts, the CM said, accusing the SAD-BJP of having destroyed every sector in the 10 years of its rule.
Mr. Badal had accused the Chief Minister of putting Punjab in the company of BIMARU States. BIMARU is an acronym formed from the first letters Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.He had said the index also busted the government’s “tall claims” about ease of doing business and industrial growth . “Punjab has also been ranked 15th out of 18 States in agriculture and allied services and 14th in social welfare and development. The situation is likely to worsen, with the State at the risk of being declared bankrupt.”
