LUDHIANA, December 16: Asserting that the Akali-BJP government was desperately trying to sell out whatever remained of the state property in Punjab, the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari has strongly opposed the proposal to sell the prime land belonging to the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited at Sarabha Nagar inLudhiana.

Addressing a public meeting atShinghar Cinema Roadorganised by the party councillor Sanjay Talwar, Tewari said, the proposal was only a part in the continuous series of desperate bids of the fund-starved state government to mobilise resources by selling family silver to manage its day to day affairs. Meanwhile, Tewari handed over a cheque amounting Rs. 26.49 lac to Talwar for development works in the area from his MPLAD fund.

Questioning the claims of the state government that the place will be used for setting up of commercial hub as shopping complexes, malls and multiplexes, the Minister remarked, “as if there is dearth of such places inLudhiana”. He pointed out, there are already so many malls and multiplexes and shopping complexes in the city and there is no point in setting up one more.

However, Tewari added, this is just an excuse of the state government. “Actually the government wants to sell the prime land to some private company to raise money for the day to day expenses”, he remarked, while observing, “otherwise it defies all the logic as why should there be more malls when the existing ones are going empty”.

Maintaining that the state government was no longer being trusted with loans by the banks, the Minister observed, “it is quite understandable when nobody trusts you with any money any more you turn to your family silver and sell it off to raise whatever money you can without caring about the long term consequences”.

The Minister observed, given the rate at which the state government was selling its properties, the day will not be that far when the state will be left with no property at all. “This is a defeatist tendency when government’s abandoned their concern for future and are handicapped by short term survival concerns”, he remarked.

Among others present on the occasion included party MLA Surinder Dawer, DCC president Pawan Dewan, Jasbir Chadha, Ashok Pappi Prashar, Hemraj Aggarwal, Parminder Mehta and others.