Tribune News Service
New Delhi, October 7. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has invited Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to inaugurate the Khalsa Heritage Centre at Anandpur Sahib and lay the foundation stone of the new international airport terminal building at Chandigarh named after freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.
Badal called on the PM here today. He invited him to inaugurate the prestigious project in the first fortnight of November.The Chief Minster also urged Manmohan Singh to lay the foundation stone of Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport.
The new terminal building, located in the revenue district of Mohali, is jointly funded by Punjab, Haryana and the Centre. After some initial glitches, it was finally agreed by all the parties concerned that the building be named after the martyr. A spokesperson for the Punjab Government said that the Prime Minister had accepted the Chief Minister’s request and the PM’s office and the state government would work together to finalise the dates for the two events.
Badal thanked the Prime Minister for giving the nod to the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) in Ludhiana under the auspices of the Mexico-based International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre.
He especially thanked Manmohan Singh for his role in ensuring that the SGPC elections were held in September. Badal requested the Prime Minister for expeditious clearance of the Rs 750 crore HUDCO loan. He also took up the issue of revision of norms regarding payment of relief to affected farmers under the State Disaster Relief Fund.
He said the existing norms were inadequate and a mere Rs 1,600 per acre could be paid to the farmer in case of cent per cent crop loss. This, he said, should be enhanced to Rs 10,000 per acre.
The CM also called on Defence Minister AK Antony and asked him to sanction two new NCC battalions in the state, one for boys in Ropar and another for girls in Malout (Muktsar). Antony reportedly appreciated the efforts of the Chief Minister in establishing Maharaja Ranjit Singh Preparatory Institute for military training at Mohali.
