Chandigarh October 18:
The Punjab Government will continue its negotiations with the Centre on the debt waiver issue. Close associates of Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal said the government had decided that the process of talking to the Centre on the issue would go on under the leadership of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.
Sukhbir’s aides added that officials of the Finance Department had been asked to put forth a detailed presentation in this regard before the Chief Minister, who would then take a call on pre-conditions laid down by the Centre and then take up the issue with the Cabinet. “We are in favour of debt waiver,” said Sukhbir’s men, adding that, “But there is a method to everything.”
They pointed out that the debt waiver was not an issue, which could be handled by a minister in his personal capacity but needed a consensus at the party level. “We will continue with the process that was started by the CM along with the former Finance Minister Manpreet Badal,” they added.
They further claimed that papers shown by Manpreet during his press conference yesterday were only “preliminary letters” sent by the Centre and notes prepared by the state’s Finance Department. “At best, these papers can be termed as ‘letters of intent’ of the Centre to waive Punjab’s loan along with that of West Bengal and Kerala,” said Sukhbir’s associates.
“In the Cabinet where a power point presentation on debt waiver was made, it was the Chief Minister who introduced the issue to the ministers. After the presentation, Manpreet was told to get back to the Cabinet with a firmer proposal from the Centre that gave the exact amount of the waiver. There is no point in discussing conditions laid down by the Centre when we do not even know what they give us in return for abiding by those conditions” they added.
Manpreet was to get back to the Cabinet a fortnight after the Vidhan Sabha session. “Even on the floor of the House early this month, Manpreet was not sure about the figures. And then instead of getting a solid proposal from the Centre to be placed before the Cabinet, he decided to have a public debate over the issue,” they said.
The Punjab Government will continue its negotiations with the Centre on the debt waiver issue. Close associates of Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal said the government had decided that the process of talking to the Centre on the issue would go on under the leadership of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.
Sukhbir’s aides added that officials of the Finance Department had been asked to put forth a detailed presentation in this regard before the Chief Minister, who would then take a call on pre-conditions laid down by the Centre and then take up the issue with the Cabinet. “We are in favour of debt waiver,” said Sukhbir’s men, adding that, “But there is a method to everything.”
They pointed out that the debt waiver was not an issue, which could be handled by a minister in his personal capacity but needed a consensus at the party level. “We will continue with the process that was started by the CM along with the former Finance Minister Manpreet Badal,” they added.
They further claimed that papers shown by Manpreet during his press conference yesterday were only “preliminary letters” sent by the Centre and notes prepared by the state’s Finance Department. “At best, these papers can be termed as ‘letters of intent’ of the Centre to waive Punjab’s loan along with that of West Bengal and Kerala,” said Sukhbir’s associates.
“In the Cabinet where a power point presentation on debt waiver was made, it was the Chief Minister who introduced the issue to the ministers. After the presentation, Manpreet was told to get back to the Cabinet with a firmer proposal from the Centre that gave the exact amount of the waiver. There is no point in discussing conditions laid down by the Centre when we do not even know what they give us in return for abiding by those conditions” they added.
Manpreet was to get back to the Cabinet a fortnight after the Vidhan Sabha session. “Even on the floor of the House early this month, Manpreet was not sure about the figures. And then instead of getting a solid proposal from the Centre to be placed before the Cabinet, he decided to have a public debate over the issue,” they said.
