Defending his government’s decision to give jobs to sons of two MLAs, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday said termed it a recognition of the sacrifices made by their grandfathers, who laid down their lives for the country.
Interacting informally with mediapersons outside the residence of Late Milkha Singh, where he had gone to pay his last respects to the legendary athlete, the Chief Minister said those who make a sacrifice for the nation can, and should, never be forgotten. Their families deserve to be compensated for the loss, he added.
Taking a dig at the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which have criticised the government’s move, the Chief Minister said if these parties provide names of any youth whose father/grandfathers have made similar sacrifices for the nation, they will also be provided jobs in the state government. In fact, remarked Captain Amarinder, he had tried to find such persons in these parties but could find none.
The Chief Minister was responding to a question on the decision to give government jobs to
Arjun Partap Singh Bajwa, son of Qadian MLA Fateh Jung Singh Bajwa, as inspector (Group B) in Punjab Police, and Bhisham Pandey, son of Ludhiana MLA Rakesh Pandey, as Naib Tehsildar. The names of Arjun Bajwa and Bhishan Pandey were cleared by the state cabinet yesterday.
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Asserting that he would give jobs to anyone coming from a family that had made similar sacrifices, the Chief Minister pointed out that Punjab had been through tough times in the dark days of terrorism, when 35000 innocent lives had been lost to senseless violence. As many as 1700 police personnel had also died, he recalled, adding that it was not sufficient to pay tributes to these people at their memorials, and the state needed to do something more to compensate their families.
“We cannot allow their sacrifices to go waste,” said the Chief Minister, adding that Punjab salutes those who have shed blood for the country, and his government will continue to recognise their contribution to the state’s peace and harmony.