Instead of sharing vision documents to save Punjab, political parties are busy playing politics over faces......by Dr. Amandeep Aggarwal 

February 9, 2022: During assembly elections 2022 in Punjab, political parties are playing politics over faces to distract public attention towards core issues such as the need for creating jobs, increasing income, good schools, well-equipped hospitals, creating a pollution-free environment, carcinogen-free water, electricity at reasonable prices, eradicating drugs, the menace of stray cattle, corruption, etc. 

Instead of discussing a roadmap over the above-cited issues, gossip is prevalent over Who is the face of the CM candidate? Who will defeat whom? Who shall promise more freebies to the self-respecting and hard-working Punjabis? If this type of trend continues, I don’t know who will win, but the loser will be Punjab and Punjabis. Will our politicians learn something from Guru Nanak Sahib’s baani in Guru Granth Sahib -Pawan Guru Paani Pita Mata Dharat Mahat.

Politicians compete over making self-reliant Punjabis more dependent on freebies

In some states there is a loan of Rs 3 lacs per individual, still instead of promising fresh unpolluted air, pure water, corruption-free working in offices, and honest police; freebies are being offered. After all out of whose money, these political parties are promising freebies/ concessions? This is the money of common men/ general public: not of the political parties. Even the Supreme court has said It’s a serious issue no doubt. 

The freebie budget is going beyond the regular budget and sometimes… Even though it’s not a corrupt practice, it creates an uneven playing field. Such promises by the political parties violated Articles 14, 162, 266(3), and 282 of the Constitution and amounted to bribery and undue influence under Section 171B and Section 171C of the IPC. Rs 30,000 cr per month will be needed by Punjab to fulfill poll promises, if Congress wins, Rs 25,000 cr per month, if SAD emerges winner, Rs 12,000 cr a month if AAP comes to power.

The declining water table in Punjab year after year

Water is the most valuable resource on the Earth and the essential component of the ecosystem because all living beings need it to support their living process. Many of us who live in big cities enjoy a carefree lifestyle with 24x7 running taps, swimming pools, Jacuzzis, and decorative fountains. Sheltered by this layer of comfort, we remain unaware of the impact of these water-intensive activities on our environment.

In the past two decades, the groundwater table in Punjab has been falling at the rate of 25-30 centimeters per annum. The main reason for the extraction of groundwater is for agricultural purposes, particularly for water-intensive crops such as wheat and rice. 

About 60 to 70 percent of the total cultivated land in Punjab is under wheat-rice cultivation. The dependence on groundwater is alarming: some nine lakh tubewells pump out groundwater to irrigate and produce 60 percent of the wheat and 40 percent of rice of the Central pool. In 1960, just before the Green Revolution, the area under tubewell irrigation was 22 percent. This had increased to 57 percent in 1996.

Stooping to new lows Out of 118 community development blocks, groundwater in 62 blocks (52.54 percent) are overexploited, eight blocks are already dark areas indicating no groundwater.

 Farmers who use borewells have been increasing the depth of the well by an average of half a meter every year. After the Green Revolution, the farmers in Punjab abandoned their traditional cropping practice in favor of the government-supported wheat-rice cropping method. 

As a result, the shallow wells, traditionally used for irrigation, have run dry. While affluent farmers have started using deep tube wells for irrigation, the not-so-lucky have shifted to sugarcane cultivation, where the requirement for water is not so high.

The government talks of crop diversification, but avoids promising guaranteed procurement and MSP of alternate crops such as pulses, fruits, flowers, millets, vegetables. If farmers in Punjab could lead the green revolution, they will lead this revolution of alternate crops too provided they are convinced honestly about guaranteed procurement and MSP. 

No political party is talking about ways and means to stop Punjab from turning into a desert by 2030.

Cancer-causing water of Punjab making it a cancer belt; governments still boast of opening cancer hospitals

This problem is so big that people avoid marrying their son/daughter in the Malwa region of Punjab. Opening Cancer hospitals alone is not enough, governments have to take immediate steps to decrease the incidence of cancer. 

Some big decisions are needed to stop working of industries that mix up cancer-causing effluents into rivers, farmers have to be taken into confidence and made aware of the menace of overuse of insecticides/chemicals. 

Our ears are fed up hearing announcements of respective governments about cleaning “Buddha Naala” and its poisonous black water, but Punjabis have turned old (budda), Buddha Naalahas not been cleaned. 

Politicians need to ponder- they can become rich by these selfish/corrupt practices, but the poison mixed in drinking water and air doesn’t discriminate. It will not spare them or their families.

Sometime back during my visit to Andaman island, I started conversing with the taxi driver. I asked him- why no private hospitals were seen there? 

He replied –people don’t fall sick here because they have got fresh air and a pure environment. He told that his 97 years old father and his companions still work actively in their fields. 

I further asked him about cancer incidence over there. He told that cancer is a common disease there. I wondered because I had grown old hearing that Punjab and Punjabis are healthy. How much healthy we are in comparison to others? The answer was in front of me.

Depleted forest cover

In the name of development, India's total forest cover has been reduced to 21.54 percent (708,273 square kilometers) against the 33 percent recommended in the National Forest Policy. 

Decreasing forest cover and depleted wildlife is a matter of concern for everyone in India. Punjab after the last 10-15 years of so-called development has got a forest cover of 3.65% only- Sangrur where I reside has a forest cover of 0.65% only. 

In the name of development in the state, trees have been axed ruthlessly and the ground reality is that contrary to the claims on papers compensatory afforestation does not exist on the ground. 

Trees are the lungs of any state and without adequate lung capacity we Punjabis have been left gasping for oxygen. Going at this trend the day is not far when to breathe in fresh air we may have to go to other states.

Stray cattle

In Punjab stray cattle roaming on the highways have been the cause behind 100 fatal accidents every year. While the country has approximately 50 lac stray cattle; almost 1.6 lac stray cattle roam on roads in Punjab. These stray cattle apart from causing accidents have been posing threat to agriculture and small trees. 

The government had started charging cow cess for making arrangements for taking care of these cattle and as per available information, about 50 crores have been collected so far from the general public in the name of addressing a problem that still remains.

Corruption, drug addiction (Udta Punjab), poor schooling, poorly staffed and ill-equipped hospitals:

Despite tall claims of providing transparency and corruption-free government offices, good schools, and well-equipped, adequately staffed hospitals- we are still far from achieving the objectives. No party is even talking about eradicating drugs from Punjab.

I appeal to all the candidates in the fray to stop distracting the attention of the public; clear their vision and also roadmap about the real issues concerning Punjab, its environment, safety, and jobs of its residents.