Defendinghis government’s decision to give jobs to sons of two MLAs, Punjab ChiefMinister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday said termed it a recognition ofthe sacrifices made by their grandfathers, who laid down their lives for thecountry.
Interactinginformally with mediapersons outside the residence of Late Milkha Singh, wherehe had gone to pay his last respects to the legendary athlete, the ChiefMinister said those who make a sacrifice for the nation can, and should, neverbe forgotten. Their families deserve to be compensated for the loss, he added.
Takinga dig at the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), whichhave criticised the government’s move, the Chief Minister said if these partiesprovide names of any youth whose father/grandfathers have made similarsacrifices for the nation, they will also be provided jobs in the stategovernment. In fact, remarked Captain Amarinder, he had tried to find suchpersons in these parties but could find none.
TheChief Minister was responding to a question on the decision to give governmentjobs to
ArjunPartap Singh Bajwa, son of Qadian MLA Fateh Jung Singh Bajwa, as inspector(Group B) in Punjab Police, and Bhisham Pandey, son of Ludhiana MLA RakeshPandey, as Naib Tehsildar. The names of Arjun Bajwa and Bhishan Pandey werecleared by the state cabinet yesterday.
Assertingthat he would give jobs to anyone coming from a family that had made similarsacrifices, the Chief Minister pointed out that Punjab had been through toughtimes in the dark days of terrorism, when 35000 innocent lives had been lost tosenseless violence. As many as 1700 police personnel had also died, herecalled, adding that it was not sufficient to pay tributes to these people attheir memorials, and the state needed to do something more to compensate theirfamilies.
“Wecannot allow their sacrifices to go waste,” said the Chief Minister, addingthat Punjab salutes those who have shed blood for the country, and hisgovernment will continue to recognise their contribution to the state’s peaceand harmony.