At Baba Bakala Sahib, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann marked Rakhri Punia by turning his government’s commitment to women into a direct financial assurance, crediting ₹181.50 crore as three months’ ‘Sanman Rashi’ into the accounts of 5.30 lakh more women under the Mawan-Dheeyan Satkar Yojna, taking the total number of beneficiaries to 70.92 lakh. While announcing that the government is working on war footing to bring one crore women under the scheme, with ₹51 crore already paid as incentives to 1.38 lakh Satkar Sakhis and another ₹25 crore to be given to Anganwadi workers who helped with registrations.
Sharing a few snippets from this occasion, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann stated on X: “Warm greetings to all Punjabis on the auspicious occasion of Rakhri Punia from Baba Bakala Sahib. On Rakhri, fulfilling the promise made to our sisters, ₹181.50 crore has been credited today as a ‘shagun’ into the accounts of 5.30 lakh women under the ‘Satkar Yojna’. So far, a total of 70.92 lakh mothers and sisters have benefited from this scheme. With zero electricity bills for 90% of households, canal water reaching the fields, jobs provided to 70,840 youngsters, and 882 government school students clearing NEET, Punjab is once again firmly on the path of progress and emerging as number one.”
Addressing the gathering during a function to mark Rakhri Punia, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann said, “Several modern-day masands are holding rallies on this occasion to mislead the people on the pretext of religion. These culprits are using religion to fool the people of Punjab, but people would not get swayed away by them. These modern-day masands are stooping too low by trying to get sympathy from the people by displaying their wounds after the attack.”
He said, “Wise people of the state have ousted these leaders who were living in palatial houses during their heydays of power and had never bothered about masses. Those who claimed that they would rule the state for 25 years have been sent to political oblivion by the people and they are not even able to find 25 members for constituting a committee. The wise and brave people of the state have taught a befitting lesson to such dubious and haughty leaders for their misdeeds.”
Calling out the Akali Dal, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann pointed out, “During their long misrule, the Akalis committed the sin of beadbi of Sri Guru Granth Sahib, shielding the perpetrators of this heinous crime and allowing firing on the innocent people. The Akalis have plundered the state mercilessly besides bruising the psyche of Punjabis emotionally and patronising several mafias in the state. Every vote to Akalis will be a mandate in favour of beadbi. The Akali leadership can never be forgiven as it was responsible for the genocide of several generations of the state as drug trade was patronised by them and bloomed during their long era of misrule.”
Making a scathing attack on the Akali Dal, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann said, “Even if the PM makes a call enquiring the health of Akali leaders they start dreaming about having an alliance with Delhi to loot Punjab. It is a fact that the Akali leaders are always bothered about their own interests rather than that of Punjabis or Punjab whereas AAP is committed only for Punjab.”
He said, “In order to satiate their hunger for power, the Akali Dal is now begging for an alliance with the BJP, whose hands were drenched with murder of more than 700 farmers who attained martyrdom during the protest against draconian anti-farmers law. The Akali-BJP alliance is without any ideology or public welfare but will be solely aimed at grabbing power in the state. People will not get swayed away with the misleading tantrums of these parties and will teach them a befitting lesson in the coming days.”
CM Bhagwant Singh Mann stated, “BJP can win from any state in the country but it should never dream of winning from this land of great Guru Sahiban, saints, seers, prophets and martyrs. The people of the state are well aware of the dubious character of BJP and they will definitely teach it a lesson. Punjabis can never forget how the food growers of the state were humiliated by the BJP during the protest against the draconian farm laws. There is a long saga of BJP’s injustice and step-motherly treatment of the saffron party against the state and its people.”
He said, “The BJP wants to deprive Punjab from Panjab University, Chandigarh, Bhakra Dam, river waters and its every legitimate right. These people have stalled the legitimate share of the grants of the state just to jeopardise the development of Punjab. BJP will not even get a single seat from the state as people will teach them a befitting lesson.”
CM Bhagwant Singh Mann said, “Rather than building castles in the air the BJP leadership should forget that they will ever assume power in the state as their sins against state and its people are unpardonable. With which face the BJP will come to Punjab, when their leaders had never raised the issues of the state and its people? The brave and wise people of the state will never forget the saffron party for their misdeeds and will send them to political oblivion.”
Taking a jibe over the infighting in the Congress party, he added, “While they are squabbling for the power for their vested political interests, the state government is working tirelessly for the well being of people. They don’t fight amongst themselves but they are making tireless efforts to make Rangla Punjab. The fight of the state is for quality education, good health and other welfare schemes, and for the sake of power the Congress leaders don’t see eye to eye with each other.”
CM Bhagwant Singh Mann said, “Congress has no vision for the people and the state, their only aim is to plunder the wealth of Punjab by assuming power but their dreams will never get fulfilled. The Congress party is a divided house that will collapse due to their infighting. It is a pity the top Congress leaders who come to unite these leaders squabbling for power are not even aware how to pronounce their names.”
He said, “This day has been meticulously chosen to give Rakhi gifts to the women of Punjab under the Mukh Mantri Mawan Dheeyan Satkar Yojna. This is the biggest social revolution being witnessed across the globe. This welfare scheme has hardly any parallel across the globe where the women are being empowered through financial assistance. So far 70.92 lakh women beneficiaries have got this gift from Punjab government and today 5.20 lakh beneficiaries, who have registered them recently are getting ₹181.50 crore.”
The Chief Minister affirmed, “I have put my sweat and toil for ensuring unsurpassed development of the state and with every passing day they are taking several new pro-people initiatives to uplift their standard of living. Unlike the predecessors I have never sought even a single penny from the public exchequer; rather I have ensured that every single rupee of the taxpayers is spent judiciously for the public welfare. I reminded the people that being their son and brother I have keenly focused on sharing the agonies and hardships faced by them rather than living a life of opulence like my predecessors.”
He said, “More than 90% of households in Punjab are getting free power. Even the farmers are today getting power in the daytime which has been unprecedented. The tax money of people belongs to people and we are judiciously spending it on their welfare. People's money is coming back to people through development, schools, hospitals, and roads. The Punjab government is now working for people and has provided free electricity to households, jobs to over 70,000 youth without corruption, improved roads, imparted quality education and healthcare, built infrastructure besides several other key initiatives which were ignored by my predecessors.”
The Chief Minister said, “The AAP government is working tirelessly for development of villages for which the grants are being given. To wean away the youth from menace of drugs 3100 sports stadiums are being constructed in the state. The AAP government has prioritised education and has taken path breaking initiatives in the Education sector to transform the lives of people. The Yudh Nashean Virudh started by our government has broken the backbone of the drug menace in the state and it is being wiped out.”
He said, “No freebie or concession cards can eliminate poverty or other social maladies but education is the key that can pull people out of this vicious circle by raising their standard of living. Due to this my government is tirelessly making efforts to improve the standard of education to empower the common man. Due to strenuous efforts of our government, Punjab has surpassed Kerala and other states in the field of education which is result of strenuous efforts of the Punjab government including teacher training programs, Schools of eminence and other efforts made by our government.”
CM Bhagwant Singh Mann said, “In 2021 just 80 students of government schools had cleared the coveted NEET exam but this year in 2026, the number has gone up by 11 times to 882. This is the difference of our governance from others, who have never bothered about the school and education sector.”
The Chief Minister noted, “For the first time in the history of Punjab canal water has reached the fields of 1,587 villages, who had never seen canal water. 45,000 kilometres of roads are being renovated and upgraded for facilitating the residents of the state.”
He said, “It is a matter of pride that our government has spent ₹7,200 crore to ensure canal water reaches every field. After I assumed charge the area under canal irrigation has increased from 26 percent to 80 percent, which has immensely benefited the farmers. In order to provide comprehensive healthcare to people our government has launched Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojna- the first-of-its-kind scheme in the country that provides cashless medical treatment up to ₹10 lakh for every resident family in Punjab. It is a matter of immense pride and satisfaction that Punjab is the first Indian state to offer such comprehensive healthcare coverage, which has significantly eased the financial burden on the public while ensuring quality health services.”
On the occasion, Cabinet Ministers Aman Arora, Dr. Baljeet Kaur, Harbhajan Singh ETO, Lal Chand Kataruchak, Gurmeet Singh Khudian and Hardeep Singh Mundian, Lok Sabha MP Dr Raj Kumar Chabbewal along with others were also present.
