Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said the demand for declaring Batala as a district is already under consideration and a final decision will be taken after due consideration of various issues involved.
He had received a similar representation from another Congress leader last month and was looking into the matter, added the Chief Minister, in response to the demand raised by his cabinet colleagues Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa. The Chief Minister neither expressed surprise that neither Bajwa nor Randhawa had seen the reports in the public domain nor deemed it fit to discuss the issue with him before shooting off a joint letter in this manner. “Had they come to me and spoken about it, I would have told them that I am already looking into the matter, and would have even consulted them in this regard,” said Amarinder, taking a dig at the two ministers.
Capt Amarinder Singh said that Pratap Bajwa, MP, had already demanded a district status for Batala, in his letter dated August 11 and had cited Batala’s historic importance. “Our government had identified as many as 103 places in 79 villages and 24 Towns, blessed with Guru Sahib’s visit (Charan Chhoh) during his lifetime. Funds had been allocated and efforts were being made to ensure development of each of them in different ways, he said, adding that a lot of thinking and consultation had gone into the process,” added the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister further said that steps were continuously being taken to explore ways to ensure the infrastructural development and progress of all the historic towns and places in the state, especially those which are in any way linked to any of the Gurus. He would do everything in his power to ensure that Batala also gets its due, he added
