Year 2010 has been declared as a year of governance reforms. Stating this, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal said, ?Administrative reforms are long overdue to steer the state out of legacy of the colonial mindset and make government machinery fully accountable and responsive to the needs of the common man?.
Reviewing 2009, he said, ?One central university and another World University, two greenfield airport, Punjab?s first ever IIT, and Indian School of Business, an unprecedented recruitment of over 29,000 school teachers in a single year, putting the Bathinda Oil refinery back on track, pushing four new power plants towards completion and taking up of a comprehensive revamp of the canal irrigation network in Punjab were the achievements.?
?An ambitious programme of Rs 1,388 crore for cleaning of river Satluj (Rs 1,076 crore), river Beas (Rs 222 crore) and Sirhind canal (Rs 90 crore) to provide clean water from river and canal system within next two years has taken off. On the power front, the state government had embarked upon a massive programme to ensure reduction in demand of 1,850 mw and better reliability of power supply, thereby saving nearly Rs 8,000 crore by the end of next fiscal 2010-11,? Badal said.
To boost road infrastructure, the state government planned to invest more than Rs 25,000 crore into a slew of projects aimed at improving the efficiency of road transport network. Under the ambitious programme, the state government chalked out infrastructure revamp in Punjab, covering over 13,000 km and involving major four-laning, six-laning, widening and upgrading of all key transport arteries in the state.
On fiscal management, the CM said revenue collection increased under VAT and CST from Rs 5,871 crore to Rs 7,043 crore in 2008-09. These collections are likely to touch nearly Rs 8,000 crore during the current fiscal depicting revival of the state?s economy.
To revamp the old canal network in the state, the SAD-BJP government has undertaken a massive Irrigation Infrastructure Development programme at a cost of Rs 3,469 crore for rehabilitating and strengthening of main canal system.