Chandigarh, Oct 8 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday launched the Roshan Punjab (or illuminated Punjab) campaign with an outlay of Rs 5,000 crore to make the state the first power cuts-free in the country.

Addressing the gathering after launching the campaign, Kejriwal said Punjab has witnessed unprecedented floods due to which a lot of devastation took place, but the brave and wise people have combated it strongly.

Talking about the campaign, he said none of the governments at the Centre or in the state had ever dreamt about this ambitious project, but the Punjab government has taken this historic initiative.

Kejriwal said the industry is getting fourth fourth-lowest tariff in the country, the agriculture sector has uninterrupted power, and now this initiative is being taken, adding that the work on this has not been done in the past 75 years.

“It is a matter of pride and satisfaction to be here amongst all of you to launch the power cut-free Punjab project.”

He said this day marks the dawn of a new era as a historic initiative has been introduced in Punjab’s power sector.

Kejriwal said for the first time, an investment of Rs 5,000 crore is being made to bring reforms in the power sector.

He said that through this project, Punjab will receive an uninterrupted 24-hour power supply by next year, which is why the project has been named “Roshan Punjab”.

He also lauded Chief Minister Mann for preparing the blueprint for this project, adding that under this project, new substations and power lines will be set up, the load on feeders will be reduced, and other important steps will be taken.

Arvind Kejriwal said that the focus will be on building new infrastructure, upgrading existing systems, and enhancing maintenance in the power sector.

He said that this will eliminate the issue of voltage fluctuation, especially in rural and remote areas, and significantly improve the power supply.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Mann said education, health and power had acquired a centrestage in the political agenda of the parties due to the concerted efforts of AAP and its national convener Kejriwal.

He said prior to this, none of the political parties had ever bothered about these core sectors that have been most important for the common man.

The Chief Minister said that, realising well that power is the lifeline of the economy, the state government has taken several key initiatives to augment this sector.

–IANS

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