Amarinder Singh announces grants worth Rs 2,140 crore for development

Shahkot (Jalandhar): Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday announced development projects worth Rs 2,140 crore for Jalandhar and Shahkot, as a gesture of gratitude to the people, following Congress' landslide victory in the recently held Shahkot bypoll.

Singh said his party candidate's victory had laid the foundation for an anti-Modi wave across the country.

Addressing a thanksgiving rally here, he said the Congress was indebted to the voters of Shahkot, who ensured a sweeping victory for the party candidate, Hardev Singh Laddi and helped Congress secure 2/3rd majority in the state assembly.

The chief minister complimented party workers and leaders for making concerted efforts and pointed out that it was for the first time in 52 years that the seat saw such a huge victory margin.

Laddi had defeated his nearest rival Naib Singh Kohar of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) by a margin of 38,801 votes.

At the rally, the chief minister announced a slew of infrastructure and other development projects

While work on four-laning of Jalandhar-Hoshiarpur, up to Himachal border (NH-70) had already started at a total cost of Rs 1069 crore, another Rs 1000 crore were allocated for widening of Jalandhar byepass linking NH-70 and NH-71 from Jandhu Singha to Pratappura via Jamsher, Singh said.

The detailed project report for the latter was under preparation by NHAI and work on it would start this year, he added.

Other projects included construction of road-overbridge on Chougeti-Ladhewali road (Rs 35 Crore), widening and strengthening of Jalandhar-Jandiala-Nurmahal- Talwan road (Rs 17 Crore), on which work has commenced.

The chief minister assured the people that there would be dearth of funds to hamper the development of Shahkot, "which had witnessed no progress under the Akali regime".

The projects announced on Thursday were just the beginning of the advancement of the region and its people, he added.

Underlining his government's commitment to strengthening school infrastructure in Shahkot, Singh announced allocation of Rs 7 crore for establishment of three smart schools and 32 digital classrooms.