As the new govt in Punjab takes oath today, Chandigarh Tribune speaks to newly elected MLAs from Mohali, Kharar & Dera Bassi to know their priorities

Balbir Sidhu, Mohali MLA

Akash Ghai

Tribune News Service

Mohali, March 15

For Balbir Sidhu, three-time winner in a row in the Assembly elections, no issue in the town is new.“I am familiar with all issues here. With a Congress government in the saddle in the state, I will keep all my promises,” said Sidhu. Among the main issues on the priority list of the new MLA from Mohali are revamp of the industry, implementation of a need-based policy, upgrading the Mohali Civil Hospital to the level of Government Mulit-Specialty Hospital in Sector 16, Chandigarh, construction of a girls college and Kendriya Vidyalaya, effective steps to regulate traffic at the Landran T-point, abolishing property tax and restarting bus operations at the Phase VIII bus stand.Sidhu said implementation of a need-based policy was one of the top issues of the town. “It’s a long-pending issue. Now, I will address it for the benefit of residents of the town,” said Sidhu. On how he planned to revamp the industry in the town, Sidhu said the Congress government would invite industrialists from outside with lucrative offers. “We will check land owners who have bought plots in the industrial area but are not running any unit. We will take action against them,” he said.“The revamp of the industry will help in job creation, the main agenda of our government,” said Sidhu. He said the state of primary health centres would also be improved. On the education front, Sidhu wants to construct a girls college and a Kendriya Vidyalaya in the town. “Mohali has no girls’ college. In this term, the town will get a girls’ college and a Kendriya Vidyalaya,” Sidhu said. Sidhu, who apparently is not happy with former Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal’s dream project of the new ISBT at Phase VI, is contemplating restarting bus operations from the town’s old bus stand at Phase VIII. “The decision of constructing a new bus stand at Phase VI wasn’t a wise step and practical. We will review the decision. As people of the town have been facing inconvenience, I will restart bus operations from the old bus stand,” said Sidhu.