Opposition Leader Pratap Singh Bajwa Demands Extended Debate on Punjab Issues

Opposition leader Pratap Singh Bajwa wrote to Punjab Assembly speaker Kuldeep Singh Sandhwan urging that the upcoming session, beginning on 3 August, allocate ample time for detailed discussion of a range of pressing public‑interest matters. He asked that the draft of the proposed ‘Jagat Jot Shri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Second Amendment) Bill, 2008’ be circulated to legislators at least two to three days before the debate and that a special, clause‑by‑clause discussion be scheduled.

Bajwa highlighted law‑and‑order concerns, including gangster‑led extortion, the controversial interview of Lawrence Bishnoi, and alleged police excesses against protesting electricity, MGNREGA and municipal workers. He also called for separate debates on the Baragadi Badabhi, Behal Kalan and Kotkapura shooting incidents, seeking review of the government’s response.

On fiscal matters, Bajwa demanded a white paper on Punjab’s rising debt and financial health, and urged discussion of pending salary‑commission recommendations, dearness‑allowance arrears, implementation of an old pension scheme, regularisation of contract staff, and the PSPCL proposal to issue a ₹10,000‑crore bond. He raised further issues such as rising government advertising spend, the agricultural crisis, the need for a comprehensive state agriculture policy, deteriorating education standards, vacant teaching posts, and alleged irregularities in a recruitment exam for 454 pharmacist officer positions at Baba Farid University of Health Sciences.