Ever since I came to Sangrur in 2009, people of the area have given me immense love and respect and elected me to represent the Congress Party first as an MP and then as an MLA in 2017. For more than 13 years this has been my ‘karambhoomi’ and I have been working to bring ‘change’. 

Sangrur has been seen as a backward area because of continued neglect over last 30/40 years and our education, health, sewerage, street lighting, sports stadium, road/rail infrastructure was below satisfactory standards. The industry was almost non-existent and employment opportunities minimal. But in 2009 I pledged to ‘change’ this situation and give Sangrur and its residents another opportunity to live, breathe and move forward. I vowed to match our neighbouring districts like Patiala and Bhatinda in terms of school and health infrastructure, a better rail connectivity than Dhuri and meaningful municipal facilities like street lighting and sewerage.

I realised that ‘incrementalism’ is not the answer and we need to imagine big to bring in some tangible and meaningful progress unlike my other political colleagues who promise the moon in their manifestos but have done little. I did my homework and realised that big business and industrial investment will only come when Sangrur is seen as a liveable and lovable place to work. 

I started representing the interests of Sangrur area at all places - as an MP in Parliament and as a MLA/Cabinet Minister in the Punjab Congress Government. It was difficult to convince the decision makers that ‘big’ budgets and infrastructure projects is the only answer for Sangrur and its development but I did not relent.

With blessings and support from all levels, the journey of Sangrur from 2009 to 2022 is in front of you and for all to see and feel. The ‘change’ is visible and meaningful, in all areas. Now we have health facilities  like PGI/Tata Cancer hospital at Sangrur which are of best standards, our Smart schools have reasonable IT infrastructure for excellence in education, our playgrounds have synthetic turfs of international class and the Sangrur/Bhawanigarh towns have a better ‘living’ index with improved municipal civic facilities. Our roads are now more safe to drive.

The Congress Govt has also been supporting our farming community against the oppressive farm laws which will distort the agriculture ‘mandi’ system and ruin the economy of Punjab. All round support & development of our rural set-up has always been in my heart and I stand with my brother farmers. I have paid particular attention to improvement in rural roads and other infrastructure through building common facilities like community centres, drainage system in villages etc. I have also taken ‘seva’ as my main pillar of strength and organised medical camps for our elderly and other people of the area. To bring in a sense of involvement & competition, I had also organised cricket camps which have been well received. I have always been a part of your joys and sorrows and worked for betterment and happiness of the people of my region. As a PWD Minister I had the opportunity to make arrangements for establishing a 4.1 km road corridor to connect Shri Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara and take blessings from Guru Nanak Dev ji on his 550th birthday celebrations. The national Performance Grading Index for the year 2019-20 has ranked Punjab at No 1 which is a testimonial of the efforts made by me as a Education Minister during the recent years for our commitment to reforms in education field. My personal initiative to bring out the creative talent in our children during the stressful lockdown time with the ‘Ambassadors of Hope’ competition brought a participative environment and an appreciation of the need to invest in the future of our Youth.

2. My Report Card, as an MLA, as a MP and a Cabinet Minister are before you.  Do judge me on my work done. I have worked honestly to represent the interests of every urban and rural Sangrur resident and promise to bring ‘development’ to Sangrur as I have been doing since 2009. My main emphasis will now be to bring in ‘big’ investment which can provide employment to Youth of our area. A small beginning has been made in December 2021 and a Rs 700 crore investment for a Cement Plant at Village Deh Kallan has been made. This will provide employment to 3000 people. We also need to work closely with each other against drug abuse and  motivate our Youth to take up meaningful livelihoods. Our agriculture system also needs support and I will work to strengthen our village economy.   I understand that interests and dreams of each of us are different. But I promise to work honestly for all these ‘dreams’ and deliver.

3. Do support me and cast your valuable vote on 20th February in my favour. Let us give a performance, bringing meaningful change, development and big dreams a chance again.

Tuhada Apna,

Vijay Inder Singla