For over a decade, politicians in Punjab have been following a policy of appeasement to gain power, systematically ruining the socio-economic setup of the state in the process. The era of populism initiated by Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal in 1997 continues to take its toll on the government exchequer even over a decade later. This hasn't been stemmed despite the vociferous call for sustainable growth.Badal - who gave free reign to populism - had announced free electricity and water for farmers. The promise of such sops was crucial to his ascent to the top job in the state. Punjab was still recovering from the aftermath of terrorism during that period.The succeeding Congress government led by Capt Amarinder Singh which took over in 2002 did not have any option except for continuing with Badal's policies for fear of antagonising the electorate. However, the Amarinder government did make an attempt to withdraw the power subsidy. As Punjab prepared for the next election, the Congress also played a similar card. To combat the Akalis in the elections, the Congress abolished octroi in the state. It resulted in a loss of Rs 650 crore to the state exchequer.In 2007, Parkash Singh Badal led Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) promised(wheat flour) and(pulses) to the poor at Rs 4 and Rs 20 a kg respectively. Akalis' populism and competitive politics weighed on the Congress which regularised several illegal human settlements in the state before completing the five-year term in office.The coming elections - due in February 2012 - are no different. Nor is the agenda of the politicians. In a series of populist steps ahead of assembly polls, the SAD-BJP government already announced up to 200 units of free electricity to the poor for domestic consumption every month. The government also decided that it would not recover the arrears of tube-well bills from farmers for the period during which free power facility was not given to them.The government also approved a comprehensive policy for regularisation of unauthorised colonies within the municipal limits of the state. The decisions were taken at a cabinet meeting recently. Under the new policy, municipal institutions would approve the building plans in the demarcated areas after charging requisite development fee from the colonisers.Populism initiated by Akalis has become a vicious circle now. No opposition party - including Akali rebel and president of People's Party of Punjab Manpreet Singh Badal - can dare to oppose subsidies to agriculture and other sectors. Manpreet - who is Parkash Singh Badal's nephew - was sacked from the party and state cabinet by the Akalis after he challenged the subsidy regime of the ruling alliance.The political parties in Punjab conceive their policies for pleasing different interest groups. Whether the policies are right or wrong is almost irrelevant provided they ultimately translate into votes. The parties in the state cannot annoy affluent farmers and bridle the inefficient official machinery. These sections need to be appeased for the sake of votes. The members of workers' unions and the poor too become indispensable for the political parties before the elections since they command a huge vote bank.Except for some announcements and cosmetic measures, no political party in Punjab ever worked for ensuring governance and delivering services to the public. The leaders too failed to mobilise support for specific programmes for bringing about qualitative improvement in education, health, agriculture, environment conservation and planned industrial growth. Since they cannot afford to annoy these "interests", they avoid acting and choose to remain undecisive.The politicians' short-term measures singularly aimed at winning elections have already played havoc with Punjab's economy. The voters are also fed up of emotive appeals. They are now demanding performance and governance and seeking a qualitative break in politics.Populism has given birth to economic parasites who have lost their capability to become self sufficient. This is perhaps the time for flag-bearers of the state to adopt policies which are beneficial for the people of Punjab in the long term.Ecocabs - the lightweight cycle rickshaws - launched in Fazilka about four years ago have become a national benchmark in the area of Non-Motorised Transportation (NMT).The Union minister for urban development Kamal Nath awarded Graduates Welfare Association Fazilka (GWAF) the National Award of Excellence in the area of nonmotor transport at the fourth Urban Mobility India Conference-2011 at New Delhi recently.The best Non-Motor Transport practice award is given annually to a city that uses non-motor transport innovations to increase mobility for all residents, while reducing air pollution emissions.The award was jointly received by GWAF and Municipal Council Fazilka.GWAF was represented by Navdeep Asija, founder Ecocabs and Dr Bhupinder Singh, founding member GWAF and retired professor from IIT Roorkee while the municipal council was represented by Anil Sethi, its president.Ecocabs are a dial-acycle-rickshaw service available in big cities. The idea behind the project was to strengthen the unorganised network of cycle rickshaws.The project was later replicated in Amritsar and other 21 towns in Punjab with the help of the district administration and local NGOs.Pushpa Hans - a heart throb of cinema and music fans - died recently. She was 94.Pushpa - who hailed from Punjab - had acted in films in the 1940s and 50s and gave her voice to many actors as a playback singer. Her noted films as actor include V. Shantaram's Apna Desh (1949) and Sohrab Modi's Sheesh Mahal (1950). She also did playback signing for music director Vinod's Punjabi film Chaman and several other Hindi and Punjabi films.A winner of Padma ShrI and Punjabi Bhushan awards, Pushpa Hans was known for her rendition ofand. After completing her schooling from Fazilka - the November 1917 born Pushpa had moved to Lahore for higher studies. After completing her graduation in music, Pushpa Hans started her singing career with the All India Radio in Lahore.Even at a ripe age she sang on TV, launched CDs, and performed on stage. She also conducted live stage concerts all over the world.An annual attraction - Chrysanthemum Show - in Chandigarh which concluded recently was a literal delight in terms of splendour and variety of the flowers. The event held at the Terraced Garden had chrysanthemum flowers as small as a button to a massive 14 cm in radius on display.Various individual participants, government departments, educational institutions and corporates displayed the flowers at the show. In various competitions, the title " Flower of the Show" went to Panjab University, while " King of the Show," " Princess of the Show," and " Prince of the Show" were bagged by Virinder Singh - a Panchkula resident. He also won 19 other prizes. A floral quiz was also organised for school children on the last day of the show.