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According to Punjab Christian leader Ashfaq Fateh, the Christian leaders called an urgent meeting and condemned the notifications issued by the Additional Chief Secretary & Secretary Industries, Punjab, who is coordinating the installation of 26 Christmas bazaars in 17 districts of the Punjab. According to the notification letter, 39,000 bags of Atta (wheat flour) each weighing 20 kilograms have been allotted, while 19,500 kilograms of sugar (390) bags have been allocated. Fateh reports that a subsidy of Rs. 100 is given per bag of Atta and Rs. 10 per kilogram for sugar. The total number of beneficiaries will be 58,500. Fateh says the government has allocated four million ninety five thousand (4,095,000) only for the seventeen districts where a population of more than four million Christians is living. Fateh goes on to state that the Christmas bazaars were requested by those who patronized the Ramadan bazaars. The chief minister allocated nine billion rupees for Ramadan bazaars for one month, while only four million is being spent on Christians of the Punjab between Dec 22 – 24, 2009. Rasheed Jalal, district President for minorities PML (N) has demanded the government raise the quota of Atta from 500 to 2,000 bags per day, and the allotment of five bags of sugar be raised to 30 bags per day in each bazaar. The subsidy on sugar and Atta must also be raised. Each 20kg bag of Atta must be provided at Rs.200 and at least 40 Rupees on sugar. Ayub Anjum, a member of the district Assembly, said: “The district administration has asked the Christians to pay the expenses of tentage, furniture, water, security and arrange the cleanings. etc. The government has to arrange all this. This is injustice.” Fateh also states that Atif Jamil Pagaan, national convener, Pakistan Minorities democratic movement said, Additional Chief Secretary of the Punjab and Roa Manzar Hayat, Secretary of Industries, and Khalid Hassan deputy secretary were all called by telephone and the demands have been faxed to them. The Punjab government has been informed if the quota and subsidy on Atta and sugar will not be increased. The Christians will be forced to boycott these bazaars (if the quota is not increased). An entry on wikipedia.com states the Punjab is a state in northwest India. The Indian state borders the Pakistani province of Punjab to the west, Jammu and Kashmir to the north, Himachal Pradesh to the northeast, Chandigarh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest. The total area of the state is 50,362 square kilometers (19,445 square miles). The population is 24,289,296 (2000 figures). Punjab’s capital is Chandigarh, which is administered separately as a Union Territory since it is also the capital of neighboring Haryana. Other major cities of Punjab include Mohali, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Patiala and Jalandhar. The Indian Punjab historically forms a part of the larger Punjab region, which includes the Pakistani province of Punjab and the North-West Frontier Province, the Indian states of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, parts of Jammu and Kashmir and the Union Territory of Chandigarh, which boasts the highest per capita income and Human Development Index in India. Indian Punjab was trifurcated in the year 1966, leading to the formation of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. The wikipedia entry also states that agriculture is the largest industry in Punjab, (and) it is the largest single provider of wheat to India. Punjab is considered to have the best infrastructure in India, including road, rail, air and river transport links that are extensive throughout the region. Punjab also has the lowest poverty rate in India at 6.16 percent (1999-2000 figures), and has won the best state performance award, based on statistical data compiled by the Indian Government. According to the India State Hunger Index 2008, Punjab has the lowest level of hunger in India.
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