BATHINDA: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday laid the foundation stone for setting up 3,100 sports grounds across the state. Addressing a gathering here, Kejriwal said the initiative marked a historic day for Punjab, adding that modern playgrounds, equipped with modern facilities, for volleyball, football, hockey, and athletics, will be established in villages across the state. He said the government would also provide the necessary sports equipment for these grounds. Speaking about the state government’s ongoing anti-drug campaign “Yudh Nashian Virudh” in the state, Kejriwal said strict actions were being taken against drug smugglers. “For the past 8-10 months, a war against drugs has been going on in the state. Big drug smugglers have been put behind bars and their properties are being demolished,” he said, adding that massive quantities of heroin, among other drugs, have also been recovered. Targeting previous governments, Kejriwal accused them of destroying the youth by allowing the drug menace to spread. “Such a big leader is now behind bars. Many people used to say that nobody could dare to put him in jail. But they did not know that it was the Bhagwant Mann government. Whosoever supplies drugs will not be spared,” he said, without naming anyone. He further said that over the past three years, the Mann government has provided 55,000 jobs purely on merit. Private companies are setting up their projects in the state, which is expected to generate around 4 lakh jobs for youths in the private sector, he added.