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Chandigarh

Officers asked to verify data of Citizen Resource Information Department in Hry

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IEP Chandigarh

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Manohar Lal Khattar on Tuesday instructed the officials to conduct door-to-door survey by constituting teams for data verification of the Citizen Resource Information Department (CRID). “Along with data verification, maintaining data security is our top priority,” he said.

The Chief Minister was chairing a review meeting held here today, regarding the use of data of the CRID. He directed the officers of the Women and Child Development Department, School Education Department, Higher Education Department and Youth Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Department; to start the work for the survey by ensuring that the teams verify the data properly and the work is completed by all the departments together.

Khattar said that the state government is working constantly to ensure that the people have a comfortable life and get opportunities to progress and increase their family income. He said that there is a need to lay emphasis on promoting such welfare services and schemes so that awareness about them can be created among the common people at the grassroot level.

The Chief Minister said that the verification of this data has been given to various departments according to the age group; so that complete verification information is available. He said that through Parivar Pehchan Patra, the government is reaching the doorstep of every beneficiary who wants to get the benefits of welfare services and schemes of the government.

Chandigarh

GOVT’s PATHBREAKING HISTORIC INITIATIVE: MEET HAYER

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IEP Chandigarh, January 30

On the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the Mining Department is all set to introduce public mining sites in the state to ensure that sand and gravel are available at reasonable rates to the general public.

          Terming this decision as a historic and pathbreaking initiative of the Bhagwant Mann led state government, Mining and Geology Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer said that these sites will help in checking any malpractice to jack up the prices of sand and truly give the freedom of choice to the common man to buy sand from the source of his choice and at the price of his choice.

          The Minister added that the Chief Minister would shortly announce details of all such sites in various Districts in the State. The first Public Mining Site would be inaugurated soon itself, he said.

          He said that The mining department will leave no stone unturned to fulfill the commitment made by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to provide affordable and easy sand to the people of the state.

          While divulging the details, the minister said that the public mining site would be a mine where any person, requiring sand for his personal use, can purchase it by paying only Rs. 5.50 per sq ft. Such a person would be required to get his own transport vehicle along with labour to extract the required quantity of sand from the site. No JCBs or any other similar form of mechanical mining would be allowed in any Public Mining Site nor would any contractors be allowed to mine in it. Government officials would be present on the site to collect the sale price and issue a proper receipt against it.

          Elaborating on the availability of sand and gravel in the state, the Minister said that mining operations had resumed in Ropar and Pathankot districts and would soon commence in other districts too. He said that the department was making all out efforts to ensure that sand and gravel were available at reasonable rates to the public and the rates have already started seeing a downward trend. Transporters, crusher owners and miners have been cautioned against overcharging and Deputy Commissioners have been asked to depute teams to randomly call up the consumers to inquire about the rate paid by them for sand or gravel, he disclosed.

          Sending out a clear warning to mischief mongers, he cautioned Crushers, Transporters and Miners against overcharging the customers, failing which they would be denied commercial access to minor minerals in the state. Meet Hayer exuded confidence that the supply line would be completely streamlined in a few days.

Chandigarh, Punjab

POLICY FOR PUNJABI DIASPORA TO BE READY BY FEB 28: KULDEEP SINGH DHALIWAL

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IEP Chandigarh, January 30

Punjab NRIs affairs Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal has said that a the state Government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is bringing a new policy for NRI Punjabi, which would be ready by February 28.

          The Minister also said that the new policy would ensure effective resolutions of the complaints and issues  related to Punjabi diaspora. After having a meeting here today at Punjab Bhavan with DGP Punjab Mr. Gaurav Yadav, Principal Secretary NRI Affairs Mr. J.M. Balamurugan, ADGP NRI Affairs Mr. Praveen Kumar Sinha, Special Secretary Home Mr. Varinder Kumar, Special Secretary NRI Mrs. Kamaljit Kaur Brar and Special Secretary NRI Mr. Paramjit Singh, the Minister said that the initiative of Punjab Government to hold NRI Milnis got massive response with receiving 606 complaints. During these Milnis held at Jalandhar, SAS Nagar, Ludhiana, Moga and Amritsar, the Minister said more than 40 percent complaints i.e. 250 had been sorted out. He said remaining complaints were also being addressed within minimal time.

          On the nature of complaints, the Minister said that most of the complaints were related to the revenue and police department, while 20 percent of the complaints are already under hearing in various courts.

          The Cabinet Minister said that the process of setting up fast track courts has also been initiated for early resolution of cases especially related to Indian migrants. He said that these new special courts will be established at Amritsar, Moga, Ludhiana, SBS Nagar and Patiala. He said that in addition to Special NRIs courts along with appointment of special judge and the staff, another proposal had also been sent to create separate posts for police stations will be sent to the Chief Minister of Punjab. He said that a special NRI court is already in progress at Jalandhar.

          Mr. Dhaliwal said that DGP Gaurav Yadav has assured today that Rs 30 lakh will be released soon to renovate the police stations. He said that the state police chief has also agreed to increase the police force in the police stations, in which 75 police personnel will be posted immediately and 75 personnel by March 2023 in these special police stations.

          Mr. Dhaliwal further said that to solve various problems of migrant Punjabis, DGP Punjab will also write a letter to the police chiefs of all the districts with directions , to resolve the issues of the concerned as soon as possible. He said that all SSPs would make sure to send reports on these issues reports related to the police to the ADGP NRI.

Chandigarh

GOVERNMENT EXTENDS RS 798 CRORE AID TO BAILOUT COOPERATIVE AGRICULTURE DEVELOPMENT BANK: HARPAL SINGH CHEEMA

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IEP Chandigarh, January 30

Releasing another financial assistance of Rs 85 crore to bailout the Punjab State Cooperative Agriculture Development Bank Limited, Punjab Finance, Planning, Excise and Taxation Minister Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema on Monday said that the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led Punjab Government has so far extended aid of Rs 798 crore rupees to save this bank of farmers.          Disclosing this in a press statement issued here, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said that the Punjab State Cooperative Agriculture Development Bank was stuck in the quagmire of financial crisis due to the neglect of this bank by the previous state governments. He said that financial assistance of Rs 85 crore has been now provided to this cooperative bank so that it could pay the due installment to NABARD. He said that in case of non-payment of the due installment of Rs 120.91 crore to NABARD by January 31, 2023, the bank would have become a defaulter of NABARD and it would fail to get refinance from NABARD in future.          Giving details about the assistance provided by the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led Punjab government to this cooperative bank so far, the Finance Minister said that the government had provided Rs 425 crore on May 26, 2022, to repay bullet loan of NABARD, Rs 100 crore to repay loan installment due on July 31, 2022, besides providing Rs 62.67 crore on April 28 and Rs 125.33 crore on September 21, 2022, to pay pension and pension arrears. He said that the Cooperative Agriculture Development Bank has been facing this crisis only because the previous governments did not make sufficient efforts to recover the loans provided by this bank.          Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said that the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led Punjab Government is committed to reviving this bank for the welfare of farmers and agriculturists. He said that this bank has been playing an important role in providing easy loans to farmers to ensure the development of the agriculture sector. He also appealed to the borrowers to make honest efforts to repay their loans as soon as possible because the existence of this bank is very important to provide easy loans to people like them.

Chandigarh

VIGILANCE BUREAU NABS BDPO RED HANDED FOR TAKING BRIBE RS 25,000

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IEP Chandigarh, January 30

Aiming to curb the menace of corruption in the state on the directions of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) on Monday nabbed a Block Development and Panchayats Officer (BDPO) Ashok Kumar, posted at Sudhar, in Ludhiana district red handed for accepting a bribe of Rs. 25,000.

Disclosing this here today, a spokesperson of VB said the above said BDPO has been arrested on the complaint of Sarpanch Lakhvir Singh, resident of village Boparai Kalan, Ludhiana.

Giving more details he informed that the complainant has approached the VB and alleged that the above said officer has been demanding a bribe of Rs. 50,000 for issuing utilisation certificate and payment of grants for executing development works in the gram panchayat. The complainant further alleged that he didn’t want to give bribe to the above said officer but on his repeated requests, the deal was struck at Rs 25,000 with the BDPO.

After verifying his complaint, a VB team from Ludhiana range laid a trap and the accused BDPO was arrested from his office while accepting a bribe of Rs. 25,000 as a bribe from the complainant and the tainted money was recovered from him in the presence of two official witnesses, he added.

The spokesperson informed that a case under prevention of corruption act has been registered against the accused officer at VB police station Ludhiana range and further investigation was under progress.

Chandigarh, Punjab

STATE SETS NEW RECORD BY GIVING 26074 JOBS IN MERELY 10 MONTHS OF ITS TENURE, WHICH PREVIOUS GOVERNMENTS HAD FAILED: ASSERTS CM

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IEP Chandigarh, January 30 

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday said that the state has set a new record by providing government jobs to 26074 eligible youth purely on basis on merit. Addressing the gathering here at local Municipal Bhawan during a function to hand over appointment letters to 188 Junior Engineers, the Chief Minister said that the state is witnessing a new revolution where the youth are being empowered with government jobs. He said that this is just the beginning and 26074 jobs have been given in ten months of tenure. Bhagwant Mann said that more jobs are in pipeline and this process will continue in the coming days too. The Chief Minister said that merit is the sole criteria of recruitment for the government jobs. He said that complete transparency is being ensured in the recruitment process so that bright youth are employed with the state government. Bhagwant Mann envisioned that his will help in channelising the unbounded energy of youth in positive direction. The Chief Minister said that the state government has taken exemplary decisions in the last ten months of its tenure. He said that while the other parties had made promises to the people during the run up of the polls, they have given guarantee to the masses. Bhagwant Mann said that one by one all these guarantees are being fulfilled. The  Chief Minister said that the state government has fulfilled the guarantee of giving 300 units of free electricity per month from July 1. He said that it is a matter of great pride and satisfaction that 87% of the households in the state have zero electricity bill in the months of November-December, 2022. Bhagwant Mann said that he hails from a common family and knows it well that what are the problems being faced by them. The Chief Minister said that fulfilling another guarantee the state government has opened 500 Aam Aadmi clinics across the state where the online data of every patient visiting these clinics is being maintained. He said that this will help in data compilation for formulation of strategy to combat deadly diseases in the state. Bhagwant Mann said that it will ensure research based diagnose and treatment of the residents of the state in an efficient and foolproof manner. Taking the opposition parties to cudgels, the Chief Minister said that it is shameful that they are even criticising this pro-people initiative. He said that opposition for the sake of opposition is totally unwarranted and undesirable. Bhagwant Mann said that these people are vary of the progress and prosperity of state due to which they are opposing this initiative. However, the Chief Minister said that this will not deter him to work for the growth of the state and he will continue to work hard for welfare of its people. Bhagwant Mann said that he knows how to execute the work for well being of people and no stone will be left unturned for this noble cause. He said that people’s faith is biggest motivation for him to work and he will upheld this trust by all means. The Chief Minister further said that the state government has started school of eminence in the state. He said that these schools will ensure holistic development of the students studying in these government schools. Bhagwant Mann said that development of student will be ensured as per his interest and schools will groom specialists for coming future. The Chief Minister said that successive governments in the state have plundered the wealth of Punjab. He said that his government is duty bound to put the perpetrators of this heinous crime behind the bars. Bhagwant Mann said that no stone will be left unturned for to punish these culprits of the state who have looted the money from state exchequer. The Chief Minister said that due to massive efforts of Punjab government, entrepreneurs are showing enthusiasm for investment in the state. He said that till yet investment worth Rs. 27,000 Crore has been firmed up in Punjab thereby creating lakhs of more jobs for youth. Bhagwant Mann also announced that in a landmark decision the state government has decided to deliver the old age pension to the beneficiaries at their doorsteps. Earlier, PWD Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO welcomed the Chief Minister and other dignitaries

Chandigarh, Punjab

NDC DELEGATION CALLS ON PUNJAB CHIEF SECRETARY VIJAY KUMAR JANJUA

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IEP Chandigarh, January 30

The delegation of 63rd course of National Defence College (NDC), New Delhi led by college secretary Brigadier AK Pundir paid  a courtesy call on Punjab Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Janjua on Monday at Chandigarh.

The delegation is on study tour of the state of Punjab. The delegation interacted with Chief Secretary on various facets of the state.

The delegation comprised of Senior Officers of the different ranks representing Indian Defence Forces, IPS and Military Officers from other Foreign countries including Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Indonesia and Nigeria. On this occasion Brigadier AK Pundir also felicitated the Chief Secretary.

The delegation was accompanied by Director Defence Services Punjab Brigadier (Retd) Satinder Singh and Director Sports Amit Talwar.

The NDC is a prestigious and world renowned International training institute functioning under the Ministry of Defence, Government of India.

Chandigarh, Punjab

PUNJAB TAXATION DEPARTMENT ARRESTS 4 FOR RS 48 CRORE TAX EVASION

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IEP Chandigarh, January 30

Following the directions of Excise and Taxation Minister Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema to ensure zero tolerance against tax evasion, the GST wing of the Taxation Department, Punjab on Monday arrested 4 persons for GST fraud of Rs. 48 Crore from Jalandhar, in a major operation against tax evaders. The suspects allegedly were running fake firms related to the iron scrap and had obtained GST registrations only to claim Input Tax Credit (ITC) fraudulently by issuing only invoices without the supply of actual goods.

          Revealing this in a press communiqué issued here, the official spokesperson of the Taxation department said that Pankaj Kumar alias Pankaj Anand for allegedly running firms named M/s PK Trading Co. M/s Gagan Trading Co., M/s Krrish Trading Co., M/s Balaji Trading Co., M/s Krrish Enterprises and M/s Pankaj Scrap Company, Ravinder Singh for allegedly running M/s Guru HarRai Trading Co., Gurvinder Singh for allegedly running M/s Shiv Shakti Enterprises, and Amirtpal Singh for allegedly running M/s North Vogue were arrested and were produced before the magistrate and sent to judicial custody. . He said that all the four accused are the residents of Jalandhar.

          Disclosing further, the spokesperson said that an initial investigation was conducted by the authorities on M/s PV Interior Decor, Jalandhar, which further led to the investigation of M/s Dasmesh Trading Co., Jalandhar, M/s Gur Har Rai Trading Co., Jalandhar, Krrish Trading Co., Jalandhar, M/s Shiv Shakti Enterprise, Jalandhar, M/s Balaji Trading Co., M/s Pankaj Scrap Co., Jalandhar, Gagan Trading Co. and M/s North Vogue Co., Jalandhar. “All these firms were involved in a nexus of fake non-functioning firms, which availed, utilized and passed the fraudulent ITC to actual beneficiaries”, he added.

          The spokesperson further added that these persons were only showing circular trading of iron and plastic scrap and in lieu of that they were issuing fake invoices and generating fake e-way bills on scooters, motorcycles, cars, vans, tractors and on fake vehicles having no records. He said that by creating bogus ITC, these persons were passing on the same bogus ITC to the other than end taxpayers who adjusted their tax payment liabilities with this bogus ITC rather than paying the same from their own and thus defrauding the state exchequer.

          The spokesperson said that this operation was held under the directions of Vikas Partap, Fianace Commissioner (Taxation) and Kamal Kishor Yadav, Commissioner Taxation, and was supervised by Ravneet Khurana, Additional Commissioner State Tax (Audit), and Viraj S. Tidke, Additional Commissioner State Tax-1(Investigation).

Chandigarh, Punjab

AMAN ARORA HANDS OVER APPOINTMENT LETTERS TO 19 JES IN HOUSING DEPT

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IEP Chandigarh, January 30

Punjab Housing and Urban Development Minister Mr. Aman Arora on Monday handed over appointment letters to 19 Junior Engineers (Civil) at PUDA Bhawan, SAS Nagar (Mohali).

          While congratulating the newly recruited officials, he said that Chief Minister S Bhagwant Mann led Punjab Government has been making concerted efforts to provide employment opportunities to the youth of the state and over 26000 jobs in the government sector have been provided in just it’s 10 month regime.

          Mr Aman Arora implored JEs to work diligently and with full honesty, adding that transparent and corruption-free governance is the single point agenda of Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Mann led state government. He wished them all the best for future.

          Highlighting the decision taken for welfare of government employees, the H&UD Minister said that the state government has constituted a five member committee headed by Chief Secretary to formulate the standard operating procedure (SOP) for implementing the old pension scheme (OPS) as Mann government is fully committed for welfare of employees.

          Principal Secretary Housing and Urban Development Mr Ajoy Kumar Sinha and Chief Administrator PUDA Ms Apneet Riyait were also present on the occasion.

Chandigarh

257 DRUG SMUGGLERS HELD WITH 16.36-KG HEROIN, 6.70-KG OPIUM, Rs 11.53 LAKH DRUG MONEY IN A WEEK

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IEP Chandigarh, January 30

Amid the ongoing decisive war against drugs launched on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Punjab Police have arrested 257 drug smugglers/suppliers after registering 198 first information reports (FIRs), including 19 commercial, under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) act across the state in the last week.

          Inspector General of Police (IGP) Headquarters Sukhchain Singh Gill, while addressing his weekly Press Conference here on Monday, said that the Police have also recovered 16.36-Kg Heroin, 6.70-Kg opium, 1.94 quintal of poppy husk, and 78918 tablets/capsules/injections/vials of Pharma opioids besides recovering Rs 11.53 Lakh drug money from their possession.

          Prior to this week, Punjab Police had arrested 241 drug smugglers after recovering 5-Kg Heroin, 4.90-Kg opium, 5.92 quintals of poppy husk, and 1.95 Lakh tablets/capsules/injections/vials of Pharma opioids and Rs 7.89 Lakh drug money from their possession.

          He said that with 12 more Proclaimed Offenders (POs)/Absconders in NDPS cases arrested in the last week, the total number of arrests reached 648 since the special drive to arrest POs/absconders was started on July 5, 2022.

          Pertinently, Director General of Police (DGP), Punjab Gaurav Yadav had given strict instructions to all the CPs/SSPs to investigate backward and forward linkages minutely in each and every case, especially related to drug recoveries, even if they recover a meager amount of drugs.

          Meanwhile, on the direction of Chief Minister Punjab Bhagwant Mann to make Punjab a drug-free state, extensive anti-drug drives have been launched by the Punjab Police to combat the menace of drugs from the border State. The DGP has also strictly ordered all the CPs/SSPs to identify all hotspots where drugs are prevalent and all top drug smugglers in their jurisdictions. He also directed the Police chiefs to effectively forfeit the property of all the arrested drug smugglers so that their ill-gotten money could be recovered.