IEP Chandigarh, January 10

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Wednesday announced the formal culmination of the second season of the biggest sporting extravaganza of the state Khedan Watan Punjab Dian.

The Chief Minister said that more than 4.5 lakh players had participated in these games held across the state. He said that cash awards worth Rs 8.30 crore have been digitally transferred in the bank accounts of around 11,000 players who had bagged Gold, Silver and Bronze medals at the state level during games. Bhagwant Singh Mann congratulated all the players for their stupendous success adding he hoped that these players will continue to bring laurels for the state in sporting competition at national and international level.

The Chief Minister said that this year 35 competitions were held in eight age groups adding that for the first time Rugby, Cycling, Horse Riding, Wushu and Shooting Volleyball have been introduced in the games. He said that the competitions were held in the age groups of under 14, under 17, Under 21, 21-30 years, 31-40 years, 41-55 years, 56-65 years and above 65 years age group. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that players were given cash prizes worth Rs 8.30 crore including RS 10,000 for gold, Rs 7000 for silver and Rs 5000 for bronze medal winners.

The Chief Minister further said that these games are a right step towards this direction as they are providing a platform to the players for showcasing their talent. Bhagwant Singh Mann asserted that these games will also help the state government to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the players which will be beneficial for grooming them for the national and international events in future. He further said that the state government is leaving no stone unturned to popularize sports in the state as it can play a key role in progress of the state and prosperity of its people.

IEP Chandigarh, January 10

Punjab Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian, on Wednesday, said that Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann led Punjab Government has set a target to bring down the crop residue burning to 50 per cent in the upcoming season.

          He was addressing the one-day state level workshop-cum-training on “space based technology for monitoring stubble burning under Agro-geoinformatics” organized by Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC), Ludhiana here at MGSIPA.

          S. Gurmeet Singh Khudian said that pollution is a vast issue, and holding only farmers responsible for the same would not change anything on ground as they are also victims of uncontrolled pollution. All should come together and find a solution to save the environment for our future generations, said S. Khudian while adding that the hardworking farmers and laborers of the Punjab, who made the country self-dependent in food security, would contribute their maximum in this move.

          He further said that Punjab Government has not been leaving any stone unturned to tackle the crop residue burning menace as around 23000 Crop Residue Management (CRM) machines are being provided to the state farmers on the subsidy during FY 2023-24. Due to the concerted efforts of the government, the stubble burning incidents have reduced to 36,623 in 2023 from 49,922 fire incidents in 2022, reflecting a positive change of 26 per cent. Earlier, this facility was running under 100% assistance from GoI but at present it is on sharing basis of 60:40 ) Centre- State).

          Meanwhile, Special Chief Secretary (Development) Mr. KAP Sinha said that the state government is mulling to launch the Crop Residue Management (CRM) campaign this year in advance to contain the fire incidents more effectively, besides encouraging the farmers to adopt the crop diversification to wean away them from two crops (wheat-paddy) cycle to address the problem of groundwater depletion. 

          He said, “Punjab is known for Agriculture that’s why the state is called a food bowl of the country. Our prestige attached with agriculture and Punjab will not let it go to any other state”, while adding that the capacity of In-situ and Ex-situ will also be increased in hot-spot areas, besides, involving cooperative societies to support small, marginal and SC farmers.

          Director PRSC Dr. B. Pateriya highlighted the harmful effects of stubble burning on air, soil quality, as well as human health. He called for synergy among the Department of Agriculture, NGOs, academia, industry and farmers to tackle the menace of paddy straw burning.

          Principal Scientist Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi Dr. Vinay Kumar Sehgal made a presentation on the Application of space technology in crop residue burning. Dr. RK Setia, Group Head, demonstrated the role of geospatial technology and its applications with special reference to Punjab. Dr. Hapinder Singh, Group Head, elaborated the process of monitoring satellite based crop residue burning in Punjab.

         Chairman Punjab Pollution Control Board Prof. (Dr.) Adarsh Pal Vig, Deputy Commissioner Fazilka Ms Senu Duggal, Deputy Commissioner Ferozepur Mr. Rajesh Dhiman, Deputy Commissioner Bathinda Mr Showkat Ahmad Parray and other senior officials of civil and police administration also participated in the discussion and gave their feedback to control the stubble burning in coordination with all the stakeholders.

IEP Chandigarh, January 10

On the direction of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, the ‘Nal Jal Mitra Scheme’ is set to be launched across all villages in Punjab. The Department of Water Supply and Sanitation, in collaboration with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, has devised a comprehensive multi-skilling course for ‘Nal Jal Mitra.’ Beneficiaries undertaking the course will not incur any fees, as the government will bear all costs.

Divulging the further information, Water Supply and Sanitation Minister Bram Shanker Jimpa said that the course’s primary goal is to offer skill-based training to local residents in villages, empowering them to efficiently manage water supply schemes. He said that course participants will gain the ability to perform minor repairs and maintenance, potentially leading to employment opportunities within their villages.

The Cabinet Minister said that the course spans 510 hours and aims to create employment opportunities within approximately 12,000 villages of Punjab through the Nal Jal Mitra program. The Technical Education Department will provide training in plumbing, electrical works, pump operation and more. The government is planning to launch this program by March of this year.

To facilitate the training initiative, gram panchayats in villages would nominate a local individual for maintaining their water supply scheme. Each gram panchayat is expected to have at least one person undergo ‘Nal Jal Mitra’ training.

It is pertinent to mention here that under the Jal Jeevan Mission, efforts are underway to ensure water availability for every rural household. In many Punjab villages, gram panchayats manage water supply schemes through water and sanitation committees (GPWSC). The long-term sustainability of these schemes relies on skilled human resources at the local level, making the implementation of the Nal Jal Mitra scheme crucial across all villages in Punjab.

IEP Chandigarh, January 10

Under mission ‘Canal water to every field’ and to reduce reliance on underground water, Punjab Water Resources and Soil & Water Conservation Minister S. Chetan Singh Jauramajra is actively engaging with local MLAs, district administration and concerned departments to collect essential on-ground information.

During the recent meetings with MLAs of various constituencies at Patiala, Ludhiana, Moga and Amritsar, S. Chetan Singh Jauramajra has issued clear instructions to the officials concerned that canal water to each field should be ensured in a stipulated time frame, as the use of ground water in the state can be reduced only by maximum use of canal water.

S. Chetan Singh Jauramajra infomed that groundwater resources of the state are declining at an alarming rate with 117 out of 150 blocks comprising nearly 80% of state’s geographical area already under over-exploited category, stressing on need to develop alternate surface water-based irrigation water sources and also maximizing canal water usage to arrest declining groundwater resources of the state.

He said that Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann led government is making continuous efforts to save the underground water for future generations, while the previous dispensations kept avoiding this serious issue, which resulted in near destruction of the entire canal water infrastructure. He asserted that the Mann government will bring the canal structure fully on track, and upcoming Kharif season would witness the restoration of the canal water system, ensuring its availability to tale end and every field.

Stressing on the need to utilize treated water for irrigation purposes, S. Chetan Singh Jauramajra said that the state government, under its efforts aimed at preventing further depletion of underground water and to reduce the agricultural input costs for the farmers, has set target to double the treated water usage to 600 MLD by end of current financial year, thus benefitting 20,000 hectares of agriculture land. The state is at present utilizing 320 MLD for irrigation, he added.

The Water Resources Minister has also instructed the officials to vacate the illegal encroachments on the water courses so that the farmers can get canal water. He also urged the farmers to vacate the illegal encroachments from the water courses on their own, as these water courses will irrigate their fields.

The Cabinet Minister said that the government has acquired ten large machines for the cleaning of the water courses and drains, which resulted in 60 percent cost saving. He said that if the need arises, additional machinery will be purchased to complete the work.

He directed the officials to clean the water courses and drains and complete the ongoing projects in a timely manner, adding that demarcation of every drain should be done immediately after the harvest of the crop.

IEP Chandigarh/Rupnagar, January 10

Punjab Rural Development and Panchayat Minister S. Laljit Singh Bhullar, on Wednesday, successfully regained control of around 85 acres of panchayat land in village Harnampur under the Gram Panchayat Hirdapur.

Speaking to the media on site, the Cabinet Minister informed that the land, with orchards of guava and other trees and having value of more than Rs.100 crore, in Harnampura village had been unlawfully occupied by industrialists and local villagers, which has been vacated under the ongoing campaign of Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann led state government.

He said that the land’s possession has been returned to village Harnampur under Gram Panchayat Hirdapur. It will be subsequently allocated for agricultural purposes through open bidding, and the generated income will be utilized for the village’s development.

The Rural Development Minister categorically instructed the officials not to include individuals, who have illegally occupied the land, in the bidding process.

The Cabinet Minister urged the people of Punjab to collaborate with the state government in eradicating illegal occupations in their villages. He said that this cooperation would significantly enable the panchayats to make significant efforts towards increasing income.

He lamented that previous governments had extended patronage to people for encroached upon the panchayat land and thousands of acres in the state, from which the Punjab government was supposed to collect revenue on a large scale, could not be done. This situation has caused financial losses to the state exchequer.

The Cabinet Minister said, on the other hand Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann led government is taking stringent measures against illegal occupations. Through it’s continuous encroachment drive, thousands of acres of land, both commercial and agricultural, have been reclaimed from illegal occupation.” The Minister affirmed that the campaign against illegal encroachment will persist in the future.”

On this occasion, Additional Deputy Commissioner Amardeep Singh Gujral, SDM Rupnagar Harkirat Kaur, DSP  Trilochan Singh, Joint Director of Shamlat Cell Mr.  Jagwinderjit Singh Sandhu and other senior officials were present.