IEP CHANDIGARH, APRIL 20

 Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has returned the file to make payment worth Rs 55 lakh from state exchequer to ensure cozy stay of a dreaded criminal from UP Mukhtar Ansari in Ropar Jail.The Chief Minister said that this is brazen loot of the public money which cannot be tolerated. He said that for reasons best known to the previous regimes this notorious criminal was kept in Ropar Jail with full comforts. Bhagwant Mann said that apart from ensuring comfortable stay the state government ensured that this hardcore criminal do not face any sort of difficulty within the jail and escapes the legal action against him.The Chief Minister said that the benevolence of the previous rulers towards this dangerous criminal can be judged from the fact that though 48 warrants were issued against him but the government didn’t bother to produce him. He said that surprisingly the then government spent Rs 55 lakh of tax payers money to safeguard the interests of this criminal lodged in Ropar Jail. Bhagwant Mann said that this atrocious loot of the public money is totally unwarranted and undesirable adding that he has returned the file regarding this matter to the department. The Chief Minister said that this open plundering of the tax payer’s money cannot be tolerated at any cost. He said that the government is also mulling to recover this money from the Ministers who have taken this sinister decision. Bhagwant Mann said that everyone involved in this heinous crime will be made accountable for their sin. 

IEP Chandigarh, April 20     

     Punjab Employment Generation, Skill Development and Training Minister Mr Aman Arora directed the department to sync the job portal https://www.pgrkam.com/ with Technical Education & Industrial Training and Industries departments’ portals to ensure the availability of skilled manpower data from these departments directly on the job portal.           Chairing a review meeting with senior officers of stakeholder departments here at Punjab Bhawan, Mr Aman Arora said that this move will help in real time updation of skilled workforce data on this platform which is being highly used by the various industrial houses to feed their human resources requirements.          He also asked the officials to make the Placement Cell and District Bureau of Employment and Enterprises (DBEEs) popular amongst the youth to encourage them to register themselves with these centres so that they can be further tracked and informed regarding the new employment opportunities available in the market.          Mr. Aman Arora asked the officials to give special emphasis on registering the persons with disability having skills at the job portal besides running a drive to convert the registered manpower into a employed workforce.          Meanwhile, Secretary Employment Generation, Skill Development & Training Mr. Kumar Rahul and Director Ms Deepti Uppal apprised the Minister that over 10K students have been enrolled under National Apprenticeship Program (NAP) by Punjab Skill Development Mission (PSDM).          Principal Secretary Higher Education Ms Jaspreet Talwar, Secretary Expenditure Mr. Mohammad Tayyab, Director Technical Education & Industrial Training Mr DPS Kharbanda, MD Infotech Mr. Mohinder Pal and other officials were also present in the meeting. 

IEP CHANDIGARH, April 20     

     Further intensifying the vigil around the banks and other financial institutions across the state, Punjab Police have frisked as many as 3947 suspicious people found roaming around such institutions in both urban and rural areas. Following directions of Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav, a special operation to check suspicious people roaming around banks and other financial institutions was carried out by the Punjab Police on Wednesday.          The operation was conducted in all the 28 Police districts of the state and CPs/SSPs were directed to personally monitor this operation and make sufficient numbers of Police teams to carry out this operation.          Divulging details, Special DGP Law and Order Arpit Shukla said that as many as 422 Police parties, involving over 2000 Police Personnel, under the supervision of SPs/DSPs frisked the suspicious people found roaming around financial institutions, especially banks. The Police teams checked 3618 such institutions on Wednesday.          He said that the major purpose to carry out this operation was to infuse fear among the anti-social elements, whilst instilling a sense of safety and security among the common people.          The Special DGP said that all the Police teams were asked to be polite while frisking people and ensure minimum inconvenience to the common public. Such operations would continue to make Punjab a crime-free state, he reiterated.

IEP Chandigarh, April 20      

     The Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak today chaired a meeting through video conferencing with the District Food & Supply Controllers (DFSCs) of all districts to review the ongoing procurement operations of RMS 2023-24.           While reviewing the overall lifting of wheat done from the Mandi across Punjab, Mr. Kataruchak lauded the efforts of Department for providing on-time payment to the farmers.           The Minister sought feedback from the field officials on the storage situation and highlighted that all efforts as well as support shall be provided to ensure smooth movement and storage operations.           The Secretary, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Gurkirat Kirpal Singh apprised the Minister that the Departments, as mentioned in the transport policy 2023-24, have implemented the online gate pass system. Besides, Vehicle Tracking System (VTS) has also been installed in most of the vehicles used for transportation of wheat and the gate passes are being generated online across all districts of Punjab.           The Minister appreciated the efforts undertaken by the field officers and encouraged them to carry on the good work of smooth execution of procurement operations

IEP Chandigarh, April 19

           Punjab Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal today held a meeting with the representatives of the Sanyukat Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) at his office regarding agricultural issues. During meeting, Dhaliwal ordered to principal secretary, Agriculture Department to get the details of the farmers who have not received compensation for crop damage from the deputy commissioners by May 15 so that the compensation can be given to the farmers on time.

          Dhaliwal directed the officials/employees of the Revenue Department and Agriculture Department to submit a report after proper assessment of crop damage. He also assured the farmers’ representatives to raise the silo mandis issue with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann soon. Apart from this, the Minister informed the farmer representatives that he has already written to union government regarding the difficulties faced by the farmers near the international border.  The Farmer representatives said that it would be better if the land near the international border should acquire by BSF or land owners should be allotted land in exchange of land elsewhere.

          The Agriculture Minister informed the farmer representatives that the Punjab Government has already written to the Union Government to provide compensation to farmers whose animals dies due to Lumpy Skin Disease. He also assured that no action would be taken on the warrants issued by the Land Mortgage Bank. He said that a new policy will be made soon to give ownership rights to the land occupying farmers.

          Regarding compensation of Rs. 5 lakh each to the families of farmers who committed suicide, Dhaliwal said that at present no case is pending. He also assured that if any family has not received compensation in this regard, the farmer unions should make a list and send him so that Punjab Govt releases compensation as soon as possible.

          In the meeting, the representatives of the farmer union Jagjit Singh Dallewal and Baldev Singh Sirsa and high officials of the agriculture department were present.

IEP Chandigarh April 19      

     The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) during its ongoing campaign against corruption in the state, on Wednesday nabbed a SDO mining department, Sarbjit and his driver Mani Ram, posted at Hoshiarpur, red handed for taking a bribe of Rs 40,000.          Disclosing this here today, a spokesperson of the VB said the accused have been arrested on the complaint of Rajinder Singh, resident of village Pur Hiran, Hoshiarpur district. He informed that the complainant has approached the VB and informed that he has been engaged in filling of plots/under construction houses with loose earth and used to carry the trolleys filled with soil. The complainant further alleged that the above said SDO and his driver have demanded Rs 40,000 as a bribe per month to run his business smoothly.          The spokesperson added that after preliminary investigation of the complaint the VB unit of Jalandhar range has laid a trap and both the accused have been arrested on the spot while accepting bribe money of Rs 40,000 from the complainant in the presence of two official witnesses. The bribe money was also recovered by the VB team on the spot.          In this regard a case under prevention of corruption act has been registered against both the said accused at VB police station Jalandhar. Further investigation in this case was under progress, he informed.