IEP Chandigarh, January 10

Taking a path breaking initiative towards providing quality, nutritious and hygienic food to around 11 lakh beneficiaries in Anganwari centres, the state government led Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann today inked a strategic tie up between Social Security, Women and Child development department and Markfed to supply dry ration.

As per this agreement, the Markfed will supply the dry ration in form of besan, wheat flour and other commodities to the department of Social Welfare, Women and Child development to prepare nutritious food to the beneficiaries in Anganwari centres and other places.

Congratulating both the departments, the Chief Minister said that this historic initiative is aimed at ensuring hygienic and quality food to the children in Anganwaris centre along with the food given to the pregnant women, lactating mothers and others. Bhagwant Mann said that he had been a votary of providing quality food to the students during Mid Day Meal and Anganwaris, for which this step has been taken. He said that the state government is committed to the holistic development of the children in the state.

The Chief Minister said that this unprecedented tie up between Marked and the department will ensure smooth, hassle free and time bound supply of ration to the Anganwaris. He said that besides ensuring the welfare of the women and children, the agreement will also help in further expansion of Markfed- the premier cooperative of the state thereby strengthening the cooperative movement in Punjab. Bhagwant Mann said that earlier a number of complaints used to pour in regarding the poor quality of the ration being supplied in these centres. “However this tie up will ensure that the best quality of ration is supplied through the Markfed thereby ensuring holistic growth of children and women”, he added

IEP Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar (Mohali), January 10      

     Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday asked the officers to expedite the work of installing a hi-tech 5D statue of Shaheed Bhagat Singh near the Shaheed-e-Aazam Bhagat Singh International Airport here.           The Chief Minister inspected the proposed site where this hi-tech statue is to be imposed and asked the officers to ensure that the work is completed within the stipulated time period. He expressed hope that this statue will inspire the younger generations to serve the country zealously. Bhagwant Mann said that this statue will be a befitting tribute to the legendary martyr by the state government.           The Chief Minister said that the ideology of Shaheed-e- Azam Bhagat Singh is the panacea of all the ills faced by the country. Bhagwant Mann said that this statue will play a pivotal role in perpetuating the glorious legacy of this young martyr amongst the younger generations of Punjabis Diaspora landing at the airport from within the country and across the globe. Along with this, he said that this statue will also remind of the supreme sacrifice made by this young national hero to the commuters from Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu-Kashmir and other states.           The Chief Minister said that Shaheed Bhagat Singh was a votary of equality, communal harmony and brotherhood. Bhagwant Mann said that Shaheed-e-Azam had envisioned a society free from corruption and injustice. He said that only such ideology can make India a frontrunner country in the world.           The Chief Minister further said that the young martyr is remembered not only for his heroism but also for his philosophy of socialism and fight against injustice. He said that the life and philosophy of young martyr will always inspire the young generations to serve the country with patriotic zeal. Bhagwant Mann reiterated that the state government is committed to realizing the dream of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and no stone is being left unturned for this noble cause.           On the occasion Director Information and Public Relations Sonali Giri, Additional Principal Secretary to CM Himanshu Jain, Deputy Commissioner Amit Talwar, Senior Superintendent of Police Dr. Sandeep Garg and others were also present. 

IEP Chandigarh, January 10

The Punjab Mining Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer while reacting to the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s permission to operate the closed quarries has described this decision as a victory for the people of Punjab. He said that under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the State Government is making continuous efforts to eliminate the sand mafia and provide sand to the people of Punjab at reasonable prices.          After the sustained efforts of the State Government, DSRs of 3 districts Fazilka, Pathankot and Ropar were approved on 27th December 2022 by SEIAA. The DSRs of these three districts include 150 potential mining sites as identified by sub-divisional level committees. Subsequently SEIAA had allowed mining on the sites included in DSRs vide letter dated 30.12.2022 with some conditions.          Today the Hon’ble High Court has allowed mining in these three districts on the terms indicated by SEIAA. The DSRs of other 11 districts are under preparation and government is monitoring the same on day to day basis. These will also be submitted to SEIAA in a time bound manner expeditiously. Also, the Mining plans of 150 sites included in DSRs are being prepared. The government has hired 3 consultants for preparing these mining plans.          Meet Hayer said that there will be no reduction in the supply of sand to the people with the recent decision of the High Court regarding the opening of quarries. He said that the State Government has also fixed the prices of sand so that the common people do not face any kind of trouble. He said that the State Government has also opened a government sand depot at New Chandigarh where sand is being provided at fixed prices. He further said that the government is opening government depots for the sale of sand in other districts as well.          The Minister said that the mafia was protected by the previous governments due to which the people had to bear the brunt leading to buying sand at expensive prices. He said that the State Government is fully committed to protect the interests of the Aam Aadmi and has wiped out the mafia as soon as it came to power. For the first time, a government depot has been opened to sell sand at cheap rates.

IEP Chandigarh, January 10

From now, Sarpanch, Chairman, Panchayat Samiti and Zilla Parishad will grant administrative approvals of all development projects from their own funds as well as grant in aid. Earlier all such files used to come to the government level for final approval. While officers upto the rank of Junior Engineer, SDO, XEN, Superintending Engineer and Chief Engineer have been designated as the competent authority to grant technical approvals for all such development works.Sharing more information in this regard, an official spokesperson said that Junior Engineer can give technical sanction for the works upto Rs 2 lakh, SDO can approve works upto Rs 25 lakh, XEN can approve works upto Rs 1 crore, Superintending Engineer can approve works upto 2.5 crore and Chief Engineer can give approvals for works exceeding Rs 2.5 crore.

IEP Chandigarh, January 9

With the decisive war against drugs waged on the directions of Chief Minister Punjab Bhagwant Mann to root out the menace of drugs completed half-year, Punjab Police have arrested as many as 9917 drug smugglers including 1447 big fish since July 5, 2022. The Police have registered a total of 7533 first information reports (FIRs) of which 852 are related to commercial quantity.Inspector General of Police (IGP) Headquarters Sukhchain Singh Gill, who was addressing his weekly Press Conference here on Monday said that the Police teams have recovered 418.44-Kg Heroin from across the state after carrying out cordon and search operations in drug-affected areas besides laying nakas at vulnerable routes across the state. Additionally, 147.5-Kg heroin was recovered by the teams of Punjab Police from Seaports of Gujarat and Maharashtra, taking the total effective recovery of heroin to 565.94-Kgs in just six months, he said.Apart from seizing big-haul of heroin, the IGP said that Police have also recovered 407-Kg opium, 407-Kg Ganja, 233 quintals of poppy husk, and 33.88 lakhs tablets/capsules/injections/vials of Pharma opioids from across the state. The Police have also recovered Rs 7.72 crores of drug money from the possession of drug smugglers arrested in these six months.Giving weekly update, the IGP said that in last one week, the police have arrested 311 drug smugglers/suppliers after registering 247 first information reports (FIRs), including 19 commercial, and recovered 11.76-Kg Heroin, 9.87-Kg opium, 6.37 quintals of poppy husk, and 32118 tablets/capsules/injections/vials of Pharma opioids besides recovering Rs 2.88 lakh drug money from their possession.He said that with 13 more Proclaimed Offenders (POs)/Absconders in NDPS cases arrested in the last one week, the total number of arrests reached 608 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.

IEP Chandigarh, January 9:

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday mourned the death of Punjab Police Constable Kuldeep Singh Bajwa, who attained martyrdom in line of duty at Phagwara, and announced Rs 2 crore to the family of martyr as a mark of respect for his supreme sacrifice for the country.

          The Chief Minister said that Constable Kuldeep Bajwa had attained martyrdom while performing his duty at Phagwara.  He said that out of this Rs 2 crore, Rs 1 crore will be given as ex-gratia by the state government whereas another payment of insurance cover worth Rs 1 crore will be made by the HDFC bank. Bhagwant Mann said that this initiative is in recognition of the immense contribution of this son of soil towards maintaining law and order in the state.

          Meanwhile, the Chief Minister reiterated that the state government is duty bound to help the families of the soldiers who sacrifice their life at the altar of the motherland.

IEP CHANDIGARH, January 9      

     The ongoing drive against anti-social elements launched on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann achieved a major breakthrough after Anti Gangster Task Force (AGTF) of Punjab Police in a joint operation with central agencies and Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Monday arrested three key operatives of Gangster Rajesh Kumar alias Sonu Khatri for their direct involvement in Makhan Kang Murder Case, which took place in Nawanshahr in March 2022. The trio was arrested from Ambilvali in district Thane in Maharashtra.          Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav identified the arrested accused persons as Amandeep Kumar alias Rancho, Shivam alias Avtar alias Tara and Gurmukh Singh alias Gora, all resident of SBS Nagar. All the accused persons have a criminal history with a number of criminal cases pertaining to murder, attempt to murder, extortion, carjacking and under NDPS Act registered against them, he added.          Divulging details, DGP Gaurav Yadav said that using technical and human intelligence, AGTF headed by ADGP Promod Ban traced out the location of accused persons in Maharashtra, following which, a Police team led by DSP AGTF Rajan Parminder and Insp Pushpinder Singh was sent to Maharashtra under the supervision of AIG AGTF Sandeep Goel.          “The teams of Punjab Police’s AGTF in a well-coordinated operation with central agencies and ATS Maharashtra have arrested the trio accused persons from a hide-out at Om Sai Apartments in Thane of Maharashtra arranged by the Gangster Sonu Khatri,” he said.          The DGP said that with the arrest of these three key operatives of Gangster Sonu Khatri, the Punjab Police have got vital clues about the remaining absconding accused persons in the Makhan murder case.          He said that further interrogation of the arrested persons is expected to unveil the future criminal activities planned by Gangster Sonu Khatri.          Meanwhile, Punjab Police have procured four days of transit remand of the arrested accused persons after producing them at the local Court in Maharashtra.