IEP CHANDIGARH/LUDHIANA, November 15

:As part of the ongoing drive against drugs and anti-social elements launched by the Punjab Police on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav on Tuesday led the entire Punjab Police Force to conduct Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) in all the 28 Police districts of the state.          The operation was conducted from 11am to 4pm simultaneously across the state and ADGP/IGP rank officers from Punjab Police Headquarters were deputed in each Police district to personally supervise the operation.          “The idea behind conducting CASO at mass-scale level was to boost public confidence and increase the presence of the cops to infuse fear among the anti-social elements,” said the DGP, while addressing the media on the sidelines of the operation in Ludhiana.          He joined ADGP Community Affairs Division and Women Affairs Gurpreet Kaur and Commissioner of Police (CP) Ludhiana Mandeep Singh Sidhu in Ludhiana to conduct the operation in different areas here.          DGP Gaurav Yadav said that the operation was conducted after the identification of drug and crime hotspots through data analysis by district police forces. He said that proper frisking of suspected persons and complete search of houses was done by the Police force under the supervision of senior officers. He said that sniffer dogs and drones were also deputed in these hotspots to ensure strict vigil.          He said that on the directions of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the Punjab Police will uphold glorious tradition by serving the people and the force will not rest till the elimination of drugs and gangsterism completely from the state.          On being asked regarding new directions about the issuance of arms licenses, the DGP said that no new arms license would be issued till the physical verification of previous arms licenses in the next three months. He said that public display of weapons, even on social media, would be dealt with an iron hand, and action will be taken against violators.          He pointed out that the cyber wing of the Punjab police will keep watch on social networking sites to check the violations. “FIR will be registered immediately in case anyone is found indulging in hate speech against any community,” he said, adding that no one will be allowed to take the law into their hands.          Meanwhile, in Ludhiana, the operation was carried out in areas including Ghorha Colony, Ambedkar Colony, Moti Nagar and Peeru Banda localities four suspected persons identified as Mohit Kumar of Durgapuri Mohalla, Sonu of Peeru Banda, Gaurav of Chander Nagar, and Mohan of New Kundanpuri were rounded-up during the search operation, while, 12-gms heroin was recovered during a search in Ghora colony.

IEP Chandigarh, November 15

Taking a unique initiative to fulfill the dream of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to provide online facilities to the people of the state, the Punjab government has taken a major initiative by launching the Ashirwad scheme portal.

          Launching the portal at Punjab Bhavan, Minister for Social Justice, Empowerment and Minorities Dr. Baljit Kaur said that the Punjab government should work swiftly to ensure provision of all latest online services related to Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes and Economically Weaker Sections. She said that this portal is NIC Punjab Deputy Director (General) and SI Mr. Vivek Verma has been Prepared with the support of team and with this the eligible beneficiaries will be able to apply online sitting at home to get financial assistance under the Asirwad scheme. The launch of the Asirwad Scheme portal will ensure transparency and speed in the system. She further said that more such initiatives will be launched in the near future.

          Dr. Baljit Kaur said that the beneficiaries can apply online and offline till 31 December 2022 to get the benefit of this scheme. She said that after giving training to the concerned, after January 1, 2023, the beneficiaries will be able to apply online only to take advantage of the Ashirwad scheme.

          Notably, this portal will ensure a contactless financial assistance process without being present. It will also facilitate communication with the concerned departments, the application manager will be able to contact the applicant through direct email or in person or call to clear the objections or form filling.

          On this occasion, Principal Secretary of Social Justice, Empowerment and Minority Department Mr. Ramesh Kumar Genta, Director Social Justice, Empowerment and Minority Mr. T.K. Goyal, Joint Director Raj Bahadur, Deputy Director Mr. Parminder Singh Gill were specially present.

IEP Chandigarh, November 15

Taking serious notice of the recent unfortunate incident with Chinese string in Punjab, the state government under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has ordered the all Deputy Commissioners to take exemplary action against those selling Chinese kite flying string and using it across the state.          Science Technology and Environment Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer in an emotional appeal said, “Last day, a 13-year-old boy Gulshan died due to a Chinese string in Ropar when he was riding a bicycle. In the past too, our children, elderly and other animals suffered from Chinese string.”          He said that the Chief Minister has taken serious notice of this extremely unfortunate incident and has ordered strict action against such people who put human lives at risk.          Meet Hayer categorically said that such people will face music for violating government orders and strict action will be taken against them.           He said that the despite the fact that there is a blanket ban on selling and using Chinese string in the state and even there is not a single manufacturing unit in the state but still some people bought deadly string from other states. These people who involved in this illegal act of selling string will not be spared at any cost.          He strongly reprimanded the sellers of these doors and asked them to either stop selling them immediately or else be ready to face the consequences.          Describing Chinese string sellers as enemies of humanity, the cabinet minister appealed to the people to inform to the Deputy Commissioner of the concerned district or the local government office so that immediate action can be taken against violators.          He also urged to the parents not to allow their children to use it for kite flying and to make them aware of the deadly outcome of using it.

IEP Chandigarh, November 16

As CM Bhagwant Mann Government has taken Healthcare sector a top priority, Health Minister Chetan Singh Jauramajra on Wednesday launched ambitious ‘Care Companion Program (CCP)’ here to further give a fillip to health awareness endeavours of the State Government.

          While unveiling this welfare initiatives, Chetan Singh Jauramajra reiterated that better healthcare services would be ensured across the State. He further pointed out that this program was a state Government’s initiative aiming at to engage family members. Training of basic medical skills will be imparted to these members that have the highest impact for improving a patient’s recovery, he added.

          Divulging more details in his inaugural address Jauramajra stated that Punjab was the first state in India to extend this program beyond Mother and Child Health to the domain of medical and surgical in-patient Care. This program helps in educating and empowering people to be agents of their own health and wellbeing by teaching them basic health practices, which are essential for everyone, he added.

          The Health Minister also launched a IVR/Whatsapp number 080-47180443, through which anyone can subscribe to health messages which they will receive thrice a week for three months. This service is completely free of cost and anyone can again subscribe on completion of the duration. These messages will promote a health seeking behaviour in the receiver and will motivate him/her to shed bad health habits. The Minister also released an awareness video and he lauded the efforts of the concerned Program Officer Dr. Baljit Kaur and Shahid Alam of NGO Noora Health and YosAid Innovation Foundation for coming out with this wonderful initiative which will go a long way in improving the level of health awareness in the masses.

          NHM’s Mission Director Dr. Abhinav Trikha underlined that this is a very well thought out program aiming to strengthen promotive and preventive health. CCP is also being used as a platform for creating awareness on local health issues like COVID, Malaria, dengue, Iodine deficiency and visually appealing health awareness material will also be provided at the health facility level.

          Director Health and Family Welfare Dr. Ranjit Singh Ghotra assured the Health Minister to successfully implement this new initiative and Nurses and health care staff would make sure that no patient and their relatives leave the hospital without learning, through CCP sessions.

          On this occasion Director NHM Dr. S.P. Singh, Deputy Directors and other health officials were also present.

IEP Chandigarh, November 15

          The Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann will soon consider the legitimate demands of the disabled in the state and resolve them. Under the same series, today the Minister for Social Security, Women and Child Development Dr. Baljit Kaur said during a meeting with the Disabled Association that the demands of the disabled will be resolved soon.

          Dr. Baljit Kaur said that in various departments, corporations and boards of Punjab, filling the vacant and backlog posts reserved for disabled people, promoting disabled employees, demands related to disabled sportspersons, pension demands of disabled people, Apart from the facilities of free wheat to the disabled, coordination is being done with the concerned departments for early resolution of other legitimate demands.

          The Cabinet Minister said that the Punjab government is going to organize a bank loan camp in some districts on the occasion of the Disability Day on December 3, 2022, to enable the lives of the disabled section of state. She appealed to the disabled to take full advantage of this opportunity by taking a loan to start their own business.

During the meeting, She told the disabled that they can send their problems to the e-mail id.disabilitybranch104@gmail.com.

          Social Security Department Director Madhvi Kataria, Additional Director Lilly Choudhary, Deputy Director Santosh Virdi, Deputy Director Charanjit Singh Mann, Incharge Disability Cell Amrit Bala and Superintendent Raman Kochhar of office of Commissioner Disability were also present in this meeting.

IEP Chandigarh, November 16

The Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday launched a feisty attack on the previous government leaders and said that those patronised criminals during their regime are now raising questions about the peace and harmony of the state. He said that it is like the Taliban is advocating for peace.          “Under their regime the jails break incidents occurred.. In order to save the daughter’s honour, the police officer was shot in the market and they stepped on them and raised slogans in favor of their boss. They patronised gangsters and now, they question the peace and harmony of the state. It is just like the Taliban take out a candle march and advocate the peace, ” Chief Minister wrote in a tweet in Punjabi.          The Chief Minister said that the state government is firmly committed to maintaining a law and order situation in Punjab and any anti-social element will not be allowed to disturb the hard-earned peace and communal harmony of the state at any cost.          He said that a few unfortunate incidents were occurred in the state but still the law and order is intact in the Punjab under AAP government.          “The crime rate is extremely low in Punjab as compared to the Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and other states of the country but still we are taking precautionary measures like cracking down on gun-culture and reviewing gun licence issued recklessly by the previous governments so that the law and order situation remains intact,” the Chief Minister said.