IEP Chandigarh, September 9, 2022

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today paid tribute to Param Vir Chakra awardee Captain Vikram Batra on his birth anniversary.

        Remembering, martyr Captain Vikram Batra, Sh. Manohar Lal said that the supreme sacrifice made by the brave son of mother India in the Kargil has raised the honour of the tricolour.

        “Indomitable courage and supreme sacrifice made by Captain Vikram Batra while safeguarding the unity and integrity of the motherland will always be remembered and the entire country will always be proud of him,” said Khattar.

IEP CHANDIGARH SEPTEMBER 9, 2022

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has urged the office bearers of Akhil Bhartiya Rashtriya Shaishik Mahasangh, Haryana (Higher Education Cadre) to inculcate a sense of service among students by connecting them directly with society. He said that students must be involved in verification, survey, or other such activities under the welfare schemes being run by the state government. When students themselves become participants in welfare schemes, then they will develop a sense of service within them.

        The Chief Minister was meeting the delegation of Akhil Bhartiya Rashtriya Shaishik Mahasangh, Haryana (Higher Education Cadre) in Panchkula today during which  the delegation put forward their demands. The Chief Minister accepted a few demands and directed the officers of the department to discuss the rest of them.

        The Chief Minister directed the officers of the Higher Education Department to conduct a survey regarding the preparation of a new transfer policy of teachers, under which the teachers should be given the option of their preferred locations. Accordingly, the policy will be prepared subject-wise and according to the demand. This policy will not only benefit the students as well as the teachers but will also contribute to enhancing the standard of education.

        In the meeting, the office bearers put forward the demand to merge the increment for Ph.D. and MPhil holders. The Chief Minister said that the government will review it and the final decision will be taken after a meeting with the officers of the department.

        The Chief Minister said that 1,535 teachers will be recruited soon in the state. A letter has been written to the Haryana Public Service Commission on behalf of the Higher Education Department. Apart from this, a letter will also be sent to the commission this month for the recruitment of 1,500 more teachers.

        The Chief Minister directed the officers to settle all such matters related to promotion, child care leave, study leaves, or other matters associated with teachers within the stipulated time frame. Apart from this, the already pending cases should also be disposed of as soon as possible.

        He said that the teachers who will come on deputation to the posts of Joint Director, Deputy Director, and Assistant Director in Higher Education Department Headquarters, will serve for 3 years after which they  will be transferred.

        The Chief Minister said that efforts should be made to get admission of students in self-finance courses running in the universities of the state. He said that currently, the intake of students in these courses is less and sincere efforts should be made by the department so that the number of students in these courses can be increased. Apart from this, universities and colleges should also be contacted by alumni and appeals should be made to financially support these educational institutions, so that maximum work can be done in the field of research.

        The meeting was attended by the Principal Secretary, Higher Education Department, Sh. Vijayendra Kumar, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Dr. Amit Agrawal, Director, Higher Education, Sh. Rajiv Rattan, Chairperson, Haryana State Council of Higher Education, Prof. Brij Kishore Kuthiala, Vice Chairperson, Prof. Kailash Chand Sharma, and office bearers of Akhil Bhartiya Rashtriya Shaishik Mahasangh, Haryana (Higher Education Cadre) were present.

IEP Dehradun

Reaffirming the commitment of his government on ‘Zero tolerance on corruption’ policy the Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has said that no culprit in the recruitment scams would be spared. He said on Wednesday that the State government has decided that the pending recruitment examinations of the Uttarakhand Public Service Selection Commission (UKSSSC) would be handed over to the Uttarakhand Public Service Commission or any other agency so that no delay occurs in these examinations and the interests of the aspirants are safeguarded.

He said a proposal in this regard would be brought before the State cabinet soon. The CM informed that the process of recruitment in 12,000 posts was to commence in the State out of which the UKSSSC would have to conduct a recruitment process of more than 7,000 posts of group ‘C’ services. Dhami said that the investigation into the alleged irregularities of the UKSSSC examinations is going on and the Vidhan Sabha Speaker also has set up a high level inquiry to investigate the issue of the appointment in Vidhan Sabha. He said that the State government is attentive towards protecting the interests of the youngsters and a transparent process of recruitment to fill vacant posts would be undertaken in the State.

He said that the Director General Police (DGP) has been directed to investigate the recruitment of forest ranger examination and he has handed over the inquiry to the Special Task Force (STF). Dhami said that the recruitment scam is a very serious issue for the State as it is associated with the future of the youngster. He said that a strict investigation was ordered in the UKSSSC paper leak case and the results are coming up. On a stern note the CM said that he wants to set up an example in this case so that there is no repetition of such incidents in future. He opined that a fool proof system of recruitment process is needed to be set up in the State so that no one even dares to think about doing such act.

IEP Dehradun

The process of submission of nomination papers for the three tier panchayat elections in Haridwar has started. A total of 34 candidates had submitted their nomination papers for the position of District Panchayat members till Tuesday.

A lot of enthusiasm among the villagers is clearly visible for the elections. The process of submission of nomination papers would end on September 8. The administration has set up three centres for submission of nomination papers for District Panchayat seats in the Zilla Panchayat office located near Devpura Chowk of the city.

Sale of nomination papers and deposit of security deposit is being done from one window. On the first day a total of 34 nomination papers were submitted on the first day while nomination papers were also purchased on behalf of 115 claimants. On the other hand, in six blocks of the district, Bahadarabad, Laksar, Bhagwanpur, Roorkee, Khanpur and Narsan, the applicants submitted nomination papers for Gram Panchayat members, Gram Pradhan, Block Panchayat members.

IEP Chandigarh, September 7, 2022

Urging the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd. (NHPC) to explore the possibilities for setting up Compressed Biogas (CBG) project in the state, Punjab New and Renewable Energy Sources Minister Mr. Aman Arora said that being an agrarian state Punjab has huge quantities of agro-residue resources to produce clean energy. Asia’s largest CBG plant has already been commissioned in Sangrur district.

A delegation of NHPC led by its Independent Director Prof. (Dr) Amit Kansal has called on the New & Renewable Energy Sources Minister at PEDA Bhawan here, and expressed keen interest in investing in the solar and hydro energy sector. 

Executive Director NHPC Regional Office, Chandigarh Mr. Surjeet Kumar Sandhu and CEO Mr. AK Pathak gave a presentation about the ongoing projects of the NHPC across the country. They apprised the Minister that NHPC’s Hydro, Solar and Wind power projects have already been operational in Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Sikkim, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Andaman & Nicobar and even across the border in Bhutan and Nepal.

Assuring the delegation all possible support from the state government side, Mr. Aman Arora said that Punjab has a huge potential in non-conventional energy sources and Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Mann led state government is fully committed to promote clean and green energy to save the environment. PEDA has also allocated 42 additional CBG projects of total capacity 492.58 tonne per day (TPD) based on paddy straw and other agro-residue to develop a lasting and sustainable solution to prevent stubble burning.

Chief Executive PEDA Dr. Sumeet Jarangal, Director Mr. MP Singh, General Manager (Electrical) NHPC Mr. SP Rathore and other senior officials of PEDA were also present in the meeting.

IEP Chandigarh, September 7, 2022

The Local Government Minister, Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar said that the geniune demands of the Safai Sewak and Sewermen of the State will be discussed with the Chief Minister and a suitable solution will be found for them.

Punjab Government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is committed with state residents to fulfill theirs demands. Under these Series, Local Government Minister, Dr. Inderbir Singh Nijjar hold the meeting in presence of Deputy commissioner Amritsar, Harpreet Singh Sudan and Municipal corporation Commissioner, Kumar Saurabh Raj with Union of Safai Sewak and Sewermen to resolved theirs geniune demands.

 The Major demands of the Unions, all the Safai Sewak and Sewermen of Punjab should be regularised by giving relaxation in age limit,  All the Safai Sewak and Sewermen should be recruited on regular basis instead of outsourcing basis. The work of the Sewermen is technical types so the pay scale of Sewermen should be higher like as technical post. Compassionate basis appointment without any condition should be given to the heirs of Safai Sewak and Sewermen who had died during services. Apart from this, the demands for health insurance of Safai Sewak and Sewermen also raised by Unions.

IEP Chandigarh, September 7, 2022

The Punjab Rural development, NRI affairs and Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal today met the Union Minister of State for Rural Development Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti at the Agriculture Bhawan here today regarding important issues related to Punjab which included release of MGNREGA outstanding funds, approval of state goals under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and development of rural areas.Interacting with the media after the meeting, Kuldeep Dhaliwal said that out of the outstanding 450 crore rupees of material liabilities related to the development works done under the MGNREGA scheme in Punjab, 188 crore rupees were released by the Center on September 5. He has requested the Union Minister to release the remaining 262 crore rupees soon. Similarly, he has appealed to increase the administrative expenditure fund of MGNREGA from 6 percent to 8 percent. ‘The Union Minister of State has assured to release remaining funds soon and redress the other issues positively’, added Dhaliwal.Dhaliwal said that no separate target was allocated to the state for the financial year 2022-23 under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin, therefore he has raised the demand to allot the target of 25000 houses for the financial year 2023-24 so that houses can be provided to the homeless, poor and needy families of the state and release funds under PMAY-Gramin.Punjab Rural Development Minister brought to the notice of the union State Minister some conditions under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana are not suitable for the state of Punjab due to which many beneficiaries are left out of its ambit. He has appealed to the Union Minister to relax some of the conditions in these schemes as per the requirements of the state.Dhaliwal briefed the Union Minister during the meeting that for the financial year 2022-23, the Centre Government has approved a budget of 4644 lakh rupees for Punjab State Rural Ajeevka scheme, out of which released 477.68 lakh rupees as the first installment for the SC component, while 683.42 lakh rupees are yet to be released for the general component.Dhaliwal said that during the meeting, Union Minister of State Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti assured to redress these demands of Punjab on priority basis. During the meeting, other aspects related to the rural development of the state were also discussed.Others prominent present in the meeting included Financial Commissioner Rural Development and Panchayats Department, Punjab K. Shiva Prasad, Consultant Rajeev Madan and officials of the Union panchayati Raj Ministry.

IEP Chandigarh, September 7, 2022

Punjab Animal Husbandry, Fisheries & Dairy Development Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar, on Wednesday, informed that African swine fever (ASF) has been found in the swine samples from village Talwandi Aklia of district Mansa and this area has been notified as ‘infected zones’ for the prevention of the ASF.He said that after confirmation from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) -National High Security Animal Disease Institute, Bhopal, the Animal Husbandry department has strictly enforced restrictions and declared 0 to 1 kilometre area of the epicenter as “infected zone” and 1 to 10 KM (9 KM) area as “surveillance zone” to prevent the disease in the district. The departmental officials have also been instructed to ensure that no live/dead pig (including feral or wild pigs), unprocessed pig meat, feed or any material/goods from the piggery farms or backyard piggery shall be taken out of or brought into the infected zone and no person shall bring or attempt to bring into the market any pig or pig products which is known to be infected with the scheduled disease.Giving information about the swine culling to prevent the disease in the state, Cabinet Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar said, as many as 735 swine have been culled in four ASF affected districts i.e. Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib, SBS Nagar and Fazilka. He said that a total 471 swine in Patiala, 68 in Fatehgarh Sahib, 176 in SBS Nagar and 20 swine have been culled in district Fazilka.”The Punjab government has announced compensation policy for culling of swine and compensation will be given only for the culling done by the department within the “infected zone” of one km radius of the epicenter notified by the department”, said the Animal Husbandry Minister.He said that compensation for the culling of a piglet weighing up to 15 kg is Rs.2200, Rs.5800 for pig weighing between 15kg to 40 kg, Rs.8400 for weighing between 40kg to 70 kg pig, Rs.12000 for weighing between 70kg to 100 kg, while compensation of Rs.15000 will be given for pigs weighing above 100 kg, while swine feed destroyed within the “infected zone” will also be compensated at the rate of Rs.22 per kg.The Cabinet Minister urged pig farmers to cooperate with the department for the culling of swine. “As per the policy of the Government of India, compensation will be given only for the culling done by the department and it is mandatory to cull swine within one kilometer radius from the epicenter of the disease”, said the Cabinet Minister, while adding that the mortality rate of the disease can be as high as 100 percent and once a pig is affected, it dies within a few days. Thus, it is better that culling should be done by the department as there is no compensation policy if the affected pig dies on its own.

IEP Chandigarh, September 7, 2022

To save people from hardships and avoid unnecessary litigation, Punjab Housing and Urban Development Minister Mr. Aman Arora asked the Real Estate Developers to ensure the delivery of property possession timely as committed at the time of sale. He said that around 3600 complaints have been filed to RERA in the last five years and most of them were related with delayed possession.

The Cabinet Minister, while presiding over an interaction meet with members of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India from Punjab, reiterated that Punjab Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Mann led state government is fully committed to ensure planned residential and commercial development equipped with state-of-the-art facilities in the urban areas of the state.

He categorically said that illegal colonies will not be allowed at any cost and it will be a thing of the past very soon, while urging the developers to join hands with the government to put the state in the orbit of high growth trajectory.

Mr. Aman Arora asked them to clear their pending External Development Charges (EDC) and other dues at the earliest as the EDC collected shall be spent on providing facilities in authorized colonies to ensure the basic civic amenities.

Lending sympathetic ears to the problems being faced by the developers, the Cabinet Minister assured them all the possible support from the government side and their all legitimate and genuine demands will be resolved soon.

He told the developers to ensure basic civic amenities to the people residing in their respective properties. At the same time, he assured them that the government would provide maximum permissions at their doorsteps under its agenda of ease of doing business

“The goal of holistic development cannot be accomplished without the support of all of you so we should all work in tandem to ensure planned development in urban areas. I am always here to facilitate you in case anyone faces any kind of problem”, Mr. Aman Arora added.

The developers shared issues pertaining to permissions they require from different departments to obtain license. The minister said he will take up the problems of the developers with concerned departments so that they won’t face any harassment and could develop their projects without any hindrance.

MLA SAS Nagar Mr. Kulwant Singh, Principal Secretary Housing and Urban Development Mr. Ajoy Kumar Sinha, Chief Administrator GMADA Mr. Amandeep Bansal, Chief Town Planner, Punjab Mr. Pankaj Bawa and other senior officials of Housing and Urban Development department were also present in the meet.