IEP Chandigarh/Amritsar, 23 September

Minister for Social Justice, Empowerment and Minorities, Social Security, Women and Child Development, Dr. Baljit Kaur said that disability should not influence ones mental ability and time and again specially abled people have proven that nothing could hold them back.

Dr Baljit Kaur was chief guest at one-day seminar organized by the Department of Social Sciences of Guru Nanak Dev University on Equal Rights for Specially Abled Women.

Speaking at the occasion she added that disabled women do not need sympathy but empathy and strong helping hand in the need of hour. She said that education is the biggest weapon that can take such people forward.

”Disabled people and their kin are not well aware of their rights and government facilities that they deserve. It is our duty to ensure that they get the best they deserve. We should ensure that such people do not end up getting mentally weak and that they remain strong, ” she said.

Dr. Baljit Kaur said that various initiatives are being taken by the Punjab government in this regard with which they can make their lives easier. She said that disability should not be considered as a hindrance in development of one’s life but should be taken as a challenge and to reach one’s desired goal.

 She gave example of successful women who despite being handicapped have played an important role in development of not only themselves but also of their families, society and country.

 Earlier the Vice Chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University Prof. Jaspal Singh Sandhu gave a warm welcome. Convenor of the seminar Dr. Rachna Sharma informed about the purpose of conducting seminar on subject of equal rights of disabled women.

Dr. Baljit Kaur visited various departments of the university and got information about the academic infrastructure of the university.

Other illustrious participants of function included Center for Study of Social System of Jawaharlal Nehru University Prof. Neelika Mehrotra, Prof. Sujata Bhan, Mrs. Shampa Sengupta, Mr. Amarjit Singh Anand, Dr. Satnam Singh, Prof. Bhup Singh Gaur, Dr. Sunil Kumar and eminent scholars were present.

IEP Chandigarh, September 23:

Punjab Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Janjua, on Friday, directed all the deputy commissioners to complete the district survey reports of potential mining sites at the earliest.

During the video conferencing with all the Deputy Commissioners, the Chief Secretary informed that 858 potential mining sites have been identified in the state and all these sites are to be visited by the Sub-Divisional Appraisal Committees. He said that as of now, 542 sites have been assessed, while 316 sites are yet to be visited. Therefore, the concerned Deputy Commissioner should ensure assessment of all these remaining sites at the earliest, and after preparing the post-monsoon data, send a complete report to the Mining Department as this data has to be made available in the public domain for more transparency.

Reviewing the action taken in illegal mining cases, Mr. Janjua asked all the Deputy Commissioners to add sections of the theft and Mining Act in the cases of illegal mining and to take these cases to the courts to ensure logical conclusion. He said that since April 15, a total 447 FIRs have been filed in illegal mining, while 421 persons have been arrested and 515 vehicles impounded.

The Chief Secretary said that the vehicles and other material seized during raids on illegal mining should be auctioned and receipts of the auction should be deposited in the state exchequer. He said that the delay in demarcation in cases of illegal mining resulting in delay in recovery proceedings, thus ensure timely demarcation. The penalty should be imposed on seized vehicles as per the guidelines of the NGT, he added.

He instructed the Deputy Commissioner to take action regarding the recovery of land revenue arrears during district level meetings and said that around Rs.111 crore recoveries are still pending in such cases.

Similarly, during the review of the water conservation projects in the districts, the Chief Secretary directed all the Deputy Commissioners to accord sanctions for the water conservation projects at the earliest, especially to the ground water recharge schemes. He also asked to furnish project-specific reports in drainage projects, saying that only after these reports, payment shall be made to the concerned contractor. The Chief Secretary also strictly instructed to ensure stoppage of pollutant in rivers and canals of the state. “Sources of pollution in rivers and canals such as domestic waste, municipal sewer, dairy waste, STP waste water, industrial waste etc. should not be allowed to enter rivers and canals at any cost”, he categorically added.

During the review of canal water theft cases, the Chief Secretary directed to register FIRs and take further action in such cases.

IEP Chandigarh September 23

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) has unearthed another scam regarding fraud in labour cartage, transport tenders and works in grain markets by the contractors in conniving with concerned officers/employees in Shaheed Bhagat Singh (SBS) Nagar. In this regard a case has been registered against three contractors besides government officers/employees on Friday at the VB Police Station Jalandhar, for committing fraud and embezzlement causing huge loss to the State exchequer. The role of other tenderers and government officials/employees of the district will be probed during the investigation of the case as alleged in the complaint in this regard.

Disclosing this here today, the spokesperson of the VB said the bureau after investigating this fraud case in labour and transportation tenders and works in the grain markets of SBB Nagar, has registered a case no: 18 on 22-09-2022 against the accused contractors Telu Ram, Yashpal and Ajaypal (All from village Udhanwal, Tehsil Balachore) under section 420, 409, 467, 468, 471, 120-B and section 7, 8, 12, 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act at Police Station VB, Jalandhar.

During the probe It was also come to light that Telu Ram, Yashpal and Ajaypal, the accused in the above case, have purchased many properties in the name of themselves and their families by committing such scams, which would be thoroughly investigated during the investigation. It is also worth mentioning that the above accused contractor Telu Ram is already in jail due to his arrest in a similar case registered by VB Ludhiana. The Bureau is conducting raids by forming teams to arrest the remaining two accused, Yashpal and Ajaypal, who would be arrested soon and many more important clues are likely to be found after their arrest.

Giving more information in this regard, the spokesperson said during the tenders for labour cartage and transport in the grain markets for wheat/paddy/stock articles in the year 2020-2021, Honey Kumar, proprietor of RS Co-operative labour and construction Society had submitted tenders for Nawanshahr  and Rahon clusters and P.G. Gadown firm had filed tenders for Nawanshahr only at basic tender rates but both were rejected without any basis and the tenders were awarded to contractor Telu Ram for Nawanshahr cluster at 71 percent higher rate and Rahon cluster at 72 percent higher rate.

Later, the tenders called for the year 2022-23, Honey Kumar again submitted tenders at basic rate for labour works in Rahon and Nawanshahr clusters through his above said societies, but the district tender allocation committee rejected his bid and allotted labour tenders to contractor Ajaypal at 73 percent more for the works in Nawanshahr cluster and 72 percent more in the Rahon cluster, he added.

The spokesperson further said the contractors Telu Ram and Yashpal at the time of filling the tenders for the year 2020-21 and contractor Ajaypal during the year 2020-21 and 2022-23 has attached online lists regarding the registration numbers of vehicles for transportation of goods which were verified by the VB from respective district transport authorities. It has come to light that in these lists large number of vehicles such as scooters, motorcycles, cars, pickups, tractor trailers, close body trucks, LPG tankers and harvesters etc. were mentioned whereas the food grains could not be transported on such vehicles, he added.

During the probe it has been established that along with the registration numbers of fake vehicles mentioned in the gate passes by the accused contractors, the details of the quantity of food grains are prima facie a case of fake reporting and embezzlement shown in these gate passes. He said the concerned officials/employees of the department had also paid to the said contractors for the work done without verifying these fake gate passes.

He further revealed that apart from this, on checking the photocopies of Aadhaar cards of the labour provided by the said contractors during the tender process, it was found that many of these Aadhaar cards belong to minor workers, many Aadhaar cards have elders with age above 60 years and many Aadhaar cards are not readable. According to the facts, the district tender committee should have rejected the technical bid of the concerned contractors, which was not done. But the concerned officials/employees  in connivance with each other, have committed this fraud in the labour cartage and transport tenders for the transportation of food grains in the grain markets and on the basis of which this case has been registered against the above mentioned accused.

IEP Chandigarh September 24, 2022

 Haryana Right to Service Commission has imposed a fine of Rs. 30,000 on a mining officer Sh. Omdutt Sharma for dereliction of his assigned duty. Giving information in this regard, an official spokesperson of the Commission said that under the leadership of Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal, various steps are being taken by the State Government to ensure that the benefits of the welfare schemes reaches to the last person standing in the queue. There are 584 services of 43 departments/institutions notified under the Haryana Right to Service Commission Act. He said that regular monitoring is done by the Commission to ensure time bound delivery of these notified services to the general public. The Commission regularly monitors delivery of services through SARAL Report. For the services which are not available on the SARAL Portal, the Commission calls for monthly reports from the concerned departments. Every application mentioned in these reports are perused and scrutinized by the Commission.

The spokesperson said that the Commission perused the reports of the Department of Mines and Geology from September to December, 2021 and found deficiencies in  delivering services through three applications. In relation to these three applications, notice was issued to Panchkula Mining Officer, Sh. Omdutt Sharma. During the hearing, Sh. Omdutt Sharma informed that the three applications were rejected due to lack of documents. When questioned further, he stated generic reasons for delay like heavy workload and staff shortage in the office. The Commission found that Omdutt kept on circulating the files in the department without any reason, due to which there was a delay of about 400 days in disposal of these files. Though the notified timeline for grant of mineral dealer license is 45 days, Sh. Omdutt Sharma delayed the applications in question by taking 10 times more the notified timeline. The Commission has imposed a fine of Rs. 30,000 on Sh. Omdutt Sharma for laxity and negligence in this work. According to the spokesperson, delay in delivering of the notified services is absolutely unacceptable to the Haryana Right to Service Commission.

IEP Chandigarh September 24, 2022

Haryana Forest Minister Kanwarpal Gujjar said that in order to combat the repercussions of climate change, conducting awareness programmes across the country is the need of the hour.

Gujjar said this during the National Conference of Environment and Forest Ministers’ held in Gujarat today.

Gujjar stated that environmental education must be included in school and college curricula in order to increase environmental awareness among them. He said along with this we have to ensure inclusive awareness regarding the environment issue through various communication platforms like TV, radio, social media.

The Forest Minister said that a roadmap is required to be prepared based on which collectively we have to move forward. He added that we should plant more and more trees in order to keep the environment clean and to enhance air quality.

He said that the polythene thrown by the people is posing a huge threat to marine life. Plastic is harming our environment at a fast pace, to deal with this problem, we have to make collective efforts in order to create alternative solutions.