IEP Chandigarh, July 31

Amidst its ongoing campaign against corruption in the state, Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) on Sunday nabbed a PSPCL Junior Engineer (JE), Jasmel Singh, posted at Sidhwan Bet in Ludhiana district for accepting a bribe of Rs 70,000.The PSPCL official has been arrested on the complaint of Surinder Singh resident of village Khurshedpur in Jagraon tehsil.Disclosing the details here today, an official spokesperson of the VB said that Surinder Singh has lodged a complaint that the JE took a bribe of Rs 70,000 from him in lieu of installating a separate transformer for his house.After investigation of the complaint, an FIR 09 dated 30-07-2023 under section 7 of Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against the accused JE Jasmel Singh at Police Station the Economic Offences Wing (EoW) of VB, Ludhiana, the spokesperson added.        

IEP Sas Nagar (Mohali), July 30

 In another path breaking initiative aimed at spearheading revolution in the education sector, the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday flagged off the first batch of the Headmasters for expert training at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad. Interacting with the media after flagging off the batch of headmasters, the Chief Minister said that today is a red letter day in the history of the state. He said that while delegations of Principals are coming back after receiving training at Singapore, this batch is going to Ahmedabad for upscaling of their expertise. Bhagwant Mann said that the single motive is to ensure that students of the government schools in the state get quality education so that they can compete with their convent educated peers across the globe.   The Chief Minister said that as good coaches produce excellent players similarly an updated teacher will help in grooming able students for the coming future. He said that there is no dearth of funds with the state government for the education sector and every effort will be made to ensure that students get quality education. Bhagwant Mann envisioned that due to the strenuous efforts of the state government, the day is not far away when Punjab will emerge as a hub of quality education across the country. Taking pot shots over his predecessors, the Chief Minister said that the earlier rulers didn’t like to move amongst the people after their elevation. However, Bhagwant Mann said that he is daily attending one or other event to ensure the well being of every section of the society. He said that his government is duty bound to ensure the welfare of every section of society and no stone will be left unturned for this noble cause.   The Chief Minister said that after assuming the charge of office he had laid thrust on regularizing the services of 12710 teachers by overcoming all the legal and administrative hiccups. Bhagwant Mann said that the motive was to ensure the secure future of teachers as he firmly believes that if the future of teachers is protected then only they can transform the destiny of the students. He said that the genuine problem of every employee will be solved for which the state government is already making all out efforts. Slamming the opposition for misleading the people by making irrational and unjustified comments, the Chief Minister said that it is on record that from now onwards the word contractual will be forever eliminated from before the nomenclature of these teachers. He said that every year a 5% increment will be given to these teachers along with other benefits including holidays. Bhagwant Mann said that the opposition had since long befooled these teachers by playing with their sentiments during their tenures so they have no moral right to say anything over the issue. Replying to another query, the Chief Minister said that in order to restore the pristine glory of the state in fields of sports and to further give boost to sporting activity in the state, the Cabinet also gave nod to the new Sports Policy-2023 focusing on jobs, training, incentives and robust infrastructure for players from village level. He said that sports culture will be reintroduced in the government schools by recruiting the physical education teachers so that students can excel in sports. Bhagwant Mann said that apart from providing robust infrastructure, coaching and facilities to the players, the new sports policy will also lay thrust on providing financial assistance to them for bringing medals in national and international sports events. The Chief Minister said that the state government has already introduced Industrial Policy, Electric Vehicle Policy, Agriculture policy and now the Sports Policy. He said that the single point motive is to ensure that the state scripts a new success story in every arena so that a ‘Rangla Punjab’ can be carved out. Bhagwant Mann said that the policies are being framed for every section of society so as to ensure holistic development of the state and prosperity of the people. Expressing concern over the damage caused due to floods in the state, the Chief Minister said that the state government will compensate people for the loss of every single penny. Bhagwant Mann said that he had already ordered a special girdawari to ascertain the loss of crops, houses, cattle and others due to heavy rainfall in the state. He said that the officers have been asked to complete the special Girdawari by August 15 so as to fully compensate the people for their loss, if any. The Chief Minister said that for the first time in the history of the state a policy has been formulated for providing relief to the farm labours due loss of crops in case of natural calamity. He said that as amount is released to Deputy Commissioners for the relief of crop damage due to natural calamity so as per the policy additional 10 percent of the above relief amount will be provided to them out of the state budget to compensate the farm labourers. Bhagwant Mann said that this policy will be effective from May 1, 2023 and all the farm labourers’ families who have no land (except residential plot) or those who have less than one acre of leased/ rented/ cultivated land will be eligible for it.

IEP Chandigarh, July 31

 Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO on Monday laid the foundation stones for special repair and reconstruction of three important road projects worth Rs 22.56 crore falling in Sahnewal and Payal constituencies of district Ludhiana.The projects including Ludhiana-Chandigarh highway to Gurudwara Degsar Sahib road (2-KM) of Rs 2.37 crore, Bija-Payal-Jagera road (15.70 km) of Rs 13.03 crore and Payal-Issru road (9.60 km) worth Rs 7.16 crore. These works will be completed within next six to nine months.Accompanied by MLAs Hardeep Singh Mundian and Manwinder Singh Giaspura, the Minister said that 2-km stretch from Ludhiana-Chandigarh highway to Gurudwara Degsar Sahib was in bad shape due to which devotees were harried a lot. Similarly, the roads leading to Bija-Payal-Jagera and Payal-Issru were serving as connecting road between NH-44 to Ludhiana-Malerkotla state highway were full of potholes and needed immediate repair. He said that the dilapidated condition of roads had become a nightmare for commuters. He said that the earlier governments had failed to pay heed on the demands of the people to construct these roads.The Minister said that the Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is committed to making Punjab a progressive state as it is evident from the developmental projects being effectively carried out in every field. He said that the road infrastructure would be developed at par with standards in Punjab.ETO also listed the achievements of the AAP government including 600 free units of electricity, one MLA-one pension, Aam Aadmi Clinics, 30000 government jobs were given to the youths, a war against corruption, and several other pro-people decisions were taken for the state.MLAs Manwinder Singh Giaspura, Hardeep Singh Mundian thanked the Minister for starting the projects. 

IEP Sunam (Sangrur), July 31

 Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday batted for Bharat Ratna award for the legendary martyrs like Shaheed Udham singh, Shaheed Bhagat Singh and Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha who had made unparalleled sacrifices for the country. Interacting with the media persons here after paying floral tributes to Shaheed Udham Singh at his memorial on his martyrdom day, the Chief Minister said that bestowing the Bharat Ratna award to these iconic martyrs will enhance the prestige of this award. He said that these great martyrs really deserve this award because they had made supreme sacrifices for emancipating the country from foreign clutches. However, Bhagwant Mann bemoaned that the pseudo nationalist Union government is least bothered about honouring such sons of the soil. Rather, the Chief Minister said that the incumbent Union government is giving a severe blow to the legacy of these martyrs by muzzling the democracy in the country. He said that these nationalists had laid down their lives for the sake of freedom and democracy in the country but unfortunately the Union government is jeopardizing the democratic system through ordinances. Bhagwant Mann said that this is totally in contrast to the country envisioned by the great patriots during the struggle for freedom. The Chief Minister said that the supreme sacrifice made by legendary martyr Shaheed Udham Singh will always inspire the youth for selfless service to the nation adding that the countrymen are enjoying fruits of freedom due to the enormous sacrifices made by such legendary heroes. He said that Shaheed Udham Singh was a true son of soil, who had in a heroic act exhibited exemplary courage by killing Michael O’ Dwyer, the prime perpetrator of Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Bhagwant Mann said that the unprecedented sacrifice made by this iconic martyr at the altar of national freedom struggle helped the country to overthrow the yoke of British Imperialism. The Chief Minister further said that Shaheed Udham Singh waited for 21 years to avenge the massacre at Jallianwala Bagh and thus laid the foundation of the freedom of the nation. Bhagwant Mann said that he bows his head in reverence to such great martyrs and patriots of India’s freedom struggle, who displayed heroism and valour thereby making supreme sacrifices to for attaining freedom for the country. He said that the rich legacy of unprecedented sacrifices made by martyrs would act as a lighthouse to guide the destiny of our future generations. The Chief Minister said that his government will make strenuous efforts to bring back the personal belongings of Shaheed Udham Singh from London. He said that the state government will raise these issues at all the relevant platforms so as to bring back these belongings at the earliest. Bhagwant Mann said that even the things associated with Shaheed Bhagat Singh lying in Pakistan will also be brought back.  The Chief Minister was accompanied by Cabinet Minister Aman Arora and others. 

IEP Chandigarh, July 31 

Amidst its ongoing drive against corruption launched on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) on Monday nabbed an Inspector, Devinder Singh, posted at PRTC Depot, Bathinda for demanding a bribe of Rs 2 Lakh.The accused PRTC Inspector has been arrested on the complaint of Hardev Singh resident of village Ralla in Mansa district.Revealing the details here today, an official spokesperson of the VB said that Hardev Singh lodged a complaint on Anti-corruption Action Line that he was posted as a driver at PRTC Depot, Bathinda and his services were dismissed on March 16, 2023 after found him guilty in five litres Diesel theft case. He alleged that the accused Inspector had demanded Rs 2 Lakh to get his services reinstated as a driver. The complainant has also submitted the audio recording of the Inspector demanding bribe.After preliminary investigation of the complaint, the spokesperson informed that an FIR no 14 dated 31-07-2023 has been registered against Inspector Devinder Singh at Police Station VB, Bathinda. Further investigations are in progress to find out role of other officials in the case.

IEP Chandigarh, July 31   

      The museums Virasat-e-Khalsa at Sri Anandpur Sahib, Dastan-e-Shahadat at Sri Chamkaur Sahib and Golden Temple Plaza at Amritsar, under the Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs Punjab were closed for visitors from July 24 to July 31 for half-yearly maintenance. These museums will be re-opened for visitors from August 1st.          Giving more information in this regard, the official spokesperson said that museums are kept closed for tourists in the last week of January and July every year so that it’s repair and maintenance works can be done. Now the necessary repair and maintenance works have been completed.  These museums have been re-opened for visitors.

IEP Chandigarh

promoting sports. The prize money will include Rs. 5 lakh, memento, blazer and certificate.

The Sports Minister said that Balbir Singh Senior Scholarship Scheme has been started for the first time to give monthly scholarship to the medal winners at the National level. Under this scheme, a scholarship of Rs. 16,000 will be given to the National Medalist at the senior level and a scholarship of Rs. 12,000 to the National Medalist at the junior level.

Meet Hayer further said that the Chief Minister decided to formulate a new sports policy after seeing the changes in sporting scenario in the past and many shortcomings in the previous sports policies. A committee of experts was formed by the sports department to formulate a new policy. Apart from Hockey Olympian Surinder Singh Sodhi and former DGP Rajdeep Singh Gill, NIS, SAI, Higher and School Education representatives were included in the committee. Suggestions were taken from the Punjab Para Sports Association and general public.

IEP Chandigarh, July 31

Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Mr. Kultar Singh Sandhwan on Monday held discussions with the concerned departments for proper resolution of the problems being faced by the farmers of the state regarding the use of lift pumps.

Punjab Irrigation Minister Mr. Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, Special Chief Secretary Agriculture Department Mr. KAP Sinha, Principal Secretary Irrigation Department Mr. Krishna Kumar, CMD PSPCL and Mr. Baldev Singh Saran participated in the discussions held here at Punjab Vidhan Sabha Secretariat.

During the meeting Sandhwan asked the officials of the concerned departments to ensure proper resolution of the problems. He said that the state is committed to resolving the problems of the farmers who were irrigating their fields using lift pumps. He said that it is the priority of the Punjab government to ensure irrigation facilities for every field of the farmer in the state. He said that the Punjab government has already made continuous efforts for the same.

On this occasion, Irrigation Minister Meet Hayer assured the Vidhan Sabha Speaker that the Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann will not allow any farmer to face any problem related to irrigation.