IEP CHANDIGARH, July 25      

    Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Balbir Singh on Tuesday contributed one month’s salary to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for flood relief and rehabilitation efforts in the aftermath of recent flooding in Punjab. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) of Punjab joined the Health Minister and contributed Rs 35 lakhs towards the CM’s Relief Fund.          Dr Balbir Singh accompanied by President IMA Punjab Dr Bhagwant Singh handed over a cheque of Rs 35 lakhs to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann during a meeting at his residence here. Other representatives of IMA Punjab including Secretary Dr Sanjeev Mittal, Treasurer Dr RS Bal, Vice President Dr Sanjeev Goel, Dr Jatinder Kansal, Dr SPS Sooch, Dr Rakesh Vig, Dr Paramjit Mann, Dr Manoj Sobati, Dr JP Singh and Dr Kulwinder Mann were also present on the occasion.          While thanking IMA Punjab for lending a helping hand to the state government during the crisis, Dr Balbir Singh said that IMA has already been extending all kind of possible medical help including providing ambulances, beds in private hospitals associated with IMA, medicines, doctors and mobile teams to the health department, besides organising medical camps at flood affected areas.          He said that the floods have caused destruction at a mass-level and affected people in the entire state of Punjab. “Now, the bigger challenge is to save people from water-borne and vector-borne diseases. Our health teams have been working round-the-clock to save people from such diseases,” he said.          The Health Minister reiterated that Chief Minister Bhagwant Maan led Punjab Government stands by its people and has not been leaving any stone unturned to save precious human lives and property, besides working on a war footing to carry out relief works in flood-affected areas.          He also exhorted the people of state to contribute their bit to the CM’s relief fund to help the flood-affected families in this natural calamity.          IMA Punjab President Dr Bhagwant Singh termed it as a small and collective effort of all the members of IMA Punjab to serve humanity in this crisis. He said that providing Ambulances, medical teams and other medical aids is the responsibility of the IMA. He assured to extend all possible help to the state government.

IEP Chandigarh, July 25      

    Water Supply and Sanitation Minister Bram Shanker Jimpa today held an important meeting with Forest Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak to resolve the common issues of both the departments. Senior officials of water supply & sanitation and forest department were also present.          Jimpa said that the government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is making significant efforts to provide clean potable water to all the villages in the state. For this purpose many water supply schemes are operational and many schemes are new/under construction. He said that the approval of the Forest Department is required at many places for laying pipelines of water supply schemes, which needs to be approved in a timely manner so that there is no delay in the implementation of the projects.          During meeting, Jimpa mentioned about 17 surface water supply schemes including Patrewala (Muktsar), Katteawali (Fazilka), Sohangarh (Firozepur), Chawinda Kalan and Kandowali (Amritsar), Talwara (Hoshiarpur), Bhuchar Kalan (Taran Taran) and Manakpur (Rupnagar) for which the clearance of the Forest Department is mandatory.          The Forest Minister asked the senior officials of the department to issue clearances for all such schemes in a timely manner so that these schemes can be completed/implemented on time. He said that common issues will be resolved with mutual cooperation of both the departments.          On this occasion, Principal Secretary of Water Supply and Sanitation Department D.K Tiwari and Department Head Mohammad Ishfaq, Financial Commissioner (Forests) Vikas Garg, PCCF R.K Mishra and Chief Conservator of Forests Basanta Raj Kumar were present.

IEP Chandigarh, July 25

 In a major relief aimed at facilitating the people of the state, the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant on Tuesday said that the state government will soon launch shuttle bus service in big cities of the state. Chairing a meeting here today, the Chief Minister said these shuttle bus services will provide excellent means of public transport to people. He said that as a pilot project this bus service will be introduced from SAS Nagar (Mohali). Bhagwant Mann said that later on this service will be replicated in other big towns and cities of the state. The Chief Minister said that this will go a long way in providing best facilities of public transport to people. He envisioned that these modes of public transport will also go a long way in solving the problem of traffic congestion in these cities. Bhagwant Mann said that the state government will leave no stone unturned to ensure that this shuttle service is operative in all the major cities of the state soon. The Chief Minister said that apart from solving the problem of traffic this shuttle service will also help in reducing the environmental pollution with less consumption of fuel. He asked the officers to complete the modalities soon so that this service is launched at the earliest. Bhagwant Mann said that he will be personally reviewing the project for its execution in a prompt and time bound manner. On the occasion Cabinet Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar, Additional Chief Secretary to CM A Venuprasad and others were also present.

IEP Chandigarh, July 25 

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday said that the state government will soon release around Rs 49 crore for construction of new boys hostel and expansion of girls  hostel at Panjab University. The Chief Minister, who inspected the sites where these hostels will come up, said that five new floors will come up over the existing two storey building of the girls hostels whereas six storey boys hostel will also come up in the university. He said that these hostels will be constructed while keeping in view the futuristic needs of the students. Bhagwant Mann said that these hostels are the need of hour to ensure that students can focus on their education while studying in university and don’t have to shelve money while living in PGs or other places. The Chief Minister said that Panjab University is the part of great cultural legacy of the state and has produced eminent personalities who have left indelible imprint in various fields. He said that the staff, students and senate members had called on him and urged to construct these hostels. Bhagwant Mann said that keeping in view the needs of the students these hostels will be constructed on modren lines. The Chief Minister said that Punjab government is committed for the holistic development of the university as 175 colleges of the state are affiliated to it. He said that it is a matter of great pride and satisfaction that number of MLAs from his party have also studied from this university only. Bhagwant Mann said that the hostels will not only have rooms with four walls but they will also provide a conducive atmosphere for education. The Chief Minister said that the hostel will have dining hall, common rooms along with neat and clean washrooms. He said that instead of earlier practice of constructing washroom after every six rooms now the bathrooms will be constructed after every four rooms to facilitate the students. Likewise, Bhagwant Mann said that 38 rooms will also be constructed with attached bathrooms for the research scholars and others. The Chief Minister envisioned that once constructed these hostels will offer home like stay to the students during their academic years. He said that students develop emotional bonding with the hostel rooms especially in case their parents or grandparents had stayed there. Bhagwant Mann said that state government is giving major push to education sector in the state be at school, college or university level. Making it clear that Panjab University, Chandigarh is part of emotional, cultural, literature and rich legacy of the state, the Chief Minister categorically said that no college of Haryana will be given affiliation from the university.  He bemoaned that regular attempts are being made to change the status of the university. However, Bhagwant Mann said that the Punjab government will not allow any such move to safeguard the interests of the students. Taking a jibe over the statement of Punjab Governor Banwari Lal Purohit over validity of session, the Chief Minister reminded him that even in his view Budget session was also illegal. However, he said that after the Apex court reminded him about the legal provisions then he had given sanction for the session. Bhagwant Mann said that the session was in consonance with the ethos of the constitution of India and was totally legal.

IEP Chandigarh, July 25

 As part of its commitment to provide succour to the beleaguered people in accordance with the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the State Government machinery has plunged headlong to mitigate the situation created by floods in the state.  To speed up the relief operations in the state and as per the directions of CM Bhagwant Mann, 27286 persons have been evacuated and taken to safe places. A spokesperson informed that 1469 villages have been affected by the flood till 8 am on July 25. A total of 173 relief camps are running in the state in which 1616 people are staying. Currently, 19 districts are affected by floods including Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Fatehgarh Sahib, Faridkot, Hoshiarpur, Rupnagar, Kapurthala, Patiala, Moga, Ludhiana, SAS Nagar, Jalandhar, Sangrur, SBS Nagar, Fazilka, Gurdaspur, Mansa, Bathinda and Pathankot.  According to the report received by the revenue department from different districts, a total of 41 people have lost their lives due to floods in the state.  As per the information received from the animal husbandry department, a total of 2451 animals treated in the state while the number of vaccinated animals is 1906.  Rescue teams of the department are working round the clock to provide treatment, supply feed, fodder and silage to the needy animals. Special flood relief camps are also being organised in affected districts. On the other hand, the teams of the health department are working in the flood-affected areas with full attention. According to the spokesperson, 440 Rapid Response Teams (RRT) have been working at flood affected areas. The health department has set up 201 medical camps in the affected areas. He further informed that dry food packets are being continuously distributed in the flood affected areas. 22,929 dry food packets have been distributed in Rupnagar, 64000 in Patiala, 4800 in SAS Nagar, 5700 in SBS Nagar and 2200 in Fatehgarh Sahib..  

IEP CHANDIGARH, July 25  

         Further intensifying the ongoing campaign to make Punjab a crime-free and drug-free state as per the vision of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Punjab Police in a joint operation with Special Task Force (STF) on Tuesday continued its special Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) focused on drug trafficking, anti-social elements and criminals for the second day. Today’s CASO was conducted in the Ferozepur Range on the directions of Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav.          The development came a day after the Punjab Police made 41 arrests after registering 33 FIRs and recovering drug money and narcotics from their possession during a CASO in Bathinda range.          The operation was conducted from 1 pm to 5 pm simultaneously in both the police districts of Ferozepur range including Ferozepur and Fazilka, and SSPs were asked to plan this operation in a meticulous manner amid massive deployment of the Police Force. The operation was conducted under the overall supervision of ADGP Law and Order Gurinder Singh Dhillon and DIG Ferozepur Range Ranjit Singh Dhillon.          Divulging details, Special DGP Law and Order Arpit Shukla said that the Police teams have arrested 19 anti-social elements after registering 15 first information reports (FIRs) during the operation. The Police teams have also recovered Rs 13.96 lakh of drug money, 320 grams of heroin and a huge quantity of Lahan (Raw material used to make liquor) from their possession, besides, impounding 27 vehicles of suspected persons.          He said that the strong force of 1300+ Police personnel carried out CASO in over 62 drug hotspots identified in both the districts. Apart from arresting anti-social elements, Police teams have also rounded up around 50 suspicious persons for questioning, he said.          The Special DGP said that the intent to carry out such operations was to instil a sense of safety and security among the common people and increase the presence of the Police force in the field to infuse fear among the anti-social elements. Such operations will continue in the coming days to completely root out the menace of drugs from the state, he added.