IEP Chandigarh, July 20     

     Punjab Power Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO on Thursday said that the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) and Punjab State Transmission Corporation Limited (PSTCL) have provided 3972 jobs since April 2022 under the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led Punjab Government’s mission to provide maximum employment opportunities to the youth of the state.          Revealing this in a press communique issued here, the Power Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO said that PSPCL has contributed maximum in this recruitment drive by providing employment to 3224 deserving and eligible youth of the state. He said that PSPCL has provided 2630 jobs under direct recruitment and 463 jobs on the compassionate basis from April 2022 to June 2023 with the aim of providing better service to its esteemed consumers. “In addition to this, Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann handed over appointment letters to 131 clerks in PSPCL during a function held on July 06, 2023”, he added.          Divulging further, the Power Minister said that the PSTCL has provided 748 jobs under direct recruitment from April 2022 to June 2023. “PSPCL has also advertised 139 posts of SDOs. The recruitment process will be completed by September this year. Vacant posts of SDOs in Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) will also be filled through this recruitment”, said Harbhajan Singh ETO.          Power Minister said that the PSPCL, an organization which is responsible for electrifying households of more than one crore consumers of different categories, and PSTCL, the agency responsible for arresting and bringing down power transmission losses and attaining world-class transmission system, were playing a vital role in the all-round development of the state. He said that it was all due to the measures taken in advance that the record highest demand of 15325 MW power was also met this year.  

IEP Chandigarh, July 20     

     Punjab Employment Generation, Skill Development and Training Minister Mr Aman Arora on Thursday awarded “Academic Torch” to 14 Cadets of the 12th Batch of Maharaja Ranjit Singh Armed Forces Preparatory Institute (AFPI), SAS Nagar (Mohali) for securing 85% marks or above in the class 12th half yearly examinations in school. The initiative was taken to boost their morale for final exams.          Quoting “Even the sky is not the limit,”, Mr. Aman Arora during interaction with cadets motivated them to work harder to realise their dreams. “You all have come this far by chasing your dreams to be an officer in the Armed Forces, which is the most gallant, reputed and decorated field. Just keep hustling and never give up on your dreams,” he implored.          During his maiden visit to the Institute, the Cabinet Minister along with Director Employment Generation Department Ms Deepti Uppal took a tour to the campus to review the infrastructure and facilities being provided to the Cadets in the Institute. Meanwhile, the Minister inspected the infrastructural facilities including Shooting Range, Swimming Pool, Tennis Court and other play grounds to ensure that needful can be done wherever required. He said that Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Mann led Punjab Government is committed to fulfil the aspirations of youth, who want to join Defence Services.          Director of Maharaja Ranjit Singh AFPI Major General Ajay H. Chauhan (Retd.) apprised the Cabinet Minister that a total of 217 cadets of this Institute have joined National Defence Academy (NDA) and other Service Academies, of which, 141 cadets have been commissioned as Officers in Defence Services (Army-109, Navy-13 and Air Force-19). With the selection rate of 52 per cent the Institute is the most successful of its kind across the country.          He further informed that 38 Cadets have cleared the various UPSC examinations of NDA-1, CDS & AFCAT. These cadets are presently undergoing Services Selection Board (SSB). Till date 07 cadets have cleared the SSB while remaining cadets are awaiting SSB call up

IEP Chandigarh, July 20     

      The Water Resources Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer on Thursday held a review meeting with the officials of the department to take stock of the flood situation in several districts due to the excess water in the rivers of the state due to record breaking rains in Punjab and hilly areas and directed to speed up the ongoing rescue and relief work.          Meet Hayer said that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is keeping a close eye on the flood situation and he is constantly taking reports from the department. On the instructions of the Chief Minister, the department is monitoring the water situation in dams, rivers, and canals and the work of filling the gap is being done fast. During the meeting, Principal Secretary Water Resources Krishan Kumar presented a report on the current situation and detailed the ongoing works.          The Water Resources Minister said that the reason for the situation in many districts of Punjab is due to the heavy rains that fell on July 9 and 10.          Divulging the details, he said that in normal times in Ropar, there is a total average of 288 mm of rain in the month of July, but this time 377 mm of rain fell in just two days. Similarly, in the month of July, the total average rainfall in Mohali was 208.6 and this time 266 mm was received in two days. If we talk about the whole of Punjab, the state used to receive 161.4 mm of rain in the month of July and this time 83.4 mm of rain was received in two days. The rains in Himachal Pradesh are also the main reason behind the excess water in the rivers of Punjab. Himachal Pradesh receives an average of 255.9 mm of rainfall in the month of July, while 195.8 mm of rain fell in two days on July 9 and 10.          Meet Hayer further said that the department is monitoring the condition of all dams, rivers and canals every hour. He said that according to this morning’s report, the water level in Bhakra Dam is 1648.12 feet while the capacity is 1680 feet. The water level in Pong Dam is 1374 feet while the capacity is 1390 feet and the water level in Ranjit Sagar Dam is 1721.4 feet while the capacity is 1731.99 feet.          Giving information about the water level in the three dams in the last 11 days due to excessive rain and cloud bursts in the hilly areas, he said that from July 9 to July 20, the water level in Bhakra Dam has increased by 41.46 feet, in Pong Dam by 35.13 feet and in Ranjit Sagar Dam by 33.9 feet. He also clarified that during this season the flood gates were not opened even once from Bhakra Dam. A maximum of 35000 cusecs of water is released through the turbines which is required and essential for power generation.          The Minister said that during the meeting, the incidents of breaching in the rivers at different places in the state were reviewed and instructions were given that the work of filling the breaching should be done on a war footing. He said that many places have been plugged and in some places only after the water recedes, the work of plughing the breaches can be started.          Meet Hayer said that according to the initial estimate, the department suffered a loss of Rs. 90 crore due to floods. This damage has happened to canals and drains.          Chief Engineer (Canals) NK Jain and Chief Engineer (Drainage) Hardeep Singh Mahindiratta were also present in the meeting.

IEP Chandigarh, July 20     

      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, 26672 persons have been evacuated and taken to safe places. A spokesperson informed that 1441 villages have been affected by the flood till 8 am on July 20. A total of 155 relief camps are running in the state in which 4424 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 38 people have lost their lives due to floods in the state.            As per the information received from the animal husbandry department, a total of 2554 animals treated in the state.            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, 434 Rapid Response Teams (RRT) have been working at flood affected areas. The health department has set up 247 medical camps in the affected areas.           He further informed that dry food packets are being continuously distributed in the flood affected areas. 22,871 dry food packets have been distributed in Rupnagar, 64000 in Patiala, 4600 in SAS Nagar, 5700 in SBS Nagar and 2200 in Fatehgarh Sahib.

IEP Chandigarh, July 20      

    Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Thursday arrested Retired PCS Officer Jagdish Singh Johal, who was Land Acquisition Collector (LAC) of Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA), in connection with multi-crore Guava trees compensation scam.          This is the 20th arrest in the scam wherein compensation worth crores of rupees was wrongfully claimed in lieu of land acquired by GMADA at village Bakarpur in SAS Nagar (Mohali) district.          Revealing the details here today, an official spokesperson of the VB said that Jagdish Singh Johal was instrumental in approving disbursals of wrongful payments to accused beneficiaries on the basis of tailor made assessment report containing names and shares of said beneficiaries in contravention with the Revenue records.          Pertinently, two Retired Patwaris Surinderpal Singh and Surinderpal, then posted at the LAC Branch of GMADA, were also arrested last week in the case.          During the interrogation, the Spokesperson said, they disclosed that initially they refused to certify the payment forms as names of owners and shares mentioned in the assessment report of the Horticulture Department as it were different from actual owners and their shares as per the Revenue record. They alleged that the accused Jagdish Singh Johal exercised his influence and pressurised them to initiate noting for approval of disbursement of payments in accordance with the assessment report of Horticulture Department by ignoring Revenue records. Further as the LAC, the accused PCS officer approved the payments and subsequently released around Rs 124 Crores to various beneficiaries giving undue benefits to them while causing heavy losses to the exchequer.          To ensure payments to genuine beneficiaries, the Chief Administrator GMADA had even ordered that LAC would visit personally to inspect Guava orchards, check Girdawri records to ascertain age of trees, besides conducting GIS drone mapping survey and videography of the area. However, JS Johal deliberately ignored all these checks and released payments in connivance with the accused beneficiaries, he added.          A performa, which was devised by the Chief Administrator GMADA on 01.06.2021 on which basis the first payments of compensation were started, was totally ignored. The accused PCS officer has also released the compensation to Nisha Garg, Shubham Wadhawan, Binder Singh, Neelam Bansal, Kiran Bansal, Bimla Mittal, Chestha, Santosh Kumari, Chanchal Kumar, Anil Kumar Batra, Susheel Kumari Batra and Rashmi Arora, who were not even recorded as land owners in the Revenue record.          Therefore, he has released the compensation to the non-eligible land owners, whereas their land pooling case is proposed to be forwarded to the court being unauthorised purchase.          The spokesperson further informed that after surfacing of incriminating oral, circumstantial and documentary evidence against Jagdish Singh Johal, the VB has nominated the PCS Officer as an accused and arrested today from Mohali. Further, role of other officials concerned is under scanner.