IEP Chandigarh, 7 December

Under the able leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwat Maan and under the guidance of Health and Family Welfare Minister Chetan Singh Jaurmajra, Punjab government has released an amount of Rs. 20 crores to private and government hospitals today for the treatments done under Ayushman Bharat Mukh Mantri Sehat Bima Yojana as informed by the department spokesperson. Under this scheme, for the last 3 years, about 44.04 lakh beneficiary families are being provided free health services worth up to 5 lakh rupees. So far about 13.50 lakh treatments costing over Rs.1609 crore have been provided and about 80 lakh health insurance cards have been issued. During the current year a total of Rs.200 crore has been disbursed to listed private and government hospitals. Punjab Government is committed to providing free health services to eligible beneficiary families and timely payment of claims. Eligible beneficiaries can visit the nearest listed/government hospital, CSC center or Seva Kendra for the card generation and can visit the department website www.sha.punjab.gov.in to check their eligibility under the scheme.

IEP Chandigarh, December 7

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led government has so far released Rs.31.70 crore to the families of 634 farmers, who were martyred during farmers’ struggle besides giving government jobs to the 326 family members of the deceased farmers in various departments. Of which, verification of 98 candidates has been completed while the verification of 210 candidates is under process.

It was disclosed by Punjab Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal during meeting with the farmers delegation led by Satnam Singh Pannu, State President and Sarwan Singh Pandher, State General Secretary of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, here at Punjab Bhavan.

Agreeing with the demand of farmers, Dhaliwal said that Punjab government will write a letter to the union government for early implementation of the demands accepted during the farmers’ struggle.

On the issue of the land acquired for the highway being constructed under Bharat Mala Yojana, Mr Dhaliwal asked the officials concerned that rates should be determined under uniform policy, and resolve the farmers cases and appeals before the divisional commissions related to the land being taken for the highway within the stipulated time frame.

Mr. Dhaliwal also shared the progress report with the farmers against their demands regarding sugarcane prices, red entries, withdrawal of cases against farmers, dues of co-operative and private mills, compensation for crop damaged due to floods and other natural calamities. He informed the farmers that the Punjab agricultural policy will be prepared soon and most of the issues will be resolved with the implementation of the new policy. Agriculture Minister urged the members of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee to withdraw their struggle, saying that the Mann government stands shoulder to shoulder with the farmers and is constantly striving to tesolve the problems of farmers.

ADGP Law & Order Arpit Shukla, Principal Secretary Agriculture D.K. Tiwari, Principal Secretary Animal Husbandry Vikas Pratap, Secretary Agriculture Arshdeep Singh Thind, Deputy Commissioner Tarn Taran Rishipal, Commissioner Police Amritsar Jaskaran Singh and Director Agriculture Gurwinder Singh and other senior officials of various departments were also present there.

IEP Chandigarh, December 7

Punjab’s Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Investment Promotion, Labor and Grievance Redressal Minister Madam Anmol Gagan Mann conducted a surprise inspection of Municipal Council Kharar District SAS Nagar today. During the checking, she ordered to demolish the illegal buildings under construction in the city of Kharar. On this occasion, SDM Mr. Ravinder Singh and Municipal Council Executive Officer Manveer Singh Gill were present.

        Giving more information, Cabinet Minister Anmol Gagan Mann said that during check it was found that maps were passed by the committee for some illegal constructions in the city. A complete report has been ordered in this regard. She instructed the SDM Kharar that the facilities shown in the map should be implemented by the builders while selling the land to the people and action should be taken against the erring by forming a committee.

Apart from this, she instructed the concerned officials to immediately demolish the illegal buildings under construction in Kharar city. She said that the plan passed by the committee for the construction of illegal buildings will be scrutinized and legal action will be taken against those found guilty.

She said that the Punjab government is committed to provide a clean and corruption-free administration to the people. She gave strict instructions to the city council officials and said that no map should be passed without government guide lines.

On this occasion, the residents of Kharar who were present highlighed the daily problems they were facing and the cabinet minister assured to resolve all the problems soon.

IEP Chandigarh, December 7

      The Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is constantly striving to provide basic facilities and a clean environment to the people of the state.  Working in this direction, Local Government Minister, Dr. Inderbir Singh Nijjar said that Rs.48.78 crore are being spent for expansion and improvement of water supply and sewerage system for Sangrur town.  The work of this project is under progress.          After reviewing the work of Sangrur Water Supply and Sewerage Project, Local Government Minister, Dr.Inderbir Singh Nijjar has directed the officials of Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board to complete this project within the stipulated time.          Giving more information in this regard, Local Government Minister Dr. Inderbir Singh Nijjar said that laying of water supply pipe lines of different sizes and other related works will be covered under this project.  He said that cost of the water supply project is Rs 9.34 crore. About 42 kms area will be covered under this water supply project. Dr. Nijjar further said that Rs. 39.44 crore are being spent to expand and improve the sewerage system at Sangrur.  Laying of sewerage lines and other related works will be completed under this project, under which an area of about 56 kms will be covered.          Dr. Nijjar said that the large population of Sangrur town will get benefit under this water supply and sewerage project.          The Cabinet Minister also said that Haripura Road, Bhattal Colony, Ram Nagar, Ubawal Road will be covered under this water supply and sewerage project.  Apart from this, the areas of Upali Road, Baba Jiwan Singh Nagar, Sunam Road, New Jiwan Singh Nagar, Ajit Nagar, Shivam Colony and Officer Colony are covered under this project. The cabinet minister said that the Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is giving top priority to provide basic facilities and clean environment to the people of the state.          The Minister has directed the officials of Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board to ensure transparency and quality in the works of the department so that the dream of the Mann Government of providing corruption free administration to the people of the state can be fulfill.

IEP Chandigarh, December 6

With an aim to give a major push to the industrial development of the state especially in the Rural areas and generate employment for youth, the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday said that the state government will soon set up 20 dedicated Rural Industrial Hubs across the state.

Chairing a meeting with the industrialists here at his office in Punjab Civil Secretariat to solicit their views on draft Industrial Policy, the Chief Minister said that it will serve the twin motives as it will give impetus to industrial development on one hand and open new vistas of employment for rural youth on the other. He said that these hubs will be equipped with state of the art infrastructure to facilitate the industrialists in setting up their units. Bhagwant Mann assured fulsome support and cooperation to the industrialists opting for setting up their units in these hubs adding that the state government is fully committed to accelerate industrialist development in Punjab.

During the meeting, the Chief Minister also mooted the idea of ‘One District, One Product’ to ensure production of specialized goods in various districts. He said that this will help in enhancing the productivity of the industrial goods and enabling the entrepreneurs to give the best quality of products from a single district. Bhagwant Mann said that a number of districts across the state have specialization in several products adding that potential of this can be tapped further by focusing on ‘One District, One Product’.

Dwelling on another agenda, the Chief Minister said that the state government is making strenuous efforts to further strengthen the single window system for facilitating the investors. He said that the pragmatic policies of the state government coupled with industrial peace and state of the art infrastructure provides a conducive atmosphere for the industrial development in the state. Bhagwant Mann pointed out that earlier single window service was merely a sham, devoid of any meaningful purpose, which not only demoralized the potential investors but also hampered the industrial development of the state.

However, the Chief Minister said that his government has ensured that the single window system works as a real facilitator to the entrepreneurs interested in investing in the state. He said that this will further be streamlined so that industrialists do not face any sort of problem. Bhagwant Mann also assured the industrialists that the pending issues pertaining to the Change in Land Use (CLU) will also be resolved soon adding that this mechanism will also be simplified further in coming days.

The Chief Minister also said that due to industrial peace in the state, Punjab is the most preferred investment destination across the globe. He said that peace and tranquility will be maintained by all means and no one will be allowed to disturb it at any cost. Bhagwant Mann unequivocally said that the protest is democratic right of everyone but no one will be allowed to derail the economic progress of the state on pretext of it.

The Chief Minister also solicited feedback on the draft Industrial & Business Development Policy, 2022. Highlighting the salient features of the draft Industrial & Business Development Policy, 2022, he said that status of Thrust Sector has been given to the Auto and Auto Components and Electrical Vehicles, Sports Goods including Fitness Equipment, Hand tools, Agricultural Machinery and Equipment, Capital Goods including Machine Tools and Paper Based Packaging Units, Activities under Circular Economy and One District One Product in respective districts.

Meanwhile, the Industrialists hailed the investor friendly policies of the Chief Minister led state government. They also said that they will contribute generously for emerging the state as a hub of industries across the globe. They also assured the Chief Minister that they will be active partners in socio-economic progress of the state.   

IEP Chandigarh, December 6

A Zonal-level conference on ‘National Logistics Policy’ was held at PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Chandigarh today for adoption of the policy, sensitizing stakeholders, outlining the role of Ministry/Departments and developing monitorable parameters. Sh. Ghanshyam Thori, IAS, Director, Deptt. of Food & Civil Supplies, Govt. of Punjab chaired the conference organized by Regional Office, Food Corporation of India, Punjab Region in association with DFPD, DPIIT, State Govt. of Punjab and Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC). 

Throwing light on the broader perspective of National Logistics Policy, Mr. Ghanshyam Thori also underlined how the newly introduced policy could be effective in resolving the issues regarding managing natural disasters and inter-agency coordination for better handling of the same. He further explained in this respect as to how the policy will not only be beneficial for private sector, but will also play a pivotal role in strengthening national security framework.  

Director (Storage), DFPD, Sh. Mateshwari P. Mishra, explained the initiatives taken by DFPD in strengthening the National Logistics Policy, creation of Silo & Gati Shakti Terminals and reduction of total cost of transportation.

Director, DPIIT, Sh. Arvind Pandey explained about the Comprehensive Logistics Action Plan and its various stages of implementation. He further shared statistical data of Logistics Ease Across Different States stating that, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chandigarh, Delhi, Gujarat & Haryana are among the achievers.

General Manager, CWC, Sh. P. K. Saw informed about addition of warehousing capacity of 112.50 Lakh Sq. ft. by 2024-25 which will utilize modern technology in logistics management. He also cited initiatives such as Multi- Modal Logistics Prog. to be implemented at 35 locations across the country and explained about the CWC plans of expanding the warehousing network with a variety of storage capacity such as cold storage etc.

Sh. Aseem Chhabra, GM (Silo), FCI Headquarters mentioned various aspects of warehousing including Silo & the Hub & Spoke model for development of 111.125 LMT capacity at 249 locations across the country which shall be a network of standalone spoke silos to be developed across procuring & consuming regions tagged to Rail linked Hub silos. 

Sh. Akhil Gupta, Consultant, Haryana State Commerce Department showcased through his presentation on Haryana Logistics, Warehousing & Retail policy, and its mission to transform Haryana into a global Logistics, Warehousing and Retail hub.

Representative from Punjab State Small Industries and Export Corporation discussed the State Level Institutional Framework (SLIF) under the PM Gati Shakti in Punjab and mentioned that Punjab State has been rated top 3 in all LEADS Surveys from 2018 to 2021.

Ms. Bhawna Jain, D.O.M., DRM Officer, Delhi displayed her presentation sharing their vision of achieving 45% Modal Share in Freight Transportation by 2031.

The conference was followed by a panel discussion amongst all participating departments which also involved Q&A towards the end of the session.

Director Storage, DFPD, Sh. Mateshwari P. Mishra concluded the programme with vote of thanks.