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.

IEP Chandigarh, July 28    

      Aiming to take government’s flagship programme Ayushman Bharat Mukh Mantri Sehat Bima Yojana at grassroot level, Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Balbir Singh on Friday flagged off 7 Information Education and Communication (IEC) Vans to sensitise people about this insurance scheme, besides, enrolling uncovered eligible beneficiaries. The scheme provides insurance coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family per year.          Dr Balbir Singh, while addressing the media before flagging off vans at Punjab Bhawan here, said that this awareness campaign is aimed at enhancing rural outreach so that every eligible person should get benefit of this flagship scheme. He said that 70 per cent of Punjab’s eligible population has already been enrolled in this scheme and with this awareness campaign Punjab aims to cover hundred percent of the eligible population.          Notably, Punjab covers 44 lakh families under the scheme and has empaneled more than 900 public and private hospitals in Punjab, offering 1579 treatment packages under its coverage. Additionally, beneficiaries can avail treatment pan India at the empanelled hospitals.          Dr Balbir Singh said under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Punjab Government is mulling to universalise this health insurance scheme in the near future. “Once the scheme is universalised, every individual could benefit from this insurance scheme by paying a minimal amount as premium,” he said.          Presently, people including Smart Ration Card holders, J-Form holder Farmers, Registered Laborers, Small Traders, Accredited Journalists, and families listed in the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) 2011 are covered in this scheme.          The Minister also informed that out of the total 44 lakh beneficiary families registered, approximately 16.65 lakh families fall under SECC, with the budget being shared between the Central and State Governments in a 60:40 ratio, while the state solely bears the budget for the remaining 27.35 lakh families. “Over the past 15 months, from March 2022, approximately 5.80 lakh treatment packages worth Rs 730 crores were provided. ” he added.          Divulging more details about the awareness vans, the Health Minister said that this statewide mass contact cum awareness programme would cover all the districts across the state in a phased manner. These awareness vans will mobilise the people for enrolment and facility of e-card generation will also be provided on the spot, he added.          The Health Minister underlined Bhagwant Mann government’s focus on providing the best healthcare facilities to the people, reaching out more aggressively to those in rural areas and the remote areas of the state. He asked the Health department to launch more such mass contact programmes in order to sensitise people towards preventive care.          The Minister thanked the Bank of Baroda, who has supported the campaign by providing services for 2 vans to the department.          Among others, Special Secretary Health Dr Adapa Karthik, CEO State Health Agency Babita Kaler, Director Health and Family Welfare Dr Adarshpal Kaur, Deputy Director Dr Sharanjeet Kaur, DGM Bank of Baroda Rajesh Kumar Sharma, Pardeep kumar Yadav, Regional Head Bank of Baroda were present on the occasion.

IEP Chandigarh, July 28 

Punjab Local Government Minister Balkar Singh on Friday laid foundation stones of development works worth over Rs 2 crore in villages of Kartarpur besides dedicating CCTV cameras project to people at Phillaur. The Minister also handed over approval letters to the beneficiaries of Awas Yojana in a function held at Bhogpur.The Minister, while laying foundation stone of panchayat Ghar at village Talwandi Bhilan, said that Punjab Government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann would provide all requisite ultra modern facilities in rural belts. He said this endeavour of State government would give a new facelift to panchayat ghars besides making the working of panchayats further efficient.  He said the panchayat ghars at Talwandi Bhilan and Ambgarh would be established at a cost of Rs 20 lakh each while Rs. 30 lakh would be incurred to get newly panchayat Ghar constructed in village Dugri. He said that sewerage treatment pond would be come up in village Ballan at a cost of Rs 84 lakh. Similarly, village Rahimpur is also getting new panchayat ghar and Health & Wellness Centre at a cost of Rs. 50 lakh. The Minister said this Health & Wellness Centre would cater to the healthcare related needs of people of several adjoining villages.Earlier, the Minister also handed over approvals to 25 beneficiaries of Awas Yojana. He said that beneficiaries would get a sum of Rs 1.75 lakh for getting their houses constructed under this scheme. He said Punjab Government was making all out efforts to ensure quality health and education services across state by developing Aam Aadmi Clinics and School of Eminence.Meanwhile, in evening the Minister also inaugurated CCTV project in Phillaur. As many as 61 significant locations are being covered by these CCTV cameras, said the Minister adding this initiative would further strengthen the security system in the area. He also inaugurated newly constructed park in the premises of Nagar Council, Phillaur which would further provide environment to people for their routine health related activities besides coming for walk.The Minister said that such parks were being developed in the other areas too to facilitate people. Besides, Rs. 76.46 lakh works inaugurated today another works worth Rs 30 lakh are under progress, said the Minister adding that the Nagar Council has recently approved Rs.5.50 crore for development works in all wards. He said under housing for all Rs 3 crore had already been sanctioned to 166 beneficiaries. Prominent amongst those present during today’s events included Punjab State Container & Warehousih Corporation’s Chairperson Rajwinder Kaur Thiara, Aam Aadmi Party leaders Principal Prem Kumar, Jeet Lal Bhatti and officials of concerned departments. 

IEP Chandigarh, July 28  

Punjab Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Mr Gurmeet Singh Khudian on Friday directed all the Chief Agriculture Officers of the state to extend maximum help to the flood-affected farmers and ensure that no farmer affected by floods should face any hassle in getting the benefit of free-paddy saplings being provided by the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led state government.The Agriculture Minister was chairing a state-level meeting of all the Chief Agriculture Officers of the State at Kisan Bhawan here.He said that the state government has been striving hard to help out farmers from this natural calamity as per the commitment of Chief Minister S Bhagwant Mann as part of which Punjab Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department has already set up a control room to provide paddy saplings at free of cost to affected farmers. Any farmer, whose crop has been damaged by the floods in the state, can dial “77106-65725” from 8 am to 9.30 pm to avail free paddy saplings, he added.He said that the state government is committed to provide paddy saplings where replantation is required due to floods.The Agriculture Minister also directed the Chief Agriculture Officers to ensure the best quality of seeds and fertilisers to all the farmers. If anyone found compromising with the quality of seeds or fertilisers strict action will be taken against the violator, he warned.Underlining the steps being taken for the welfare of farmers, Special Chief Secretary Agriculture department Mr KAP Sinha apprised the Cabinet Minister that the department has formed teams for checking of spurious seeds and fertilisers and strict action will be initiated against the violators.Secretary Agriculture Mr Arshdeep Singh Thind, Director Agriculture Mr Gurvinder Singh and other senior officials of the Agriculture department were also present in the meeting.   

IEP Chandigarh, July 28 

The Punjab Government led by the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has laid emphasis on providing good governance in every sector and industry forms a very important part of it. Expressing these views here today while addressing a meeting of The Roller flour Millers Association of Punjab under the aegis of the Roller Flour Millers Federation of India, the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak said that the State Government is fully committed to boost the industry, trade and commerce in Punjab so as to accelerate the pace of development. The Minister also expressed happiness over the fact that after 30 years, such an event is held in Punjab.  In his address, Cabinet Minister Aman Arora emphasized that a robust industry not only runs the economy of the State but also leads to job generation. He assured full support to the roller flour mill industry by the State Government.The roller flour milling industry representatives also put forward their demands on the occasion which pertained to removal of bank guarantee condition if one has to get a single licence for all mandis, Constituting a committee of the Industry representatives and the Punjab Agricultural University to design and implement schemes for better participation of the industry with the farmers and promotion of special varieties of wheat. Both the Ministers assured active consideration to the demands. Amongst those present from Roller Flour Millers Association of Punjab included, Dharminder Singh Gill (President), Anil Popli (Vice President), Dinam Sood (General Secretary), Vipin Mittal (Finance Secretary) and Shubham Goel (Joint Secretary). Amongst those present from Roller Flour Millers Association of India included, Pramod Kumar S (President); Navneet Chitlangia (Senior Vice President), Rohit Khaitan (Honorary Secretary) and Dharmendra Jain.

IEP Chandigarh, July 28        

    Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) on Friday nabbed a clerk (RC), Prashant Joshi, posted at office of Tehsildar Nakodar in Jalandhar district while accepting a bribe of Rs 6,000.          Divulging the details here today,  an official spokesperson of the VB said that the accused clerk has been arrested on the complaint of Ranvir Singh resident of village Seham in Nakodar Tehsil.          The complaint lodged a complaint with Economic Wing of VB, Ludhiana that the accused clerk had demanded Rs7,000 as a bribe in lieu of Income Certificate and he already took Rs1000 from the complainant.          After preliminary investigation of the complaint, a team of VB laid a trap and arrested the Clerk Prashant Joshi while accepting bribe of Rs 6,000 from the complainant in the presence of official witnesses.          In this regard, an FIR no 8 dated 28-07-2023 under section 7 of Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against the accused clerk Prashant Joshi at Economic Wing of Police Station VB, Ludhiana.

IEP SAS Nagar, July 27

As per the commitment of Bhagwant Mann Government to strengthen the government health institutes, Community Health Centre, Kurali would soon get a face lift as a secondary health care institution, said the deputy commissioner, Aashika Jain while reviewing the prestigious projects with Chief Administrator, Greater Mohali Area Development Authority, Rajiv Gupta, in a high level meeting, here, today. ADC (UD) Damanjit Singh Mann and State Traffic Advisor Dr Navdeep Aseeja were also present in the meeting.       She said that the project would be undertaken by the GMADA and an ultramodern health facility would be set up there as an upgrade to existing CHC. She discussed the various modules with the CA GMADA and SMO of CHC, Kurali, Dr Rajendra Bhushan, Present in the Meeting. She said that the state government has already approved the upgradation plan in principle.     

Similarly, setting up a state of the art Public Library in Mohali is also in offing and after the identification of a suitable site, the project will be started on the ground, she added. She requested the CA GMADA to earmark 0.6 acres of easily approachable land for the construction of the library.       Apart from that to ease out the traffic snarls in Mohali, setting up seven new round abouts (rotaries) have been decided but the landscaping would be kept Distrinct of the all, said the DC Aashika Jain while discussing with GMADA Chief Rajiv Gupta and state traffic advisor Dr Navdeep Aseeja. Similarly, keeping in mind the decongestion of traffic in Derabassi and Zirakpur, it was decided to go ahead with the suggestions of state Traffic Advisor Dr Navdeep Aseeja. GMADA Chief Mr Gupta apprised that about fifty traffic materials would be deployed with the district police for offering services to regulate the traffic in the Mohali City for a year. Besides, discussions were also held to speed up the action plan of construction of the shortest route to the airport from Chandigarh.     The deputy commissioner also apprised that there is a proposal for a hydrological survey of Mohali to keep it safe from floods. The deliberations with IIT Hyderabad are going on about it. Discussing Sanitation problems of the city, it was planned to club the aerocity and non-corporation areas with MC Mohali for sanitation purposes.        Reviewing the progress of setting up of  residential complex for Police and Judicial officers, it was told that the land for these purposes have been earmarked in Sector 90 where proposal of setting up of Police Line would also be explored. A total of 11.41 acres of land has been earmarked for Police line.     

  To set up a student hostel for the those who are preparing for Competitive examinations, it was decided that it will be constructed in a complex where State Skill Training Institute by Punjab Technical Education and Training Board and another Teachers Training Institute like the  MGSIPAP would also be setup.     The deputy commissioner insisted upon expediting the finalising of Gharuan Master Plan process to regulate the development and make it sustainable for the future expansion. Deliberations were also held to convert the existing civil services club to circuit house as per the dire need of transit accommodation.     Apart from that issues related to other development works and projects were also discussed in the meeting that was also attended by the ADC (UD) Damanjit Singh Mann and other officers to GMADA and other departments.

IEP New Delhi/ Chandigarh, July 27

 Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday slammed the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for muzzling the voice of opposition and promoting politics of hate in the country. The Chief Minister, who joined the protesting opposition MPs against the suspension of Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, said that unfortunately the ruling alliance don’t allow the MPs to raise the issue of public concern. However, he said that if exercising his democratic right any MP comes in the well of the house, he is unlawfully suspended, which is very shameful. Bhagwant Mann said that this dictatorial way of suppressing the voice of elected representatives of the people that too in this ‘temple of democracy’ is unwarranted and undesirable.      The Chief Minister said that silencing the opposition for political gains is not a new thing in this dictatorial regime. He said that in the last nine years the opposition has been completely ignored by the ruling alliance by using various tools. Bhagwant Mann said that the bills are passed in ruckus created in the august house without even bothering to get the consent of all the members adding that this is a blot of the entire democracy. The Chief Minister said that all the MPs having conscience are with Sanjay Singh and are staging a protest here today. He said that the Prime Minister loves to talk in his ‘Mann ki Baat’ but he is never ready to listen to what the people of the country have to say. Bhagwant Mann said that the wise and democracy loving people of the country will never accept this and will teach a befitting lesson to the BJP and its allies for this sin. The Chief Minister said that Modi and company are jeopardising the democracy in the country. He said that if the country is to be run by 30 people including Prime Minister, Home Minister and their 28 Governors then why should huge money be wasted on conducting elections. Bhagwant Mann said that this is a dangerous trend in the democracy which needs to be checked immediately. The Chief Minister said that the shameful incident at Manipur is the result of divisive and hatred policy being pursued by the BJP. He said that this is not in the interest of the country and its people as the repercussions of this policy will be tragic. Bhagwant Mann demanded that President rule should be immediately imposed in Manipur for the total collapse of the law and order situation. The Chief Minister said that what Governor was doing in Manipur when the law and order situation had completely deteriorated. He said that the Governors in other states especially those ruled by non-BJP states were peeping into the daily affairs of the states and not allowing the elected governments to work. However, Bhagwant Mann said that the Governor of Manipur was just a mute spectator to the series of horrendous events unfolding in the state.    The Chief Minister urged the President of India to take suo motto cognizance of the unfortunate and barbaric incidents taking place in Manipur and impose President’s rule in the state. He said that it is unfortunate that when Manipur was burning, the Prime Minister of the country was enjoying his foreign trip in the other countries. Bhagwant Mann said that this reflects the insensitiveness of the Modi government in dealing with this crisis.   The Chief Minister said that the Union government has lost confidence amongst people and they will teach Modi and company a lesson in the general elections slated to be held in 2024. Taking a jibe over the leakage in the newly constructed building of Parliament house, he said that the old building of Parliament constructed over a century ago is still intact whereas the roof of the new building has leaked which reflects the sorry state of affairs in the country. Bhagwant Mann said that this indicates that the Modi government is hand in glove with the corrupt elements

IEP Chandigarh, July 27

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday assailed the former Finance Minister Manpreet Badal and said that he was fully aware of the theatricals, couplets and self proclaimed honesty of the BJP leader.          In a statement, the Chief Minister said that entire Punjab is well aware of misdeeds of the former Minister. He said that Manpreet Badal who had remained Finance Minister of state for fairly long period is hand in glove with the elements who ruined the state. Bhagwant Mann said that the coffers of state were empty for welfare of people during his stint but the brazen loot of public money was allowed.          The Chief Minister said that the Finances of the state were used as per the whims and fancies of the former Minister without bothering about the well being of masses. Bhagwant Mann categorically said that he is well aware of the tantrums of former Minister to drive his own vehicle and pay the toll tax whereas the reality was far away from this. He said that the state government has full record pertaining to every fruit produced in the lavish Orchards of the former Minister.   

IEP Chandigarh, July 26

A day after finding irregularities in conducting dope test for issuance and renewal of Arms Licenses in the state, Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) on Tuesday recommended slew of steps to ensure no arms license should be issued to any in-eligible person or substance user in order to prevent misuse of weapons.An official spokesperson of the Vigilance Bureau said that the teams of VB, during the statewide surprise checking of government hospitals on Tuesday, found some irregularities and loopholes including photograph of the candidate was not found affixed on the DOPE tests register and paging of the DOPE tests register was not done. Even, the DOPE test report was given manually, which should not be given to the person concerned manually.After finding these malpractices in the process, he said that the Punjab Vigilance Bureau will write to the higher authorities to make the dope test mechanism more robust so that sanctity for the same is upheld. The VB suggested that a copy of DOPE test report must be kept in record of the concerned hospital, and doctors and technicians should be deployed on rotation for DOPE testing so that there is no intervention of any agent.The VB also suggested that the Register regarding daily DOPE tests should be checked and countersigned by senior officials on a regular basis. Frisking should be done outside the toilet before sending the person for a urine sample and the frisking process should be videographed. The process of DOPE testing should be made online. Bathrooms for collection of samples should also be close to the laboratory. Separate registers should be maintained for DOPE tests for arms licenses, new recruitments and jail inmates. Only regular government employees should be deputed to maintain DOPE test registers so that responsibility can be fixed in case of negligence.