IEP Chandigarh, April 13

Cabinet Minister Anmol Gagan Mann extended warm wishes to the people of Punjab on the occasion of Vaishakhi. The Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs highlighted that Vaishakhi is a special festival for Punjabis all over the world where we celebrate the bounty of nature, express our gratitude for a good harvest and renew our commitment to the values of hard work, community and unity.The Minister extended her warmest wishes to all Punjabis worldwide and urged everyone to appreciate the richness of Punjabi culture, the resilience of its people and the diversity of the state. She further added that everyone should celebrate this festival with joy and peace while working towards building a brighter and more prosperous future for the state.The Minister emphasized that Vaishakhi is a significant festival for the Sikh community as well, as it marks the day when Guru Gobind Singh founded the Khalsa Panth in 1699.The Minister concluded by wishing every household in Punjab joy, prosperity, and peace. She urged everyone to continue working together towards the progress and development of the state.

IEP Chandigarh/SAS Nagar, April 12

To realise the dream of Chief Minister S Bhagwant Mann to make Punjab a hub of innovative ideas and startups, Punjab Employment Generation, Skill Development and Training Minister Mr Aman Arora on Wednesday said that talent ecosystem is being developed to hone the skills of youth from rural and remote areas.He was addressing a jam-packed auditorium hall of Amity University, SAS Nagar (Mohali), where the grand finale of “What an Idea! Startup Challenge” was organised by SAS Nagar district administration in association with District Bureau of Employment and Enterprises.Motivating the grand finale winners, Mr. Aman Arora said that it’s just a beginning and their out of the box ideas can take them to heights of success in life as sky is the limit. It’s just a platform to take off to achieve bigger goals, he added.Director Employment Generation, Skill Development and Training Ms Deepti Uppal said that the main objective of this competition was to provide platform to the local population and students to bring forward their innovative business ideas and encourage entrepreneurship.Mr Aman Arora, while distributing prizes to winners of Innovative Startup Ideas, wished them all the best for their future endeavours.Meanwhile, In student category, the First Prize of Rs 50,000/- was bagged by Rajat Narang for project of Digital Chowkidaar, Kaushal Malhotra won 2nd prize of Rs 30,000/- for startup project of AEROGENS and Jaspreet Kaur won third prize of Rs 20000/- for startup project of Innovative use of Stubble. In open category, Dr. Gowri Jayamurugan won first prize of Rs. 50000/- for startup project of Bio-sunscreen, Gaurav Bali won 2nd prize of Rs. 30,000/- for startup project of CAREWELL360 and Saswat Patnaik bagged 3rd prize of Rs. 20,000/- for startup project of Resnote.Apart from this, Harmanjot Kaur and her team (students of Govt. Senior Secondary School, Majatri) were given a special consolation prize of Rs 8,000/- for their Nobel idea “Padhai di Zidd”, which they started to teach under privileged children. The final pitching competition was judged by a Jury panel of Joint Director PSCST Dr. Dapinder Bakshi, Sr. Consultant Invest Punjab Mr. Ankur Kushwaha, Tynor Orthotics’ Mr Paras Bafna, CEO JAL Mr. B.S. Anand, Mission Director-cum-CEO Innovation Mission, Punjab Mr. Somveer Anand and Head of Angels Network’s Chd operations Ms. Nitika Khurana.CEO DBEE Ms. Avneet Kaur, ADC (G) Ms.Amninder Kaur Brar, Deputy Director DBEE Ms. Meenakshi Goyal and presidents along with their teams from Mohali Industrial Assocation, Mohali Chambers of Industries & Commerce, Chanalo Industrial Association & Cheema Boilers were also present during the event.

IEP Nihalgarh (Sangrur), April 12

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said that instead of requesting the centre for compensating the farmers for crop loss due to rains, but the state government will bear the entire expense of the burden being faced by the farmers due to the cut being imposed by Government of India (GOI) on damaged wheat grain.  “We are not going to request the centre to not impose the cut but we will extract compensation for the interests of farmers when centre will seek supply of grains in terms of wheat and paddy for the national food pool”, said the Chief Minister, while addressing the gathering after unveiling the statue of eminent freedom fighter Comrade Teja Singh Sutantar.The Chief Minister said that the farmers have suffered huge loss due to incessant rains but the indifferent centre government has not done anything to bail them out. Rather, he said that to rub salt into wounds of farmers the centre has imposed a cut on the damaged, slightly damaged, shriveled and broken grains along with those having high moisture content. Bhagwant Mann said that the limit of shriveled and broken grains has been relaxed up to 18% under uniform specifications.Giving more details, the Chief Minister said that the value cut is not applicable on wheat having shriveled and broken grains upto 6% whereas Value cut of Rs. 5.31 per quintal will be deducted on wheat having shriveled and broken grains above 6% and upto 8%. Further, he said that the value cut of Rs. 10.62 per quintal will be deducted on wheat having shriveled and broken grains above 8% and upto 10% whereas value cut of Rs. 15.93 per quintal will be deducted on wheat having shriveled and broken grains above 10% and upto 12%. Similarly, Bhagwant Mann said that in an arbitrary decision the centre has further decided to impose value cut of Rs. 21.25 per quintal on wheat having shriveled and broken grains above 12% and upto 14% adding that value cut of Rs. 26.56 per quintal will be deducted on wheat having shriveled and broken grains above 14% and upto 16% whereas value cut of Rs. 31.87 per quintal will be deducted on wheat having shriveled and broken grains above 16% and upto 18%.Likewise, the Chief Minister further said that as per decision of centre value cut is not applicable on wheat having luster loss grains upto 10%. He said that a value cut of Rs. 5.31 per quintal on a flat basis will be deducted on wheat having luster loss grains above 10% and upto 80%. Bhagwant Mann said that already the centre has not released the share of state under GST and RDF adding that much to the dismay of the state now this decision has been imposed on the farmers of the state, who were already in crisis due to inclement weather.Urging the farmers not to worry, the Chief Minister said that the state government is competent to secure the rights of the farmers and they will not beg the centre to help the food growers. However, he said that instead of bailing the farmers in this hour of crisis, the centre has decided to impose a cut on damaged, slightly damaged, shriveled and broken grains. But, Bhagwant Mann said that the state is solidly with the farmers in this grave situation and the Punjab government will bear the entire expenditure for the loss being suffered by the farmers due to cut by the centre. The Chief Minister asserted that in a major relief to the farmers of the state the state government has announced 25% upward revision in the compensation for the crop loss to the farmers. He said that in case the loss is more than 75% then the state government will compensate the farmers with Rs 15,000 per acre. Bhagwant Mann said that the motive is to ensure the well being of the farmers at all costs adding that special Girdawari is going on in state and the compensation will be disbursed before Baisakhi.The Chief Minister said that the state government is fully with the beleaguered peasantry in this hour of deep crisis. He said that for the first time before Girdawari public announcements are being made about the entire process to ensure that all the people are made aware of it. Bhagwant Mann said that earlier instead of this the Girdawaris were usually conducted in office or residence of politically affluent people but now these are being done in free and fair manner to ensure that every tiller gets the compensation.The Chief Minister said that on the agriculture front, the state government has already paid all the pending arrears of the sugarcane arrears. Bhagwant Mann said that his government has also ensured that the farmers get uninterrupted power supply during the paddy season last year adding that the same will be ensured this year too. He said that the state government is committed for the well being of the farmers of the state and no stone will be left unturned for this noble cause this time too.

IEP Chandigarh, April 12

Taking forward the campaign of providing employment opportunities to the youth by the Punjab government led by Chief MinisterBhagwant Singh Mann, the Minister of Social Security, Women and Child Development and Social Justice, Empowerment and Minority Dr  Baljit Kaur handed over appointment letters to newly-recruited 35 clerks at her office in the Punjab Civil Secretariat, Chandigarh.

The Cabinet Minister handed over appointment letters to 34 clerks of Social Security, Women and Child Development Department and one clerk of Social Justice, Empowered and Minorities Department.  Congratulating the newly recruited employes, the Cabinet Minister exhorted them to work with zero tolerance policy towards corruption, besides discharging their duties with utmost dedication, honesty.

Dr.  Baljit Kaur reiterated that the  Chief Minister  Bhagwant Mann for stopping the braindrain from punjab by creating new job opportunities so that the youth should not go to foreign shores in pursuit of their dreams.

On this occasion, Additional Chief Secretary Social Justice, Empowerment and Minority Mr. G. Ramesh Kumar, Director of Social Security, Women and Child Development Department Ms. Madhvi Kataria, Director-cum-Joint Secretary of Social Justice Empowerment and Minority Department Raj Bahadur Singh,   Joint Director of Social Security Department Charanjit Singh and Amarjit Singh were especially present.

IEP Chandigarh, April 12       

   The Election Commission of India has issued the detailed programme for holding Jalandhar Bye-election Parliamentary Constituency. Chief Electoral Officer, Punjab (CEO) Sibin C informed that notification would be issued on 13th April, 2023 (Thursday), while the last date for making nominations is 20th April, 2023 (Thursday).          He said that Scrutiny of nominations would be on 21st April, 2023 (Friday) and last date for withdrawal of candidature is 24th April, 2023 (Monday). Polling would be held on 10th May, 2023 (Wednesday) from 8 am to 6.00 pm and counting of votes would be on 13th May, 2023 (Saturday). CEO said that election process shall be completed on 15th May, 2023 (Monday).          Divulging the details, he said that nomination papers are to be presented with the Returning Officer between 11.00 am and 3.00 pm on any day other than a public holiday from 13th April, 2023 to 20th April, 2023. The Deputy Commissioner Jalandhar is a Returning Officer for 04-Jalandhar (SC) Parliamentary Constituency.          He further said that the nomination papers are to be filled in form 2A for 04-Jalandhar (SC) Parliamentary Constituency Bye-Election. Blank forms are available with the Returning Officer. Typed nomination paper will also be accepted provided they are in the prescribed form.          In order to qualify for a Parliamentary Constituency (Lok Sabha) seat, a candidate should be registered as an elector for any Parliamentary Constituency. To satisfy the concerned Returning Officer on this point, candidates should produce a certified copy of the relevant entry of the electoral roll in force.          A certificate is also required to make and subscribe to an oath or affirmation in the prescribed form before the concerned Returning Officer or any other person so authorized by the Election Commission of India. The oath/affirmation should be taken/made by a candidate after his nomination paper has been filled and before the date fixed for the Scrutiny of nominations.          CEO informed that 14.04.2023 being Vaisakhi/Birthday of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (Friday) is a holiday under the Negotiable Instrument Act, 1881, therefore, nomination papers can’t be presented by the candidate on that day.          15.04.2023 being 3rd Saturday is not a holiday under the Negotiable Instrument Act, 1881, therefore, nomination papers can be presented by the candidate on that day. 16.04.2023 being Sunday is a holiday, therefore, nomination papers can’t be presented by the candidate on that day. Similarly, 22.04.2023 being 4th Saturday is a holiday; therefore, Withdrawal of nomination papers can’t be presented by the candidate on that day.          23.04.2023 being Sunday is a holiday and Withdrawal of nomination papers can’t be presented by the candidate on that day.  CEO said that the Model Code of Conduct has come into force in the district Jalandhar from the date of announcement of bye elections from 29th March, 2023 by the Election Commission of India and shall remain in force till the completion of the election process. 

IEP Chandigarh, April 12    

      Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker S. Kultar Singh Sandhwan, on Wednesday, reviewed the progress of ongoing development works in Nagar Council Kotakpura and the constituency, directing the officials of concerned departments to complete these works in a time-bound manner besides ensuring the availability of funds.          The Speaker, while presiding over an important meeting at the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Secretariat, said that development works should be completed in a stipulated time frame for ensuring that people can access to the necessary infrastructure and services at the earliest.          During the meeting, the issue of strengthening roads, which were damaged after the sewage work carried out around two years ago, was discussed threadbare.          Speaker S. Sandhwan emphasized that roads should be strengthened on priority and availability of funds should be ensured by the concerned departments to complete the task at the earliest.          S. Sandhwan also directed the departments concerned and the senior officials of the finance department to ensure availability of funds, emphasizing that there should be no dearth of funds for development works.          Similarly, S. Sandhwan asked Mr. Malwinder Singh Jaggi, CEO, Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board that the work should be completed on priority wherever sewage or water supply pipes are to be laid in the Nagar Council so that digging can be avoided after the construction of roads.          S. Sandhwan also directed the officials of the Mandi Board to strengthening link roads falling under jurisdiction of the department.          Prominent amongst others who were present in the meeting included; Mr. Malwinder Singh Jaggi, CEO, Punjab Water Supply & Sewerage Board, Mr. Mohammad Tayyab, Special Secretary Expenditure, Mr. Uma Shankar Gupta, Director, Local Government Department, Ms. Garima Singh, Secretary Finance Cum Director Institutional Finance and Banking and other officials of the concerned departments.

IEP Chandigarh, April 10       

   Punjab Finance, Planning, Excise and Taxation Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Monday released the ‘Punjab State at a Glance 2022’, a collection of important statistical data of various departments compiled by the Directorate of Statistics, department of Planning.  This single volume handy book carries authentic data on all important items relating to different sectors of Punjab economy besides reflecting the latest available data on important socio-economic indicators of Punjab economy.          Releasing the book here at Punjab Bhawan, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema directed the officials of the Planning department to ensure the availability of this book in the libraries of universities and colleges of the state. He said that this book would be useful for research institutions, universities, colleges, government and non-government institutions, and policy makers and administrators for development, research policy decisions and other important decisions. He congratulated the department of Planning for putting their sincere efforts in compiling this book.          Sharing key data from the book, Advocate Cheema said that the agriculture and allied sectors are expected to grow by 3.70 percent, industry by 4.33 percent and services sector by 6.78 percent as per advance estimates of 2022-23. “As compared to agriculture in general, the allied sectors are showing faster growth over the recent years. Livestock sector with rapid growth is becoming major contributor to the growth of Agriculture and Allied sector. Livestock sector is likely to grow by 4.18 percent in 2022-23”, said Finance Minister while adding that Livestock sector’s share in total Gross State Value Added (GSVA) of Punjab was 11.1 percent during 2022-23.          Divulging further, Cheema said that the per capita income of Punjab is expected to Rs. 1,73,873 in 2022-23 as per advance estimates as compared to Rs.1,70,620 at national level. He said that the state inflation figures were also remained below than those at National level with few exceptions. The Inflation was at the peak in the month of April 2022 and showed a downward trend in next few months with the exception in June 2022. It remained benign till October when it touches the bottom with 4.5% but it started upward trend in November and December 2022, he added.          Cheema said that Punjab has large chunk of working population between the age of 15-64 which stood at 70.15 percent of total population in 2021. “26.11 percent of this belongs to the youth group in the age of 15-29 years. It is both an advantage as well as a challenge for the state”, said the Finance Minister while adding that the Punjab Government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has taken many initiatives to provide good education and better job opportunities to channelise youth energy under the mission ‘Rangla Punjab’.          Thanking the Finance Minister for releasing this book, Vikas Pratap, Principal Secretary Planning, said that the source agencies of the sectoral data contained in this book has been indicated under each table. He gave assurance to the minister that the department would soon provide this book to the universities and colleges of the state besides making its e-book available for all on the website of the department.          Prominent amongst others, Rakesh Kumar, Joint Secretary Planning, Sumit Kumar, Director Planning and Jagdeep Singh, Director Statistics were also present in the meeting.

IEP Chandigarh, April 10     

     The Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has launched an online portal https://ashirwad.punjab.gov.in to make the process of availing the benefits of the Ashirwad scheme easier.          Divulging in this regard, Social Justice, Empowerment and Minorities Minister Dr. Baljit Kaur said that the state government provides financial assistance at the time of marriage to girls belonging to scheduled castes, backward castes and economically weaker sections. For which the paperwork used to take a lot of time. She said that an online portal has been launched for the purpose of facilitating this process. This will save valuable time of the people and at the same time the beneficiary will also get financial assistance in a very short time and along with this system There will be transparency.          The cabinet minister said that according to the instructions of the Punjab government, applicants can now apply on the portal https://ashirwad.punjab.gov.in. He also informed that now no Ashirwad Scheme file will be received at the office or at the Seva Kendra.          She said that the applicant should apply on the Ashirwad scheme portal one month before the marriage. If an applicant is not able to apply during this time, he can apply within one month after the marriage. After that, the application submitted on the portal will not be accepted. He said that the applicant should apply within the stipulated time so that he can get the benefits on time.          The Cabinet Minister urged the applicants to go to the office of the concerned District Social Justice,  Empowerment and Minorities Officer instead of paying money at a private cyber cafe to apply on the portal, where this facility will be provided to them free of cost.

IEP Chandigarh, April 10

 The Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Bhagwant Mann on Monday urged the Government of India (GOI) to relax the specifications for wheat for procurement in the current season, in view of the crop losses suffered by farmers due to unseasonal rains. A decision to this effect was taken by the council of Ministers in a meeting chaired by the Chief Minister here at his office in the Punjab Civil Secretariat-I on Monday. During the meeting, the Cabinet requested the centre to order appropriate relaxation in specifications without any value cut, which will compound the problems of the farmers who had already suffered significant crop losses due to the rains and winds that lashed in the state. Such rains at the time of maturation of wheat crop had caused considerable damage to the standing crop and also affected the quality of the wheat grains because of water logging, leading to loss of luster/blackened grains. Therefore, the Cabinet unanimously urged that prescribed uniform specifications of wheat with regard to damaged, slightly damaged, shriveled and broken grains, luster and moisture content should be relaxed by the Government of India. The Cabinet further observed that the share of centre in compensation given per acre to the farmers for compensating their loss due to the natural disaster was on lower side, in wake of the exorbitant hike in the prices of agriculture inputs borne by the farmers to raise the crop. The Punjab government has recently enhanced its own share to Rs 8200 from existing Rs 6600 to ensure that the farmers having crop loss more than 75% are given Rs 15,000 per acre. The Cabinet urged the Government of India for upward revision of the compensation to the affected farmers. The Cabinet was of the view that agony and pain of a large number of farmers who have suffered heavy losses due to sudden and erratic changes in weather, can’t be expressed in words. Unfortunately intensity and frequency of rains coupled with high velocity winds and hailstorms have caused substantial damage to the crops and impaired livelihood of a large number of farmers. The Cabinet urged the centre to duly compensate the farmers whose standing crops have been affected due to recent heavy rains coupled with high velocity winds and hailstorms adding that the existing norms to provide for a minimum compensation  per acre to the affected farmers needs to be revised. The Cabinet recalled that Punjab has always been in the forefront for ensuring food security of the nation and has been contributing about 40-50% of wheat and 30-35% of rice to the Central Pool from the last three decades. Such was the level of involvement and commitment of the farmers to their profession that with just over two percent of the country’s geographical area and even less as a percentage of the country’s population, Punjab contributes the heaviest share among all states to the national food kitty, earning them it the sobriquet of the country “food bowl and granary. Though this has been achieved at a huge cost to the state and its farmers as the Punjab farmer’s have bartered away their only two natural resources: soil fertility and water. Meanwhile, it was also decided that Incharge Cabinet Ministers will undertake tours in their respective districts as Chairperson of District Grievances committee to oversee ongoing Girdawari operations.

IEP Chandigarh, April 8      

    In a historic decision, the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday announced to change the timings of government offices from existing 9 am- 5 pm to 7:30 am- 2 pm in larger public interest.          Announcing the decision, the Chief Minister said that the revised timings will come into effect from May 2 and will remain implemented till July 15. He said that the decision has been taken to benefit the common people for easily getting their work done in government offices during the scorching heat in ensuing summer season.  Bhagwant Mann said that the decision has been taken after due consultation with all the stakeholders so that the welfare of all can be ensured.          Dwelling more details, the Chief Minister said that it will enable a common man to do his work early morning without  taking leave from his work. Likewise, he said that this will also facilitate the employees as they will be able to attend the social functions after the office hours. Similarly, Bhagwant Mann said that the employees will also be able to spend more time with there children who will also come home at the same time.          The Chief Minister said that this decision will be applicable to all the offices of Punjab government. He envisioned that this will also help in saving around 300-350 MW power also as a considerable chunk of power was being consumed in government offices. Bhagwant Mann said that as per the data of PSPCL the leak load of board starts after 1 pm in the day.          The Chief Minister said that the new time table will also ensure that maximum sun light is utilised by the masses. He cited that in several foreign countries people adjust their watches as per seasons so that they can use maximum sunlight. Bhagwant Mann assured the people that the state government will take more such citizen centric decisions in the coming days too.