IEP Chandigarh, March 15      

    The State Government under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has fulfilled most of the promises made to the people within the first one year. During the period of one year, the honest intentions of the Chief Minister to work for the welfare of all the sections of the society, led to progress on every front.          It was stated by Cabinet Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer during an interview on a private channel on the completion of one year of the State Government under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.          Talking about the one year performance of his departments, the Mining Minister said that it was decided to give affordable sand to the public at Rs 5.50 per cubic feet from public sites and so far people have bought 3.71 lakh metric tonnes of sand from these sites. The labourers are earning one to one and half lakh daily from this pro people initiative. The goal of the government is to take the number of public sites to 150. The government’s aim is to end mining and provide sand to the people at reasonable prices. The notification of the new policy has also been issued.          Speaking about the Environment Department, Meet Hayer said that 30 percent less stubble burning cases have come up in Punjab compared to last year. If the central government had given financial support, the incidents of stubble burning would have been reduced by 70 percent this time. Due to in situ and ex situ management, this year cases of stubble burning will see further decline.          Talking about the Sports Department, Sports Minister Meet Hayer said that the department is working continuously to make Punjab the number one state of the country again. “Khedan Watan Punjab Deya” got a great response. A new sports policy is being framed with the opinion of experts. A scholarship scheme has been started in the name of the great hockey Olympian Balbir Singh Senior. Special attention has been given to prepare the players for international competitions, added Meet Hayer.

IEP CHANDIGARH/AMRITSAR, March 15

Keeping in view of the ongoing G-20 Summit, the Amritsar Commissionerate Police on Wednesday have banned flying drones and unmanned aerial vehicles in the entire Commissionerate area from March 14 to March 21, 2023. The ban also includes the venues of G-20 Education Working Group meetings, the places where the delegates are staying and the routes.Notably, Punjab is hosting the second Education Working Group (Ed WG) from March 15-17 and 28 G-20 member countries, guest countries and invited organisations (OECD, UNESCO, and UNICEF) will be participating in the 3-day event consisting of seminar/exhibition and working group meetings. The L20 meeting on labour is scheduled to be held on March 19-20.Commissioner of Police (CP) Amritsar Naunihal Singh said that the venues of meetings, the places of stay and routes have been declared red zones and flying of drones and unmanned aerial vehicles have been prohibited to beef up the security and to prevent any untoward incident from Airborne entities. 

IEP Chandigarh, March 15     

      A year after Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led Punjab Government came into the power, the Law and Order situation in the border state has witnessed a considerable improvement as majority of criminals and gangsters have been put behind the bar, while, many of them chose to leave the state amidst the strict vigil kept by Punjab Police on the movement of anti-social elements.          In last few months, Punjab Police under the supervision of Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav has conducted many special operations, and in majority of operations the latter himself hit the ground running to lead the entire Police Force to conduct these operations, which were aimed to instil sense of security among the general public and increase presence of the cops to infuse fear among the anti-social elements. The operations including Cordon and Search Operations (CASOs), raids at hideouts of dreaded gangsters, special vehicle checking operations, Operation Seal, night domination operations, etc were conducted.           The official data from March 16, 2022 to March 15, 2023 reveals that the Punjab Police have busted 26 terror modules with the arrest of 168 terrorist/radicals after recovering 31 Rifles, 201 Revolvers/Pistols, 9 Tiffin Improvised Explosive Device (IEDs), 8.72Kg RDX and other explosives, 11 Hand Grenades, two Sleeves of disposed Rocket Launcher, 30 Drones, and one loaded Rocket Propelled Grenade.          Similarly, the Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF), since its formation on April 6, 2022, has succeeded in busting 162 gangster/criminal modules after arresting 582 gangsters/criminals and neutralising five, after recovering 586 weapons, 131 vehicles used in criminal activities. Pertinently, immediately after coming to power, the CM Bhagwant Mann-led state government formed a special Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) headed by ADGP Promod Ban to wipe out gangsters from the state.           DGP Gaurav Yadav said that there were six major heinous crime incidents including an RPG attack at Intelligence Headquarters building at Mohali; Murder of Punjabi Singer Shubhdeep Singh alias Sidhu Moosewala; Killing of Bargari sacrilege accused Pardeep Kumar; RPG attack at PS Sarhali, Tarn Taran; Killings of Sudhir Suri and Bhupinder Singh Chawla alias Timmy Chawla, that took place since April 2022, and the Punjab Police have managed to effectively solve all these cases in a record time.          To make Punjab a drug-free state, the DGP said that the Punjab Police had waged a decisive war against drugs which resulted in the arrest of as many as 17568 drug smugglers after registering 13094 FIRs since March 16, 2022 against them. “Punjab Police have effectively recovered a record 863.9Kg heroin in just one year,” he said.          Pertinently, Punjab Police have recovered 716.9 Kg Heroin from across the state and additionally, 147.5-Kg heroin was recovered by the teams of Punjab Police from Seaports of Gujarat and Maharashtra, taking the total effective recovery of heroin to 863.9 Kgs. Apart from this, Police have also recovered 888-Kg opium, 1229-Kg Ganja, 464 quintals of poppy husk, and 70.16 lakhs tablets/capsules/injections/vials of Pharma opioids from across the state. The Police have also recovered Rs 10.36 crores of drug money from the possession of drug smugglers arrested in the past one year.          He said that under the ongoing special drive to arrest Proclaimed Offenders (POs)/Absconders in NDPS cases, Punjab Police have arrested 828 POs/Absconders since March 16, 2022.          DGP Gaurav Yadav reiterated that the Punjab Police is committed to root out the drug menace from the border state and several special anti-drug drives are being launched time-to-time to keep check on drug peddlers.          Meanwhile, after coming to power, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has also increased the ex-gratia amount to Rs 1 crore to be given to the families of Police Personnel in case of death in the line of duty. This amount is in addition to the insurance cover worth Rs 1 crore being given by the HDFC bank. The Punjab Government has also enhanced the budget allocation for Police Welfare from Rs 10 crore to Rs 15 crore.BOXES:1. ACTION AGAINST TERRORISTSTerror Modules Busted: 26Terrorists/Radicals Arrested: 168Total Rifles recovered: 31Total Revolvers/Pistols recovered: 201Total Tiffin IEDs recovered: 9RDX and other explosives recovery: 8.72KgTotal Hand Grenades recovered: 11Drones recovered: 302. ACTION AGAINST GANGSTERSTotal Modules Busted: 162Gangsters/Criminals Arrested: 582Gangsters/Criminals Neutralised: 5Weapons Recovered: 586Vehicles Recovered: 1313. ACTION AGAINST DRUGSTotal Drug smugglers/Suppliers Arrested: 17568Total FIRs Registered: 13094Total Heroin Recovered: 863.9KgTotal Opium Recovered: 888KgTotal Ganja Recovered: 1229KgTotal Poppy Husk Recovered: 464 QuintalsTotal tablets/capsules/injections/vials of Pharma opioids Recovered: 70.16 lakhTotal Drug Money Recovered: Rs 10.36 croresTotal Arrest of Proclaimed Offenders/Absconders in NDPS cases: 828

IEP Chandigarh, March 13

In a major administrative reshuffle, the Punjab government on Monday transferred 16 IAS and 3 PCS officers. Anurag Agarwal, IAS, who is currently posted as Additional Chief Secretary-cum-Financial Commissioner, Cooperation and in addition Additional Chief Secretary, Elections, has now been posted as Additional Chief Secretary-cum-Financial Commissioner, Cooperation and in addition Additional Chief Secretary, Elections, and in addition Additional Chief Secretary, Medical Education and Research in place of Alaknanda Dayal, IAS. 

Also, Raji P. Shrivastava, IAS, currently posted as Additional Chief Secretary-cum-Financial Commissioner, Forest and Wildlife Preservation has been posted as Additional Chief Secretary, Freedom Fighters, in place of Veerendra Kumar Meena, IAS.

Vivek Pratap Singh, Principal Secretary, Local Government has been posted as  Principal Secretary, Local Government and in addition, Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare relieving Veerendra Kumar Meena, IAS of additional charge.

Rahul Bhandari, Principal Secretary, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs and in addition Principal Secretary, Civil Aviation and in addition Principal Secretary, Information and Public Relations and in addition Principal Secretary Resident Commissioner, Punjab Bhawan, New Delhi has been posted as Principal Secretary Resident Commissioner, Punjab Bhawan, New Delhi.

Veerendra Kumar Meena, Principal Secretary, Freedom fighters and in addition Principal Secretary Printing and Stationary and in addition Principal Secretary, Health and Family welfare has been posted as  Principal Secretary Printing and Stationary.

Vikas Garg, Principal Secretary, Transport has been posted as Principal Secretary, Transport and in addition Financial Commissioner, Forests, Wildlife Preservation in place of Raji P Srivastava.

Sumer Singh Gurjar, Principal Secretary, Social Security, Women and Child Development and in addition Commissioner, Rupnagar Division, Rupnagar has been posted as Principal Secretary, Agriculture and Farmer’s welfare and in addition Principal Secretary, Horticulture and in addition Principal Secretary Soil and Water Conservation in place of Rahul Tiwari.

Gurkirat Kirpal Singh, Secretary, Tourism and Culture affairs and in addition Secretary Mines and Geology has been posted as Secretary, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs in place of Rahul Bhandari and in addition Tourism and Culture affairs, and in addition Secretary Mines and Geology.

Arshdeep Singh Thind, Secretary, Agriculture and Farmer’s welfare has been posted as Secretary, Agriculture and Farmer’s welfare and in addition Secretary Horticulture.

Ritu Aggarwal, Secretary, Home Affairs and Justice has been posted as Secretary Cooperative.

Malwainder Singh Jaggi, Chief Executive officer, Punjab water Supply and Sewerage Board has been posted as Secretary, Information and Public Relations and in addition Civil Aviation relieving Rahul Bhandari and in addition water Supply and Sewerage Board.

Other officers include IAS Abhinav, IAS Pradeep Kumar Agrawal, IAS Babita Singh, IAS Devinder Singh, IAS Puneet Singh, PCS Rajesh Kumar Sharma, PCS Vikas Hira, PCS Amardeep Singh Thind were transferred by the government. 

IEP Chandigarh, March 13

Punjab School Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains on Monday ordered an inquiry pertaining to irregularities during Punjab State Teacher Eligibility Test (PSTET).

Mr, Bains said that the matter was come to his notice that grave irregularities have been found during the Punjab State Teacher Eligibility Test held on Sunday. He issued an order to conduct time bound inquiry by Principal Secretary Level Officer and asked that a criminal case should be registered against the perpetrators of this heinous crime.

Apart from this, the Cabinet Minister also instructed the Guru Nanak Dev University to conduct the paper agains as soon as possible without charging any fee. He directed the officials of the School Education Department to incorporate a clause in the contract with the third party regarding conducting examinations on behalf of the department that if any irregularities will be found then the executing agency or organisation will pay the suitable compensation to the students.

IEP Chandigarh, March 13

          Punjab Housing and Urban Development Minister Mr Aman Arora on Monday met the successful bidders of recently concluded e-auction of GMADA, in which the authority has earned the highest ever revenue of a whopping ₹1935.88 Crores in a single e-auction.

          Addressing the function organised at Mohali Club, SAS Nagar, Mr. Aman Arora directed the GMADA officials to designate Single Point Contact Official to facilitate these investors in getting all required permissions and also provide them a required Documents Checklist for various categories of properties so that they won’t have to face any hardship in setting up their establishments.

          Expressing gratitude towards the investors for showing faith in the Housing & Urban Development Department and giving thumping response to the e-auction, Mr. Aman Arora assured that GMADA would provide every possible help at every step.

          He said that investors from around the world are coming to Punjab to set up their ventures due to investors-centric policies implemented by the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led Punjab Government in the state.

          All the bidders thanked the H&UD Minster Mr Aman Arora and Principal Secretary Mr Ajoy Kumar Sinha for organising this event to interact with them.

          Chief Administrator PUDA Ms Apneet Riyait and Chief Administrator GMADA Mr Amandeep Bansal were also present.

IEP Chandigarh, March 13  

        The Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is making all possible efforts to provide basic facilities, clean and pollution free environment to the people of the state.          Taking another step in this direction, Local Government Minister Dr. Inderbir Singh Nijjar said that the Punjab government has decided to spend about 6.90 crore on development works for the beautification of Amritsar city.          Disclosing this, Cabinet Minister Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar said that about Rs 3.91 crores are being spent to provide and set up CNG based crematorium as well as to develop the crematorium in all aspects.          He further said that apart from this, a decision has been taken to spend 48.50 lakh rupees for the re-conditioning and development of various streets of Guru Amardas Avenue Ward No. 3 under Phase-2.          Cabinet Minister, Dr. Nijjar said that about Rs 1.51 crore will be spent for the redevelopment and beautification of 15 parks in Ward 6 of Pandura Sultanwind, South Constituency of Amritsar city.          He said that apart from this, other development works worth more than Rs.1.00 crore will be done.          Local Government Minister, Dr. Nijjar said that department has already started the process for these works. Tenders for these works have already been uploaded by the Local Government Department on the Punjab Government website www.eproc.punjab.gov.in.  If there is a need to make any kind of amendment in these tenders the same information would be made available on this website, he also added.          He said that the Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is committed to provide corruption free administration to the people of the state. Therefore, any official or employee caught committing corruption would not be spared.          Cabinet Minister, Dr. Nijjar directed the officials to ensure quality and transparency in the work of the department. 

IEP Chandigarh, March 13

          Punjab NRI Affairs Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal on Monday assured all non-resident Punjabis (NRP) that the Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is committed to redress their grievances at the earliest.

          During his visit to control room set up here for NRPs to register their grievances, Dhaliwal said that Punjabi diaspora can register their complaints and grievances on WhatsApp number 93093-88088 without any hesitation. He said that registered complaint would be forwarded to the concerned department or officer for follow-up and timely redressal. J. Balamurgan, Principal Secretary, NRI affairs department and Praveen Kumar Sinha ADGP, NRI Affairs, were also present on this occasion.

          Meanwhile, Dhaliwal call a number of complainants who had either registered their greivances during NRI Sammelan or registered these with the control room. The complainants thanked the NRI Affairs Minister for showing personal interest in resolving their issues besides applauding Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led Punjab Government for taking such pro-people initiatives.

          On this occasion, the Minister directed the officers concerned to resolve all issues and complaints, except sub judice matter in a time bound manner. He said that he would soon call a state level meeting with all the Deputy Commissioners regarding the settlement of the grievances/complaints of the Punjabi Diaspora.

          Dhaliwal also appealed the overseas Punjabis to invest in Punjab while adding that Punjabis who have achieved success in foreign countries should also contribute for the progress of their state. The Punjab government will help them in every way, he said.

IEP Chandigarh, March 12

The Punjab government has decided to extend  the time period of a policy by 5 years under which riot victims and terror attack victims in the state get 5% reservation in allotment of plots or houses without any financial concession, Revenue Minister Brahm Shanker Jimpa said.He said that the Punjab Government under the dynamic leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has decided to extend the facility of 5 per cent reservation in allotment of plots/houses by Urban Estates/Improvement Trust/Pepsu Township Development Board, without any financial concession for five more years.He said that this facility of reservation was abolished on December 31, 2021, but with the decision taken now, this facility has been extended till December 31, 2026.The Revenue Minister said that a letter regarding this pro-people decision of the Punjab Government has been issued to all the Deputy Commissioners, Department of Housing and Urban Development and Local Government Department. 

IEP Chandigarh, March 12

          Social Security, Women and Child Development and Social Justice Empowerment and Minorities Minister Dr. Baljit Kaur thanked Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Finance Minister for presenting a public interest budget in the Vidhan Sabha and said that with this budget, changes will be seen in the lives of all sections.

          She said that Social Security departments that have access to every resident of the state of Punjab, while the Department of Social Justice ensures that the people who have been downtrodden for centuries get the rights guaranteed by the Constitution of India.

          Dr. Baljit Kaur said that under the able leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the Department of Social Justice has done its job of providing justice to the people completely in one year.

          She further said that the matriculation scholarship scheme was under controversy for the past several years. She said that due to the looting of the previous Governments, apart from the education and valuable time of the students studying on scholarship, they had to stumble time and time again to get their degrees, while the Punjab government led by Bhagwant Mann implemented this scheme for the Scheduled Cast students in a transparent manner and also got the fifth position across the country for running the scheme in a good manner.

          She said that B.R Ambedkar portal is opened for students.  On which students can avail the scheme by applying online. This portal remained open throughout  the year, the scheme which was seen sinking during the previous years, this year more than 2 lakh 20 thousand students have been registered on this portal.

          She said that the previous Governments considered the Ashirwad scheme only as a means of obtaining blessings. When the Bhagwant Maan government came into existence, after that day, Rs. 51,000 omens were given under this scheme in the true sense. She said that our Government settled the pending cases of more than 35000 girls during the previous governments. She said that our government  has so far released an amount of Rs. 175 crores under Ashirwad scheme.

          She thanked the Finance Minister for proposing Rs. 850 crores for Post Matric scheme and Adarsh Gram Yojana and said that in Adarsh Gram Yojana we provide facilities in those villages whose scheduled caste population is 50 percent.

          She said that the recruitment process of around 5700 Anganwadi workers is going on. She said that due to the absence of a policy regarding the transfers of Anganwadi workers, Anganwadi workers had to face a lot of problems for the last 20 years, which our government has eliminated. Due to which Anganwadi workers are working near their homes today.

          She mentioned that after 47 years our Government has implemented reservation in the recruitment of Anganwadi workers as per the ideology of Baba Saheb Ambedkar.

          She said that this is the first budget of Punjab in which Gender Equality has been fully taken care of due to which a budget provision of Rs. 7172 crores rupees has been made.

          She said that women of the state are getting a lot of benefits through widow pension and free bus travel facility.

          She added that her department is continuously working to ensure 50 percent participation of women in each scheme of the Punjab Government.