IEP SAS Nagar, January 12:

The 20th meeting of the Northern Zonal Council Standing Committee of the Northern States dealing with inter State issues saw the State of Punjab put forward its case in an emphatic manner pertaining to the State’s rights and inter State issues. The meeting saw officers from the Inter State Council Secretariat of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in attendance along with Chief Secretaries of the Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and Adviser to the UT Chandigarh besides Secretaries of the different departments of UT Chandigarh.

The view point of the State on whole gamut of sensitive issues viz. River waters of Punjab, State’s right on Chandigarh and Panjab University, Demand of tribunal to assess current situation with regard to the river waters, increasing international flights from the Mohali airport, Starting UDAN scheme from 4 airports in the State, Strengthening the international borders, Uniform policy for purchasing land, and stemming the loss to Punjab from Hansi – Butana canal and Ghaggar was presented with facts in a forthright way. 

In his inaugural speech, the Chief Secretary, Punjab, Mr. Vijay Kumar Janjua batted for the Cooperative Federalism and said that such meetings are the right platform for bringing to the fore, inter state matters and debate upon their solutions. The Chief Secretary made it absolutely clear that as per the current state of river waters, Punjab itself is facing shortage of water hence it doesn’t has extra water to spare for the other States. “These are emotional issues for Punjab and being the parent state, it has full right on its Capital but which has been denied to it all along”, said the Chief Secretary adding that the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has also pressed State’s claims on these issues. In keeping with the principles of One Nation One Family there must be a uniform policy concerning buying and selling of land in all the States of the country. It is imperative for Punjab for these issues to be sorted out, said the Chief Secretary. 

During the agenda wise discussions, the Principal Secretary Water Resources Mr. Krishan Kumar apprised that the level of water which was available with Punjab at the time of river waters agreements, has come down drastically and the State itself is face to face with the paucity of this precious resource. He further argued that a new tribunal regarding the assessment of Ravi – Beas river waters is the need of the hour besides pressing for water to Punjab from Yamuna. Likewise, the unnatural construction of the Hansi – Butana canal causes 38 villages in Punjab to be flooded. Rooting for the resolution of Lissara Nallah by Haryana, the Secretary Water Resources also highlighted the importance of Mini Hydel projects on Bhakhra Main Line apart from making a strong case for a permanent member from Punjab in the Bhakhra Beas Management Board (BBMB).

The Financial Commissioner (Revenue) Mr. K.A.P. Sinha pointed out that Chandigarh must go to Punjab for the latter being the parent State. He further made out a robust and rationale case for the resident of any state being able to purchase land in another State. 

Presenting the case of Punjab for increasing the international flights from the Mohali International Airport in a logical and crystal clear manner, the Principal Secretary Civil Aviation Mr. Rahul Bhandari said that Punjab has invested in the project and moreover, it is the demand of present scenario considering a huge number of Punjabi diaspora in Canada and other countries to expand the number of international flights. The Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann too has taken up this issue with the Government of India, said the Principal Secretary adding that it is high time the domestic flights are commenced from the Ludhiana, Bathinda, Adampur and Pathankot airports.

The Additional Chief Secretary Home Mr. Anurag Verma pressed for anti drone technology to be developed in view of the Punjab being a border State sharing 550 Km long International border with Pakistan. The Secretary Environment Mr. Rahul Tiwari raised the issue of pollution of the Ghaggar river.

During the presentation on the best practices of their respective States, the Principal Secretary Governance Reforms Tejveer Singh highlighted the paddy straw management works apart from Sakhi application developed for stopping gender based violence and Mini Jungles developed for increasing the Forest cover in the State of Punjab.

IEP Mohali

Hero Realty Private Limited, the real estate arm of Hero Enterprise, announced today its plan to expand in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab regions. Hero Realty has already built a 3.25 million square feet area across India. In addition, the company has developed 2.76 million square feet of real estate in Punjab and Delhi NCR. Each project is well-appointed with parks and green areas.

Addressing a press conference held at its headquarters in Sector 88, Mohali, Dharmesh Shah, CEO of Hero Realty, said, “We have been market leaders, with more than 50% sales growth, in various categories based on strong group values of trust, care and nurture. We are developing housing solutions that are elegant and modern, yet sustainable, aiming to build a vibrant social community. Hero Realty developed approximately 150 acres of residential townships and 230 acres of industrial parks in Haridwar. It has also developed a 6 million sqft area in Ludhiana, Mohali and Gurugram.”

He further said, “Hero Homes strives always to innovate and offer its clients something fresh since it believes in taking a customer-centric approach to its job. The Indian Green Building Council has accredited Hero Homes’ projects. In order to lessen the adverse effects on the environment, the green building rating combines various sustainable techniques and solutions. Green building design offers an integrated approach that considers the life cycle effects of the resources used. Parks and open areas are thoughtfully included in every project, bringing people closer to the outdoors.”

On the occasion, Mr. Ashish Kaul (CMO, Enterprises) and Mr. Vaibhav Arora (Marketing Manager, Hero Reality Pvt. Ltd.) were present.

Hero Realty projects are built on four pillars- creativity, fitness, sustainability and communities. Its projects are designed and built on the principle of ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’. Hero Homes reflect the right blend of traditional and modern keeping with the ethos of the growing India. As the first real estate company in Delhi NCR to receive CARE’s A+ rating and a stable outlook, Hero Realty is now considered to have excellent credit. Following the significant growth in operations and sales, CARE raised Hero Realty’s credit rating from CARE B stable to CARE A+. Hero Realty has recorded a 50% increase in sales year on year as purchasers took advantage of low finance rates.

IEP Chandigarh, January 10

Banwarilal Purohit, the Governor, Punjab and Administrator, Chandigarh inaugurated the horticulture waste processing plant at industrial area, Ph-II, here today in the presence of Mrs. Kirron Kher, Member Parliament, Smt. Sarbjit Kaur, Mayor, Sh. Dharm Pal, IAS, Adviser to the Administrator, Chandigarh and other prominent persons of city beautiful.

While addressing the gathering, the Governor said that the goal of Chandigarh is to ensure that the city will be a garbage free city and due to the dedicated efforts of Municipal Corporation the city has risen from 66^th rank in the Swachhata Sarvekshan of 2020 to 12^th rank in 2021 among 1 lacs plus cities.

He said that the generation of horticulture waste is increasing day by day in the city and to avoid dumping of green waste due to pruning of trees, the horticulture waste processing plant is a asset to the city beautiful.

He said that earlier, horticulture waste being generated was dumped in landfills, after the commissioning of horticulture waste processing plant, all the waste will be processed in scientific manner to produce combustible products and dumping in landfill sites will be avoided. He said that the recycled products, made will generate income as the same may be sold to various industrial units. The products may also be used for cremation purposes thus saving the fuel wood being purchased for the purpose, he added.

Smt. Kirron Kher, Member Parliament, Chandigarh said that the Administration is committed to 100 percent waste processing in the city. He said that as far as liquid waste is concerned, all sewerage treatment plants are being upgraded and while 2 are already meeting norms, the remaining 6 will be upgraded shortly. She said that 100 percent dry waste processing has already been started recently and 100 percent sanitary waste and domestic hazardous waste processing has already started.

Smt. Sarbjit Kaur, Mayor, Chandigarh welcomed the Chief Guest and other guests on this occasion. She said that horticulture waste processing plant having capacity of 30-40 ton a day will process raw horticulture waste into briquettes. She said that total project cost comes @ Rs. 3.50 crores including cost of O&M for one year.

Sh. Dharam Pal, IAS, Adviser to the Administrator, Chandigarh said that processing of floral waste has also been started separately. He said that an integrated plant for solid waste management which shall cater to the needs of the city for the next 25 years has been planed and premier technical institutes like NEERI and IIT Ropar are assisting the Municipal Corporation in this task.

Others present during the occasion were including Mrs. Rakhi Gupta Bhandari, IAS, Secretary to Governor of Punjab, Sh. Debendra Dalai, IFS, Chief Conservator of Forest, Chandigarh, Ms. Anindita Mitra, IAS, Commissioner, MCC, Sh. Anup Gupta, Deputy Mayor, Ms. Neha, area councillors, other councillors of MCC and senior officers of MCC.

IEP Chandigarh

The Food Safety & Standards department of Chandigarh Administration, Chandigarh appeal to all the Food Business Operators dealing in Manufacturing / Distribution / Wholesale / Retail of food articles for human consumption to run their business only after getting proper FSSAI license / Registration from the Food Safety Department, U.T.Chandigarh by applying through online FOSCOS ( Food Safety Compliance system) portal of the FSSAI. The url for the same is https://foscos.fssai.gov.in/

As per Section 31 of the Food Safety Standards Act, 2006, no person shall commence or carry on any food business except under a licence and also the petty food business operators shall have to get themselves registered under the afore said Act.

If any person or food business operator himself or by any person on his behalf who is required to obtain licence, manufacture, sells, stores or distributes or imports any article of food without licence, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months and also with a fine which may extend to five lakh rupees.

The Food Safety Department, GMSH-16, Chandigarh has setup free help desk to provide assistance to food business operators in filing FSSAI licence / registration application. The food business operators may visit the office on any working day for free assistance.

The Food Safety Department is also organizing licensing / registration camps in various parts of the City to provide free assistance to the food business operators including Street Food Vendors who wants to apply for license / registration.

The details of the camps to be organized are attached. 

IEP Chandigarh

The Governor of Punjab and Administrator Chandigarh has approved a Scheme  “SHAGUN”- for providing financial assistance for marriage of women belonging to low income group families of U.T. Chandigarh”  formulated by Department of Social Welfare, Women & Child Development, Chandigarh Administration.

The scheme aims to provide financial assistance for marriage of orphan & destitute girls and remarriage of widows / destitute women as one time assistance.  The financial assistance amounting to Rs. 31,000/- shall be given to the applicant under this Scheme.

The women may avail financial assistance either for her own marriage or for the marriage of  her daughters (upto 2 daughters). The benefits will be given to (i) Daughters of pension holder widows / pension holder destitute women or her re-marriage, (ii) Disability Pension Holder Women, (iii) Girls residing in Child Care Institution, After Care Home & Nari Niketan, (iv) Daughters/ women of Antodaya Households, (v) Registered Female Street Vendors / Daughters of registered Street Vendors and (vi) Daughters of Outsourced Safai Karamcharis / Sweepers who are residents of U.T. Chandigarh.

IEP Chandigarh, January 10

In a bid to find a sustainable solution to the problem of stubble burning and supplement the income of farmers of the state, Chief Minister S Bhagwant Mann led Punjab Government has planned to utilize around 1.8 Million Ton (MT) paddy straw in the under implementation 43 Compressed Biogas (CBG) Projects per annum.This was disclosed by Mr Aman Arora, Minister of New and Renewable Energy Sources, while chairing a CBG Developers’ Meet at PEDA Complex here on Tuesday.Addressing the CBG Developers, the Cabinet Minister informed that the state is in process of forming Core Group of all stakeholders like PEDA, GAIL, CGD Companies, CBG producers and PBIP, to coordinate for off-take of CBG through gas pipelines.He said that Asia’s largest CBG plant of total capacity 33.23 Ton Per Day (TPD) has already been commissioned in Sangrur and another CBG project of 12 TPD capacity has been commissioned at Khanna and is under trial run. Presently, about 3 Ton CBG is produced in the plant daily. As many as 41 additional CBG projects, which have been allotted by Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA), are under implementation at various stages of execution and expected to be commissioned in next 2 years, he added.On completion, all these projects will produce 515.58 TPD CBG per annum by consuming around 2 million ton Agriculture residue annually, said Mr. Aman Arora, while adding that the state has a potential to set up 200 more CBG projects of 10 TPD capacity each in addition to the above projects as around 20 millon ton of paddy straw is produced per annum in the state.Assuring every possible support to CBG developers from the state government side, Mr. Aman Arora said that Punjab Government has been providing many incentives such as exemption from land registration charges & stamp duty, electricity charges, exemption from CLU & EDC charges, besides ensuring all facilities at Single Stop Clearances through Invest Punjab.Mr. Aman Arora said that Punjab Government has already constituted a Task Force for off-take of Fermented Organic Manure (FOM) produced by CBG projects based on agriculture residue in the State. He said that Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana has already been directed to conduct feasibility study on FOM for its utilization in Agriculture and Horticulture and submit detailed report.With the concerted efforts of the State Government, he further informed, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), GoI, vide its notification dated 02.11.2022, has revived the provision of Central Financial Assistance (CFA) on CBG projects which is Rs. 4.00 Crore per 4.8 TPD capacity CBG project. Maximum CFA is Rs. 10 Crore per project.VC Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana Dr. Satbir Singh Gosal apprised that PAU is conducting a feasibility study on FOM utilization and will issue an advisory in this regard in this April.Welcoming the CBG Developers in the meet, Chairman PEDA Sh. H.S. Hanspal said that CBG projects are the answer to agriculture residue, carbon emissions and pollution. Your efforts will be considered the service to country. It will create additional revenue source for farmers, besides giving boost to entrepreneurship and rural economy.Chief Executive PEDA Mr. Sumeet Jarangal said that Punjab has emerged as the one of the most favourable states for the entrepreneurs due to Ease of Doing Business policy of the Mann Government. He said that Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL) is also establishing a Bio-Ethanol project in Bathinda district, which will produce 100 Kilolitre 2G Ethanol by consuming two Lac Ton paddy straw. This project is expected to be commissioned in February 2024.The function was attended by around 100 prominent CBG Developers and senior officials of the state government.

IEP Chandigarh, January 10

Punjab Finance Minister Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema said on Tuesday that the total credit potential for priority sector for 2023-24 is projected at Rs 2.73 lakh crore which represents an overall growth of 5 percent over the projections for 2022-23.

Revealing this while addressing the NABARD ‘State Credit Seminar 2023-24’, the Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said that out of the aggregate credit plan, the share of Crop Loan is pegged at Rs 1.03 lakh crore (38%), Agriculture Term Loan at Rs 0.52 lakh crore (19%) and MSME at Rs 0.71 lakh crore (26%) and Other Priority Sector (OPS) at Rs 0.47 lakh crore (17%).

Releasing the State Focus Paper (SFP) 2023-24 and Unit Cost Booklet on this occasion, the Finance Minister said that that NABARD has undertaken the exercise of assessing the potential for credit under priority sector for each district in consultation and coordination with banks, Line departments of the State Government, farmers, NGOs and other stakeholders. “These plans have been aggregated at the state level and SFP has been prepared which reflects the aggregate potential available under various subsectors of Priority Sector of the State’s economy. This is quite an elaborate exercise which will provide inputs and pointers to various stake holders”, he added.

The Finance Minister further added that it is a matter of satisfaction that the SFP emphasises on development of the cooperative sector, crop diversification, promotion of organic farming, development of the Farmers’ Producers’ Organization (FPOs), promotion of digital technological innovations in agriculture and “Fintech”, which will provide necessary fillip to inclusive growth and sustainable development in the State. He said that it is the need of the hour that these producer organizations are supported further within the agri-value chain system.

Emphasising on the continuous need for widening and deepening of the credit outreach especially to small and marginal farmers, share croppers and tenant farmers, Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema said that although the priority sector lending has shown a healthy growth of 8% with Ground Level Credit (GLC) of Rs 1.71 lakh crore during FY 2022, the grass root institutions such as Self Help Groups (SHGs), Joint Liability Groups (JLGs) and Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) have to play an important role to bring about the required change. He advised the Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), Cooperative Banks and PACS, which are closely linked to grass level clients, to play big role in promotion of SHGs and JLGs while utilising available support from NABARD.

Meanwhile, the Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema bestowed the awards to best performing FPOs and SHGs.

Prominent amongst others, Mr. Ajoy Kumar Sinha, Principal Secretary Finance, Ms. Garima Singh, Secretary Finance Cum Director Institutional Finance and Banking, Mr. M.K. Mall, Regional Director RBI, and Mr. Raghunath B., CGM NABARD Punjab Regional Office were also present on the occasion.

IEP Chandigarh, January 10

The main objective of the Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is to provide quality education along with good health to the people of the state. Under the same chain basic infrastructure is being provided in government schools across the state and along with this Aam Aadmi Clinics are also being opened with the aim of providing good health services to the people.These words were expressed by the Minister for Local Government Dr. Inderbir Singh Nijjar today after laying the foundation stone of new blocks at Shaheed Gurmeet Singh Senior Secondary School Sultanwind girls. On this occasion, the annual prize distribution ceremony was also organized by the school. After the inauguration of the event, Dr. Nijjar also honored the children by giving awards for being winners in academic and various non-academic competitions at the district and state level.Addressing the students, Dr. Nijjar said that apart from book knowledge, improving their personality to advance in life will also lead them to success and children should make their behavior so good that their character be high. He told the students that along with studies, sports are also very important because sports develop the mental development of children. He invited the students to join sports and asked them to prioritize sports along with studies. Dr. Nijjar specially congratulated the principal of the school Mr. Amarjit Singh and all the staff for their various achievements.On this occasion, District Education Officer Secondary Mr. Jugraj Singh shared his thoughts and inspired the children to work harder and to succeed in life exams by working hard. After the function, Dr. Nijjar was also honored by the school staff. On this occasion, besides coordinator Madam Narinder Kaur, Mr. Devinder Singh, Mr. Gurikbal Singh, Madam Sukhraj Kaur, Madam Manpreet Kaur, Madam Bharti, Mr. Sharanjit Singh, a large number of parents of children were also present.

IEP Chandigarh, January 9

The Punjab Government overnment has extended the holidays in Anganwadi Centers of the state till January 14, 2023 due to severe cold and fog in the state.  This was disclosed here today by the Social Security, Women and Child Development Minister of Punjab Dr.  Baljit Kaur.          Cabinet Minister Dr. Baljit Kaur said that the holidays have been extended till January 14 in all the Anganwadi Centers of the state to protect the children from winter.  Anganwadi workers will give take home ration to all the beneficiaries as per the order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court.  During vacations, Anganwadi workers/helpers will perform their duties in Anganwadi Centers as before.          It may be mentioned that the increase in holidays in Anganwadi centers has been done due to bad weather.