IEP Chandigarh, October 20

          Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann today batted for strong collaboration between Nigeria and Punjab in varied fields.

          The Chief Minister, while interacting with Nigerian High Commissioner to India Ahmed Sule, said that there was a huge scope of mutual benefit for both Nigeria and Punjab. He said that strengthening of ties between Nigeria and Punjab is need of the hour to ensure that both script a new success story. Bhagwant Mann advocated that Nigeria and Punjab should explore more feasibility of opening new vistas of mutual cooperation amongst them.

          The Chief Minister said that Punjab is an agrarian economy and his single point agenda is to make agriculture a profitable venture by reducing the input costs. He said that his government is already making strenuous efforts to supplement the income of farmers adding that no stone is being left unturned for this noble cause. Bhagwant Mann further said that efforts are also afoot to reduce the ever increasing costs of agriculture so as to bail farmers from the crisis.

          Meanwhile, the Chief Minister said that efforts will be made to enhance mutual collaborations in field of import-export of agriculture implements. Likewise, he also said that feasibility of increasing trade based on crops and fertilisers will also be explored. Bhagwant Mann said that it is the need of hour to benefit the farmers of the state through mutual collaboration between Nigeria and Punjab.

2022 AT JCP, ATTARI, AMRITSAR

IEP SAS Nagar, October 20

On the occasion of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, Border Security Force India’s First Line of Defense will be organizing Full, Half Marathon and 10 Km Run with the theme of “Hand in Hand with Border Population” on 29th Oct 2022 at JCP, Attari, Amritsar. The aim of this Marathon/Run is to promote the spirit of adventure, enterprise and National integration amongst the population, particularly youth from border areas.

The Curtain Raiser Ceremony of the event was organized on 20 Oct 2022 at Joint Check Post (JCP) Attari, which was graced by Ms. Suman Sharma (Arjuna Awardee in Basketball). Sh Kuldeep Singh Bhullar, Ex DC, BSF (DhyanChand Awardee in Athletics) and Sh. Asif Jalal, IPS, Inspector General, Punjab Frontier.

The run is open for participation by male and female candidates in two age groups above 40 years and below 40 years. The minimum age for participation is 18 years. It will be open for participation by Indian citizens as well as other Security Force personnel. The Marathon will start from three points at Amritsar in Punjab and will terminate at Attari border.

There will be attractive cash prizes for top five winners. The first prize will be Rs 1,00,000/- for Full Marathon, Rs. 50,000/- for Half Marathon and Rs.25,000/- for 10 km run for both male and female in both the age groups: However, there is no entry fee for students, border population and members of forces. In this regard BSF has also created a web link for registration of the civil participants styled as https://evantik.runizen.com/e/bsf-marathon. The last date of registration is 25th October 2022.

IEP Ludhiana, October 19

 Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday said that due to strenuous efforts of the state government, Milkfed- the leading Cooperative of the state will spread its milk by augmenting the milk supply to Delhi from currently 30,000 litres to 2 lakh litres thereby immensely benefitting the farmers/ milk producers of the state.“This is a revolutionary step aimed at supplementing the income of the farmers to bail them out from the agrarian crisis”, said the Chief Minister after inaugurating the newly built Milk Processing and Butter Plant Verka here today. The Chief Minister unequivocally said that the state government has inked an agreement with the Delhi government in this regard. He said that as per this agreement Verka will open new outlets at every nook and corner of Delhi to supply milk and milk products in the capital. Bhagwant Mann unequivocally said that the sole aim of his government is to extend maximum support and best prices to the dairy farmers of Punjab by following the true essence of cooperation. The Chief Minister also asserted that farmer friendly schemes should be implemented so as to boost the dairying business amongst the youth so as to make them financially independent and self-reliant. Bhagwant Mann also said that he has asked Milkfed to further launch an aggressive marketing campaign to capture a sizable chunk of consumer market not only in the state but across the country and even abroad. He said that this leading state cooperative has a perceptible presence in the domestic market as Verka is a household name in the region. The Chief Minister said that VERKA products like Ghee, Milk, Butter, Lassi, Kheer, Curd, Ice-Cream, Sweets and others have already created a niche for themselves in the nationwide market which could further be widened with concerted efforts. Striking an emotional chord with city of Ludhiana, the Chief Minister described it as his Karam bhoomi whereas Satauj village was his janambhoomi adding that the state of the art project is Diwali bonanza for the farmers as it has been constructed at a cost of Rs 105 crore. Bhagwant Mann said that its milk processing capacity is 9 lakh litres daily and 10 Metric Tonne Butter handling capacity. The Chief Minister asserted that Punjabis are blessed with the qualities of entrepreneurship and leadership. He said that due to these qualities the Punjabis have carved a niche for themselves across the globe. Bhagwant Mann said that his government strives to make youth of Punjab to job providers instead of job seekers. The Chief Minister asserted that ever since assuming the charge of office his government has been making strenuous efforts to provide corruption free administration in the state. He said that even if the corrupt leaders had joined some affluent political party also, his government has ensured that they are put behind the bars. Citing the example of recently nabbed former Minister Sunder Shyam Arora, Bhagwant Mann said that whosoever has plundered the wealth of the state will have to pay for their sins.  Listing several pro-people initiatives of the state government in Punjab, the Chief Minister said that the state government has passed the historic ‘One MLA, One Pension’ bill which stipulates that each MLA will get only a single pension, instead of the earlier provision of permitting multiple pensions for every term. He said that similarly the state government has given more than 20,000 government jobs to the youth purely on merit basis. Bhagwant Maan said that the process to regularise 36,000 contractual employees in the state has also started and recently only the state government has issued notification for regularizing services of around 9000 employees. The Chief Minister exhorted the farmers to refrain from burning paddy straw as it poses a serious threat to human life by environmental pollution. He said that in a step aimed at wiping out the menace of paddy straw burning from the state, India’s largest Bio Energy plant has been constructed in Sangrur at a  cost of Rs 230 crore over 20 acres of land. Bhagwant Mann said this is largest biofuel (Biomethane/ Bio-CNG) production units in India with 33 TPD (tons per day) adding that the annual straw consumption in this unit will be1.30 lakh ton adding that it will help in solving the vex problem of paddy straw burning. The Chief Minister said that the state government has sent a detailed list of the cattle wealth that has fallen prey to Lumpy skin to the Government of India. He said that the state government will flag the issue of compensating the farmers who have lost their cattle wealth due to this disease with the union government. Bhagwant Mann said that strenuous efforts are already being made to ensure that centre governments declare this disease as pandemic.

IEP Patiala, October 19

In order to impart quality health services to people, the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann today conducted surprise check at Government Rajindra hospital to take a stock of the ground situation.

The Chief Minister inspected various wards of the hospital and also interacted with the patients to take their feedback about the state of affairs in the hospital. Bhagwant Mann also had detailed interaction with the Doctors and para medical staff about the facilities at the hospital.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister said that the state government is committed to give facelift to the premier hospital of the region. He said that the hospital will be equipped with the state of the art equipments so that people can be provided quality medical facilities. Bhagwant Mann said that the hospital acts as a pivot for providing quality health services to people especially from the adjoining districts.

The Chief Minister said that people visit the hospital for getting quality treatment. He said that in case they don’t get the treatment here then they further move to PGIMER at Chandigarh due to which there is huge rush at that place. However, Bhagwant Mann said that the necessary augmentation in human resource and infrastructure will be made to ensure that this hospital is transformed into one of the best hospitals in the country.

The Chief Minister said that this hospital is a ray of hope for millions of people and no stone will be left unturned for further developing it into a world class hospital. He assured the patients that the pristine glory of this apex institute will be restored. Bhagwant Mann said that the state government will lay major thrust on holistic development of this hospital.