2022 IEP Chandigarh, December 26 

The crime rate in Punjab has witnessed a sharp decline under the able administration of Chief Minister (CM) Bhagwant Mann-led state government and the supervision of Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav.According to the official crime data of the state vis-a-vis its comparison with the figures from the previous year, the number of murders this year has reduced from 723 in 2021 to 654 in 2022 whereas kidnappings have decreased from 1787 in 2021 to 1645 in 2022.Similarly, theft-related cases have also been reduced from 8417 in 2021 to 8407 in 2022 and cases related to the Excise Act have decreased from 10745 in 2021 to 9104 in 2022. The data also shows a significant decline in the total number of first information reports (FIRs) registered in the state from 73581 in 2021 to 71827 in 2022. Recounting the achievements, Inspector General of Police (IG) Sukhchain Singh Gill on Monday said that during 2022, the Internal Security has busted 18 terror modules with the arrest of 119 terrorist/radicals after recovering 43 Rifles, 220 Revolvers/Pistols, 13 Tiffin Improvised Explosive Device (IEDs), 24.5Kg RDX and other explosives, 37 Hand Grenades, two Sleeves of disposed Rocket Launcher, 22 Drones, and 23 vehicles.He said, similarly, the Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF), since its formation on April 6, 2022, has succeeded in busting 111 gangster/criminal modules after arresting 428 gangsters/criminals and neutralizing two, after recovering 411 weapons, 97 vehicles used in criminal activities, 44.21 KGs heroin and Rs 1.30 crores money. 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. The IGP said that from January 1 to December 20, 2022, five major incidents have taken place in Punjab including an IED blast at Police Post Kalwa, PS Noorpur Bedi, Ropar; RPG attack at Intelligence Headquarters building at Mohali; Murder of Punjabi Singer Shubhdeep Singh alias Sidhu Moosewala; Killing of Bargari sacrilege accused Pardeep Kumar and RPG attack at PS Sarhali, Tarn Taran. Punjab Police have effectively solved all these major crimes, he added.IGP Sukhchain Singh Gill, who has been holding weekly press conferences to update people on drug recovery, said that Punjab Government is committed to making Punjab a drug-free state and extensive anti-drug drives have been launched by the Punjab Police to combat the menace of drugs from the border State.Giving yearly updates on drugs, the IGP said that from January 1 to December 25, 2022, Punjab Police have arrested 16798 drug smugglers/suppliers, including 2316 big fish after registering 12171 first information reports (FIRs), including 1374 commercials.He said that the Police teams have recovered 582-Kg Heroin from across the state after carrying out cordon and search operations in drug-affected areas besides laying nakas at vulnerable routes across the state. 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 729.5 kg in a year, he added.Apart from seizing big-haul of heroin, the IGP said that the Police have also recovered 690-Kg opium, 1396-Kg Ganja, 518 quintals of poppy husk, and 60.13 lakh tablets/capsules/injections/vials of Pharma opioids from across the state. The Police have also recovered Rs 11.59 crores of drug money from the possession of drug smugglers arrested this year.He said that under the ongoing special drive to arrest Proclaimed Offenders (POs)/Absconders in NDPS cases, Punjab Police have arrested 955 POs/Absconders since January 1, 2022.IGP Sukhchain Singh Gill said that after coming to power, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has also increased the ex-gratia amount to Rs 1 crores to be given to the families of Police Personnel in case of death in the line of duty. Recently, two cheques of Rs 2 crores (Rs 1 crore each) were handed over to the family of slain Punjab Police Constable Mandeep Singh, who attained martyrdom in the line of duty. The Rs 2 crore amount includes Rs 1 crore as ex-gratia by the state government, whereas, another payment of insurance cover worth Rs 1 crore was to be made by the HDFC bank.Meanwhile, the Punjab Government has also enhanced the budget allocation for Police Welfare from Rs 10 crore to Rs 15 crore.BOXES:ACTION AGAINST TERRORISTSTerror Modules Busted: 18Terrorists/Radicals Arrested: 119Total Rifles recovered: 43Total Revolvers/Pistols recovered: 220Total Tiffin IEDs recovered: 13RDX and other explosives recovery: 24.5KgTotal Hand Grenades recovered: 37Drones recovered: 22 2. ACTION AGAINST GANGSTERSTotal Modules Busted: 111Gangsters/Criminals Arrested: 428Gangsters/Criminals Neutralised: 2Weapons Recovered: 411Heroin Recovered from Gangsters: 44.21KgVehicles Recovered: 97Unaccounted Money Recovered: Rs 1.30 crores 3. ACTION AGAINST DRUGSTotal Drug smugglers/Suppliers Arrested: 16798Big Fish Arrested: 2316Total FIRs Registered: 12171Total Commercial Quantity FIRs: 1374Total Heroin Recovered: 729.5KgTotal Opium Recovered: 690KgTotal Ganja Recovered: 1396KgTotal Poppy Husk Recovered: 518 QuintalsTotal tablets/capsules/injections/vials of Pharma opioids Recovered: 60.13 lakhTotal Drug Money Recovered: Rs 11.59 croresTotal Arrest of Proclaimed Offenders/Absconders in NDPS cases: 955 4. FIVE HIGH-PROFILE CASES EFFECTIVELY SOLVED IN 2022— IED blast at Police Post Kalwa, PS Noorpur Bedi, Ropar— 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 

IEP Chandigarh, December 26      

     Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann today said that the supreme sacrifice made by legendary martyr Shaheed Udham Singh will always inspire the youth for selfless service to the nation.           Paying floral tributes to Shaheed Udham Singh on his birth anniversary, the Chief Minister said that the countrymen are enjoying fruits of freedom due to the enormous sacrifices made by such legendary heroes. He said that said that Shaheed Udham Singh was a true son of soil, who had in a heroic act exhibited exemplary courage by killing Michael O’ Dwyer, the prime perpetrator of Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Bhagwant Mann said that the unprecedented sacrifice made by this iconic martyr at the altar of national freedom struggle helped the country to overthrow the yoke of British Imperialism.           The Chief Minister further said that Shaheed Udham Singh waited for 21 years to avenge the massacre at Jallianwala Bagh and thus laid the foundation of the freedom of the nation. He exhorted the youth to draw inspiration from the sacrifices of Shaheed Udham Singh and other national heroes for eradication of drugs and other social evils from society. Bhagwant Mann also said that Shaheed Udham Singh always stood for communal harmony during the course of his foreign sojourns so as to gather and inspire people to jointly contribute towards the freedom movement.           The Chief Minister asserted that Punjabis have a prominent place in the national freedom struggle and we are proud of their brave and unique contributions.  Bhagwant Mann said that he bows his head in reverence to such great martyrs and patriots of India’s freedom struggle, who displayed heroism and valour thereby making supreme sacrifices to for attaining freedom for the country. He said that the rich legacy of unprecedented sacrifices made by martyrs would act as a lighthouse to guide the destiny of our future generations. 

IEP Chandigarh, December 26

Punjab Transport Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar, on Monday, informed that the transport department has fixed the rates for the transportation of minor mineral as defined under Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 in the State of Punjab.

Divulging further, S. Laljit Singh Bhullar said that the carriage rates of minerals such as Earth, Surkhi, Sand, Fly Ash, Bajri, Ballast, Stone Boulder, Kankar and Building Rubbish, are being categorised in various rate slabs.

“This move of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led government will stop the trend of charging rates arbitrarily by the transporters, thus stop the fleecing of common man”, said the Cabinet Minister.

He said that the rate between 0.5 km to 50 km will be vary between Rs.68.49 to Rs.349.82 per MT. Likewise, the rates for 51 km to 100 km will be applicable between Rs.352.61 to Rs.467.95 per MT.

He said that the rate between Rs.469.11 to Rs.526.19 per MT will be applicable for the distance between 101 km to 150 km, Rs.527.27 to Rs.579.78 per MT has been fixed for the distance between 151 km to 200 km. Similarly, the rates for the distance between 201 km to 250 km will be very between Rs.580.85 to Rs.633.38 per MT, while Rs.634.44 to Rs.686.96 per MT has been fixed for the distance between 251 km to 300 km.

Transport Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar said that for transportation of minor minerals for the distance above 300 km, the rate for every additional 1km will be charged at the rate of Rs.1.07 per MT in addition to the fixed limit of Rs.686.96.

A notification in this regard has been issued, he added.

IEP Chandigarh, 26 December

Punjab Finance, Planning, Excise and Taxation Minister Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema one Monday released the book titled ‘The Punjab That Was Not’ penned by Dr. Pushpinder Singh Gill, one of the senior most professors of Punjabi University, Patiala

Releasing the book during a brief but impressive function held here at ‘Vit Te Yojna Bhawan’, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said that this book is the result of the work done by Dr. Gill in the direction of what happened in the past, what should have happened and how the economy can be brought back on track in the future for the betterment of Punjab’s. He said that one would get to learn a lot from this book.

Meanwhile, Dr. Pushpinder Singh Gill said that he has tried to put and explain every issue in simple and easy language through this book as there was lack of required debate on economic issues in the state. Dr. Gill, who has been serving at Punjabi University for the past 37 years, said that this book is a collection of articles written on economic, social, religious, education, environment and various other issues of Punjab. He said that he has been also running a YouTube channel named ‘Khund Charcha’, through which the general public has been brought face-to-face on more than 100 issues and suggestions were also offered to the government to overcome these issues.

IEP New Delhi, December 26 

 Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday said that the unprecedented and supreme sacrifice made by chotte sahibzadas will ever inspire humanity to fight against tyranny, oppression and injustice.  Addressing the gathering here during a function organised here at Major Dhyan Chand Stadium, the Chief Minister said that Baba Zorawar Singh and Baba Fateh Singh, the chotta Sahibazadas of tenth master of Sikhs Sri Guru Gobind Singh, attained martyrdom at a tender age adding that they showed exemplary courage and fearlessness to stand up against the might of the Mughal Governor of Sirhind. He said that the sahibzadas had inherited the traits of valor and selfless service from Dashmesh Pitaah, who fought relentlessly for the sake of humanity. Bhagwant Mann said that today the entire world is paying glowing tributes to Chotte Sahibzadas for their unparalleled sacrifice in the history of the world. Eulogizing the supreme sacrifice of younger Sahibzadas and Mata Gujri ji, the Chief Minister said that these sacrifices were unprecedented in the annals of the history of mankind across the globe. He said the entire world was proud of this unique and unparalleled sacrifice which was a matter of great honor not only for the Punjabis or our countrymen but everyone living across the globe. Bhagwant Mann said the history of Punjab was replete with countless sacrifices that had derived inspiration from our great Gurus like Sri Guru Arjun Dev ji, Sri Guru Teg Bahadur ji and Sri Guru Gobind Singh ji who laid down their lives for the sake of mankind. The Chief Minister said that on one hand people were heading towards Fatehgarh Sahib for paying obeisance to younger sahibzadas and on the other hand Punjabis are observing this month as ‘month of mourning’. Bhagwant Mann recalled that his grandparents also used to sleep on the ground during these days to mourn the martyrdom of chotta sahibzadas and Mata Gujri ji. He said that the younger generations need to be made aware of this supreme sacrifice to inspire them to make selfless sacrifices for the country. Expressing gratitude to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for organizing this event, the Chief Minister said that it will go a long way in perpetuating the glorious legacy of chotte sahibzadas to our younger generations. He said that commemorating the great sacrifices of the chotta Sahibzadas is the need of the hour to cement the ethos of human rights. Bhagwant Mann said that this will also help in keeping the youngsters abreast about the great sacrifice of chotta sahibzadas. Bhagwant Mann also thanked the Prime Minister for holding two sessions of the prestigious G-20 summit on Education and on Labour, in the holy city of Amritsar. He said that the state is renowned all over the world for its warm hospitality and no stone will be left unturned for welcoming the guests from participating nations during these events. Bhagwant Mann said that these sessions will be held at the sacred land of Amritsar where lakhs of devotees daily pay obeisance at Sri Darbar Sahib, Durgiana Mandir, Sri Ram Tirath, Jallianwala Bagh and others. 

IEP Chandigarh, December 25

Maintaining its top position in the collection of Goods and Services Tax (GST), the Ludhiana division leads the state in both collection and growth rate during the first eight months of the current fiscal year. The division registered net GST revenue of Rs. 3354 Crore till November end and a growth rate of 23.17 percent as compared to the same period of FY 2021-22.

          Disclosing this here today, the official spokesperson of the Taxation department said that Ludhiana-2 collected the highest GST revenue of Rs 1018 crore while Ludhiana- 5 led the division with a growth of 48.18 percent amongst the 6 districts of Ludhiana division namely Ludhiana-1, Ludhiana-2, Ludhiana-3, Ludhiana-4, Ludhiana-5 and Fatehgarh Sahib falling under Ludhiana Division.

          Revealing the growth rate of total GST revenue recorded by the various divisions of the Taxation department up to the month of November as compared to the same period of the previous financial year, the Spokesperson said that Patiala division remained on the second position with a growth rate of 25.99 percent, whereas, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ferozepur, Faridkot and Ropar divisions registered growth rates of 19.42, 19.39, 17.11, 9.45 and 2.49 percent respectively.

          He further added that in net GST revenue collection Ropar Division scored the second position with net GST revenue of 2002 crore, whereas net GST collection by Jalandhar, Amritsar, Faridkot, Patiala and Ferozepur divisions were 1420.33 crore, 885.71 Crore, 872.43 Crore, 700.42 Crore and 364.3 crore respectively.

          The Spokesperson said that the performance of the various divisions of the Taxation department and districts falling under these divisions was reviewed by the Punjab Finance, Excise and Taxation Minister Advocate Hapal Singh Cheema during a monthly review meeting of the department. He said that during the meeting the Minister appreciated the officials of performing districts and divisions besides advising the district-level officers to learn from the experiences and professional qualities of each other to further improve their performance. He also asked them to adopt a courteous approach towards taxpayers and come out with innovative measures to convince the taxpayers that the department was working to facilitate them.

IEP Chandigarh, December 25

While marking the celebrations of Good Governance Day, on the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister, Sh. Atal Bihari Vajpayee and great freedom fighter Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya  here today, Haryana Chief Minister, today gave 22 Good Governance awards to various departments for playing an instrumental role in turning the dream of ‘Digital Haryana’ into reality. The Chief Minister will felicitate 118 officers and employees for simplifying work through digital medium during government service in various departments. These include ‘State Level Awards’ and ‘State Flagship Scheme Awards’ for Good Governance.

        The awardees were honoured during a state-level programme held today in Panchkula for bringing in digital reforms in their respective departments and for making the delivery of citizen-centric services to the people in a time-bound and hassle-free manner. The list of awardees is as follows:

Parivar Pehchan Patra

        The Haryana Parivar Pehchan Act, 2021 has been notified on September 6, 2021. PPP is the tool for achieving ‘Paperless’ and ‘faceless’ proactive service delivery to citizens. As of December 16, 2022, over 71.89 lakh families consisting of over 2.85 crore citizens have updated their data in PPP. Nearly 450 schemes, subsidies and Government services have currently been linked with PPP. The service for the proactive generation of Caste and Income Certificate by the citizen is already operational along with the proactive delivery of Old Age pension.

E-Fasal Kshatipurti

E-Fasal Kshatipurti has been rolled out on a pilot basis for providing relief to the farmers for crop damage due to rainfall in the month of September- October 2022. E-Fasal Kshatipurti will be implemented for crop loss application, verification, assessment and compensation to the farmers from Rabi 2023 (except in case of crop insurance) in the entire State. The system is available on the ‘Meri Fasal Mera Byora’ portal.

HKRNL

        Ending the age-old outsourcing deployment system, the Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam (HKRNL) was set up by the Government to provide eligible manpower for contractual deployment in a transparent manner. As per the data, HKRNL disbursed salaries of around Rs. 800 Cr. directly in the bank accounts of the deployed manpower. Further, more than 70,000 deployed manpower are now availing benefits of EPF and ESI as their premiums are getting credited through an online automated payroll system.

Auto Appeal System

The Auto Appeal System (AAS) is playing a pivotal role in ensuring good governance as it is benefitting the total population of Haryana and beyond as well. As on December 15, 2022, 372 services of 32 entities are on-boarded on AAS. 4,43,263 appeals have been raised to the First Grievance Redressal Authority (FGRA), Second Grievance Redressal Authority (SGRA) and Right to Service Commission (RTSC) out of which, 2,76,238 appeals have been decided. With the launch of AAS, the pendency of applications has been reduced greatly.

E-Adhigam

E-Adhigam, the state’s personalized and Adaptive Learning (PAL) enabled tablet-based learning programme was launched by the Chief Minister on May 5, 2022 for all 5 lakh government school students in the state, in the grades 10 to 12 for the subjects of English, Hindi and Social Science. Till date, 78 percent of students of classes 10th, 11th & 12th have received their tablets and data SIM cards. Tablets and Data SIMs are also being provided to all school heads, TGTs and VTs (IT). The government aims to roll PAL out for all compulsory subjects before the next academic year.

MMAPUY

        With the objective of upliftment of last mile person or ‘Antyodaya’, a total of 861 Melas were organized in three phases across all 22 districts of Haryana. A total of 1,37,544 identified beneficiaries turned up, and applications of 76,941 beneficiaries were approved in principle under various loan-based schemes, skill development training and employment generation schemes. Thereafter, loans of 35,414 beneficiaries have been sanctioned, out of which 18,918 have been disbursed as well. 453 beneficiaries have joined private employment and 1901 beneficiaries have secured contractual jobs through Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam (HKRN). Additionally, a total of 1358 beneficiaries have been provided with various skill-development opportunities.

CHIRAYU Haryana

        CHIRAYU-Comprehensive Health Insurance of Antyodaya Units provides benefits of Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) to Antyodaya families in Haryana. The entitled beneficiaries will get health cover of Rs. 5 lakhs per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation as per the guidelines of AB-PMJAY. Around 28 lakh families or 1,10,85,346 beneficiaries will be covered. Till now, more than 26 lakh Ayushman Cards have been generated under CHIRAYU and a total of 55,28,844 cards under both CHIRAYU and AB-PMJAY.

MMUs

To provide a range of health care services through Mobile Medical Units (MMU), in under-served and un-served areas, a fleet of 59 Mobile Medical Units are deployed as one MMU for every two Community Health Centres. More than 1.36 lakh patients have been given services at their doorstep in the F.Y. 2022-23 (till October, 2022). The details of such patients are registered in the Mobile Medical Unit Patient Reporting System (MMUPRS) portal, which helped in reducing IMR & MMR in the state by providing health care services at citizens’ doorstep.

Dismantling of Pan-India Cybercrime gangs

The Police team recovered Rs. 10,41,000 Cash, 71 mobile phones, 114 ATM Cards, 150 Sim Cards and 1 Cash counting machine from the accused. It is a strong message to all cyber criminals that they will no longer be able to get away with their illegal activities without facing stringent consequences.

NIPUN Haryana Mission

National Education Policy 2020 focusses on foundational learning as the bedrock for all future learning. A deficiency of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy skills leads to a learning gap in such students, resulting in their dropping out in later stages of schooling. An all-comprehensive ICT-based monitoring scheme has been formulated to address the monitoring needs as per the NIPUN Haryana Mission. The scheme includes the development of a mobile application, a web application, the NIPUN Haryana Mission website, an admin portal, and other tools. Database and dashboarding requirements have also been identified.

Prudent Financial Management (E-Auction)

Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran has geared up the sale of its properties through e-auction and has sold more than 20,000 properties thereby earning revenue of more than Rs. 20,000 crores during a short span of one and half years. HSVP has also decided to clear its outstanding dues of the land payment in a time-bound committed manner and has cleared its outstanding dues towards farmers to the extent of more than Rs 12,000 crores. HSVP has earned a profit of Rs. 1900 crores during the year 2021- 22, which is a great achievement in itself.

Crop Cluster Development Programme

Around 400 horticulture potential clusters are mapped and 683 FPOs formed in the state including horticulture clusters. 54 MoUs have been executed between 29 FPOs and 37 Agri-sector companies for trade and agri-business activities with transaction of 16,817 MT of produce. Complete mapping of the horticulture area and produce has been done. 33 integrated packhouses are established. For this programme, Haryana has bagged Best State Agri-Business Award.

Crop Residue Management

This project is focused on crop residue management to reduce stubble burning in Haryana as it not only causes huge loss of revenue but also has severe impact on air quality. With the department’s due diligence, 702 custom hiring centres and 3860 individual farmers have received approximately Rs. 90 crores as subsidy for crop residue management and for buying ex-situ and in-situ equipments since 2018.

Amrit Sarovar Mission and Restoration of Ponds

Under this project a total of 2856 Ponds in rural areas would be completed by august 15, 2023, while a total of 615 rural ponds are being renovated and developed with improved design alongwith the Grey Water Management under Amrit Sarovar Mission and work on 830 is in progress.

Ranney Well Scheme

PHED has recently commissioned one Ranney Well based project covering 84 quality affected villages of Prithla & Palwal Blocks of District Palwal & Ballabgarh Block of District Faridabad. The project will benefit a prospective population of 3,06,814 (2031) persons for 15 years horizon. Canal based drinking water supply schemes have been constructed in the past, but a massive project has been designed for 25 villages of Satnali group. The project will benefit a prospective population of 99,962 persons for 15 years horizon.

Work Integrated Dual-Education Model

        Shri Vishwakarma Skill University has developed an Industry Integrated Dual Education Model with a well-researched methodology that promotes the work integrated skill and vocational education from class 9th to doctorate level in a very short period. This industry-integrated model of vocational higher education has become instrumental in shaping the mindset of people in Haryana about skill-based education and making it aspirational for them. During on-the-job training in most of the courses, stipends are provided to students which range from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 25,000 per month.

Preventive detention of hard-core drug smugglers in Haryana under PITNDPS Act

The detenues have been detained in pursuance of this Act for at least one year. This has helped the local police to target the main operators such as organizers, financers, kingpins etc who themselves do not directly engage in the illicit trafficking of drugs, but operate secretly. Most often, local police is able to catch only drug peddlers, while the kingpins who finance and organise the drug trade often go scot-free due to lack of evidence against them.

IEP Chandigarh, December 25

Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was committed to resolve the grievances and problems of Punjabis residing abroad as ‘NRI Punjabian Nal Milni’ was being organised in various districts.

Giving this information, Punjab’s NRIs Affairs Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said that ‘NRI Punjabian Nal Milni’ program was being organized at Moga on December 26, where the cases of migrant Punjabis related to districts such as Moga, Ferozepur, Faridkot, Sri Muktsar Sahib, Fazilka, Bathinda and Mansa will be heard and resolved. He said that similarly, cases of Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Pathankot and Tarn Taran districts will be taken taken up at Amritsar on December 30 where NRI Punjabis could lodge their grudges or complaints online besides on the registration counters to be set up at respective venue.

Dhaliwal said that the Punjab government was preparing a special policy to resolve all the problems related to the social, economic and cultural affairs of NRI Punjabis in a timely manner. He said that in order to listen to the problems of NRI Punjabis and resolve them, the Punjab government will conduct these types of meetings twice every year, in the months of December and April.

The minister further said that their government has decided to visit NRI Punjabis in their nearest districts to trim down the harassment of visiting secretariat or offices of the ministers. He said that earlier under this drive on December 16, 160 cases were taken up at Jalandhar, 74 cases were heard at SAS Nagar on December 19 and 170 others were heard at Ludhiana on December 23.

IEP Chandigarh, December 25

State Cabinet Minister Dr. Baljit Kaur attended the 127th Jalsa of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat at Kaddian as the chief guest.

          Minister of Social Security, Women and Child Development, Dr. Baljit Kaur, while addressing this function, congratulated the people of Ahmadiyya Jamaat in the world for this meeting.  She said that he has got the good fortune to reach this function today.

          The Cabinet Minister gave the message of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to the Ahmadiyya Jamaat.  She said that Ahmadiyya Jamaat is known all over the world for its moral and spiritual knowledge, mutual respect and understanding.  People from different religions of the world had come in this all-faith convention.  They presented ideas about their respective religions.

          Dr. Baljit Kaur said that Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat always gives spiritual message to the seekers of knowledge and peace.  The message of peace given by them is contributing to building brotherhood all over the world.

IEP Chandigarh, December 25  

 Punjab government under the dynamic leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has approved Rs. 60.50 crore to install Solar Power Energy System for rural piped water supply schemes in different districts of Punjab.  Under this project, Solar Power Energy Plants (based on Net metering) would be installed at 970 Rural Water Supply Schemes of the state covering 1508 villages with a cumulative capacity of 8.698 MW.          Water Supply and Sanitation Minister Bram Shanker Jimpa said that the government led by CM Bhagwant Mann is working tirelessly to provide basic facilities to the people of Punjab from day one. It is also the aim of the government that the people should not face any kind of hardship for the facilities and get all the facilities at their doorstep without any hassle.          Divulging the details about the solar project he said that this project aims to ensure the financial sustainability of water supply schemes and successful operation & management of rural water supply schemes by Gram Panchayat Water Supply Committees (GPWSC) by reducing the burden of electricity charges. Additionally, this will also lead to increase in the usage of clean energy and environment sustainability.          Jimpa informed that this project has many benefits which the Department of Water Supply and Sanitation (DWSS) will be able to achieve with installation of solar roof top panels.; I.E. reduction in bill, as the bill is issued by PSPCL after adjustment of export and import of power, generation of environment friendly and clean energy and DWSS/GPWSC will become generator for his own electricity requirements.          Principal Secretary WSS DK Tiwari further said that the electricity duty/octroi etc. shall be levied only on the billed amount after adjustment of import and export of power. Surplus power is supplied to the grid of PSPCL, thus, helps in eliminating power shortage.WSS HoD Mohammad Ishfaq informed that there will be saving of Rs. 8-9 crores per year after the installation of Solar Power Energy project.