IEP Chandigarh, November 27

Punjab Vidhan Sabha Sapeaker S. Kultar Singh Sandhwan expressed deep grief over the sad demise of Sardarni Kartar Kaur, mother of Amolak Singh, MLA from Jaito constituency. Sardarni Kartar Kaur will be cremated on Monday, November 28 at 12 noon at Ram Bagh Kotakpura.

In his condolence message, the Vidhan Sabha Speaker said, “I am deeply saddened to learn of the demise of Sardarni Kartar Kaur, who was a source of inspiration and energy for her family.”

Meanwhile, S. Sandhwan also prayed to the Almighty to grant eternal peace to the departed soul and give strength to the bereaved family members, relatives and friends to bear this irreparable loss in this hour of grief.

IEP Chandigarh, November 27

Terming that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led Punjab government is the government of common people and farmers, Punjab’s agriculture and farmers Welfare Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal on Sunday said the state government has been taking all decisions in the public interest and will continue to do so in the future. The Punjab Government won’t let any farmer suffer losses.          Mr. Dhaliwal has issued orders to withdraw the red entries ordered by the central government to the farmers of the state for stubble burning and a notification has been issued in this regard. He said that the orders to make red entry against Khasra Number of revenue record issued by the central institution National Green of the land concerned Tribunal (NGT) in it’s letter issued on October 4, 2022, have been withdrawn. Instructions have been issued, he said.          Mr. Dhaliwal said that the red entry in the land record is not in the interest of the farmers of the state. He said that due to the red entry, the farmers would have been deprived of taking loans, government facilities and subsidies etc.          The Agriculture Minister emphasized on the need for farmers to adopt alternative methods for stubble management and this is the need of the hour that farmers support the government in making the state pollution free. He said that environmental pollution is a major global problem in today’s era and this is high-time to take steps in this regard.          Talking about alternative methods of stubble management, the Cabinet Minister further said that the Indian Agricultural Research Institute has developed a radical solution for stubble burning in the form of a bio-enzyme called Pusa. He said that when sprayed, this enzyme, in 20-25 days it destroys the stubble and turns it into compost, further it also helps in improving the soil quality. He said that the practice of stubble burning, which has been going on for many years, in which stubble is set on fire to clear the fields before planting the next crop, should be stopped by adopting alternative methods.          The Agriculture Minister further said that the Punjab government is already serious about this and in the current year till now 19393 machines have been given to the farmers on subsidy for stubble management, while in last four years 90433 machines were given to the farmers. He said that a total of 109815 machines are available with the farmers of the state. He said that according to the satellite information of November 26, 2022, during the years 2020, 2021 and 2022, from September 15 to November 26, 76619, 71122 and 49876 cases of stubble burning have been registered respectively, which is 30 percent less than last year. He said that if the central government gives assistance to the farmers equal to the expenditure incurred on stubble management, then it will be possible to get rid of this problem permanently. 

IEP Chandigarh, November 27

Punjab Government has today approved the operation of Golden Sandhar Mills Limited, Phagwara till February 20, 2023. The approval has been given after receiving the nod from the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.

Disclosing this, the Punjab Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Mr. Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said that in the interests of the farmers, it has been decided to run this sugar mill with conditions.

He said that inter-departmental committee has also been formed to ensure payment of farmers. In this committee SDM Phagwara, Project Officer (Cane) Jalandhar, Assistant Commissioner Excise Kapurthala Range, DCFA. (Internal Investigation Organisation) Kapurthala, Assistant Sugarcane Development Officer Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Mr. Satnam Singh Sahni Kisan Leader Bharati Kisan Union Doaba and Mr. Kripal Singh Musapur Bharati Kisan Union Doaba were included.

Mr. Dhaliwal said that the committee would maintain complete supervision on the sugarcane coming to the sugar mill, sugar recovery and sale of the products, and would submit a report to the cane commissioner regarding the payment of sugarcane to the farmers within 15 days.

He said that the cane commissioner will report to the state government in this regard and if the mill failed to make the payment on time as per the agreement, the license of the mill would be canceled and the sugarcane will be allotted to other mills.

IEP Kapurthala, November 27

          Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday reiterated the firm commitment of his government to emerge state as a hub of ‘Medical Education’across the globe.   

          The Chief Minister, who was here to inspect the site of the upcoming medical college in the district, said that this medical college will be named after Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji. He said that the location of this college and all the designs have already been finalized adding that work on this ambitious project will start soon. Bhagwant Mann said that the medical college will come up over an area of 20 acres and the total cost of the project will be Rs 428.69 crore.

          The Chief Minister envisioned that the new Medical college will give a major boost to treatment and diagnostic facilities. He said that since a large number of students from other states will also come to this college, a state of the art hostel facility along with a 300 bed ultra modern Civil Hospital having 10-12 floors will also be constructed along with the college. Bhagwant Mann said that this college will open new vistas of employment for the local youth.

          The Chief Minister further said that in a major push to Medical education in Punjab, the state government has decided to construct 16 new Medical colleges in the coming five years that will enhance the total tally of medical colleges in the state to 25 thereby ensuring that every district of the state touches a medical college. He said that the foundation stone of Sant Attar Singh State Institute of Medical Sciences at Mastuana Sahib in Sangrur had already been laid by him. Bhagwant Mann further said that work on two other medical colleges at Kapurthala and Hoshiapur will also commence soon.

          The Chief Minister envisioned that the students aspiring to pursue medical education will no longer have to go to countries like Ukraine as they will be provided quality medical education in these medical colleges. Bhagwant Mann said that earlier governments have not paid any attention towards it but his government is laying major thrust on it. He said that health, education, power and clean water are the major thrust areas of his government.

          The Chief Minister further said that with the active support and cooperation of people, the state government has taken several pro-people initiatives. He said that the government is providing 600 units of free electricity to the people in every cycle adding that for the first time in the state 86 percent of the households have received zero electricity bill. Bhagwant Mann asserted that more than 95 percent of households will benefit from free electricity in the coming months.

          The Chief Minister reiterated that the state government is fully committed to preserve the hard earned peace in Punjab. He said that the strenuous efforts are already being made to discourage the gun culture in the state. Bhagwant Mann said that the officers have been directed that no one should be spared who is involved in hate speeches aimed at disrupting the peace and tranquility in the state. 

          The Chief Minister further said Aam Aadmi clinics opened by the state government are getting overwhelming response from people. He said that these clinics are acting as a catalyst to impart quality health services to people adding that more such clinics will be opened in the coming days. Bhagwant Mann said that it is a  matter of great pride and satisfaction that even the Government of India (GoI) had lauded the role of these clinics in providing effective healthcare services to people.

          The Chief Minister said that ever since assuming the charge of office the state government has handed over 20557 letters of government jobs to eligible youth. He said that more jobs are in the pipeline and staff scarcity in all the government departments will be overcome soon. Bhagwant Mann categorically said that merit has been the sole criteria of the government recruitment in the state.

          Later, the Chief Minister also inspected the site of the Medical college at Hoshiarpur to be named after legendary martyr Shaheed Udham Singh.He said that this Medical College will come up over an area of around 23 acres of land and the total cost of the project will be Rs 418.3 crore. Bhagwant Mann said that the location of this college and all the designs have already been finalized adding that work on this ambitious project will start soon.

          On the occasion, Additional Chief Secretary to CM A Venuprasad and others were also present.

IEP Chandigarh/Amritsar, November 27 

Punjab Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal today said that 700 acres land across international border at village Ranian in district Amritsar, which was purchased on exorbitant prices by the agriculture department in the name of seed farm in 2008 at a cost of Rs.32 CR, will be throughly probed. While addressing the media persons after visiting this land today, the Cabinet Minister said that during the Badal government, when Sucha Singh Langah was the Agriculture Minister and Kahan Singh Pannu was the Deputy Commissioner of district Amritsar, this land was bought at a very high prices. He said that then government purchased this land in 2008 at Rs.4.5 lakh per acre, which is across Ravi river and the barbed wire on international border and even one cannot enter this land without the prior permission of BSF. “An investigation will be conducted under which ‘scheme’ this land was purchased at that time”, he categorically mentioned. He said, “we will find the farmers who sold this land and the prior owners to found out the truth.” Expressing concern over the thick and tall growth of the elephant-grass on the land, which had been cultivated for three or four times, Mr. Dhaliwal said there must be something fishy as how any then chief minister, agriculture minister and deputy commissioner, who were also belonged to farmer families can buy this land on such exorbitant prices? He infomed that around Rs.8 crore were also spent for purchasing equipments including 30 submersible tubewells for irrigation, electricity and tractors, generators and other machinery, adding that “I am saddened to see how public money had been misused for this land, which became barren and the machinery isn’t in working condition.” He said, “I will bring this matter into the notice of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and cultivation on this land will be considered after coordinating with the union Government as the BSF can allow to go there only.

IEP Chandigarh/SAS Nagar, November 24

As part of the ongoing drive against anti-social elements launched on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Punjab Police arrested two associates of Gangster Rajan Bhatti, during a raid at Sushant City in Bathinda. Bhatti, a resident of of village Mustafabad Jatta in Gurdaspur, is close-aide of Canada-based terrorist Lakhbir Singh alias Landa.

Those arrested have been identified as Harjasneet Singh (32) of village Kot Shamir in Bathinda and Kamaljeet Singh (26) of village Gulabgarh of Bathinda. The police have also recovered two illegal weapons including .315 bore rifle and .30 bore star make pistol along with ammunition from their possession.

Divulging details, AIG SSOC SAS  Ashwani Kapur said that during investigation in a case registered against Lakhbir Landa for disturbing peace and harmony in the state, an accused Rajan Bhatti was found to be in direct contact with Lakhbir Landa and carrying out illegal activities on his behest.

An FIR No. 06 dated 23/08/2022, was registered under sections 153, 153-A, 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 25 of the Arms Act against Lakhbir Singh Landa and his other associates at Police Station SSOC SAS Nagar.

AIG Ashwani Kapur said that accused Rajan Bhatti, who has a notorious past and facing criminal cases including attempt to murder, under NDPS Act and Arms Act in Chandigarh and Punjab, has been on the surveillance of SSOC Police teams and his premises have been raided repeatedly. He said that Bhatti assists Landa in Narcotics Smuggling and weapon supply.

On Wednesday, a police party raided Sushant City at Bathinda from where two associates of Rajan Bhatti were apprehended along with two illegal weapons, said the AIG, while adding that  both the accused were arrested for harbouring Rajan Bhatti and possessing illegal weapons.

Meanwhile, AIG Ashwani Kapur said that Police teams are on manhunt to arrest Rajan Bhatti and soon he will be behind the bars.

IEP Chandigarh, November 24

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) during its campaign against corruption on Thursday nabbed revenue Kanugo Om Parkash, posted at circle Thathi Sohal, in Tarntaran district red handed for accepting a bribe of Rs. 10,000.

        Disclosing this here today a spokesperson of VB said the above said Kanugo was caught red handed on the complaint of Mr. Bhalwinder Singh, resident of village Jhabal, district Tarntaran.

   Giving details he informed that the complainant approached the VB and alleged that the above said revenue official was demanding a bribe of Rs. 25,000 for providing him demarcation report of his relative and the deal was struck at Rs. 10,000.

After verifying his complaint a VB team laid a trap and the accused was caught red handed accepting a bribe of Rs. 10,000 and tainted money was recovered from him in the presence of two official witnesses.

          He informed that a case under prevention of corruption act has been registered against the accused at VB police Amritsar and further investigation was under progress.

IEP Chandigarh/SAS Nagar, November 24

As part of the ongoing drive against anti-social elements launched on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Punjab Police arrested two associates of Gangster Rajan Bhatti, during a raid at Sushant City in Bathinda. Bhatti, a resident of of village Mustafabad Jatta in Gurdaspur, is close-aide of Canada-based terrorist Lakhbir Singh alias Landa.

Those arrested have been identified as Harjasneet Singh (32) of village Kot Shamir in Bathinda and Kamaljeet Singh (26) of village Gulabgarh of Bathinda. The police have also recovered two illegal weapons including .315 bore rifle and .30 bore star make pistol along with ammunition from their possession.

Divulging details, AIG SSOC SAS  Ashwani Kapur said that during investigation in a case registered against Lakhbir Landa for disturbing peace and harmony in the state, an accused Rajan Bhatti was found to be in direct contact with Lakhbir Landa and carrying out illegal activities on his behest.

An FIR No. 06 dated 23/08/2022, was registered under sections 153, 153-A, 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 25 of the Arms Act against Lakhbir Singh Landa and his other associates at Police Station SSOC SAS Nagar.

AIG Ashwani Kapur said that accused Rajan Bhatti, who has a notorious past and facing criminal cases including attempt to murder, under NDPS Act and Arms Act in Chandigarh and Punjab, has been on the surveillance of SSOC Police teams and his premises have been raided repeatedly. He said that Bhatti assists Landa in Narcotics Smuggling and weapon supply.

On Wednesday, a police party raided Sushant City at Bathinda from where two associates of Rajan Bhatti were apprehended along with two illegal weapons, said the AIG, while adding that  both the accused were arrested for harbouring Rajan Bhatti and possessing illegal weapons.

Meanwhile, AIG Ashwani Kapur said that Police teams are on manhunt to arrest Rajan Bhatti and soon he will be behind the bars.

IEP Chandigarh November 23

 The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) during its ongoing campaign against corruption in the state, on Wednesday registered an embezzlement case against General Manager of PUNSUP Naveen Kumar Garg for misappropriation in Atta Dal scheme implemented by the state government.

Disclosing this here today a spokesperson of the state VB said the Bureau has conducted a probe and found that during the disbursement under Atta Dal scheme in the year 2015-16, Naveen Kumar has caused direct monetary loss of Rs 2,20,52,042 to the state exchequer. He has to deposit Rs 43,74,98,681 in the account of UCO bank under this scheme but he deposited only Rs 38,38,88,711. In this way, the accused has misappropriated Rs 5,36,09,979 in conniving with other officials of the PUNSUP.

The spokesperson further added that accused Naveen Kumar during his tenure in the PUNSUP overlooked prescribed Punjab service rules and got filed several chargesheets issued to different officials of the department thus causing a loss of Rs 64,64,36,854 to the state government.

He informed that during the investigations it has also come to light that Naveen Kumar didn’t have requisite qualification and experience to be got selected as Manager PUNSUP but despite that he succeeded in his selection as Manager whereas other candidates were declared ineligible.

In this regard the VB has registered a case under FIR no. 25 dated 22-11-2022 under section 409, 420, 465, 468, 471 of IPC and under section 13(1) (a) and 13(2) of Prevention of Corruption Act at VB police station, flying squad-1, SAS Nagar. The investigation of this case was under progress and teams have been sent to arrest the accused, he added.