Category Archives: Punjab

AROUND 51 LAKH HOUSEHOLDS TO GET ZERO POWER BILL IN MONTH OF SEPTEMBER: SAYS CM

IEP CHANDIGARH JULY 17, 2022

In a major relief to residents of the state, the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday announced that as per decision of the state government to provide 600 units of free power, per billing cycle to people, around 51 lakh households will get zero electricity bill from September.

          Divulging the details, the Chief Minister said that fulfilling its major guarantee, the state government has decided to provide 600 units of free power to every household per billing cycle in the state with effect from July 1, 2022. He said that all the domestic consumers in the state will be eligible to get zero bills if their consumption is upto 600 units in every billing cycle. Bhagwant Mann said that this decision has been implemented from July 1, so the households who will consume less than 600 units of power in billing cycle of July and August will not have to pay even a single penny for their electricity consumption.

          The Chief Minister said that the bill of this which will be payable in month of September will be zero for these consumers. He said that around 51 lakh households across the state will be benefitted from this pro-people initiative as they will not have to pay anything for their power usage. Bhagwant Mann said that it is huge relief to these domestic consumers who have to hitherto shell out huge money every month in form of power tariff.

          Asserting that we deliver, what we promise, the Chief Minister said that his government is committed for fulfilling every promise made to the people of Punjab. He said that the state government is making strenuous efforts to restore the pristine glory of Punjab by making it a front runner state in the country. Bhagwant Mann reiterated that no stone is a being left unturned for progress of state and prosperity of its people.

CABINET MINISTER AMAN ARORA LAUNCHES ‘SHAHEED-E-AZAM BHAGAT SINGH HARIAWAL LEHAR’

IEP Jakhepal/Sunam Udham Singh Wala JULY 17, 2022

Punjab Cabinet Minister Mr. Aman Arora today launched ‘Shaheed-e-Azam S. Bhagat Singh Hariawal Lehar’ here from village Jakhepal Chauwas under which 50,000 saplings of traditional plants to be planted across Sunam assembly constituency.

          On this occasion, he also called upon the people to plant saplings and maintain them properly. He said that this campaign has been started by the Punjab government under the guidelines of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to safeguard the environment of the state.

          He said that this campaign would only become successful if the people will participate in making their surroundings green.

          Mr. Aman Arora said that there is a dire need to make sincere efforts to save the environment so that clean and green environment could be provided to future generations. 

On this occasion, apart from the officials of the Forest Department, prominent personalities Gram Panchayat, Param Kumar, Tehsildar Kuldeep Singh, Naib Tehsildar Amit Kumar were also present.

CABINET MINISTER AMAN ARORA LAYS FOUNDATION STONE OF DEVELOPMENT WORKS WORTH 50 LAKH AT JAKHEPAL CHAUWAS

IEP CHANDIGARH JULY 17, 2022

Punjab Information and Public Relations, New & Renewable Energy and Housing & Urban Development Minister Mr. Aman Arora today laid the foundation stone of the development works worth Rs. 50 lakh at village Jakhepal Chauwas in Sunam assembly constituency. Addressing an impressive gathering on this occasion, Cabinet Minister Mr. Aman Arora said after assuming office as a cabinet minister, he has disbursed grants for the first time and now it becomes the duty of villagers to utilise the funds honestly.

The cabinet minister said that basic development plan has already been drafted to revamp entire constituency as it has been prepared as per the demands raised by the people of Sunam before assembly elections.

            The minister said that he will always be grateful for the gratitude received from the people and will resolve every problem of the people of Sunam Constituency taking these as his personal problems. He added that he would listen to the grievances  of the people at his Sunam residence on Saturdays and Sundays.

Mr. Aman Arora also thanked National Convener of Aam Aadmi Party and Delhi Chief Minister Mr. Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and said that he will fulfill his duty diligently towards the service of the people.

            On this occasion, he also remembered his father Shri Bhagwan Das Arora and said that he has been chosen as cabinet minister due to his father’s inspiration.

            Meanwhile, Mr. Arora was also honored by the management on this occasion.

VIGILANCE BUREAU NABS LUDHIANA IMPROVEMENT TRUST JUNIOR ASSISTANT, EXECUTIVE OFFICER RED HANDED TAKING BRIBE RS. 10,000

IEP CHANDIGARH JULY 14, 2022

Aiming to curb the menace of corruption in the state, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Thursday arrested Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) Junior Assistant and Executive Officer red handed while accepting bribe of Rs. 10,000.

Disclosing this here today a spokesperson of the State Vigilance Bureau said the above mentioned accused Harmit Singh was arrested on the complaint of Satnam Singh of Ludhiana.

He further informed that the complainant has approached the VB and alleged that accused Harmit Singh, Junior Assistant, LIT was demanding Rs 20,000 for processing and finalising his case under ‘one time settlement’ (OTS) scheme for default payment of booth alloted to him by the LIT in Rajguru Nagar Ludhiana. He told the VB that Harmit Singh has assured him that he would manage everyone upto Executive Officer (EO), LIT and would get his job done.

After verification of his information three teams of Vigilance Bureau EOW, Punjab, Ludhiana were constituted and arrested the accused Harmit Singh, Junior Assistant red handed along with bribe money Rs. 10,000. The spokesperson further added that Ms. Kuljit Kaur, EO, LIT was also present with accused Junior Assistant while taking bribe, so she was also arrested along with Harmit Singh. In this regard a case under prevention of corruption act has been registered at VB police station Ludhiana and further investigation is under progress.

Ensure all Government amenities to residents of registered colonies: Aman Arora

IEP CHANDIGRAH JULY 14, 2022

In continuation of the marathon meetings with the development authorities of the big cities in order to provide better citizen centric services to the urban area residents and ensuring holistic development of the cities, the Housing and Urban Development Minister Mr. Aman Arora today held brainstorming discussions with the officers of PUDA, Amritsar Development Authority and Jalandhar Development Authority.

          Carrying forward the agenda of the Chief Minister Mr. Bhagwant Mann led State Government to ensure top notch services to the people of Punjab, the Minister directed the officers to make sure that the residents of the registered colonies get all the Government amenities in accordance with the law and nobody who lives in the urban centres should be devoid of such facilities. The Minister further emphasized chalking out a detailed roadmap for effecting big time administrative reforms with prime focus on urban development so as to make the cities of Punjab, model ones worth emulating by the entire country.

Noting that it has come to his notice about the work pertaining to the registries in the registered colonies of Amritsar being held up, Mr. Arora took the quick decision to open up the registry related work. “In future, no unauthorised colony would be tolerated”, said the Minister.

          Directing the officers of PUDA and all the development authorities to strive to ensure that no urban area resident faces any harassment, the Minister disclosed that he would visit the big cities in the coming days and listen to the grievances of the masses besides instructing the concerned authorities to redress those problems the spot.

          Among others present on the occasion included Principal Secretary of the department Mr. A.K. Sinha, Chief Administrator PUDA and Director Town and Country Planning Arshdeep Singh Thind, Additional Chief Administrator Amritsar Development Authority Lovejeet Kalsi and Additional Chief Administrator Jalandhar Development Authority Mr. Jasbir Singh.

FULLY COMMITTED TO ENSURE CORRUPTION FREE SERVICES AND SETTING UP WORLD CLASS INFRASTRUCTURE IN URBAN AREAS: AMAN ARORA

IEP CHANDIGARH JULY 13, 2022

The State Government led by the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is fully committed to provide corruption free services to the residents of urban areas besides ensuring a world class infrastructure in the big cities. The various wings of the Urban Development department must leave no stone unturned to meet this objective. This was stated here today by the Housing and Urban Development Minister Aman Arora during his meetings with the development authorities of different cities.

          The Minister also reviewed the functioning of PUDA, GMADA, GLADA, Patiala Development Authority (P.D.A.), Bathinda Development Authority (B.D.A.) and the Town & Country Planning during the course of marathon meetings. In the meeting conducted separately with each development authority, a presentation was made with regard to the concerned authority.

          Mr. Arora further said that the past few years have seen the migration from villages and small towns towards the big cities. The population of the cities has grown exponentially but the amenities have gone from bad to worse. The Minister directed the officers that considering the population aspect in view of the present circumstances, the emphasis should be on ensuring citizen centric services in a hassle free manner. “Under Punjab Urban Planning, focus must be on availability of clean drinking water, sewerage, street lights, maintenance of parks and prompt draining of water during rains”, added the Minister.

          Disclosing more, the Minister said that he would personally visit all the big cities in coming days in order to take stock of the ground situation and listen to the issues being encountered by the people living in the urban areas. He also impressed upon the development of all the cities to make sure that no city resident faces a problem.

          Among others present on the occasion included Principal Secretary, Housing & Urban Development A.K. Sinha, Chief Administrator and Director, Town and Country Planning Arshdeep Singh Thind, Chief Administrator GLADA Surabhi Malik and Chief Administrator GMADA Amandeep Bansal.

CM ORDERS COMPREHENSIVE ENQUIRY INTO IRREGULARITIES IN POST MATRIC SCHOLARSHIP SCHEME

IEP CHANDIGARH, JULY 13, 2022

The Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday announced a comprehensive enquiry into the irregularities in the post matric scholarship scheme for nailing the guilty of this heinous crime against students of weaker and underprivileged sections.

“My government is committed for ensuring that oil and truth comes out in this scheme so that embezzlers are punished as per the law”, said the Chief Minister.

          The Chief Minister assured the people of Punjab that this enquiry will be a bear thread analysis to ascertain every lapse and embezzlement of the public money under the post matric scholarship scheme. He said that these discrepancies are an intolerable crime against the weaker and underprivileged strata of society adding that anyone found involved in this will not be spared and severest of severe action will be taken against them. Bhagwant Mann said that the barbaric embezzlement of the funds under the post matric scholarship scheme has ruined the bright future of millions of Schedule Caste (SC) students by depriving them of quality higher education.

The Chief Minister said that these irregularities were a day light robbery over the interests of the weaker sections and his government cannot sit on its hands for allowing the culprits to move freely. He bemoaned that rather than acting against the guilty, the successive Akali and Congress governments have patronised the politicians and bureaucrats who were involved in this sinister move. Bhagwant Mann said that not only this but the Akali, BJP and Congress leadership have also connived with each other to ensure that the perpetrators of this crime evade any action.

However, the Chief Minister said that now the government of common man will expose the misdeeds of these parties as the nexus of politicians and bureaucrats have extended largesse to the educational institutes for their own vested interests thereby harassing the SC students both mentally and physically. He unequivocally said that action will be definitely taken against those who are responsible for these discrepancies. “The guilty of these irregularities will be made answerable for the loot of every single penny from the state exchequer” added Bhagwant Mann.

VIDHAN SABHA MEMBERS CAN CASTE VOTE THROUGH PRESCRIBED FORM AT HEADQUARTERS OF OTHER STATES OR DELHI

IEP CHANDIGARH JULY 13, 2022

For the purpose of the Presidential Election, the Election Commission of India has fixed the Committee Room ‘A’ of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Secretariat, Chandigarh, as the place of poll which will take place between  10.00 am to 5.00 pm, on Monday, the 18th July, 2022 for elected Members of the Punjab Legislative Assembly.

          Now, the Commission has relaxed the 10 days norms fixed for applying for permission to any elected Member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly to cast his/her vote at the place of polling in Room No.63, Parliament House, New Delhi as well as at any other State Headquarter who are not able to cast his/her vote at his/her own State Headquarter.

          Giving more details, Assistant Returning officer (ARO) for Presidential Election cum Secretary, Punjab Vidhan Sabha informed that If any elected Member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly is interested to cast his/her vote at New Delhi or at any other State Head Quarter, then prescribed Form in this regard can be had from the ARO which can be entertained even after 10 days before the date of poll, if there is sufficient time available for making necessary arrangements in this regard.

          He said that the option once made by any elector will be final and no change of mind will be allowed by the Commission.

AFFORDABLE LUXURY RIDE IN VOLVO TO DELHI PROVES BOON FOR COMMON MAN

IEP CHANDIGARH JULY 12, 2022

The newly launched Volvo bus service from Punjab to Delhi airport has proved boon for the common man as around 17,500 passengers have benefitted within less than a month in these buses.

            Divulging the details, Punjab Transport Minister S. Laljit Singh Bhullar, on Tuesday, said that within 25 days of inauguration of bus service by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on June 15, the Volvo bus service plying between the state of Punjab and IGI Airport Delhi has been beneficial for common man.

            He said that 20 Volvo buses of Punjab Roadways, PUNBUS and PRTC are daily operating from Amritsar, Pathankot, Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Patiala, Nawanshahr, Ropar, Moga and Chandigarh to IGI Airport New Delhi by ending the monopoly of private transporters and introducing cheap, comfortable and luxurious travel facility to IGI airport at a meagre fare, even less than half of private transporters. Besides booking of tickets at the bus counters, passengers desirous to go to airport are also getting benefit of online booking.

            The Transport Minister said, with the onset of these buses, transport mafia is becoming a thing of past day by day as only private transporters had run their buses on this route for decades and looted the people by charging impulsively, adding that vested interests of Akali and congress leaders prohibited them from plying government buses to the airport.

            S. Bhullar said that Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann led state government is taking every initiative to safeguard the interests of Punjabis and eliminate all sort of mafia or monopolisation from the state.

MOHALLA CLINICS TO BE FUNCTIONAL FROM AUGUST 15: CHETAN SINGH JAURAMAJRA

IEP CHANDIGARH JULY 12, 2022

 Fulfilling another major poll promise of significant improvement in the healthcare system and to provide best healthcare services free of cost to the people across the state, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led state government will operationalize “Mohalla clinics” on the Independence Day on August 15.

            Health and Family Welfare Minister S. Chetan Singh Jouramajra said that these clinics, which would spread across the state, would enable decentralized delivery as well as strengthening of primary health care to people at their doorsteps, thereby increasing access to an expanded range of services, reduce out of pocket expenditure, improve disease surveillance and strengthen referral linkages especially for the vulnerable and marginalised sections.

            Notably, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, in his statement recently, disclosed that during the first Phase, 75 Mohalla clinics will be made operational across the state by 15th August 2022 to mark the 75th Independence day. By end of this fiscal year, 109 Mohalla clinics will be set up.

            The Minister further said that every Mohalla clinic will be staffed with a Medical officer, Pharmacist, Clinical Assistant & Sweeper cum Helper. The Human resources at Mohalla clinics is to be empanelled on per patient basis. These clinics will provide outpatient care for a range of curative care for common illnesses, first aid for injuries, dressing and management of minor wounds. Referral and subsequent follow up for specialized care will also be done through these clinics. Health education, information and awareness too shall be focused upon, he added.

            “Essential drugs and tests will be made available at Mohalla clinics. The diagnostic facilities at Mohalla clinics will be provided through PPP mode”, said the Minister, adding that this will ensure availability of diagnostic tests at Mohalla clinics in a cost-efficient and consistent manner. An IT system will be developed for the registration of patients and record keeping at Mohalla clinics. Teleconsultation services with the specialist will also be introduced in a phased manner, he added.

            The Minister said that empanelment process has already started for this project.