IEP Chandigarh, February 7

          Social Security, Women and Child Development and Social Justice, Empowerment and Minority Minister Dr. Baljit Kaur held a meeting with the officials of the department at her office in Civil Secretariat to formulate policies for the welfare of transgender persons.

          During this meeting, Special Chief Secretary Social Security, Women and Child Development Mrs. Raji P. Srivastava, Additional Chief Secretary Social Justice, Empowerment and Minorities Mr. D.K Tiwari, Director of Social Security, Women and Child Development Dr. Shena Aggarwal, Special Secretary Mrs. Vimmi Bhullar, Director-cum-Joint Secretary, Department of Social Justice, Empowerment and Minorities Mr. Raj Bahadur Singh and Deputy Director of Social Security, Women and Child Development Amarjit Singh Bhullar engaged in a detailed discussion regarding the formulation of policies for the welfare of transgender persons.

          The Cabinet Minister said that the aim of these policies is to create an environment of respect, dignity and support for transgender persons. She said that policies will be formulated by the Punjab Government  to prevent discrimination against these individuals and to establish an equitable and supportive environment for the transgender community. She mentioned that efforts are being made by the Punjab Government, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, to improve the lives of transgender people.

          Dr. Baljit Kaur directed the officials to conduct inter-deparmental meetings with the Health Department, Home Department, Finance Department and NGOs to formulate policies for the welfare of transgender persons.

IEP Chandigarh, February 6

In a big relief to the residents of the state, the Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has decided to do away with the clause of No Objection Certificate (NOC) for registration of any land and property.

Divulging the details, the Chief Minister said that the decision has been taken in larger public interest to ensure that people do not face any sort of inconvenience. He said that the legal mechanism for this decision has already been worked out and the details will be shared very soon. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that this decision has been taken in due consultation with the general public and is aimed solely at ensuring their benefit.

The Chief Minister said that currently the public both from urban and rural areas in the state were facing lot of problems due to non availability of NOC. He said that this resulted in non execution of registration of land thereby creating lot of problems for the common man. However, Bhagwant Singh Mann said that now this problem will be solved as the requirement of NOC for the registration of land and property has been abolished by the state government.

IEP Bhankharpur (SAS Nagar), February 6

In another major citizen centric initiative aimed at offering the government services at doorsteps of people, the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Tuesday launched ‘Aap Di Sarkar, Aap De Dwaar’ scheme which stipulates holding of camps at village/ mohalla level to benefit the people.

Addressing the gathering, the Chief Minister described it as a ‘red letter day’ in the history of the state as people will no longer, have to rush to government offices for their routine administrative works. Rather, he said that the government officers will come at the doorsteps of the people and offer services to them thereby immensely benefitting them. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that this is the real empowerment of people where government will wholeheartedly work for the well being of the masses.

The Chief Minister envisioned that Punjab will once again lead the country as this citizen centric initiative will be replicated in various other states in the coming times. He said that the state Government had in December 2023 started a flagship scheme regarding doorstep delivery of major Government services by starting delivery of 43 important services to Citizens. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that as per that scheme Citizens can call 1076 number, give appointment as per its own convenience and official visits at doorstep of citizen, apply service and finally delivers certificate to citizen.

The Chief Minister said that now going beyond that the state Government has taken other important initiative ‘Aap ki Sarkar, Aap Ke Dwar’ to reach out to the citizen by organizing Camps across the state. He said that more than 11600 camps will be organized across the state in this month covering rural area and urban area of state adding that four Camps will be organized in every tehsil of the state daily. Bhagwant Singh Mann all types of measures have been taken for public awareness about information about camps like Venue, Date, Time and others adding that the public can view today’s camps and forthcoming camps on the portal too.

The Chief Minister said that in the camp, all important officers like SDM, Tehsildar, District Social Security Officer (DSSO), District Food Supply Officer (DFSO), Station House Officer (SHO), District Welfare Officer (DWO), Kanugo, Patwari, SDO, Xen and others will be available to accept applications and deliver services. Citing an example, he said that if someone wants to get an affidavit attested or any other document attested, Officer will sit in the camp only and he will instantly attest and provide the same to citizens in camp only. Similarly, Bhagwant Singh Mann said that if someone wants Residence certificate for getting admission in college, he/she just needs to bring original documents like Aadhar card, Voter card and others, his/her application shall be applied in camp only, Patwari shall be there for verification and Teshildar/Naib Tehsildar will approve certificate and certificate shall be provided on the spot.

Likewise, the Chief Minister said that 44 major services which the public needs most like Residence Certificate, Caste certificate, Income certificate, Birth/Death certificate, Fard, Labour Registration, Pension, Rural area certificate and others can be applied and delivered in camps. He said that other than that Citizens will be able to give their complaints too in the camps which will be redressed on the spot only. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that this first of its kind initiative will go a long way in facilitating the people adding that Deputy Commissioners have been given ample of funds to resolve minor issues on the spot.

The Chief Minister said that these camps will go a long way in making the government more accessible and responsive to the needs of its citizens. Likewise, he said that it will also help in enhancing Transparency and Accountability within governmental operations. More importantly, Bhagwant Singh Mann said that it will provide a direct channel for citizens to voice their concerns, complaints, and suggestions regarding government services or issues.

The Chief Minister said that the previous governments had never bothered to take any such pro-people initiatives due to which masses had to suffer a lot. However, he said that with this initiative a new revolution of public empowerment has been embarked. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that now people won’t have to make rounds in the government offices for getting their works done rather government will now come at their doorsteps.

Taking a jibe over the Punjab Bachao yatra of Akali Dal, the Chief Minister said that the real name of this gimmick of Akali Dal is parivar bachao yatra adding he dared the Akali leaders to explain that after looting the state for 15 years, from whom they are trying to save the state from. He said that Akalis have plundered the state mercilessly besides bruising the psyche of Punjabis emotionally and patronizing several mafias in the state. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that people are well aware of the dubious character of the Akalis and Badal family due to which their theatricals won’t work now.

The Chief Minister said that to impart quality health services to people, the state government has set up Aam Aadmi Clinics in Punjab. He said that around one crore people have so far availed the facilities of free healthcare in these clinics. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that this is a new revolution in the healthcare sector adding that efforts are afoot to give a facelift to this sector.

The Chief Minister quipped that a former Finance Minister of state chanted rhetoric of ‘empty state exchequer’ for nine long years thereby jeopardising development of the state. However, he said that after assuming charge of the state government every single penny is being spent on development of state and welfare of its people. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that his government has checked the pilferage in the state exchequer to ensure that every single penny is spent judiciously for well being of people.

The Chief Minister said that Punjab don’t need any NOC of patriotism from anyone especially those in power at centre today. He said that they had rejected the tableaus of the state during Republic Day parade irrespective of the fact 90% sacrifices for freedom struggle were made by Punjabis. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that this step motherly treatment against the state is intolerable as they don’t have any right to reject the tableaus of the state showcasing patriotism and nationalism in the state.

The Chief Minister said that the Modi government is suffering from anti-Punjab syndrome due to which they are hell bent on ruining the state. He said that if the will of BJP led NDA government prevails then they will omit the name of Punjab from the national anthem also. Bhagwant Singh Mann assailed the Union government for meting out step motherly treatment to the state adding that it is unwarranted and undesirable.

The Chief Minister said that the traditional parties are envious of him because he hails from a common family and is working tirelessly to ensure welfare of people. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that these leaders had always believed that they have divine right to rule the state due to which they are not able to digest that a common man is running the state efficiently. He said that these leaders have befooled the people for a long time but now people are not getting swayed by their misleading propaganda.

The Chief Minister said that BJP had murdered the democracy during the elections for Mayor in Chandigarh but the intervention by the Supreme Court of India is the triumph of democracy. He said that the AAP will fight against all sort of high handedness by the BJp and they will not be allowed to undermine the democratic process. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that intervention of Apex court is the victory of the people and democracy.

IEP Chandigarh, February 6

          Underlining the ongoing efforts to boost agricultural infrastructure and ensure sustainable water resources for the benefit of farming community, Punjab Water Resources and Soil & Water Conservation Minister S. Chetan Singh Jauramajra today reiterated that Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann-led government is committed to enhancing agricultural irrigation facilities in the state by providing alternative agro-irrigation facilities in addition to tubewells.

          He informed that more than 15 lakh tubewells are irrigating 29 lakh hectares with 50 to 55 percent efficiency through open and unlined water courses, due to which the ground water level is rapidly and continuously declining. As per estimates, 20-25 per cent of water is lost in the open channels (khals) which are by and large unlined. Apart from this, around 10 thousand hectares used for construction of field channels is taken out of crop production.

          He said that keeping this in mind, the state government has made arrangements to provide canal water to the farmers for agricultural use, under which the government has restored 13471 water courses to ensure canal water to the tail end.

          The Cabinet Minister said that apart from tube wells and canal sources, irrigation water is being provided to farmers through Underground Pipeline System (UGPS). These pipes are buried at least 3 feet below the ground and generally replace water courses (khals) for irrigation, which take water from canal outlets, common or individual tubewells, village ponds, farm water storage tanks, sewage treatment plants, perennial and non-perennial river, seasonal rivulet etc.

          “This technology is widely accepted by farmers and has proved to be highly useful in on-farm conservation of irrigation water during the last few decades”, said the Cabinet Minister, adding that a number of evaluation studies conducted by ICAR, NABARD and PAU Ludhiana have proved that UGPS saves 10-20 per cent of water as per soil conditions and considerable labour. UGPS is a highly efficient system as it has helped in catching up the time gap of conventional irrigation system that results in obvious saving of electricity/diesel due to lower running hours of tubewells. Replacing the open water courses with underground pipeline also saves about 1 per cent of land which can be brought under cultivation. UGPS helps in not only optimum utilization of available surface water but also saving of precious ground water.

          S. Jauramajra said that Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann led government has laid over 2945.72 km of pipelines through the water resources and Soil & water conservation departments during its 22-month tenure, which has benefitted more than 67,926 hectares of land in the state.

IEP Chandigarh, February 6

          Punjab Finance Minister Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema on Tuesday said that the economy of Punjab has been moving in the right direction as the tax revenue from Goods and Services Tax (GST), Excise and Value Added Tax (VAT) in the 10 months of fiscal year (FY) 2023-24 crossed the figure of 30K Crore with a 15.67 percent growth in Goods and Services Tax (GST) and 10 percent growth in revenue from Excise as compared to FY 2022-23.

          Disclosing this in a press communiqué issued here, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said that the Finance Minister said that the total revenue from VAT, CST, GST, PSDT, and Excise by the end of January registered 13.39 percent growth with a total collection of Rs 31003.14 Crore as compared to Rs. 27342.84 crore collected during the FY 2022-23.

          Cheema said that the Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann led Punjab Government has been taking every step to improve the fiscal health of the state. He said that the state has made record tax collections with better planning and effective implementation since the formation of the AAP government in March 2022.  “In the 10 months of the current fiscal year, Net revenue from GST is Rs. 17354.26 Crore and Net revenue from Excise is Rs. 7370.49 Crore”, he added.

          The Finance Minister further added that the net revenue increase from GST is 2351.12 crore and from Excise is Rs. 669.47 crore. “Meanwhile, the state also registers 10.89 percent growth in VAT, 28.14 percent in CST, and 5.53 percent in PSDT”, said Cheema.

          The Minister said that the government had made this possible by ensuring transparent and responsive administration, without levying any new burden on the people. He said that the government established the Tax Intelligence Unit besides bringing the ‘Bill Leyao Inaam Payo Scheme’, One Time Settlement Scheme, 2023, the Punjab GST Amendment Act, 2023, a reward scheme for Informers, and many more measures.

IEP Chandigarh, February 6

          Aiming to curb the menace of corruption in the state, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) on Tuesday, arrested Sub Inspector (SI) of Police Manjinder Singh, posted at CIA Barnala while he was accepting a bribe of Rs 15000.

          Disclosing this here today, an official spokesperson of the state VB said the above mentioned police official has been arrested on a complaint lodged by Simrandip Singh, a car dealer from Barnala city.

          He further added that the complainant has approached the VB and informed that he was having a financial dispute with one Dharmpal of Moga city regarding sale of a Scorpio vehicle and SI Manjinder Singh has been pressurising him to strike a compromise with other party. The complainant alleged that the said police personnel was demanding Rs 15,000 as a bribe from him otherwise FIR would be lodged against him in case if he failed to execute compromise.

          The spokesperson added that after preliminary investigation of this complaint, a VB team from Patiala range laid a trap and caught the said SI red handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 15000 from the complainant in the presence of two official witnesses. In this regard a case under prevention of corruption act has been registered against the said accused police personnel at VB police station Patiala range and further investigation was under progress.

IEP CHANDIGARH, February 6

          The much ambitious project ‘Aam Aadmi Clinics’ initiated by the Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann-led Punjab government for strengthening and transforming primary health care in the state achieved another landmark as the Outpatient Department (OPD) figure has hit the landmark one crore on Tuesday, said Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Balbir Singh here.

          “Over 1 crore people in the state have availed free treatment from these Aam Aadmi Clinics in the last one and half year,” he said.

          Pertinently, there are 664 Aam Aadmi Clinics— 236 in urban areas and 428 in Rural areas— functioning in the state providing free treatment, besides offering 80 types of free medicines and 38 types of free diagnostics tests. All the clinics are IT-enabled with end-to-end digitisation of registration, doctor consultation, investigations, and prescriptions.

          The Health Minister was chairing a high-level virtual meeting with all the Civil Surgeons, Deputy Medical Superintendents and Senior Medical Officers (SMOs) to review the ongoing development projects including free medicines, X-Ray, Ultrasound, Farishtey Scheme and Aam Aadmi Clinics.

          He said that the Punjab Government has already rolled out the much ambitious Farishtey Scheme under which free treatment is being provided to all road accident victims, irrespective of their nationality, caste, or socio-economic status. Anyone taking the road accident victim to the hospital for treatment will be honoured and rewarded with Rs 2000, he said, while adding that there will be no questioning by police or hospital authorities from the person, who brought the road accident victim to the hospital, until and unless he himself wants to become an eye witness.

          Dr Balbir Singh, while taking stock of supply of medicines at Government Health Facilities, strictly asked the Civil Surgeons and SMOs to ensure that no patient should have to go outside to purchase medicines. “All the government health facilities have sufficient stock of free medicines. Civil Surgeons and SMOs have also been allocated funds to purchase medicines in case they are short of any particular medicines,” he added.

          He said that to provide X-ray and Ultrasound facilities to patients coming at Government Health Facilities (which are not equipped with these machines), Punjab Government has empanelled private diagnostic centres where patients can avail these facilities at nominal price.

          Meanwhile, Principal Secretary Health Ajoy Sharma, MD National Health Mission Dr Abhinav Trikha, MD Punjab Health System Corporation (PHSC) Varinder Kumar Sharma, Director Health and Family Welfare Dr Adarshpal Kaur and Director Punjab Health System Corporation PHSC Dr Anil Goyal also attended the meeting.

IEP Chandigarh

          Punjab’s Local Government Minister, Balkar Singh, consistently holds review meetings to monitor the progress of various development projects. During these sessions, conducted meeting in the presence of MLAs and Halkar Incharges with Senior Officers from both the Head Office and the field, there is a strong emphasis on expediting office processes to kickstart new development projects.

          In today’s review meeting at Municipal Bhawan, Chandigarh, Minister Balkar Singh gathered detailed information from officers, including allocated and utilized funds for various schemes like Swachh Bharat and AMRUT Mission. He directed officials to promptly complete ongoing development projects. Additionally, he affirmed the commitment of the Punjab Government, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, to comprehensive and planned state development. To achieve this goal, Cabinet Minister shared detailed information about the works included in the each schemes and the outstanding funds with MLAs and Halka Incharges.

          Cabinet Minister also instructed field officials to communicate all information regarding development works to the respective MLAs and Hlaka Incharges, ensuring that projects align with the needs of local residents.

          Minister Balkar Singh emphasized the quick initiation of tenders for approved projects by the State Technical Committee to commence work promptly. He stressed a zero-tolerance policy for negligence in development works.

          Addressing concerns about funding shortages, the Local Government Minister assured that there is no lack of funds for development works. If Municipal Councils/Nagar Panchayats require additional funds for new projects, proposals along with action plans can be submitted to the head office after discussion with the concerned MLAs. He also urged special attention to be given to utilizing outstanding funds for development works.

          He emphasized that Legacy waste must be disposed of scientifically for a cleaner environment. Additionally, there should be door-to-door collection of dry and wet garbage, ensuring separation at the source. The waste should then be sent for processing at MRF and compost pits, allowing for composting after recycling. He also stressed the need for proper cleaning of sewerage in the area.

          Minister underscored the importance of quality and transparency in development work, warning officials that anyone involved in corruption would not be spared under any circumstances.

          During the meeting, MLAs/Halka Incharges, Amansher singh, Raman Behal, Shamsher Singh, Jagroop Singh Sekhwa, Gurdeep Singh Randhawa, Vibhuti Sharma, Uma Shankar Gupta, Director Local Government, Commissioner of Municipal Corporation (Pathankot and Batala), Additional Deputy Commissioner (General) of Gurdaspur and Pathankot, and Executive Officers from Municipal Councils/Nagar Panchayats of Gurdaspur, Dhariwal, Dinanagar, Dera Baba Nanak, Fatehgarh Churian, Qadian,  Sri Hargobindpur, Sujanpur, and  Narot Jaimal Singh were present.

IEP CHANDIGARH, February 5

          Ahead of the inauguration ceremony of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann’s much-ambitious Punjab Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (PILBS) in Mohali, Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Balbir Singh has launched the website “www.pilbs.punjab.gov.in” of the institute for convenience of the Public. The website was launched in the presence of Director of the Institute Professor Virendra Singh, who is Former Prof & Head, Department of Hepatology PGIMER, Chandigarh.

          Dr Balbir Singh said that the Institute, which has been running OPD services for last 8 months at 3B1, SAS Nagar, is expected to get fully-functional soon as all the latest ultra-modern equipment are being installed and the recruitment process of super-specialist doctors and other para-medical staff has also been completed.

          “Once the institute gets fully functional, people will be able to avail first-class medical care for patients with liver and biliary diseases at this institute,” he said, while adding that patients with various types of liver diseases including acute and chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, liver cancer, alcoholic liver disease, ascites, various pancreatic diseases and disorders of the gallbladder and biliary diseases can avail the treatment.

          “People will also be able to avail the liver transplant procedure at this institute, which is being established at par to The Institute of Liver & Biliary Sciences (ILBS), New Delhi,” said Dr Balbir Singh, while adding that this would be the second government super-speciality institute to offer first-class medical care for patients with liver and biliary diseases in the country.

          Meanwhile, the website will help in sensitising patients about basic overview of the diseases, preventive measures and Health Education, besides providing insights about the laboratory tests, online reporting, procedures and Liver transplantation. The details of Faculty, OPD days and Specialities at the hospital will be available on the website for the general public’s convenience. The website will have details of Tele-Medicine for the outreach to all the Government hospitals of the Punjab.

IEP Chandigarh, February 5

          Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan took a distinctive initiative on Monday to integrate Punjabi into Google’s Gemini AI platform by engaging in discussions with various departments and Punjabi intellectuals.

          Emphasizing the need for a roadmap, the Speaker expressed concern that while Google’s latest release included languages like Gujarati and Marathi, Punjabi was excluded due to the unavailability of vocabulary and data.

          Mr. Sandhwan stressed the importance of preparing data related to Punjab language within the next six months to ensure its inclusion on the platform, enabling Punjabi to join the ranks of other languages accessible through Google’s AI. He highlighted the significance of incorporating Punjabi in the era of machine intelligence, emphasizing its status as one of the top 10 most spoken languages globally.

          Eminent figures, including Punjabi poet Dr. Surjit Patar and Punjabi critic Dr. Amarjit Singh Grewal, participated in the meeting along with representatives from various departments and Punjabi University Patiala.