IEP Chandigarh January 6

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) on Saturday, has arrested Vishal Sharma, a resident of Amritsar, posted as Accountant, Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT), for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 8 lakh. In this case accused  AIT law officer Gautam Majithia, a resident of Green Field, Majitha Road, Amritsar, has already been arrested.

          Disclosing this here today, a spokesperson of the VB said the above mentioned accountant and law officer of AIT have been arrested on the complaint of Jatinder Singh, a resident of Partap Avenue, Amritsar who have lodged a complaint on the Chief Minister’s Anti Corruption Action Line in this regard.

          Giving more details he added that the complainant has alleged in his online complaint that the above said law officer and accountant had taken Rs  8 lakh in lieu of release of 20 percent compensation more for acquisition of his land on the directions of district court amounting to Rs 20 lakh. The complainant has recorded the conversation with the above said advocate regarding payment of bribe money which was submitted to the VB as an evidence.

          The spokesperson informed that during the investigation of this case the said law officer has revealed that he had handed over cheques to accountant Vishal Sharma, amounting to Rs 8 lakh, which was proved to be true as it was recorded in the audio-video conversation with the complainant. In addition to this, the accountant has signed the estimate for providing enhanced compensation to the complainant which justified the in connivance of both the accused for taking bribe money from the complainant.

          The spokesperson informed that on the basis of probe, the VB range Amritsar has also arrested the said co-accused accountant after finding him guilty for taking a bribe of Rs 8 lakh from the complainant. Further investigation in this case was under progress.

IEP Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar

To prepare the Meritorious Students for board exams, the Mohali District has come up with a novel idea for pre-board exams that would be started from January 08, 2024, in the district. This will be the first time any district has planned pre-board papers for meritorious students at the district level.      

    Divulging the details, the Deputy Commissioner Mrs Aashika Jain Sais that in line with the Mission Shat-Pratishat launched by the Punjab School Education Department, about 640 students of class 8th, 10th and 12th standards have been identified for appearing in these pre-board exams known as Mohali Scholars’ Appraisal Test (M SAT) series in September last year.

      Giving more information, she added that for classes 8th & 10th,  we have identified 210 students for each class while for class 12th, we had 47 students in the Science stream while 19 in Commerce. For Arts (Humanities group), we have adopted 154 Students who have opted for history, political science, economics and geography as their main subjects. They were provided with extra notes, question banks, quizzes, online tests etc for gearing up for board exams. 

      District Education Office (Secondary) Dr Ginni Duggal added that now the Punjab School Education Board exams are scheduled from 13th February, we have planned to have a type of pre-board tests for these students on the same pattern and schedule as they would have to appear in the final exam. We have worked on giving them fictitious roll numbers and they will be appearing in a centre which will be a school within 5 km of their school.

      She further said that the question papers prepared by our best-performing teachers will be sent to the centre school on the day of the M SAT series exam which the centre school in charge will either get printed or get it photostat. The schedule for the test will be two hours and it will cover the whole syllabus. “We have framed a date sheet also for the same before board exams so that we will be in a position to take these tests in time”, she said. 

       The answer sheets will be marked via table marking at Government Model Senior Secondary School 3B 1, Mohali.

IEP Chandigarh, January 5

          Local Government Minister Balkar Singh held a review meeting at Municipal Bhawan Sector 35 Chandigarh, discussing development works with head office and field officials, along with MLAs. He instructed officials to promptly utilize the unspent funds for the welfare of the people according to issued guidelines.

          Minister Balkar Singh highlighted the Punjab government’s commitment, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, to provide basic facilities and a pollution-free environment. The state government is actively involved in development work across Punjab to achieve this goal.

          During the meeting, the Minister discussed projects under Swachh Bharat Mission and Amrut Mission, emphasizing the need for officials to complete ongoing projects efficiently. He also addressed issues related to finding suitable locations for sewage and water treatment plants, stressing the resolution of any delays through coordination with MLAs and district administration.

          Emphasizing the government’s ample funds for development, the Minister urged the purchase of equipment and machinery for urban local units to ensure a clean environment for residents.

          Officials were instructed to share comprehensive information with MLAs about development works in their constituencies. The Minister emphasized the timely implementation of development-related schemes and proper utilization of funds.

          The Cabinet Minister urged officials to work diligently and honestly, emphasizing the government’s commitment to providing a corruption-free administration. He warned that those involved in corruption would not be spared.

          The meeting was attended by MLAs Jagdeep Kamboj Goldy, Amit Rattan, Naresh Kataria, Balkar Sidhu, Ranbir Singh Bhullar, and Master Jagsir Singh, along with the Secretary of the Local Government Department Ajoy Sharma, PMIDC CEO Deepti Uppal, and other officials.

IEP Chandigarh, January 5

           Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Friday assailed the state BJP President Sunil Jakhar for ‘putting foot in his mouth’ by speaking a naked lie on the issue of rejection of Tableau by the BJP led Union government.

           In a statement issued here today, the Chief Minister said that while the state government had always maintained that the Modi government had rejected the Tableau of the state because of its anti-Punjab syndrome, but Jakhar was trying to be ‘more loyal than the king’ by justifying the move of Union government that too on false ground. He said that Jakhar misled the people of the state by asserting that the tableaus of the state government had his pictures, which was just a figment of his imagination. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that now that the Ministry of Defence had made it crystal clear that there were no pictures in the tableau, the lie of Jakhar has been exposed.

           The Chief Minister said that the tableaus designed by the state government were aimed at showcasing the rich cultural heritage of the state along with tradition of sacrifice and martyrdom during the Republic Day Parade. Slamming the BJP led Union government for rejecting the tableau of state for the Republic Day parade, he reiterated that the ‘power mad’ centre government is demeaning the enormous sacrifices made by Punjabis in the national freedom struggle. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that BJP government is playing such dirty tactics to humiliate Punjab adding that martyrdom and sacrifices is part of the glorious heritage of the state which was to be duly highlighted in the tableaus of state.

          However, the Chief Minister said that by rejecting these nationalistic and progressive ideas of tableaus, the Union government has insulted the great sacrifice made by great patriots and national leaders. He said that unfortunately the newly transformed ‘Bhakts’ like Jakhar are blindly justifying the arbitrary moves of the Modi government by completely ignoring the interests of the state. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that it is shameful that despite hailing from Punjab these leaders are hand in glove with their high command, for demeaning the contribution of state, just for vested political interests.

           The Chief Minister said that state BJP chief Sunil Jakhar is yet to master the art of lying as per whims and fancies of his masters. He said that Jakhar had recently joined BJP so he is yet to adapt himself in reading the scripts prepared by their high command. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that it is unfortunate that BJP leadership is humiliating the state and these leaders are singing their paeans.

IEP Chandigarh, January 5

          While the government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann is constantly working for the welfare of every class, it is also continuously focused on the welfare of the Scheduled Castes. The Punjab government has released an amount of Rs. 29.14 crore from the budget of the current financial year under the Ashirwad scheme for Scheduled Castes.

          Divulging in this regard, Social Justice, Empowerment and Minorities Minister Dr. Baljit Kaur stated that with the release of this amount, 5715 beneficiaries of scheduled castes for March 2023 have been covered. She said that these 5715 beneficiaries had been approved based on the recommendations received from the district-level committee.

          The cabinet minister added that to be eligible for the benefits of the Ashirwad scheme, the applicant should be a permanent citizen of Punjab state, their family should be below the poverty line, the applicant should belong to Scheduled Caste, Backward Classes, and other economically weaker families, and all family members should meet the eligibility criteria. If the annual income from all sources is less than Rs 32,790, two daughters of such families are eligible to benefit from this scheme.

          The Minister further highlighted that the Punjab Government is continuously working for the welfare of the Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes, and Economically Weaker Sections.

          She mentioned that the financial assistance is directly deposited into the bank accounts of the beneficiaries.

IEP Chandigarh, January 5

          Punjab Government led by Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann, on Friday, transferred Rs. 19.83 Crore into the bank accounts of 17007 farmers, who had opted Direct Sowing Rice (DSR) in Kharif season 2023.

          Disclosing this here today, Punjab Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian said that a total of 19,114 farmers have registered 1,72,049 acres on the DSR portal during 2023-24. After the verification done by concerned district officials, a total of 18,931 farmers and 133745.67 acres of land under DSR was verified by the officials concerned.

          S. Gurmeet Singh Khudian said that Chief Minister S Bhagwant Singh Mann led Punjab Government has been encouraging farmers to adopt DSR to save precious ground water. The state government had announced an incentive amount of Rs 1500 per acre for the farmers who would sow paddy directly (without transplanting) during this year (2023-24). Now, this amount has been transferred to the farmers’ accounts through Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT).

          After verification, a total of Rs. 19.83 Crore has been reimbursed to beneficiary farmers’ accounts successfully, thus 98.8 % of payment of farmers has been cleared and rest of the amount will be transferred soon.

IEP Chandigarh, January 5

          Mr. Vineet Verma, member of the Punjab State Traders Commission, today called on the Punjab Excise Commissioner Mr. Varun Roojam.

          During the meeting at Excise and Taxation  Bhawan, Sector 69, Mohali, Mr. Verma raised various issues of traders of Punjab and urged the Excise commissioner to resolve them at the earliest.

          Mr Varun Roojam assured that all the legitimate demands of traders would be fulfilled on the priority. He said that Punjab government led by Chief Minister S.Bhagwant Singh Mann is  fully  committed for the welfare of the traders of the state as the traders are the backbone of the state and all the issues faced by  the traders will be resolved on a priority  basis.

IEP Chandigarh, January 5

 The Punjab Government led by the Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann is fully aware of the immense contribution rendered by the ‘Palledars’ in ensuring the smooth wheat and paddy procurement seasons and stands committed to ensure their welfare in every aspect.

     The Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Lal Chand Kataruchak met the Joint Committee of the Palledar Unions comprising Foodgrain and Allied Workers Union, FCI and Punjab Food Agencies Palledar Azaad Union and All Food and Allied Shramik Union.

     The Committee put forward its various demands before the Minister who gave a very patient hearing to all the demands and directed the officers of the department to immediately do the needful to ensure that the palledars are provided with all the facilities with regard to basic sanitation and cleaning at the warehouses.

     Among others, the Director of the department Puneet Goyal was also present.

IEP Chandigarh, January 4:

 Slamming the Shiromani Akali Dal for its proposed political gimmick in the state, the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Thursday said that real name of yatra must be ‘Akali Dal ton Punjab Bacha Lo Yatra’ as Akalis have mercilessly ruining the state during their 15 years old misrule.

          In a statement issued here today, the Chief Minister said that for 15 years Akalis have plundered the state mercilessly besides bruising the psyche of Punjabis emotionally. He said that owing to this only the oldest political party of the state is today in dire straits and after ruling the state for the longest period they have been confined to three seats today. 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 reminded the Akalis that Punjab had lagged behind in every sphere during their long misrule. He said that apart from it Akalis can’t be absolved from the sins like desecration of Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji and patronization of gangsters and drug mafia. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that people won’t ever forget that when the entire Punjab had stood against the draconian farm laws at that time Akalis had shamelessly stood with the BJP led Union government for their vested political interests.

          The Chief Minister said that the list of anti-Punjab stance of Akali Dal in general and Badal family is too long so the need of hour is to further send them into political oblivion. He dared the Akalis to list even a single achievement of their government during their long stint in power. Bhagwant Singh Mann quipped that even the two MPs of Akali Dal viz Sukhbir Singh Badal and Harsimrat Kaur Badal have never bothered to raise any issue pertaining to interests of the state or its people in the Lok Sabha.

          The Chief Minister said that the proposed yatra is nothing more than an exercise to mislead the people and score brownie points before the media. However, he said that the people of state are well aware of the anti-Punjab and anti-people character of Akalis and they will never forgive them. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that people of the state will never forget and forgive Akalis for sinister moves against Punjab.