IEP Chandigarh, June 28

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB), on Wednesday, arrested a Patwari of Mahilpur subdivision in Hoshiarpur district for taking bribe of Rs. 2,000 for the mutation of property.Ranjit Singh resident of village Sakruli in Hoshiarpur district has lodged a complaint against the Patwari for taking bribe for registration of mutation of 06 Kanal and 05 Marla land on Anti-corruption Line on June 17, 2023. The accused Patwari has been identified as Jaspal Singh of Tehsil Mahilpur district Hoshiarpur, who is a resident of village Karimpur Chahwala Tehsil Balachaur, District SBS Nagar.While divulging details of the case, official spokesperson of Vigilance Bureau informed that during the investigation it was revealed that the complainant Ranjit Singh’s father Gurnam Singh had bought land measuring 06 Kanal and 05 Marla at village Sakruli from another resident Jeet Ram mutabana (adoptee) Budhu s/o Bir Singh and the mutation was also got approved wide no. 3,236 dated July 20, 1998. He said that due to some error, the Revenue department was not able to update the same mutation in the Jamabandis prepared after 2002-03. In 2007, Gurnam Singh died and when the complainant Ranjit Singh applied for registration of the inheritance mutation, Patwari Jaspal Singh accepted a bribe of Rs. 2,000 from him on June 10, 2023.The official spokesman added that during thorough investigation, it was proved that the Patwari has taken a bribe following which an FIR was registered and accused Patwari was arrested.An FIR no. 14 has been registered under Section 7 of Prevention of Corruption Act against the accused Patwari and further investigations were underway. The arrested Patwari will be produced in the court on Thursday. 

IEP Chandigarh, June 28

Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) on Wednesday arrested a private agent for accepting a bribe of Rs 500 in lieu of getting a heavy driving license issued without undergoing mandatory driving test.The accused identified as Gurcharanjeet Singh alias Gopi is running a cafe near an automatic driving test track centre in Jalandhar.The accused agent has been arrested on the complaint of Daljit Singh resident of village Bibri in Kapurthala district.Disclosing this here today, an official spokesperson of the VB said that the complainant had lodged a complaint with Police Station VB, Jalandhar Range that the agent had demanded a bribe of Rs.1200 for getting his heavy driving license issued without undergoing any driving test.The spokesperson informed that after a preliminary investigation of this complaint, a VB team laid a trap and arrested the agent while accepting the bribe.In this regard, a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against the accused agent and further investigation is under way in this matter.

IEP Chandigarh, June 28     

     In a bid to further improve the grievance redressal in the state, Punjab Governance Reforms and Removal of Grievances Minister Mr. Aman Arora directed the department authorities to introduce Artificial Intelligence (AI) based system to ensure meticulous monitoring and expeditious clearance of the grievances received on PGRS portal as it would reduce human intervention, save time and bring far more transparency in disposal of complaints.          Chairing a review meeting of the department here at his office, Mr. Aman Arora asked the Principal Secretary Governance Reforms and Public Grievances Mr. Tejveer Singh to ensure regular monitoring of pendency of grievances at State and District Level. He also reviewed the employee wise grievances pendency and directed to convene a review meeting of the departments with highest pendency.          Emphasizing on the need to fix a timeline to clear all pendency, he categorically said that Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Mann led Punjab Government came to power to overhaul the system and people should not face any hardship in availing facilities being provided by the state government. Laxity in service delivery will not be tolerated, he reiterated.          Mr. Tejveer Singh apprised the Cabinet Minister that a team is in progress to introduce the Artificial Intelligence based system to monitor and get inferences from the grievances. He also briefed regarding the steps being taken by the Governance Reforms department to clear the pendency.          He also reviewed the pendency of the grievances received on PGRS through CPGRAMS. The meeting was also attended by other officials of the department.

IEP Chandigarh, June 28

Punjab players have played an important role in the best performance of Indian contingent in the recently concluded Special Olympics World Summer Games-2023 in Berlin. Seven players from Punjab won three gold, one silver and four bronze medals in various events.Congratulating the winning players, Punjab Sports Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer said that it is a matter of pride for Punjab that the sportsmen of Punjab made the name of the country shine like a star by performing well in the Special Olympics. He said that it is more important that children with special needs are participating in sports with their hard work and perseverance despite many hardships and difficulties and winning medals for the country.The Sports Minister said that in the new sports policy being prepared by the sports department on the instructions of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, special priority is being given to Special Olympics/Deaf and Blind Games players along with para sports. He gave credit to the players, their parents and the coaching staff for this proud achievement. He also appreciated the efforts being made under the leadership of Special Olympics Punjab Advisor Dr. Paramjit Sachdeva.Meet Hayer further said that among the medals won by the players of Punjab, in roller skating MD Nisar won a gold medal, Renu two bronze medals and Sita one bronze medal. Jatinder Singh and Harjeet Singh won gold in traditional football, Priya Devi won silver in basketball and Joti Kaur won bronze medal in unified football.As many as 9 members from Punjab including 7 special players, one unified partner and one coach were part of the Indian contingent. Seven of these players won three gold, one silver and four bronze medals in roller skating, unified and traditional football and basketball. Apart from this, two players from Punjab, Navpreet Singh and Anjana, were among the participants.

IEP Chandigarh, June 28

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) has nabbed a Patwari Gurpreet Singh posted at Revenue Halqa Bhullar in Sri Muktsar Sahib district and his private assistant (PA) Kuldeep Singh for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs. 18,000.The accused Patwari has been arrested on the complaint of Gurpal Singh resident of village Bhullar.Disclosing this here today, an official spokesperson of the VB said that the complainant Gurpal Singh had lodged a complaint with VB unit, Sri Muktsar Sahib of VB Bathinda Range that Patwari had demanded a bribe of Rs.18,000 for transferring the ancestral land in the name of Gurpal Singh (the Complainant) and his brother after the death of their father. The accused revenue official asked him to hand over the said amount to his personal assistant Kuldeep Singh in order to get the job done.The spokesperson informed that after a preliminary investigation of this complaint, a VB team laid a trap and arrested both the accused persons on the spot while accepting a bribe of Rs.18,000 from the complainant in the presence of two official witnesses.In this regard, a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against the accused Patwari and his PA at Police Station VB, Bathinda Range. Further investigation in this case was under progress.

IEP Chandigarh, June 28

Punjab Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Fisheries Minister Mr. Gurmeet Singh Khuddian on Tuesday directed all the officials to always refer Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana by its full in official communications or otherwise.          Taking a strict note over the usage of the abbreviated name of the university, which was established in the name of the second Sikh Guru Sri Guru Angad Dev ji, Mr. Gurmeet Singh Khuddian shot a letter to Principal Secretary Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development & Fisheries and Vice Chancellor of the University in this regard.          He asked the Principal Secretary Mr Vikas Pratap Singh and Vice Chancellor Dr Inderjeet Singh to ensure strict compliance in this regard, and make sure that from now onwards nobody should be using the abbreviation to refer Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University in written or verbal communications. The Minister also asked the Principal Secretary and VC to take strict action to ensure compliance in letter and spirit at every level.

IEP Chandigarh, June 28

Honorarium of Rs 8.2 crore of anganwadi workers and helpers will be released soon for covering the maximum beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana.  This was stated by the Minister of Social Security, Women and Child Development Dr. Baljit Kaur.Divulding the details, the Minister said that the government is continuously making efforts for the welfare of women especially pregnant women and lactating mothers.The Minister said that under fresh guidelines of Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, payment of Rs.5000 in two installments (Rs.3000+2000) provided to pregnant women on the birth of their first live child.Giving more information, Dr. Baljit Kaur said that in all 27314 Anganwadi Centers of the state, an amount of Rs. 5000 is transferred to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries after filling the forms of beneficiaries by anganwadi workers and helpers.To encourage anganwadi workers and helpers and provide maximum benefit of the scheme to eligible beneficiaries, an honorarium of Rs.100 per beneficiary to anganwadi workers and Rs.50 per beneficiary to anganwadi helpers.She said that three installments have been released to about 5,48,824 beneficiaries by the Punjab government and an honorarium of about Rs.8.2 crore will be distributed soon.Cabinet Minister Dr. Baljit Kaur expressed hope that this honorarium will serve as a motivation for Anganwadi workers and helpers to assist eligible beneficiaries under this scheme. She further stated that the Punjab government was led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is committed to the welfare of women in the state.

IEP Chandigarh, June 28

      Following the success of digitisation of the Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) in two districts— Hoshiarpur and SBS Nagar— of the state, Punjab Health Department is all set to roll out the U-WIN— a digital platform for UIP, in all the districts of Punjab from coming August.          The pilot programme had remained a huge success with both the districts having been able to achieve the desired targets by registering 92% session sites on board, while, 102% newborns were registered against pregnancy outcomes, and 90% of registered newborns were provided birth doses of vaccines through this digital platform.          Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Balbir Singh, while congratulating the health staff for achieving this another milestone, emphasised that providing world-class healthcare facilities and best possible health related services to the people of Punjab is the mandate of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.          The Health Minister, who joined via video conference, was addressing the two days state-level Workshop of Training of Trainers for U-WIN commenced here on Tuesday. All the District Immunization Officers, Vaccine Cold Chain Managers from all the districts of Punjab are participating in this workshop, which will conclude on Wednesday. After getting training, these trainers will further impart training to the concerned health staff in their respective districts for a successful roll out of the U-WIN platform.          Pertinently, Immunization has been a proven and cost effective strategy to prevent the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases and UIP in Punjab covers 11 diseases and aims to reach over 437000 newborns and 480000 pregnant women every year.          As of now, this vaccination programme is being conducted in manual form and with execution of the U-WIN platform from August, all the data pertaining to vaccination will be digitised on the lines of Co-WIN. The CO-WIN platform has been very successful in India for covid vaccination in the pandemic times. With digitalisation the benefits not only include improvement in record keeping, it also empowers the beneficiaries and with increase in vaccination coverage contributes to better public health outcomes.          Underlining the benefits of U-WIN platform, the Principal Secretary Health and Family Welfare Vivek Pratap Singh said that this digitalisation will be of tremendous help as it will help in reducing the workload of the health staff as unnecessary time in preparation of reports will be considerably saved because online record-keeping of data will help in auto generation of required reports.          The beneficiaries will also be empowered through this portal as they will be able to register and book their vaccination, while sitting at their homes at any of their nearby session sites, he said, while clarifying that on-site registration of the beneficiaries will also be available in this portal.          Secretary Health cum MD NHM Dr Abhinav Trikha stated that U-WIN platform will also enable beneficiaries to download their vaccination certificates and reminders in form of text messages will also be sent on their mobile to keep them up to date about their upcoming vaccinations, follow-up of dropouts and planning of RI sessions. “Vaccine acknowledgment and immunisation card linked to the Ayushman Bharat Health Account ID (ABHA ID) will be generated for pregnant women and children,” he added, insisting on the popularisation of ABHA ID for every citizen.          Director Health and Family Welfare Dr Adarshpal Kaur asked participants to ensure successful implementation of U-WIN.          During the training workshop, Project Officers UNDP Dr Seema Garg, Dr Meet Dipinder Singh, Upkar Singh and Amritpal Singh were felicitated for their commendable role in successful implementation of U-WIN in the two Pilot districts.          On this occasion, State Immunization Officer Dr Balwinder Kaur, SPO UNDP Dr Manisha Mandal ,Dr Sonika and other officials were also present.

IEP Chandigarh, June 27

International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking was observed across the world today. In this series, School Education Minister, Sh. Kanwar Pal motivated the youth of Haryana to stay away from drugs and flagged off an awareness rally at Mukund Lal District Civil Hospital premises in Yamunanagar today. The School Education Minister also administered drug free oath to the people present in the programme.He said that drug peddlers cannot be treated as individual criminals but as people infecting the entire society. The menace of drugs is spoiling society. Therefore, to ensure a drug-free society, social organisations should put up a collective effort and work in tandem with the government to defeat the negative forces emanating from the abuse of drugsHe said that social organisations should work dedicatedly to create awareness about the vicious cycle of drugs and the harm they are inflicting on society. He said that youth should channelise their energies through sports and physical activities.Sh. Kanwar Pal said that the movement against drugs will be strengthened only when people from society will come together and pledge to eliminate this societal ill.   Today’s youth is the leader of tomorrow. Development of the nation would be assured if youth is given the right direction, he added.

IEP Chandigarh, June 27

The Chairman of the National Green Tribunal, Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, highlighted the significance of the District Environment Plan (DEP) as a strategic document designed to address environmental issues and promote sustainable development. While inaugurating a one-day training programme on the implementation of District Environment Plans held at the Haryana Institute of Public Administration in Gurugram, Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel emphasized the role of DEPs in integrating environmental considerations into various developmental activities at the district level.Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel emphasized that DEPs follow a participatory approach, fostering collaboration among government agencies, local authorities, civil society organizations, academic institutions, and community representatives. These plans adhere to national and state-level environmental policies and guidelines, ensuring alignment with broader environmental objectives.An essential component of the DEP, is conducting an environmental assessment, which involves analyzing existing environmental conditions, identifying key challenges specific to the district, and assessing potential impacts resulting from developmental activities. This assessment provides the foundation for setting goals and objectives that address the identified environmental issues and promote sustainable development within the district.Furthermore, Justice Goel said that DEPs outline specific action plans aimed at achieving established goals and objectives. These action plans encompass measures for pollution control, waste management, conservation of natural resources, promotion of renewable energy, and environmental education and awareness. By integrating these actions into decision-making processes, DEPs ensure that environmental considerations receive due importance and become integrated across various sectors and activities within the district.Justice Goel also stressed the importance of establishing a robust institutional framework within the District Environment Plan. This framework identifies responsible agencies, coordination mechanisms, and the roles of different stakeholders involved in the implementation and monitoring of the DEP. Clear lines of responsibility are established, ensuring effective coordination and collaboration among various entities to achieve the desired environmental outcomes.To track progress and effectiveness, Justice Goel emphasized the need for monitoring and evaluation mechanisms within the DEP. These mechanisms enable continuous improvement, ensuring that the DEP remains responsive to evolving environmental challenges and the priorities of the district.Justice Goel further highlighted the alarming state of our environment, emphasizing the need for conservation and protection. He stated that human activities have posed a significant threat to the environment, impacting not only other forms of life but also our own. Recognizing this, various environmental protection programmes are being implemented at individual, organizational, and government levels, aiming to establish a balance between humans and the environment.The District Environment Plan serves as a crucial tool in this endeavour, enabling the creation of sustainable development practices and fostering a harmonious relationship between mankind and the environment, he added.Haryana Chief Secretary, Mr. Sanjeev Kaushal, Dr. M M Kutty, Chairperson of CAQM, Mrs. Urvashi Gulati, Former Chief Secretary of Haryana, Mr. Vineet Garg, Additional Chief Secretary of Environment, Forest and Wildlife, Mr. P. Raghavendra Rao, Chairman of HSPCB, and Mrs. Chandralekha Mukherjee, Director General of HIPA were also present during the training programme.