Category Archives: Punjab

Chandigarh, Punjab

Punjab government to provide quality wheat seed, fertilizers and medicines to farmers at reasonable prices: Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal

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IEP CHANDIGARH AUGUST 24, 2022

The state government under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann will provide quality wheat seed, fertilizers and medicines to the farmers at reasonable prices. Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal after a high-level meeting with PUNSEED, Punjab Agro and Agriculture Department officials here today sharing this information said that even a single grain of duplicate wheat seed will not be allowed to be sold in the market.

Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said that the base of our agriculture is seeds, so the Punjab government has taken a big initiative to provide quality seeds to the farmers at a reasonable price to save our farmers from the loot in the hands of private duplicate seed sellers.  The Agriculture Minister said that the Punjab government is making a concrete fool proof policy to make seeds available to the farmers through the government agencies PUNSEED, National Seed Corporation etc. These seeds will be made available to the farmers only through recognized dealers. Seeds will be provided to farmers without delay and the system for subsidy on seeds will be further simplified.

The Minister asked the officials to liaise with the National Seed Corporation to meet the shortage of seeds if need arises. Along with this, he issued strict directions to the officials to timely provide quality seed fertilizers and medicines to the farmers. ‘A solid plan should be prepared and presented by next week so that the farmers do not face any kind of hardship’, Dhaliwal directed the officials.

Prominent present in the meeting included Secretary Agriculture Department Arshdeep Singh Thind, MD PUNSEED Manjit Singh Sidhu, Director Agriculture Department Gurvinder Singh, besides officials of PUNSEED and Punjab Agro were also present.

Chandigarh, Punjab

PATIALA’S MANJAL KHURD ALSO DECLARED AS ASF CONTAINMENT ZONE

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IEP CHANDIGARH AUGUST 24, 2022

Punjab Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Dairy Development Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar, on Tuesday, informed that ‘Manjal Khurd’, the third area in district Patiala, has been notified as a containment zone for the prevention of ‘African Swine Fever’ (ASF).

He said that the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) -National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases, Bhopal has confirmed ASF in swine samples from this area. He directed the officials of the department to comply with the provisions of “The Prevention and Control of Infectious and Contagious Diseases in Animals Act, 2009” for effectively preventing, controlling, eradicating the scheduled disease-ASF. The Cabinet Minister further said that up to a kilometre, from the village declared the epicenter, is considered as “infected zones” while up to 10 KM area is classified “surveillance zone.”

He said that no live/dead pig (including feral or wild pigs), unprocessed pig meat, feed or any material/goods from the piggery farms or backyard piggery shall be taken out of or brought into the infected zone and no person shall bring or attempt to bring into the market any pig or pig products which is known to be infected with the scheduled disease.

Notably, the whole state of Punjab has already been declared as “Controlled Area” after ASF found in two areas namely ‘Bilaspur’ and ‘Sanauri Adda’ of district Patiala and the inter-state movement of any pig or its belongings has been strictly banned.

Chandigarh, Punjab

SCHEME TO SAVE RS 170 CRORE OF 1.54 CRORE PEOPLE; WILL GET RELIEF FROM WAITING IN LINE FOR HOURS: MINISTER KATARUCHAK

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IEP CHANDIGARH AUGUST 22, 2022

The ambitious scheme ‘Ghar Ghar Ration’ of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government will start from October 2 and about 1.54 crore people will benefit from this scheme, said the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak.

Disclosing this, the minister Lal Chand Kataruchak gave detailed information about this scheme.

The scheme will save about Rs 170 crore to the public

The Minister informed that there are about 1.54 crore beneficiaries in Punjab under this scheme. About Rs 170 crore is being spent by people on milling the flour, therefore, the scheme will save money of common man.

Flour will not be older than 7 days, whereas flour is available in the market for about one to two months old

The minister said that it is our endeavor that within seven days of grinding the flour in the mill, it should be delivered to all the houses, so that people can get fresh flour, which will also have a good effect on their health. He said that even in the market the flour is about one or two months old.

Why is the government giving flour instead of wheat? Minister replied

Earlier people had to stand in the scorching heat or inclement weather for hours to get food grains under the food security scheme. Then people have to spend money on its gridding for flour. Now people’s time, money, hard work and energy will be saved by delivering flour directly at home.

How will the plan work and how will the delivery happen?

The government will pick up the wheat from the FCI godowns and give it to the flour mill. Then, the delivery partners will be responsible for delivering the flour to every household. Many big delivery companies of the country have participated in the tendering process. The contract for delivery will be allocated to a firm soon.

Camera to monitors, the delivery van will have GPS system and there will also be options for digital payment for payment

The minister said that the delivery of floor bags will be done under the supervision of the camera so that there is no scope for any disturbance in the delivery, so that people do not get any chance to complain. The delivery van has been equipped with GPS system for timely delivery. Nowadays is the era of online. People do not always have cash money. Therefore, the option of digital payment has also been kept for payment.

Old ration depot holders have also been taken care of

The government has signed an MoU with the old ration depot holders, under which the old ration depot holders will be able to work related to various online services of the central government such as BSNL landline and phone bills and other online facilities of the central government to ensure that they get employment.

The minister also responded to the allegations of the opposition

Minister Kataruchak said that during the previous governments regime, there was huge corruption in the food distribution scheme. The politicians used to scam crores and billions of rupees from officers to middlemen. Our government is eliminating corruption and implementing it in a transparent manner. Now there is no scope for corruption in this. We are providing facilities at home to the people with the same money by eliminating corruption.

Chandigarh, Punjab

Vigilance arrests former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu in food grains transportation tenders scam

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IEP CHANDIGARH AUGUST 22, 2022

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau in its drive against corruption on Monday arrested former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu in the food grains transportation tenders scam and further investigation in this case is under progress.

            Disclosing this here today a spokesperson of the State Vigilance Bureau (VB) said that the Bureau, after verification of a complaint made by complainant Gurprit Singh, has already registered FIR No. 11 Dated 16-08-2022 u/s 420, 409, 467, 468, 471, 120-B IPC and 7, 8, 12, 13(2) Preventions of Corruption Act at VB police station Ludhiana in which contractors namely Telu Ram, Jagroop Singh and Sandeep Bhatia besides owner/partners of Gurdas Ram & Company has been booked.

            Revealing more he informed that accused Telu Ram has already been arrested in this and he is on police remand. During investigation by the VB, accused Telu Ram has submitted that he met Bharat Bhushan Ashu through his PA Meenu Malhotra for getting tenders for the season 2020-21 who further told him to meet Rakesh Kumar Singla, Deputy Director Food & Civil Supplies. Singla was incharge of all Punjab being chairman of departmental chief vigilance committee for tenders and was acting on the directions of former minister.

            The accused Telu Ram has informed the VB that when he met RK Singla, he has demanded Rs 30 Lakh on behalf of former minster and on different days he has given the bribes to RK Singla Rs 20 lakh, PA Menu Malhotra Rs 6 lakh and money to officers.

            The spokesperson added that on the basis of revelations as well as the material evidence above mentioned persons and former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu have been nominated as an accused in this case. During Investigation it has come on record that Telu Ram has purchased about 20 acres land and accused Meenu Malhotra, who is at large, has also made number of properties and record is being collected in this regard. He informed that the record with regard to posting of accused Rakesh Kumar Singla is also being collected besides properties made by him would be probed.

            Revealing modus operandi of this scam, the spokesperson informed that the tenders were invited cluster wise in which ‘A’ group of mandis and work of all procurement agencies was allotted for the cluster and name of leading mandis in particular area was used as cluster name. In Ludhiana district, Telu Ram was having 4 clusters namely Jodhan, Mullanpur, Raikot and Payal which contains 34 grain markets. Apart from this, Telu Ram was also having cluster in district Ferozpur at Talwandi Bhai and district Ropar local.

            During investigations it has come to light that main accused Telu Ram had received approximately amount of Rs 25 crore for the said work. In order to get tenders the lists of vehicles submitted by accused were containing registration numbers of Cars, Scooters, Motor Cycles etc but the same transportation vehicles were required to be verified. After verification technical bid was required to be rejected by district tender committee however they in connivance with each other allotted the tenders.

            He added that even in the gate passes numbers of Scooters, Cars etc were mentioned but the above mentioned officers made payments to the accused contractors in respect of material quoted in these gate passes thereby matter regarding misappropriation also comes to light. He informed that further investigation in this regard is under progress and involvement of others would also be probed in this scam.

Chandigarh, Punjab

IN YET ANOTHER FIRST, PUNJAB GOVERNMENT INTRODUCES RESERVATION FOR LAW OFFICERS IN STATE

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IEP CHANDIGARH AUGUST 22, 2022

In yet another pioneering move,  the  Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has introduced reservation in  posts of law officers recruited by the state government.

The advertisement in this regard was issued by the department of Home Affairs here on Saturday in which applications have been called from eligible Scheduled Caste Advocates/ candidates for engagement as law officers in the office of Advocate General, Punjab at Chandigarh and Legal Cell, New Delhi. . As per details applications have been invited for 12 posts of Additional Advocate General (10 at Chandigarh and two at Delhi), for post five posts of Senior Deputy Advocate General at Chandigarh, for 16 posts of Deputy Advocate General (14 at Chandigarh and two at Delhi), for 23 for posts of Assistant Advocate General (22 at Chandigarh and one at Delhi) and out of two posts of Advocate on Record at Delhi from eligible SC candidates. The eligible candidates can apply for post by September 13, 2022.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister said that he had always been a votary of giving equal opportunities to the youth of SC community to excel in every field. He asserted that the state government has been implementing the reservation policy in true spirit to ensure that  candidates of weaker and underprivileged sections get equal opportunity for getting jobs. Bhagwant Mann unequivocally said that for the first time in history of the state the Aam Aadmi party government has made this provision to give reservation to SC candidates in recruitment for post of law officers too.

The Chief Minister lamented that despite of enormous capability of SC candidates, they have not got a chance to make it for the posts of law officers due to many  reasons. However, he envisioned that with the state government introducing reservation for these candidates it will enable them to serve judiciously as law officers. Bhagwant Mann asserted that Aam Aadmi government is probably the only government in the country to provide reservation to SC community for these posts.

Reiterating the firm commitment of state government to ensure well being of SC brethren, the Chief Minister said that no stone will be left unturned for this noble cause. He emphasised that the state government is making all out efforts to provide equal opportunities of progress and prosperity for the community. Bhagwant Mann said that unlike the previous governments which had only made lip service for welfare of community, the Aam Aadmi government has taken tangible steps in this regard.

Chandigarh, Chandigarh, Haryana, Punjab

Chandigarh International Airport will be named after Shaheed Bhagat Singh: Chautala

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IEP CHANDIGARH AUGUST 21, 2022

There has been a mutual agreement between the Government of Haryana and Government of Punjab to name the Chandigarh International Airport after the name of Shaheed Bhagat Singh. Haryana Deputy Chief Minister, Sh. Dushyant Chautala met Punjab Chief Minister, Sh. Bhagwant Mann in Chandigarh on Saturday and agreed to name it ‘Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport’. After the meeting, Deputy Chief Minister, Sh. Dushyant Chautala said that Shaheed Bhagat Singh is one such martyr of the country’s freedom struggle, who has inspired the youth of every generation. He said that the name of the Chandigarh International Airport will now be named after the great martyr Bhagat Singh and both the Punjab and Haryana Government have made mutual consensus on it.

Deputy Chief Minister, Sh. Dushyant Chautala said that the collective contribution of Haryana Government, Punjab Government and Chandigarh Administration is involved in the construction and modernization of Chandigarh Airport and after expansion this airport is boosting the development and industrialization of this area. He said that since Haryana also had an equal share in its construction, the name of the city ‘Panchkula’ should also be added to its name. The Deputy Chief Minister said that he has sent a recommendation on behalf of Haryana Government to the Punjab Government. He added the same request will also be sent to the Central Government in this regard.

Deputy Chief Minister, Sh. Dushyant Chautala said that in future, Chandigarh Airport will be a major airport of North India and it will witness progress along with fulfilling the needs of the, hence all the differences related to its naming should end soon.

Chandigarh, Punjab

CABINET SUB-COMMITTEE ASSURES CONTRACTUAL EMPLOYEES OF TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT THAT DRAFT POLICY ON REGULARISATION OF EMPLOYEES IS BEING UPDATED

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IEP CHANDIGARH AUGUST 18, 2022

The cabinet sub-committee formed for regularisation of contractual employees today assured employees of the transport department that the Punjab government is regularly working to update the draft policy so as to ensure that it should benefit them all.

Holding a meeting with the representatives of contractual employee unions and officials of transport department in the presence of a team of legal experts, the cabinet subcommittee discussed various aspects related to the regularization of services in the Transport department.

          Addressing the meeting, Finance Minister Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema and School Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains welcomed the suggestions given by the employee unions. Cheema said that as per the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the sub-committee has been analysing the rules related to the appointment of employees in the concerned departments so that the services of the contractual employees can be regularised without any legal hindrance. He further said that sub-committee has been continuously briefing the Chief Minister about the outcomes of all these meetings.

He said that the actions of the previous governments were only  political tactics, and  the contractual employees were facing this situation just because of the vague decisions made by previous governments in the last year of tenure. He said that the Mann government has been working on mission mode to secure the future of these employees. He said that the sub-committee has been formed to consider all the legal hurdles, so that they could be provided relief without it being challenged in the courts.

Earlier, the representatives of various unions of contractual employees of transport department including that of PUNBUS and PRTC presented their cases besides suggesting solutions for the same. Finance Minister asked the officials of PUNBUS and PRTC to submit the documents related to the suggestion given by the unions to subcommittee.

Prominent Amongst others, Secretary Transport Vikas Garg, Secretary personnel Rajat Agarwal, MD PRTC Poonamdeep Kaur Dhillon and Director Transport Amandeep Kaur were also present in the meeting.

Chandigarh, Punjab

CII assures job placement for students after successfully completing of Program

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IEP CHANDIGARH AUGUST 10, 2022

A significant initiative for skill development in Indian hospitality undertaken by industry body CII, an 18-month Vocational Education and Training (VET) Professional Diploma program by Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne/EHL Education Group of Switzerland – will be delivered at CII Institute of Hospitality in Chandigarh and IHCL Hotels in New Delhi.

A total of 100 students who have passed their higher secondary education (12th) will be enrolled in the first batch at CII Institute of Hospitality for the first 6 months and will be trained for 1 year at luxury IHCL properties in New Delhi. CII has assured 100% placement to students upon successful completion of their respective VET by EHL Swiss Professional Diploma programs, that is recognized by all major hospitality chains worldwide.

Rohit Jain (Project Head – CII Institute of Hospitality) commented that, “We at CII aim to direct the attention to the need for skilled, globally benchmarked talent in the Indian Hospitality industry. To deliver global standards of hospitality skills, CII & IHCL Hotels partnered with the 129-year-old EHL Group, – the global reference in education, innovation and consulting for the hospitality and service sector. It is ranked as the No. 1 hospitality and leisure management school in the world. The students will be able to hone their skills though interactions with guests at a live and running IHCL Hotel. The Program endeavours to strengthen the talent pipeline in India – as we aim to expand our presence in the country whilst adding more hotels to the Program in the coming years. We are expecting to enrol close to 10,000 students nationally over the span of 3 years”

He further added, “We have a rapidly growing accommodation offering across the tourist destinations and a sizable population affluent with English in the country. The program provides the students who have passed 12th standard with a splendid opportunity to skill and reskill themselves with an international curriculum, while placing them on par and contributing to the ever-expanding hospitality and tourism industry of India. The students will benefit from on-the-job training at the best IHCL Hotels

Adding to this already “mega collaboration” of Industry giants is Save Max Global Education – Bringing global presence and a standardised hospitality atmosphere to this initiative. An iconic Canadian brand, Save Max has diversified Business Interests in Real Estate, Global Education and the Health Sector. SaveMAX’s association with CIIand IHCL Hotels is focussed on providing a solid foundation for the students’ career. As one of its verticals is education, Save Max group has set up CII Institute of Hospitality in Chandigarh and Kolkata to impart the first 6-month of institutional training

Expressing his view on the noble initiative focused on the youth of the country Mr Raman Dua , Founder & CEO of Save Max Group of Companies said, “ We cannot Always build the future for our youth, but we can build our Youth for the future.”- Franklin D. Roosevelt With this note, I would like to opine that Save Max Global Education Pvt. Ltd strives to bridge the gap between the current learning outcomes and what is required through major reforms that bring the highest quality, equity, and integrity of the educational system . We at Save Max Global Education Pvt. Ltd., with a vision to turn every citizen into a skilled workforce for suitable employment joined hands with CII in collaboration with EHL and IHCL to start CII Institute of Hospitality at Kolkata and Chandigarh.’

The VET by EHL Swiss Professional Diploma Programs will be delivered at IHCL Hotels by the best of industry experts as faculty. Mr. Sumeet Taneja (Area Director – Chandigarh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh & J&K at IHCL and General Manager – Taj Chandigarh) said: “We have an excellent faculty for this program. At IHCL Hotels we consistently upgrade the training skill set and integrate new learnings to the modules. Our faculty at each IHCL Hotel has been trained and certified by EHL and CII. They bring with them immense experience and knowledge. Moreover, students will be able to learn through interactions with guests in real work settings at Taj Hotels. The programme will allow us to strengthen our talent pipeline as we continue to expand our presence in the country. We intend to add more hotels to this programme in 2022.”

He added: “This program provides students a splendid opportunity to skill and reskill themselves with an international curriculum closer to home and contribute to the immense Hospitality and Tourism potential of the state. This Swiss Professional Diploma programme will place them on par, if not above, with students from leading hospitality schools in India, with the benefit of On-the-Job training.”

Praveen Roy (Associate Director at EHL Advisory Services) said, “The VET by EHL Swiss Professional Diploma Program is based on the principles of the world-renowned Swiss Competency Framework. It has been developed over a two-year period with the involvement of EHL subject matter experts and faculty members, as well as with global industry feedback. The objective is to prepare the youth worldwide for frontline job roles in the hospitality industry at global standards. Students of the program in India will be at a significant advantage with future employers, in global mobility and in their career progression. They will acquire the relevant knowledge and competencies required by the industry at par with international programs.”

The VET by EHL Swiss Professional Diploma is delivered in a blended format where the students will have opportunity to learn and develop their skills at CIIIH and hone them at select IHCL hotels. The Swiss Professional Diploma is spread over 18 months and comprises of three levels of learning – Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced. The Program will offer learning in three distinct streams: ‘Culinary’, ‘Food & Beverage Service’ & ‘Rooms’ – that follow VET by EHL’s rigorous quality-assurance standards. Each certificate level builds skills on top of the previous and culminates into a VET by EHL Swiss Professional Diploma. 

Students will get online access to a world-class global Learning Management System (LMS). They will be assessed on both theoretical knowledge on the LMS as well as on practical skills acquired during training. On completion, the students will become a part of the prestigious VET by EHL Global Alumni Network. Furthermore, CII will assist the students to enrol themselves into a UGC recognized degree. 

The students are also assured a 100% placement after successful completion of the Program by CII. Backed by the international diploma, being job ready in 18 months and with real-life learning experience at luxury hotels of IHCL, they will be sought after by all premium hotel companies in the country and abroad. 

The total fee for the program is INR 3,30,000/- (plus taxes).

Student should have cleared 12th standard from a recognized board in India with a minimum 50% marks in English, to qualify for enrolment to the VET by EHL Swiss Professional Diploma Program

Chandigarh, Punjab

Bhagwant Mann government to speed up government recruitment process to provide employment to all the eligible youth of the state: Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal

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IEP CHANDIGARH AUGUST 8, 2022

The Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led government has issued directions to all the departments to speed up the exercise to provide government jobs to the unemployed eligible youth of the state. Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal today at Vikas Bhawan, while giving appointment letters to 43 newly appointed draftsman said that due to the negligent approach of the previous governments, the talented youth of the state could not get government jobs. He said that due to which the common people were facing a lot of problems in getting government services. 

Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said that the Bhagwant Maan government is in the process of filling vacancies in government departments on priority to provide hassle free quick government services to the common people and vacancies are being filled in each department according to their full capacity. He said that the legal hurdles in the recruitment of vacant posts in some departments are also being removed by taking the legal opinion of experts.

The rural development minister further said that all the recruitments by the state government will be filled on the basis of merit without any discrimination according to academic qualification. Earlier, while congratulating the newly appointed 43 draftsman, Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said that they should perform their duty with honesty and service spirit so that people can get government services as soon as possible.