IEP Dehradun

Reaffirming the commitment of his government on ‘Zero tolerance on corruption’ policy the Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has said that no culprit in the recruitment scams would be spared. He said on Wednesday that the State government has decided that the pending recruitment examinations of the Uttarakhand Public Service Selection Commission (UKSSSC) would be handed over to the Uttarakhand Public Service Commission or any other agency so that no delay occurs in these examinations and the interests of the aspirants are safeguarded.

He said a proposal in this regard would be brought before the State cabinet soon. The CM informed that the process of recruitment in 12,000 posts was to commence in the State out of which the UKSSSC would have to conduct a recruitment process of more than 7,000 posts of group ‘C’ services. Dhami said that the investigation into the alleged irregularities of the UKSSSC examinations is going on and the Vidhan Sabha Speaker also has set up a high level inquiry to investigate the issue of the appointment in Vidhan Sabha. He said that the State government is attentive towards protecting the interests of the youngsters and a transparent process of recruitment to fill vacant posts would be undertaken in the State.

He said that the Director General Police (DGP) has been directed to investigate the recruitment of forest ranger examination and he has handed over the inquiry to the Special Task Force (STF). Dhami said that the recruitment scam is a very serious issue for the State as it is associated with the future of the youngster. He said that a strict investigation was ordered in the UKSSSC paper leak case and the results are coming up. On a stern note the CM said that he wants to set up an example in this case so that there is no repetition of such incidents in future. He opined that a fool proof system of recruitment process is needed to be set up in the State so that no one even dares to think about doing such act.

IEP Dehradun

The process of submission of nomination papers for the three tier panchayat elections in Haridwar has started. A total of 34 candidates had submitted their nomination papers for the position of District Panchayat members till Tuesday.

A lot of enthusiasm among the villagers is clearly visible for the elections. The process of submission of nomination papers would end on September 8. The administration has set up three centres for submission of nomination papers for District Panchayat seats in the Zilla Panchayat office located near Devpura Chowk of the city.

Sale of nomination papers and deposit of security deposit is being done from one window. On the first day a total of 34 nomination papers were submitted on the first day while nomination papers were also purchased on behalf of 115 claimants. On the other hand, in six blocks of the district, Bahadarabad, Laksar, Bhagwanpur, Roorkee, Khanpur and Narsan, the applicants submitted nomination papers for Gram Panchayat members, Gram Pradhan, Block Panchayat members.

IEP Chandigarh, September 7, 2022

Urging the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd. (NHPC) to explore the possibilities for setting up Compressed Biogas (CBG) project in the state, Punjab New and Renewable Energy Sources Minister Mr. Aman Arora said that being an agrarian state Punjab has huge quantities of agro-residue resources to produce clean energy. Asia’s largest CBG plant has already been commissioned in Sangrur district.

A delegation of NHPC led by its Independent Director Prof. (Dr) Amit Kansal has called on the New & Renewable Energy Sources Minister at PEDA Bhawan here, and expressed keen interest in investing in the solar and hydro energy sector. 

Executive Director NHPC Regional Office, Chandigarh Mr. Surjeet Kumar Sandhu and CEO Mr. AK Pathak gave a presentation about the ongoing projects of the NHPC across the country. They apprised the Minister that NHPC’s Hydro, Solar and Wind power projects have already been operational in Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Sikkim, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Andaman & Nicobar and even across the border in Bhutan and Nepal.

Assuring the delegation all possible support from the state government side, Mr. Aman Arora said that Punjab has a huge potential in non-conventional energy sources and Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Mann led state government is fully committed to promote clean and green energy to save the environment. PEDA has also allocated 42 additional CBG projects of total capacity 492.58 tonne per day (TPD) based on paddy straw and other agro-residue to develop a lasting and sustainable solution to prevent stubble burning.

Chief Executive PEDA Dr. Sumeet Jarangal, Director Mr. MP Singh, General Manager (Electrical) NHPC Mr. SP Rathore and other senior officials of PEDA were also present in the meeting.

IEP Chandigarh, September 7, 2022

The Local Government Minister, Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar said that the geniune demands of the Safai Sewak and Sewermen of the State will be discussed with the Chief Minister and a suitable solution will be found for them.

Punjab Government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is committed with state residents to fulfill theirs demands. Under these Series, Local Government Minister, Dr. Inderbir Singh Nijjar hold the meeting in presence of Deputy commissioner Amritsar, Harpreet Singh Sudan and Municipal corporation Commissioner, Kumar Saurabh Raj with Union of Safai Sewak and Sewermen to resolved theirs geniune demands.

 The Major demands of the Unions, all the Safai Sewak and Sewermen of Punjab should be regularised by giving relaxation in age limit,  All the Safai Sewak and Sewermen should be recruited on regular basis instead of outsourcing basis. The work of the Sewermen is technical types so the pay scale of Sewermen should be higher like as technical post. Compassionate basis appointment without any condition should be given to the heirs of Safai Sewak and Sewermen who had died during services. Apart from this, the demands for health insurance of Safai Sewak and Sewermen also raised by Unions.

IEP Chandigarh, September 7, 2022

The Punjab Rural development, NRI affairs and Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal today met the Union Minister of State for Rural Development Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti at the Agriculture Bhawan here today regarding important issues related to Punjab which included release of MGNREGA outstanding funds, approval of state goals under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and development of rural areas.Interacting with the media after the meeting, Kuldeep Dhaliwal said that out of the outstanding 450 crore rupees of material liabilities related to the development works done under the MGNREGA scheme in Punjab, 188 crore rupees were released by the Center on September 5. He has requested the Union Minister to release the remaining 262 crore rupees soon. Similarly, he has appealed to increase the administrative expenditure fund of MGNREGA from 6 percent to 8 percent. ‘The Union Minister of State has assured to release remaining funds soon and redress the other issues positively’, added Dhaliwal.Dhaliwal said that no separate target was allocated to the state for the financial year 2022-23 under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin, therefore he has raised the demand to allot the target of 25000 houses for the financial year 2023-24 so that houses can be provided to the homeless, poor and needy families of the state and release funds under PMAY-Gramin.Punjab Rural Development Minister brought to the notice of the union State Minister some conditions under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana are not suitable for the state of Punjab due to which many beneficiaries are left out of its ambit. He has appealed to the Union Minister to relax some of the conditions in these schemes as per the requirements of the state.Dhaliwal briefed the Union Minister during the meeting that for the financial year 2022-23, the Centre Government has approved a budget of 4644 lakh rupees for Punjab State Rural Ajeevka scheme, out of which released 477.68 lakh rupees as the first installment for the SC component, while 683.42 lakh rupees are yet to be released for the general component.Dhaliwal said that during the meeting, Union Minister of State Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti assured to redress these demands of Punjab on priority basis. During the meeting, other aspects related to the rural development of the state were also discussed.Others prominent present in the meeting included Financial Commissioner Rural Development and Panchayats Department, Punjab K. Shiva Prasad, Consultant Rajeev Madan and officials of the Union panchayati Raj Ministry.

IEP Chandigarh, September 7, 2022

Punjab Animal Husbandry, Fisheries & Dairy Development Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar, on Wednesday, informed that African swine fever (ASF) has been found in the swine samples from village Talwandi Aklia of district Mansa and this area has been notified as ‘infected zones’ for the prevention of the ASF.He said that after confirmation from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) -National High Security Animal Disease Institute, Bhopal, the Animal Husbandry department has strictly enforced restrictions and declared 0 to 1 kilometre area of the epicenter as “infected zone” and 1 to 10 KM (9 KM) area as “surveillance zone” to prevent the disease in the district. The departmental officials have also been instructed to ensure 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.Giving information about the swine culling to prevent the disease in the state, Cabinet Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar said, as many as 735 swine have been culled in four ASF affected districts i.e. Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib, SBS Nagar and Fazilka. He said that a total 471 swine in Patiala, 68 in Fatehgarh Sahib, 176 in SBS Nagar and 20 swine have been culled in district Fazilka.”The Punjab government has announced compensation policy for culling of swine and compensation will be given only for the culling done by the department within the “infected zone” of one km radius of the epicenter notified by the department”, said the Animal Husbandry Minister.He said that compensation for the culling of a piglet weighing up to 15 kg is Rs.2200, Rs.5800 for pig weighing between 15kg to 40 kg, Rs.8400 for weighing between 40kg to 70 kg pig, Rs.12000 for weighing between 70kg to 100 kg, while compensation of Rs.15000 will be given for pigs weighing above 100 kg, while swine feed destroyed within the “infected zone” will also be compensated at the rate of Rs.22 per kg.The Cabinet Minister urged pig farmers to cooperate with the department for the culling of swine. “As per the policy of the Government of India, compensation will be given only for the culling done by the department and it is mandatory to cull swine within one kilometer radius from the epicenter of the disease”, said the Cabinet Minister, while adding that the mortality rate of the disease can be as high as 100 percent and once a pig is affected, it dies within a few days. Thus, it is better that culling should be done by the department as there is no compensation policy if the affected pig dies on its own.

IEP Chandigarh, September 7, 2022

To save people from hardships and avoid unnecessary litigation, Punjab Housing and Urban Development Minister Mr. Aman Arora asked the Real Estate Developers to ensure the delivery of property possession timely as committed at the time of sale. He said that around 3600 complaints have been filed to RERA in the last five years and most of them were related with delayed possession.

The Cabinet Minister, while presiding over an interaction meet with members of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India from Punjab, reiterated that Punjab Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Mann led state government is fully committed to ensure planned residential and commercial development equipped with state-of-the-art facilities in the urban areas of the state.

He categorically said that illegal colonies will not be allowed at any cost and it will be a thing of the past very soon, while urging the developers to join hands with the government to put the state in the orbit of high growth trajectory.

Mr. Aman Arora asked them to clear their pending External Development Charges (EDC) and other dues at the earliest as the EDC collected shall be spent on providing facilities in authorized colonies to ensure the basic civic amenities.

Lending sympathetic ears to the problems being faced by the developers, the Cabinet Minister assured them all the possible support from the government side and their all legitimate and genuine demands will be resolved soon.

He told the developers to ensure basic civic amenities to the people residing in their respective properties. At the same time, he assured them that the government would provide maximum permissions at their doorsteps under its agenda of ease of doing business

“The goal of holistic development cannot be accomplished without the support of all of you so we should all work in tandem to ensure planned development in urban areas. I am always here to facilitate you in case anyone faces any kind of problem”, Mr. Aman Arora added.

The developers shared issues pertaining to permissions they require from different departments to obtain license. The minister said he will take up the problems of the developers with concerned departments so that they won’t face any harassment and could develop their projects without any hindrance.

MLA SAS Nagar Mr. Kulwant Singh, Principal Secretary Housing and Urban Development Mr. Ajoy Kumar Sinha, Chief Administrator GMADA Mr. Amandeep Bansal, Chief Town Planner, Punjab Mr. Pankaj Bawa and other senior officials of Housing and Urban Development department were also present in the meet.

IEP Chandigarh, September 7, 2022       

   Malerkotla, Faridkot and Jalandhar districts have secured a place in certified pan India list by Government of India (GoI) for providing 100 per cent clean and safe water facility to all rural households under the ‘Jal Jeevan Mission-Har Ghar Jal’.          On occasion of achieving this milestone, Water Supply and Sanitation Minister Bram Shankar Jimpa has congratulated all the officials, residents and public representatives of these districts who have worked to achieve this goal. Union Minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has also congratulated Punjab for this achievement through a tweet.          Jimpa informed that 9 districts have secured the place among these distinctive districts across the country to provide 100 percent clean water to village homes through pipes and Malerkotla, Faridkot and Jalandhar have made their place in the list of these 9 districts.          He further added that Malerkotla, which has a total rural population of 2.58 lakh, has covered 49881 rural households with piped drinking water, while Faridkot with the total rural population of 4.09 lakh has covered 78408 rural households with safe drinking water. Similarly, Jalandhar who have a total rural population of 11.12 lakh, has covered 223400 rural households with piped drinking water.          WSS minister said that Punjab already provided piped water to 34.24 lakh rural households under ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ and a total 11933 villages and 20 districts have been covered with 100% piped water supply. He said that under the dynamic leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, we have set the target to cover 100% area of Punjab up to December 2022 against the national target of 2024. He also informed that the state government has already provided tap connections to Aanganwadi Centres, Panchayats, Dispensaries, and Schools

IEP Chandigarh,

September 7, 2022 Fulfilling his commitment to give impetus to the industrial growth in the state, the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has offered 1000 acre of land in Fatehgarh Sahib district to the Government of India (GoI) for setting up Textile Park under PM Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel Parks (PM MITRA) scheme. In a letter to the Union Textile Minister Piyush Goyal, the Chief Minister has expressed the desire for setting up this ambitious project on the sacred land of Fatehgarh Sahib. He envisioned that once commissioned this project will emerge Punjab as a ‘Textile Hub’ of the country. Likewise, Bhagwant Mann unequivocally said that this project will also put the state on the orbit of a high growth trajectory of Industrial growth.   The Chief Minister asserted that the ambitious scheme will help in attracting investments on one hand and opening new vistas of employment for the youth on another. He said that the Government of India (GoI) has approved the scheme for setting up of seven PM Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel Parks (PM MITRA) across the country in partnership with the interested State Governments. Bhagwant Mann informed the Union Minister that under this scheme the state government is ready for setting up of Textile Park at Fatehgarh Sahib. The Chief Minister categorically said that all environmental clearances and norms as fixed by Centre and State Pollution Control Boards will be adhered to while setting up this Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel Park. He asserted that one of the basic requirements for the project is that the interested state government should have ready availability of contiguous and encumbrance free land parcels of 1000 acres for this project. Bhagwant Mann emphasized that Punjab Government has already identified land parcels in Fatehgarh Sahib for the above said project adding that all the necessary requirements will be fulfilled for setting up this project at the earliest.

IEP Chandigarh

Haryana State Vigilance Bureau has booked an HCS officer in a bribery case on the allegations of corruption which were proved during the course of the enquiry by the Bureau officials.

Sharing this information here today, a spokesperson of the Bureau informed that the State government on the orders of the hon’ble Chief Minister had entrusted a complaint to the SVB alleging demand and acceptance of bribe by the 2011 batch HCS officer Rajesh Prajapati who currently holds the charge of OSD to the Divisional Commissioner, Hisar. The Bureau conducted a thorough enquiry in which the allegations of bribery and extortion were proved against him.

Accordingly a criminal case has been registered on 7.09.2022 against the accused under the relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code in the State Vigilance Bureau Police station Gurugram. The accused officer has been arrested and further investigation is underway.