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October, 2008

 

BADAL CALLS FOR CHANGE OF GUARD AT CENTRE

Lays Foundation Stone of 540 MW Goindwal Sahib Thermal Plant

GOINDWAL SAHIB ( TARNTARAN) OCOTBER 18, 2008

Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today virtually sounded a bugle for the next Parliamentary elections and appealed the people to get ready to oust Congress in order to pave a way for the BJP led National Democratic Alliance government at Centre for seeking justice and equity for the long pending demands of the state be it economic, agriculture, industry, inter-state issues etc. which had been utterly ignored by the Congress for its apathetic attitude prejudicial towards the legitimate rights of the state.

Addressing a massive gathering at a public rally after laying the foundation stone of 540 MW Goindwal Sahib Thermal Plant at a cost of Rs.2700 crore to be executed by M/s GVK Power (Goindwal Sahib) Limited in private sector on Build, Own and Operate (BOO) basis and would be completed by 2012, Mr. Badal said that the people of Punjab had lot of expectations from the UPA government but they were completely dejected due to the step motherly treatment meted out to our state despite the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh at the helm of affairs. He cited the example how Punjab was completely ignored in the Centre's agenda on agriculture. He took a strong exception to the callous attitude of the Centre for adopting discriminatory approach towards Punjab farmers, the Chief Minister said that perhaps it was for the first time in the history of agriculture economy that the Centre had fixed the MSP of paddy below the recommendations of Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices (CACP). The Centre's negative attitude against the farmers was evident when it announced to fix Rs.850 per quintal as MSP for paddy, which was far below Rs.1000/- per quintal recommended by CACP. Mr. Badal also rued Centre's recent decision to announce a meager bonus of Rs.50 per quintal on paddy and described it as a cruel joke with the farmers. He demanded the Centre should had at least announced a bonus of Rs.300 per quintal on paddy in addition to the existing MSP of Rs.850 per quintal to compensate the farmers for the high input costs incurred by them on diesel, fertilizers and pesticides. He said: "The story of exploitation of our peasantry seems to be unending because GoI is solely authorized to formulate economic policies with regard to agriculture by fixing the MSP and even the prices of diesel, fertilizers and pesticides are also determined by it. He said that the state governments had hardly any role in such policies rather Centre had forcefully imposed on us.

The Chief Minister said that the people of Punjab had already unmasked the real face of Congress and were well aware about its policy of 'divide and rule' which it had adopted not only in Centre but in the states too for pursuing its political agenda. Mr. Badal blamed the Congress Party which had ruled at Centre and in states for more than 50 years after the Independence and had miserably failed to provide the basic civic amenities to the common man. He said that our government was committed for the overall development of the state and welfare of its people. He said that SAD-BJP being a party of a common man was sensitized to the basic needs and problems of the people at the grass root level and was committed to serve them with the missionary zeal. He appealed the people to give mandate in the favour of SAD-BJP in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls and announced the candidature of Mr.Rattan Singh Ajnala as SAD's candidate from the Tarn Taran parliamentary seat to seek re-election.

On the power front, Mr. Badal declared that the work on the other two Thermal Plants at Rajpura (1320 MW) and Gidderbaha (2640 MW) with an installed capacity of 1320 MW and 2640 MW would commence positively by 31st March, 2009 thereby heralding a power revolution in the state after had already credited with pioneering the green revolution in the country. He said that the SAD-BJP government was committed to make Punjab as a power surplus state within next three years. He said that the SAD-BJP government immediately assuming its office accorded the top most priority to strengthen the power sector by augmenting the power generation capacity through setting up four thermal plants of which the construction activity at Talwandi Sabo Thermal Plant (1980 MW) had already began in full swing and with the laying of foundation stone of Goindwal Sahib (540MW) would also go off stream. He said that at present the total power generation capacity in the state was 6609 MW against the peak demand of 7428 MW. He said: "Perhaps it is the biggest ever initiative by in the power sector to usher in power revolution by generating additional capacity of 6480 MWs.

On the occasion, the Chief Minister announced that the drainage wing of state irrigation department would soon commence the work on the widening and construction of embankments of Saki Nallah in Gurdaspur district at a cost of Rs.118 crore. He also announced to provide adequate grant for the laying of cemented roads and the upgradation of infrastructure in the government senior secondary school at Goindwal Sahib\. He also announced to undertake the rehabilitation of work of Upper Bari Doab Canal at the cost of Rs.177 crore and special grant for the provision of safe drinking water through Reverse Osmosis system in the Majha region.

Speaking on the occasion, the Member Parliament and President SAD Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal said that the upcoming thermal plant at Goindwal Sahib would boost the overall development and growth in Majha region and further improve the prospects of Sri Goindwal Sahib to be developed as the industrial hub in the region. He said that our government from day one had focused its attention to make Punjab as the front runner state in the country. He accused the Congress party for blatantly ignoring the development prospects of state as it did not added a single unit during its regime realizing the fact that power was the engine of growth and prosperity. Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal also said that the Punjab government had already undertaken a massive revamp programme of canal network at the cost of Rs.3500 crore to enhance the intake capacity of water by at least 30% to ensure canal irrigation facilities to the farmers at the tail ends.

The SAD President said: "No other state in the country has so far undertaken such massive and wide-ranging development initiative to boost its power generation by 300% in such a short span. And we are determined to put the requisite infrastructure on the ground well before we go back to the people for a mandate in 2012". He mentioned that this was probably the most ambitious and boldest initiative over the past sixty years. He said that with the thermal plants at Talwandi Sabo and Goindwal Sahib were expected to be the harbinger of "Power Revolution" in Punjab, to mark the beginning of a major power generation thrust to make Punjab self-reliant on the energy front which also forms the cornerstone of SAD-BJP Government's development agenda. Mr. Sukhbir Badal also pointed out that with the setting up of this prestigious project in the Majha belt would now obviously silenced the controversy raised by the Congressmen over the neglect of this region. He added that Congress party bereft of any political agenda for the next lok sabha poll trying to divide Punjab on regional lines by indulging in malicious propaganda accusing the SAD-BJP government for lop-sided development in Majha and Doaba regions as compared to Malwa which has got maximum development projects and schemes.

In his address, Information & Public Relations and Water Supply & Sanitation Minister Mr. Bikram Singh Majithia lambasted at the Congress party for unnecessarily raking up the issue of neglect of Majha and Doaba regions in terms of development in comparison to Malwa. Mr. Majithia dared the Congress leadership and their former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh for the gross neglect of these regions. He said that the SAD-BJP Government this year alone had completed infrastructure projects in Majha and Doaba areas to the tune of Rs. 3372 crore where as ambitious projects to the tune of Rs.28661 crore were in pipeline to give a face lift to these two regions. He also asked the Congress leaders especially the former Congress Minister Partap Singh Bajwa who was now an aspirant for Member Parliament in Lok Sabha polls, had their party seriously pursued the development plans in the Majha and Doaba regions then it would have not been wiped out from its so called stronghold in this region during the last assembly elections. It was evident that Congress blatantly ignored the development prospects of Majha and Doaba and paid the price for debacle in the last assembly polls.

Speaking on the occasion, Local Govt. Minister Mr.Manoranjan Kalia said that whenever SAD-BJP government came into power it ushered an era of overall development and cherished the aspirations of people of Punjab. He said that this project in Majha belt would act as the catalyst for the economic growth and would be instrumental in bringing industrialization at a faster pace.

Chairman of the GVK Group Mr. GVK Reddy also spoke on the occasion and evinced keen interest to make huge investment in infrastructure, power and hotels industry.

Prominent amongst others who were present on the occasion included Speaker Punjab Vidhan Sabha Nirmal Singh Kahlon, Animal Husbandry Minister Gulzar Singh Ranike, MP & District President SAD Amritsar Rattan Singh Ajnala, Chief Minister's Media Advisor Mr. Harcharn Bains, MLA Virsa Singh Valtoha, MLA Tarn Taran Harmeet Singh Sandhu, District President SAD Tarn Taran Alwinderpal Singh Pakhoke and PSEB Chairman Y.S. Ratra.


BADAL CALLS FOR CHANGE OF GUARD AT CENTRE

Lays Foundation Stone of 540 MW Goindwal Sahib Thermal Plant

GOINDWAL SAHIB ( TARNTARAN) OCOTBER 18, 2008

Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today virtually sounded a bugle for the next Parliamentary elections and appealed the people to get ready to oust Congress in order to pave a way for the BJP led National Democratic Alliance government at Centre for seeking justice and equity for the long pending demands of the state be it economic, agriculture, industry, inter-state issues etc. which had been utterly ignored by the Congress for its apathetic attitude prejudicial towards the legitimate rights of the state.

Addressing a massive gathering at a public rally after laying the foundation stone of 540 MW Goindwal Sahib Thermal Plant at a cost of Rs.2700 crore to be executed by M/s GVK Power (Goindwal Sahib) Limited in private sector on Build, Own and Operate (BOO) basis and would be completed by 2012, Mr. Badal said that the people of Punjab had lot of expectations from the UPA government but they were completely dejected due to the step motherly treatment meted out to our state despite the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh at the helm of affairs. He cited the example how Punjab was completely ignored in the Centre's agenda on agriculture. He took a strong exception to the callous attitude of the Centre for adopting discriminatory approach towards Punjab farmers, the Chief Minister said that perhaps it was for the first time in the history of agriculture economy that the Centre had fixed the MSP of paddy below the recommendations of Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices (CACP). The Centre's negative attitude against the farmers was evident when it announced to fix Rs.850 per quintal as MSP for paddy, which was far below Rs.1000/- per quintal recommended by CACP. Mr. Badal also rued Centre's recent decision to announce a meager bonus of Rs.50 per quintal on paddy and described it as a cruel joke with the farmers. He demanded the Centre should had at least announced a bonus of Rs.300 per quintal on paddy in addition to the existing MSP of Rs.850 per quintal to compensate the farmers for the high input costs incurred by them on diesel, fertilizers and pesticides. He said: "The story of exploitation of our peasantry seems to be unending because GoI is solely authorized to formulate economic policies with regard to agriculture by fixing the MSP and even the prices of diesel, fertilizers and pesticides are also determined by it. He said that the state governments had hardly any role in such policies rather Centre had forcefully imposed on us.

The Chief Minister said that the people of Punjab had already unmasked the real face of Congress and were well aware about its policy of 'divide and rule' which it had adopted not only in Centre but in the states too for pursuing its political agenda. Mr. Badal blamed the Congress Party which had ruled at Centre and in states for more than 50 years after the Independence and had miserably failed to provide the basic civic amenities to the common man. He said that our government was committed for the overall development of the state and welfare of its people. He said that SAD-BJP being a party of a common man was sensitized to the basic needs and problems of the people at the grass root level and was committed to serve them with the missionary zeal. He appealed the people to give mandate in the favour of SAD-BJP in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls and announced the candidature of Mr.Rattan Singh Ajnala as SAD's candidate from the Tarn Taran parliamentary seat to seek re-election.

On the power front, Mr. Badal declared that the work on the other two Thermal Plants at Rajpura (1320 MW) and Gidderbaha (2640 MW) with an installed capacity of 1320 MW and 2640 MW would commence positively by 31st March, 2009 thereby heralding a power revolution in the state after had already credited with pioneering the green revolution in the country. He said that the SAD-BJP government was committed to make Punjab as a power surplus state within next three years. He said that the SAD-BJP government immediately assuming its office accorded the top most priority to strengthen the power sector by augmenting the power generation capacity through setting up four thermal plants of which the construction activity at Talwandi Sabo Thermal Plant (1980 MW) had already began in full swing and with the laying of foundation stone of Goindwal Sahib (540MW) would also go off stream. He said that at present the total power generation capacity in the state was 6609 MW against the peak demand of 7428 MW. He said: "Perhaps it is the biggest ever initiative by in the power sector to usher in power revolution by generating additional capacity of 6480 MWs.

On the occasion, the Chief Minister announced that the drainage wing of state irrigation department would soon commence the work on the widening and construction of embankments of Saki Nallah in Gurdaspur district at a cost of Rs.118 crore. He also announced to provide adequate grant for the laying of cemented roads and the upgradation of infrastructure in the government senior secondary school at Goindwal Sahib\. He also announced to undertake the rehabilitation of work of Upper Bari Doab Canal at the cost of Rs.177 crore and special grant for the provision of safe drinking water through Reverse Osmosis system in the Majha region.

Speaking on the occasion, the Member Parliament and President SAD Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal said that the upcoming thermal plant at Goindwal Sahib would boost the overall development and growth in Majha region and further improve the prospects of Sri Goindwal Sahib to be developed as the industrial hub in the region. He said that our government from day one had focused its attention to make Punjab as the front runner state in the country. He accused the Congress party for blatantly ignoring the development prospects of state as it did not added a single unit during its regime realizing the fact that power was the engine of growth and prosperity. Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal also said that the Punjab government had already undertaken a massive revamp programme of canal network at the cost of Rs.3500 crore to enhance the intake capacity of water by at least 30% to ensure canal irrigation facilities to the farmers at the tail ends.

The SAD President said: "No other state in the country has so far undertaken such massive and wide-ranging development initiative to boost its power generation by 300% in such a short span. And we are determined to put the requisite infrastructure on the ground well before we go back to the people for a mandate in 2012". He mentioned that this was probably the most ambitious and boldest initiative over the past sixty years. He said that with the thermal plants at Talwandi Sabo and Goindwal Sahib were expected to be the harbinger of "Power Revolution" in Punjab, to mark the beginning of a major power generation thrust to make Punjab self-reliant on the energy front which also forms the cornerstone of SAD-BJP Government's development agenda. Mr. Sukhbir Badal also pointed out that with the setting up of this prestigious project in the Majha belt would now obviously silenced the controversy raised by the Congressmen over the neglect of this region. He added that Congress party bereft of any political agenda for the next lok sabha poll trying to divide Punjab on regional lines by indulging in malicious propaganda accusing the SAD-BJP government for lop-sided development in Majha and Doaba regions as compared to Malwa which has got maximum development projects and schemes.

In his address, Information & Public Relations and Water Supply & Sanitation Minister Mr. Bikram Singh Majithia lambasted at the Congress party for unnecessarily raking up the issue of neglect of Majha and Doaba regions in terms of development in comparison to Malwa. Mr. Majithia dared the Congress leadership and their former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh for the gross neglect of these regions. He said that the SAD-BJP Government this year alone had completed infrastructure projects in Majha and Doaba areas to the tune of Rs. 3372 crore where as ambitious projects to the tune of Rs.28661 crore were in pipeline to give a face lift to these two regions. He also asked the Congress leaders especially the former Congress Minister Partap Singh Bajwa who was now an aspirant for Member Parliament in Lok Sabha polls, had their party seriously pursued the development plans in the Majha and Doaba regions then it would have not been wiped out from its so called stronghold in this region during the last assembly elections. It was evident that Congress blatantly ignored the development prospects of Majha and Doaba and paid the price for debacle in the last assembly polls.

Speaking on the occasion, Local Govt. Minister Mr.Manoranjan Kalia said that whenever SAD-BJP government came into power it ushered an era of overall development and cherished the aspirations of people of Punjab. He said that this project in Majha belt would act as the catalyst for the economic growth and would be instrumental in bringing industrialization at a faster pace.

Chairman of the GVK Group Mr. GVK Reddy also spoke on the occasion and evinced keen interest to make huge investment in infrastructure, power and hotels industry.

Prominent amongst others who were present on the occasion included Speaker Punjab Vidhan Sabha Nirmal Singh Kahlon, Animal Husbandry Minister Gulzar Singh Ranike, MP & District President SAD Amritsar Rattan Singh Ajnala, Chief Minister's Media Advisor Mr. Harcharn Bains, MLA Virsa Singh Valtoha, MLA Tarn Taran Harmeet Singh Sandhu, District President SAD Tarn Taran Alwinderpal Singh Pakhoke and PSEB Chairman Y.S. Ratra.


Record paddy procurement of 4.20 lac tonnes in a single day

Chandigarh, October 18: The strict on-field monitoring by the senior officers of paddy procurement operations in the mandis has started showing results on the ground as six government agencies and millers procured record 4,20,962 tonnes of paddy in a single day taking the total procurement to 54,80,998 tonnes in Punjab.

An official spokesman today said that PUNGRAIN procured 13,25,801 tonnes of paddy (26.7%) whereas MARKFED procured 11,59,503 tonnes of paddy (23.4%). PUNSUP procured 11,44,784 tonnes of paddy (23.1%) whereas Punjab State Warehousing Corporation procured 6, 58,857 tonnes of paddy (13.3%) besides 6,07,965 tonnes of paddy (12.3%) procured by Punjab Agro. The Central Government Agency FCI procured only 64,575 tonnes of paddy (1.3%). The Millers procured 5,19,513 tonnes of paddy (9.5 %) by Thursday.

The mandis in Amritsar Division recorded 1678102 tonnes of paddy with Jalandhar recording maximum paddy by Friday to the tune of 409211 tonnes. The mandis of Ferozepur division maintained their lead by recording 2665765 tonnes of paddy with maximum of 974294 tonnes of paddy being recorded by Ferozepur district. Meanwhile procurement in the mandis of Ludhiana division was 1137131 with maximum procurement of 416330 being recorded In Patiala district.

The spokesman said that lifting of procured paddy from the mandis has started showing positive results with PUNGRAIN (94.8%), MARKFED (85%), PUNSUP (88.3%), PSWC (88.8%), PUNJAB AGRO (92.1%) and FCI (96.5%).


Six government agencies have paid over Rs. 2982.81 crores for paddy procured by agencies during first 17 days of current Kharif Marketing Season. The spokesman said that farmers of the State are being made payment of paddy procured by the government agencies within 48 hours of lifting of paddy from the procurement centres.

The Punjab Food Supply had setup 1622 procurement centres throughout the state to ensure smooth procurement of paddy.

 


Release of 'So Said Guru Arjan Dev'

Chandigarh, 18 October.

S. Parkash Singh Badal, Chief Minister of Punjab, will be releasing tomorrow on 20 October 2008 "So Said Guru Arjan Dev", a prestigious publication of Information & Public Relations Department Punjab, at a large and historic congregation being held at Damdama Sahib, Sabo Ki Tawandi (Bhatinda) in commemoration of the world-wide celebrations of the 300th year of the finalization there in 1706 by Guru Gobind Singh of Sri Guru Garanth Sahib, compiled earlier by Guru Arjan Dev in 1604 at Amritsar and installed later in 1706 by Guru Gobind Singh as the Living and Eternal Guru for the Sikhs at Nanded (Maharahshtra ).

It is a very valuable and laudable work, first of its kind on the life, work and teaching of the Great Guru in the form of a dictionary of thought, designed so wisely, executed so exquisitely and produced so beautifully by the highly learned scholar and well-known author, Dr. Harnam Singh Shan, Professor Emeritus, Punjab University , Chandigarh. Being mostly an anthology of the Guru's select sayings gleaned from his sacred writings which cover over one-third of Guru Garanth Sahib, strung together in a rosary of precious gems which glitter as instructive and inspiring in their content, direct and forthright in their approach, moral and catholic in their applicability, touching almost every aspect and activity of human life.

This is a highly admirable effort to disseminate thereby the universal message of love and peace, unity and harmony conveyed in Guru Granth Sahib, the unique and only Interfaith Scripture of mankind.

 


"Congress neglected Majha, Malwa and Doaba alike"
Amarinder, Bhattal challenged to contest from Majha, Doaba

WHY MAJHA, DOABA PUNISHED THE CONG IN FEB '07? ASK SAD LEADERS

Chandigarh October 17, 2008

Three senior Punjab Ministers today asked the Congress to explain to the people why the party was wiped out in the last assembly elections in the Majha and Doaba belts if "it had done even a bit of what it claimed for the development of these two regions.

"In February 2007 assembly elections, the people of Majha and Doaba punished the Congress with history's worst ever drubbing since independence. This was the people's revenge against a party that had consistently and systematically subjected these two regions to utter neglect. And this was despite the fact that leaders like Partap Singh Bajwa had projected themselves not only as powerful ministers in the government but even as the prospective Chief Ministers," said the Punjab Ministers, Mr. Bikram Singh Majithia, Mr. Ajit Singh Kohar and Mr. Gulzar Singh Ranike in a joint statement here this evening.

"If Amarinder or Bhattal are really so sure about their what their government did for Majha or Doaba, they should show moral and political courage to come and face the electorate here in the forthcoming elections. Let them go to the people and point out even a single major project they have given to Majha and Doaba,", challenged the ministers.

Describing the allegations of being made by the Congress leaders against the SAD-BJP performance in Majha and Doaba as "laughable and inane" the ministers said that so strong is the anger against the Congress in these two regions that even their Chief Ministerial hopefuls like Mr. Avtar Henry, their present State chief Mr. M.S. Kaypee apart from all their so-called strongmen of Majha were made to lick the dust by the people of these regions in the 2007 poll. It was evident that Congress had virtually written itself off even before the elections and that is why it came up with a sinister communal move in the Malwa belt, they said.

The ministers challenged the Congress party to make the relative development in the two regions under the Congress and SAD regimes as a poll plank in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. They said that although there was no scope even of a reasonable comparison between the performance of the SAD-BJP govt on the one hand and the Congress government on the other, some basic facts would be enough to establish the truth. For example, they said, while the Congress government spent Rs. 229 crores on the repair of link roads in Doaba in five years, the SAD-BJP govt has already spent 266 crore in just 18 months. Similarly, in the Majha belt, the Congress spent just Rs. 254 crore for the same purpose in five years, the SAD-BJP govt has already spent Rs. 277 crore in 18 months. The Congress did nothing even to add a single unit of power through any project, the Badal govt is starting work on Goindwal Sahib thermal plant to produce nearly 600 MWs. The Congress Govt. did nothing for the Amritsar International Airport which was set up and expanded under separate Akali governments. They built just one ROB in the two regions in five years while the present government has already started work on eight Railway Over Bridges (ROBs), five of these in Majha alone. "For urban development in Amritsar and Ludhiana , we got Rs. 3150 cr and Rs. 2053 cr approved respectively. What is the Congress record ? We have set up City development Authorities for Amritsar and Jalandhar. Major funds to the tune of Rs. 165 crore have been granted by CM for development of Amritsar city . What is the Congress record in this regard," they asked.

The SAD ministers said that the Congress could see even now that it had no agenda to put before the people of the state and had therefore thought of this fantastic "divide and rule" ploy by talking of different regions in the state.

The SAD leaders pointed out that frustration was building up in the rank and file of the congress due to the pro-people development initiatives taken by Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal to put Punjab on the fast growth trajectory. The fact of the matter is that the Congress neglected Majha, Malwa and Doaba alike. "It well known how Amarinder Singh scuttled the Bathinda refinery to safeguard the interests of one private petro-chemical conglomerate group. The then PWD Minister Mr. Partap Singh Bajwa was single handedly responsible for the rout of the Congress party in the Majha belt because he confused Majha only with his own farm house while laying the road network," the ministers said.


CONGRESS SUFFERS FROM SUKHBIR PHOBIA: SAD
MEMO TO GUV SIGN OF POLITICAL BANKRUPTSY : DHINDSA

Chandigarh October 17, 2008

–The Shiromani Akali Dal today dismissed as 'hogwash' the Congress allegations that the SAD president Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal had any unconstitutional powers in the state.

Reacting to the Congress memorandum to the Punjab governor about the alleged 'unconstitutional authority' enjoyed by the SAD president and Member of Parliament, Senior Akali leader and the party Secretary General Mr. Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa said that the Congress was clearly suffering from a 'Sukhbir Phobia'. He said that it would have been better if the Congress leaders had gone to the governor against the inadequate bonus on paddy announced by the Union government. But their action clearly showed that they had become politically bankrupt, said the Akali leader.

In a statement here, Mr. Dhindsa said, "It is sad that the principal opposition party in the state should be so bereft of ideas and political ideology as to talk about issues such as laying of foundation stones by a Member of the Parliament. Perhaps, the Congressmen in the state are un-nerved about the popular perception about the conduct of their president Mrs. Sonia Gandhi who issues policy statement about the union government's decisions without being a member of that government. All that Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal is doing is to keep the party and the government on its toes about the commitments made to the people during the election campaign. As the president of the ruling party, it is not only his right but also his duty to do so," said Mr. Dhindsa

The Akali leader said that it is natural for a Member of Parliament to be invited to public functions. He said that the Congress is really losing its sleep over Sukhbir's presence as the SAD president enjoyed massive state-wide popularity. "It is really amazing that the some people have no time to talk about the issues pertaining to the people and dissipated all their energy in personal attacks on the SAD president. "Why ahs the Congress not broken its silence on the injustice being done to the farmers or on the serious economic crisis that the policies of the central government has pushed the country into? He asked.


Punjab Police has chalked out a plan to settle maximum number of pending cases

Chandigarh, October 17, 2008

The Punjab Police has chalked out a plan to settle maximum number of pending cases of compoundable nature as well as of petty crimes under trial in various courts during coming mega Lok Adalat proposed to be held on December 21 & 22 through out the state.

Presiding over a high level meeting here convened by the Crime Wing of the state police to draw strategy for disposal of maximum such cases, the Punjab DGP Sh.N.P.S. Aulakh directed the Superintendents of Police (Detective) of all the districts to make a detailed list of cases of compoundable nature as per the provisions in section 320 of Criminal Procedure Code (Cr. P.C), minor offences, traffic violation challans and other crimes which they deem fit for settling in the Lok Adalat in two weeks and fixed another meeting on October 30 to discuss and sort out the problems being faced by them.

He directed the police officers to call on District & Sessions Judges to do meticulous planning for the mega Lok Adalat and similarly convene meeting of SHOs and Investigation officers to issue necessary directions for required preparations.

The police chief asked the field officers about various heinous crimes taken place in their respective areas and also sought status report on such cases in a week.

Earlier Sh. J.P. Birdi, ADGP/Crime explained the field officers about the procedure to be followed for taking above mentioned cases in the proposed Lok Adalat.


BADAL ORDERS RE-VERIFICATION OF ATTA-DAL SCHEME BENEFICIARIES
LAUNCHES 137.43 CRORE GHAGGAR PROJECT

KHANURI (SANGRUR) OCTOBER 17, 2008

Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today ordered the re-verification of beneficiaries of the 'Atta-Dal' scheme to weed out the bogus and fake beneficiaries and register the genuine ones who were left out in the previous survey.

Addressing a mammoth gathering at a public rally here after launching the Rs.137.43 crore project of construction of embankments and widening of river Ghaggar, Mr. Badal said that fresh survey would be conducted soon with the underlying objective of the Atta-Dal scheme to cater the needs of economically poor families and it was shameful that few well off people were availing of this scheme by registering themselves at the time of survey.

The Chief Minister further said that with the commencement of the work on the taming of river Ghaggar, the long cherished dream of people over last 60 years had been fulfilled. He pointed out that the entire project would entail a total expenditure of Rs.217 crore, of which Rs.137.43 crore would be spent on the first phase of 22 KMs from Khanauri of Makraur Sahib and 18 KMs under second phase from Makraru Sahib to Karail. Apart from this the discharge capacity of Bhakhra Main Line passing through this area would also be enhanced from 14000 cusecs to 25000 cusecs. As many as 44 villages covering an area of 60000 acres would be benefited under this project.

The Chief Minister categorically said that the SAD-BJP government was committed to ensure overall development and welfare of all sections of the society in the state without any sort of discrimination or prejudice. He lambasted at the Congress especially the former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, his wife Member Parliament from Patiala Parneet Kaur and former Deputy Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal for the gross neglect of the development of this region. He said that Amarinder Singh laid down the foundation stone of this project at the fake end of his tenure along with Mrs.Bhattal just to woo the voters without preparing any blue print and making provision for the funds. He said; "I have asked my ministers not to lay any foundation stone without obtaining prior sanction of funds and finalization of bidding process for the execution of development projects. Even I also never lay any foundation stone before verifying all these facts because such actions taken in haste not only bring disgrace to the government but also play havoc with the sentiments of the people".

Taking a strong exception to the callous attitude of the Centre for adopting discriminatory approach towards Punjab farmers, Mr. Badal said: "It is for the first time in the history of agriculture economy that the Centre had fixed the MSP of paddy below the recommendations of Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices (CACP). The Centre's apathy against farmers was evident from the fact when it fixed Rs.850 per quintal as MSP for paddy, which was even much below Rs.1000/- per quintal recommended by CACP. Mr. Badal also rued Centre's recent decision to announce a meager bonus of Rs.50 per quintal on paddy and termed it as a criminal joke with the farmers. He demanded the Centre should had at least announced a bonus of Rs.300 per quintal on paddy in addition to the existing MSP of Rs.850 per quintal to compensate them for the high input costs incurred by them on diesel, fertilizers and pesticides. He said that the story of exploitation of our peasantry did not seem to end here because GoI was solely responsible for formulating economic policies with regard to agriculture by fixing the MSP and even the prices of diesel, fertilizers and pesticides are also determined by it. "In nutshell our government is merely mute spectator to the centre's apathetic attitude towards the farming community", asserted Mr. Badal.

The Chief Minister also lashed at the Congress for instigating people for disturbing peace in the state and its indulgence in
divisive politics, Mr..Badal said that the people had already realized that Congress's policy of 'divide and rule' which it had adopted not only in Centre but in the states too for pursuing its political agenda. Mr. Badal lamented that after 60 years of Independence , Congress government during its successive terms in Centre and even in Punjab had not been able to provide the basic civic amenities to the common man. He said that our government was committed for the overall development of the state and its people. He said that SAD being a party of a common man was sensitized to the problems of the people at the grass root level and was committed to serve them in the right earnest..

On the occasion, in response to the demands raised by SAD General Secretary Prof. Prem Singh Chandumajra, the Chief Minister announced Rs.21 lakh for the provision of sports kids to the 21 Youth clubs and Rs.50 lakh each for the 10 village panchayats in recognition of their outstanding services for mitigating the sufferings of the people during the recent floods. He also announced the construction of road from Khanauri to Moonak via Mandvi. He also announced that Sangatpura minor which had been shut down for the past 35 years would be restored within 4 months at a cost of Rs.1.45 crore to facilitate the farmers for canal irrigation. The Chief Minsiter also announced that he would hold a day long Sangat Darshan in the villages with the jurisdiction of Sub- Tehsil Khanauri.

Earlier, the Chief Minister also dedicated 66 KV Grid sub station at village Banarasi at the cost of Rs.3 crore.

Speaking on the occasion SAD Secretary General Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa said that the construction of embankments and widening of river Ghaggar would prove to be a milestone in the development of this region. He said that it was a stark reality that whenever SAD-BJP government came into power this region was immensely benefited with the development schemes; on the contrary Congress blatantly ignored it.

In his address, Irrigation Minister Janmeja Singh Sekhon said that the visionary approach of Mr. Badal to focus on the key areas of power and irrigation network would certainly prove to be a boon in the field of agriculture as 70% of our population was engaged in this vocation.

In his welcome address General Secretary SAD Prof. Prem Singh Chandumajra said that our party promised to the people during last assembly elections to tame the river Ghaggar by undertaking this project which would not only save the people from the fury of floods which caused devastation to the tune of crores in the region. He said that SAD-BJP government was committed to percolate the fruits of development at the grass root levels across all sections of the society.

Prominent amongst others who were present on the occasion included PWD (B&R) Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa, Media Advisor Harcharan Bains, District President SAD Sangrur Raghbir Singh, District President BJP Sangrur Jatinder Kalra besides the senior leaders and party workers of SAD-BJP and members of SGPC


AGENCIES PROCUREMENT SHARE SURPASS 90%

Chandigarh, October 17, 2008

Six government agencies stepped up procurement of paddy in Punjab procuring 90.9% of paddy till date whereas share of private millers declined to 9.9% as paddy procurement crossed 50 lac tonnes mark in Punjab.

An official spokesman today said that PUNGRAIN procured 12, 11,745 tonnes of paddy (26.6%) whereas MARKFED procured 10, 54,787 tonnes of paddy (23.1%). PUNSUP procured 10, 58,837 tonnes of paddy (23.2%) whereas Punjab State Warehousing Corporation procured 6, 09,419 tonnes of paddy (13.4%) besides 5,66,948 tonnes of paddy (12.4%) procured by Punjab Agro. The Central Government Agency FCI procured only 58,347 tonnes of paddy (1.3%). The Millers procured 4, 99,953 tonnes of paddy (9.9 %) by Thursday.

The mandis in Amritsar Division recorded 16, 16,987 tonnes of paddy with Jalandhar recording maximum paddy by Thursday to the tune of 3, 87,000 tonnes. The mandis of Ferozepur division maintained their lead by recording 25, 01,020 tonnes of paddy with maximum of 9, 29,492 tonnes of paddy being recorded by Ferozepur district.

Six government agencies have paid over Rs. 2982.81 crores for paddy procured by agencies during first 16 days of current Kharif Marketing Season. The spokesman said that farmers of the State are being made payment of paddy procured by the government agencies within 48 hours of lifting of paddy from the procurement centres.

The Punjab Food Supply had setup 1622 procurement centres throughout the state to ensure smooth procurement of paddy.

 

 

 

Daily Punjab press release