PADDY MSP; SHOCKING INSENSITIVITY TO FARMERS PLIGHT; CM
SUKHBIR TOO TAKE UP ISSUE WITH PM

Chandigarh August 20, 2009

The Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today described the meager increase in the Paddy Minimum Support Price (MSP) announced by the Center as cruel play of shocking insensitivity of the Center towards the plight of the beleaguered farmers of the country, particularly those of Punjab.

In a statement here, Mr. Badal said that the Center's decision was all the more shocking in view of the prevailing drought conditions which had put a back –breaking burden on the farmers. He said that the investment of the farmers on paddy this season was atleast 200 percent more than in a normal year. In view of this the Center should have announced a liberal hike in the paddy MSP. Meanwhile, the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal asked the Center to review this decision immediately. He described the Center's announcement as a bullet from the blue for the poor and suffering farmers of the state. The Deputy Chief Minister said that he would take up this matter with the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh at a personal level.

The Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal said here today that the Congress led government at the Centre was again plotting to weaken the Sikh institutions, divide the community and play with the hard earned peace in Punjab.
Talking to media persons after the 24th martyrdom anniversary of Sant Harchand Singh Longowal here, Mr. Badal appealed to the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to intervene to ensure that the Congress move to bring back the dark days in Punjab were foiled. He said that the issue was extremely sensitive and certain elements within the Congress were trying to use the rejected and frustrated segment of some politicians in Punjab to whip up passions over the issue of setting up of a separate Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee in Haryana. He said that it was unfortunate that this move had the active backing of the Haryana Chief Minister Mr. Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

The Chief Minister said that the demand for a separate Gurdwara panel for Haryana was not being raised by the Haryana Sikhs as they had voted over whelming in favour of SAD in the local Gurdwara elections, giving us sixteen of the nineteen Committees.

After paying floral tributes to Sant Harchand Singh Longowal during a state level shaheedi conference on his 24th martyrdom anniversary, Mr. Badal called upon the people of Punjab to join hands with SAD-BJP government to strengthen the unity and integrity in the state as propagated by Sant Harchand Singh Longowal who scarified his life for this noble cause. He said that it was Sant Longowal ji under whose leadership the biggest ever Morcha in history of India was launched against the imposition of emergency in the country.

Holding Congress party responsible for the assassination of Sant ji, Mr. Badal said that Congress ruled Centre had betrayed Sant Harchand Singh- a great national leader who laid down his life for the sake of Punjab, Punjabi and Punjabiat. Mr. Badal said that setting up of continuous pace of overall development and progress in the state and successfully maintaining peace and harmony amongst all the religious sects would be our real tribute to the great Martyr. Mr. Badal cautioned the people not to believe those who were playing in the hands of Congress to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere in the state. Mr. Badal said "our beloved leader had seen a dream of united and strong Punjab. It will be a bounden duty on our part to thwart the anti-national forces that were bent upon destabilizing our society by political machinations such as the Congress move to form separate gurdwara panel in Haryana. He reiterated that the ties between SAD and BJP as alliance partners were perfectly cordial and alliance would ever remain intact.

The saga of discrimination by Centre against Punjab had not yet come to an end. Recently the farmers of the state had to bear exceptionally high costs on irrigation to save their agricultural crops especially the paddy due to severe drought like conditions for which we had been demanding a substantial hike in the MSP of paddy from Centre on one hand and a comprehensive package of Rs.2000 per acre as a relief to the hapless farmers to compensate them for heavy consumption of diesel for irrigating their crops.

Showing deep concern over the suicides committed by farmers who were in debt trap, Mr. Badal asked the Centre to bail out our distressed farming community out of vicious circle of debt by announcing a liberal financial package. He said that the reason for mounting debt on the farming community was only due to his firm commitment and sincerity to make India self reliant in the food production and Centre should come to their rescue.

Realizing the historic importance of village Longowal and the native village of Sant Ji ‘Giddariani’, the Chief Minister announced a development plan for the facilities of drinking water, sewerage and road network etc. He said that there would not limit of funds for the completion of these projects and asked Mr. Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa to follow up.
Earlier addressing a huge gathering at the anniversary function, the SAD President & Deputy Chief Minister Punjab Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal paid rich tributes to Sant Harchand Singh Longowal - an apostle of peace and communal harmony. He said that the Shiromani Akali Dal was a party of martyrs who made supreme sacrifices for the welfare (chardhikala) of the Sikh Panth. He said that it was obligatory on each of us to commemorate the birth and death anniversaries of such great martyrs and valiant leaders.

Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal demanded a comprehensive package for the beleaguered peasantry in the country especially in Punjab. He said that the package should include 300 MWs of free power for the farm sector during the paddy season in the state. He also demanded Rs.5000 per acre for the land across the border fence. He said that the farmers of the state had to spend an additional Rs. 375 crore on diesel alone to fight the drought. He said that this amount should be reimbursed by the Centre as this was an investment on ensuring food security for the country.
Ridiculing the Congress for apathetic attitude towards Punjab, the Deputy Chief Minister said that it was always the SAD-BJP Members of Parliament who raised the issues relating to the discrimination and excesses done to Punjab, on the contrary the Congress MPs never raised a voice against such issues be it related to agriculture, industry, power, irrigation, MSP and supply of fertilizers etc.

Outlining the major development initiatives taken by the SAD-BJP Government, the Deputy Chief Minister said that we had implemented the scheme of Atta-Dal, Shagun Scheme besides strengthening infrastructure in the state. Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal said that the Punjab Government has decided to ensure over all development in the state with sharp focus on making Punjab self-reliant in power by setting up four thermal plants, bringing administrative reforms, creating quality infrastructure in the form of expressways and four International Airports, rejuvenating the century old irrigation system and quality education. The Deputy Chief Minister said that our government has initiated a novel programme of Rs. 1280 crore to provide drinking water facility and to combat the menace of cancer effectively in the Malwa area, 5000 affected villages would be provided potable water through RO system and ultra filtration system within next two years.

He reiterated his firm resolves to implement Administrative Reforms within next six months order to save the common man from undue harassment in day-to-day dealings at the hands of official machinery. These reforms would aim at setting up of Suvidha Centers for a clusters of every six village in the state that would provide 24 services including driving license, arms license, vehicle registration, birth and death certificates attestation, transfer of property and copy of mutation under one roof. He said that these administrative reforms were meant to weed out corruption from public life, ensuring transparency in the Governance and making the life of common citizens easy.

Paying homage to the Sant ji, who laid down his life for the sake of Punjabiat, President Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee Mr. Avtar Singh Makar called upon the people to follow the rich legacy of universal brotherhood, national integration and communal harmony as propagated by Sant Longowal. Blaming the Centre for its ill-conceived move to form a separate Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee to manage the Sikh Shrines in Haryana, he categorically said that Sikh community has formed SGPC to manage its religious affairs after making innumerable sacrifices and would not tolerate such anti-Sikh decisions.

The President of the Punjab State BJP Unit, Prof. Rajinder Bhandari said that the unprecedented sacrifice of Sant Longowal would ever inspire the younger generations to nurture a spirit of patriotism and nationalism amongst the future generations. He decried the secessionist forces that were responsible for the martyrdom of Sant and urged the people to condemn these anti-national elements that were bent upon to disintegrate our great nation.

In his address, former Member Parliament from Sangrur and Secretary General SAD Mr. Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa said that the unparalleled sacrifice made by Sant Longowal for the value based principles reflected his ideology that ultimately changed the destiny of Punjab and Sant Longowal’s dream to see Punjab as a front-runner state would be translated into reality by SAD-BJP alliance through its concerted efforts.

Prominent amongst others who spoke on the occasion included Transport Minister Master Mohan Lal, Mr. Raj Khurana Chief Parliamentary Secretary Mr. Balwinder Singh Bhunder and Prof. Prem Singh Chandumajra (both SAD General Secretaries), Senior Vice President Gurdev Singh Badal, former SGPC President Prof.Kirpal Singh Badunger, Member PAC and Former Minister Gobind Singh Longowal, MLA Dhuri Iqbal Singh Jhunda, besides senior leaders and party workers SAD-BJP and members of SGPC.

CHAIRMEN, VICE CHAIRMEN & MEMBERS OF SAHNEWAL, MEHTA AND MALAUD MARKET COMMITTEES NOMINATED

CHANDIGARH AUGUST 20, 2009

The Punjab Government has today nominated Mr. Jagroop Singh as the Chairman, Mr. Harpreet Singh Sandhu as Vice Chairman and 14 other members of the Market Committee Sahnewal (Ludhiana).

Disclosing this here today a spokesman of the Chief Minister’s Office said that Mr. Sukhwinder Singh Goldi and Mr. Harjinder Singh had been nominated as Chairman and Vice Chairman respectively of the Market Committee, Mehta (Amaritsar). He futher informed that Mr. Amarjit Singh had been nominated as Vice Chairman of Market Committee, Malaud (Ludhiana). All the Chairmen and Vice Chairmen had been nominated under Sub Section (1) of Section 16 of Punjab Agricultural Produce Markets Act, 1961.

Meanwhile, the Punjab government under Section 12 of Punjab Agriculture Produce Markets Act, 1961( Punjab Act No.23 of 1961) had nominated 14 members of the Market Committee of Sahnewal (Ludhiana) which included Mr. Jasbir Singh, Mr. Sukhwinder Singh, Mr.Jaswant Singh, Mr.Dilbag Singh Guddu , Mr.,Satpal Singh, Mr.Satwinder Singh Billu, Mr. Sukhdev Singh, Mr. Gurmit Singh, Mrs. Sarabjit Kaur, Mr. Harinder Singh Lakhowal, Mr. Pal Singh Sandhu, Mr. Daljit Singh Atwal, Mr. Karamjit Singh and Mr. Balraj Singh as members.

The 10 members nominated for Market Committee Mehta (Amritsar) included Mr. Partap Singh, Mr. Bachittar Singh, Mr. Hardial Singh, Mr. Rajbir Singh, Mrs. Surjit Kaur, Mr. Kultaran Singh, Mr. Surinder Singh, Mr. Joginder Masih, Mr. Iqbal Singh and Mr. Arjan Singh.
The respective notifications relating to these nominations had already been issued by the State Agriculture department.

CM ANNOUNCES TO SET UP A COMMISSION FOR THE PROTECTION OF COWS AND BULLS IN THE STATE PUNJAB TO AMEND THE PUNJAB PROHIBITION OF COWS SLAUGHTER ACT,1955

Chandigarh August 20, 2009

The Punjab Government will soon set up a Commission for the protection of Cows and Bulls in the state.
An announcement to this effect has been made by the Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal at a high level meeting with a deputation of ‘Gowvansh Vikas Parkoshat’ (Cow Development Cell) of BJP led by Medical Education & Research and Forest Minister Mr. Tikshan Sood. Expressing deep concern over the cases of smuggling and slaughtering of cows, Mr. Badal directed the Police and Animal Husbandry Departments to keep strict vigil over the illegal smuggling and slaughtering of cows and conduct surprise checking of the animal slaughter factories. On the demand of the deputation the Chief Minister directed the Chief Secretary to chalk out the modalities regarding the amendment in ‘the Punjab Prohibition of Cows slaughter act, 1955’ thereby making it more strict and effective. He also assured them that no new slaughter factory would be allowed to set up in the state.

Mr. Badal also announced that a laboratory with the facility of testing of animal flesh would be established in the state. He asked the Animal Husbandry Department to conduct a survey on stray cows so that a concrete plan for the construction of some big shelters (Gowshalas) by involving social and religious organizations could be made possible.
The members of the deputation of ‘Gowvansh Vikas Parkoshat’ included Mr. Radhey Shyam Gupt All India President, Mr. Jai Parkash Garg, All India Vice President, Mr. Kimti Bhagat State Convener, Mr. Raj Kumar Bhalla Legal Adviser, Mr. Rajesh Bagga, Mr. Sumesh Sharma, Mr. Rajesh Kumar and Mr. Swarn Singh all members.

On this occasion Chief Secretary Punjab Mr. S.C. Aggarwal, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Mr. D.S. Guru, Principal Secretary Home Mr. A.R. Talwar, Principal Secretary Animal Husbandry Mr. G.S. Sandhu and Director General of Police Mr. P.S. Gill were also present.

RISING INCIDENTS OF CANCER IN MALWA ALL 'AFFECTED' PUNJAB VILLAGES ALL SET TO GET ULTRA FILTERED POTABLE WATER WITHIN 21 MONTHS – SUKHBIR

Chandigarh, August 20, 2009

All 'difficult' villages of Ferozepur, Bathinda, Faridkot, Mansa, Mukatsar districts and a definite stretch of Majha region having the problem of salinity in ground water are all set to have Reverse Osmosis (RO) or ultra filtration plants within 21 months to provide ultra clean potable water to every villagers.

Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister has issued instructions to this effect to solve the age old problem of this region using latest scientific technology. Presiding over the review meeting of Water Supply and Sanitation Department, Mr. Badal asked Secretary, Water Supply to co-ordinate with Health Department and form a multidisciplinary high level committee to examine the quality of water in these areas and find if there was any linkage of rising incidents of Cancer with the quality of ground water in this region.

Reiterating the determination of SAD-BJP government to ensure safe potable water supply to all 12000 villages of Punjab, Mr. Badal said that besides covering all villages under Rs. 1280 Crores World Bank Scheme, his commitment was to supply potable water with mineral water like quality to every village of Punjab. He said that RO system was already been working successfully in 337 villages with 80% to 99 % penetration and he was determined to cover all difficult villages within 21months.

The Deputy Chief Minister also instructed the department to conduct independent audit of implementation of RO system and ultra filtration system, to objectively and scientifically check the effectiveness of RO system, and Ultra Filtration System, its impact on eco system, if any, and its acceptability by the masses. He said that Science & Technology Department should be involved in this field survey.

It was informed in the meeting that RO System was already working successfully in 327 villages of 8 districts that has been installed at the cost of Rs. 34.82 Crores. 98 villages in district Bathinda, 78 villages in Mansa, 129 villages in district Mukatsar, 11 villages in Sangrur and 11 villages in Tarn Taran were already covered by RO system to the complete satisfaction of rural population.

Mr. Badal said that effectiveness of ultra filtration technology should also be tested by Science & Technology Department. The installation of RO System or Ultra Filtration Technology in any village should be taken according to the specific ground water problem of that particular village and suitability of technology to tackle that problem.

Prominent amongst those who were present in the meeting included Mr. Bikram Singh Majithia, MLA and former Minister; Mr. Viswajeet Khanna, Secretary, Science & Technology; Mr. P.S. Aujla, Secretary , Water Supply and Sanitation and Mr. Manvesh Singh Sidhu, Additional Secretary to Deputy Chief Minister.

PUNJAB DECLARES ACADEMIC YEAR 2009-10
AS QUALITATIVE YEAR FOR EDUCATIONAL REFORMS

Chandigarh August 20: The Punjab Education department has declared the current academic year 2009-10 as qualitative year to bring out revolutionary educational reforms in the schools in the state. Among various steps for improvement in imparting quality education, inspection teams to inspect schools at district level had also been constituted.

Stating this here on Wednesday, a spokesman of Education Department Punjab said that to spare more teaching time for the teachers during the school hours, all DEO, BEOs and schools heads had been categorically directed to depute clerks or non-teaching staff only on the accounting jobs like collection of funds and fees from the students.

Adding further he said that it would be mandatory to call parent teachers association (PTA) meeting on the last day of every month after schools hours. All students would be properly informed in advance two days before PTA meeting and parents would be provided monthly progress report cards and the daily signed. Besides students work books would be regularly checked by the class teachers and school heads, he said.

He further added that for surprise checking of schools, inspection teams had been constituted at district level comprising seven lecturers or masters from Science, Mathematics, Social Science, English, Punjabi, Hindi, and Computers faculty. These teams would inspect atleast 30 schools in every month in the district besides annual inspections and would submit their reports to the Director General School Education by 5th of every month. In case of prompt action, the teams would have to send email, fax or inform on mobile no. 92147-48087 or 99156-20856 on the very same day, he said.

New Scheme of Dairy Farming for SC's BPL Families – Ranike

Chandigarh August 20, 2009

Punjab Government has initiated a special scheme to encourage unemployed youth of Scheduled Caste living below poverty line to start their own dairy units in the State.

Disclosing this here today Mr. Gulzar Singh Ranike , Dairy Development , Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Minister Punjab said that under this scheme the State Government would provide two milch animals to each beneficiaries to start his own dairy unit. He said a loan of Rs. 60000 ( Rs. Sixty Thousand )_ from Banks would be extended to each beneficiary on easy terms. Rs. 10000 ( Rs. Ten Thousand ) would also be given as subsidy to each beneficial.

Giving more information regarding the scheme Mr. Ranike said that 1000 ( One Thousand) BPL families of scheduled caste would be covered under this scheme. To give latest new technical know-how regarding dairy farming two training workshops would also be organized in which every trainee would get Rs. 300 ( Three Hundred ) as stipend, which would be given on completion of training. He appealed to the youth of this section to come forward to avail maximum benefit from this scheme.

Rs. Four Crore under Kanya Jagriti Jyoti Scheme – Ch. Swarna Ram

Chandigarh August 20, 2009

The Punjab Government would spend Rs. 4 crore during this financial year under the Kanya Jagriti Jyoti Scheme to uplift the social status of girls and to reduce the rate school drop out.

Disclosing this here today Ch. Swarna Ram , Social Security, Women and Child Development Minister Punjab said that State Government had spent Rs. 4 crore during the year 2008-09 to benefit 8000 girls belonging to the families living Below Poverty Line in the State, whose annual income should be below Rs. 20000/- . He said the family of the beneficiary would adopt two child family norm and only two girl children of the family will be covered under this scheme.

The Minister further said an amount of Rs. 5000 was deposited with the LIC membership card in the name of the girl at the time of her birth. Under this scheme the girl would get Rs. 1200 scholarship per year for her education upto 5th class. After primary she will get Rs. 2400 upto Matric as scholarship. Remaining scholarship would be payable to the girl child on attaining the age of 18 years provided she remained unmarried till then.