UPINDERJIT KAUR EXTENDS GREETINGS ON PARKASH UTSAV OF GURU RAVI
DASS JI
Chandigarh February 8, 2009
The Punjab Education Minister Dr. Upinderjit Kaur while extending
greetings on the eve of Parkash Utsav of Guru Ravi Dass Ji, called
upon the people to make our disadvantaged sections equal partners
in social transformation, to help create a classless society,
as dreamt of by the great spiritual master.
In a message, she recalled Guru Ravi Dass Ji struggle against
inequality spread in society and urged the people to take inspiration
from his life, teachings and philosophy to rededicate ourselves
for the building of a more tolerant society, universal brotherhood,
and oneness of mankind. His sacred Bani in Sri Guru Granth Sahib
is relevant for all times and shows the people the path for leading
a virtuous, noble and purposeful life, She said.
She called upon the people that the real tribute to the revered
saint would be to carry forward his legacy to the present and
future generations and collectively celebrate this occasion, rising
above narrow considerations of caste and creed.
The Minister added that various programmes for the empowerment
and educational uplift of poor and downtrodden have been incorporated
by the State Government in their plans and policies and the need
is to effectively implement them to ensure their benefits reach
vulnerable sections of society.
Continuous Sri Akhand Path
Sahib to "pray for speedy recovery of former Prime Minister
Atal Bihari Vajpayee,
CHANDIGARH FEB 8
Continuous recitation of Sri Guru Granth Sahib (Sri Akhand Path
Sahib) commenced simultaneously this morning at Sri Akal Takhat
Sahib (Sri Amritsar Sahib), Takhat Sri Kesgarh Sahib (Sri Anandpur
Sahib), and Takht Sri Damdama Sahib (Bathinda) to "pray for
speedy recovery of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee,
now undergoing treatment at AIIMS, New Delhi. The recitations
have been started at the request of the Punjab Chief Minister
Mr. Parkash Singh Badal
In a statement here, Mr. Badal said that despite his act of
prayers being in his personal capacity, this represented the collective
best wishes of all Punjabis, regardless of their political persuasions.
Similar Akhand Paths have also been started in almost all the
major cities and towns of Punjab following Mr. Badal's request
to Singh Sabhas and other religious bodies to arrange similar
continuous recitation of Shri Guru Granth Sahib in their respective
areas.
Mr. Badal had earlier offered similar prayers for the speedy
recovery of Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh when the latter
underwent heart surgery in last week of January.
PUNJAB CM GREETS PEOPLE ON THE PARKASH UTSAV OF
SRI GURU RAVIDAS JI
CHANDIGARH FEBRUARY 8, 2008
Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today felicitated
the people of the State on the 'Parkash Utsav' of Sri Guru Ravidas
ji- a great spiritual ambassador and messiah of the poor and unprivileged
sections of the society.
In a message, Mr. Badal said that Sri Guru Ravidas ji preached
the gospels of love, compassion, mutual tolerance, universal brotherhood
and oneness of mankind through his life and philosophy. He said
that Sri Guru Ravidas made concerted efforts for bringing social
equality thereby eradicating the evils of casteism from the society.
His significant contribution towards carving out the casteless
and classless society would ever be remembered by one and all.
Mr. Badal further said that Sri Guru Ravidas ji propagated the
values of humanism through his teachings, which were still relevant
in the materialistic world. He appealed to the people to follow
the path shown by the great Guru and exhorted them to make endeavour
to ameliorate the lot of poor and downtrodden thereby bridging
the gap between have and havenots for the creation of an egalitarian
society- the ultimate goal cherished by Guru ji.
The Chief Minister appealed the people to celebrate the 'Parkash
Utsav' of Guru ji collectively rising above the parochial considerations
of caste, creed, colour and religion.
Punjab Government to soon announce a comprehensive
plan for the development of Kandi and sub-mountainous areas –Badal
Balachour/Sri Anandpur Sahib/Nangal (Rupnagar) February 7 :-
Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today announced
that the state government would soon unveil a comprehensive plan
for the development of Kandi areas in Hoshiarpur and Shaheed Bhagat
Singh Nagar (Nawanshahar) and Sub-Mountainous areas in Sri Anandpur
Sahib and its adjoining areas in Ropar districts to ensure equitable
growth of these economically backward areas at par with the developed
areas of the state.
Addressing a series of massive public rallies at Balachour, Sri
Anandpur Sahib and Nangal, Mr. Badal assured the people that the
SAD-BJP government was committed to develop every part of the
state regardless of the geographical boundaries. He said that
the state government was fully seized of the problems of the Kandi
and Sub-Mountainous areas and also assured that the government
would soon come out with a permanent solution to the hardships
faced by the residents of these areas relating to the implementation
of the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA).
He said he was in constant touch with Government of India to relax
this act so that the people already in economic distress could
earn their livelihood comfortably through optimally utilizing
the potential of the land for which they were not permitted now,
as per the restrictions imposed by the law.
On the occasion, the Chief Minister called upon the people of
Punjab to show the door to the Congress led UPA government in
order to pave a way for the BJP led National Democratic Alliance
government at Centre for seeking justice and equality for every
citizen in the country. He said that all the long pending demands
of the Punjab related to Agriculture, Industry, Trade, Economic
and other sectors, which had been blatantly ignored by the Congress
for its apathetic attitude towards the state, would be fulfilled
by their next NDA Government in the Centre.
He further blamed 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. He cited
the example how Punjab was completely ignored in the Centre's
debt waiver scheme of Rs.71000 crore where it could managed to
get just 1% and likewise hardly 1% was allotted to the state out
of Central grant of Rs.3125 crore earmarked for the development
of agriculture in all the states despite our significant contributions
of 60% of food grain in the national pool. On agriculture front,
Mr. Badal pleaded that states should not beg for remunerative
MSP for the crops rather Centre should evolve a permanent solution
either linking it with the consumer price index or MSP should
be equal to the cost of production plus 50% as recommended by
an eminent farm economist Dr.MS Swaminathan. He said that agriculture
was no more a profitable occupation due to the negligible returns
on it due to non remunerative and stagnant minimum support price
(MSP) for which Centre had always adopted a negative attitude.
He said that our farmers even after exhausting all its natural
resources in terms of ground water and soil texture had contributed
significantly towards the national food pool but what we got in
return except penury, humiliation and depression, which had forced
our farmers to end their lives by committing suicide.
Lashing 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 has adopted not only in Centre
but in the states too pursue its political agenda. Mr.Badal lamented
that after 60 years of freedom, 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 poor and lower strata of the society had been completely
ignored by the Congress because it was least concerned about their
welfare. 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 sensitized to the problems of the people
at the grass root level was committed to serve them in the right
earnest.
Mr. Badal further unfolded the saga of overall development in
the state adding whenever SAD-BJP government came to power in
the state it brought many prestigious projects like Rs.18000 crore
Bathinda Refinery, International Airport at Amritsar and now another
international Airport at Mohali. Not only this, our government
also introduced for the first time in the country the schemes
like old age pension, shagun schemes besides free power in the
farm sector and abolition of Abiayana and land revenue. Likewise
SAD-BJP government was also first to initiate the scheme to provide
Atta & Dal at subsidized rates to the economically poor families.
In the education sector we also took a lead in setting up Adarsh
Schools in the all the blocks at a cost of Rs.400 crore to provide
quality education to the intelligent and poor nearly 2 lakh students.
On the power front SAD-BJP alliance made strides to make Punjab
self reliant in power by setting up of four mega thermal plants
at Talwandi Sabo, Goindwal Sahib, Rajpura and Gidderbaha to generate
an additional power capacity of 6700 MW during next three years.
On the occasion, Mr. Badal disbursed cheques of development
grants worth Rs.9.09 crore out of which Rs.1.79 crore for Villages
of Balachaur, Rs. one crore for Nagar Council Balachaur, Rs. 2.54
crore for the villages of Sri Anandpur Sahib, Rs. one crore for
Municipal Council of Sri Anandpur Sahib, Rs. 2.76 crore for the
villages of Nangal for the execution of various development programmes
and schemes in the urban as well as rural sector. Mr.Badal also
flagged off new sewerage treatment van first of its own kind at
Sri Anandpur Sahib. At Balachour, the Chief Minister announced
that the project of Kandi canal which was initiated by SAD-BJP
government during its last regime, from Talwara to Balachour would
be completed by all means. He also announced to set up a degree
college at Balachour.
In his address Dr. Daljit singh Cheema Advisor to the Chief
Minister said that the remarkable progress made by SAD-BJP government
in just 2 years had resulted frustration amongst the congress
party. He also thanked Mr. Badal for reposing faith in him and
hoped he would come to the expectations of the people in the forthcoming
Lok Sabha polls and solicited people's whole hearted support and
cooperation to translate their dreams into reality. He lashed
at the congress woman aspirant for Sri Anandpur Sahib Lok Sabha
seat for unwarranted criticism of Mr. Badal for disbursing grants
for the rural and urban development, he said ,"It is useless
to rake up this controversy because Congress during its regime
never bothered to meet people to redress their grievances while
our our government reaches to the people at their doorsteps to
hand over the cheques of development grants to instill confidence
amongst them to ensure their participation in the development
process". He asserted that the Congress should not critize
us rather appreciate this benevolent gesture.
Prominent amongst others who were spoke on the present on the
occasion included Member Parliament Mr. Avinash Rai Khanna, Sant
Baba Ajit Singh, Chaudhary Mohan Lal, Charanjit Singh Channi (All
MLAs), Chief Parliamentary Secretary chaudhary Nand Lal, Ex. Minister
Madan Mohan Mittal and S.G.P.C. Member Gurinder Singh Gogi. These
Public rallies were largely attended by the senior party leaders
and party workers of SAD-BJP besides the members of SGPC.
Guru Ravidas's teachings were of great importance to
attain social, mental and spiritual harmony-Sukhbir
Jalandhar, 7 February, 2009
Shiromani Akali Dal President, Deputy Chief Minister Punjab, Sukhbir
Singh Badal while participating in 'Shobha Yatra' taken out here
today to mark 632nd birth anniversary of Guru Ravidas greeted
the people of state and extend to them his good wishes. He said
that the teachings of Guru Ravidas were of great importance in
today world to attain social, mental and spiritual harmony. Mr.
Badal said that Guru Ravidass was a great saint, social activist
and philosopher. He said that Guru Ravidas led a life of faith
and devotion and we should follow his teachings to get rid of
sins. "Guru Ravidas's life was dedicated to the cause of
the poor, irrespective of caste, creed and religion. We should
follow their teachings to create a humane and just society. Especially,
there is the need of hour that our youngsters should have attachment
with religious teaching and drop sins like drugs and follow the
path of development", says Sukhbir Singh Badal.
Mr. Badal told that state government is trying its best for
the welfare of underprivileged following the teachings of great
Gurus like Guru Ravidas. He said that schemes like Shagun Scheme,
Atta-Dal, Pension etc. were part of it besides SAD-BJP government
is focusing on overall development of state. Among others Revenue
and Rehabilitation Minister Ajit Singh Kohar, Technical Education
Minister Chaudhary Swarna Ram, MLA Avinash Chander, Jagbir Singh
Brar, SAD Candidate for Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat Hans Raj Hans
and Chairman Schedule Caste & Land development Board Pawan
Tinu participated along with Mr. Badal in Shobha Yatra, which
was started from Guru Ravidas Chowk.
Later Mr. Badal also participated in Shobha Yatras at Phagwara
and Ludhiana.
PUNJAB CM OFFERS SRI AKHAND PATH SAHIB FOR SPEEDY
RECOVEREY OF FORMER PM MR. ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE
CHANDIGARH February 6, 2009
Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal said
here today that the continuance recitation of Sri Guru Granth
Sahib (Sri Akhand Path Sahib) would start simultaneously tomorrow
morning at Takht Sri Akal Takht Sahib (Sri Amritsar Sahib), Takht
Sri Kesgarh Sahib (Sri Anandpur Sahib), Takht Sri Damdama Sahib
(Bathinda) to "pray the Almighty for speedy recovery of former
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee now undergoing treatment at
AIIMS, New Delhi.
Mr. Badal said he was turning to the Almighty to
seek His Blessing for Mr.Vajpayee's health. He said that although
he was organising Akhand Paths in his personal capacity, this
gesture would represent the sentiments and prayers of all the
Punjabis. Meanwhile the Chief Minister has also appealed to Singh
Sabhas and other religious bodies to arrange similar continuous
recitation of Sri Guru Granth Sahib in their respective areas.
It may be recalled that Mr. Badal had earlier turned to Sri Guru
Granth Sahib for speedy recovery of Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan
Singh when he later underwent heart surgery in last week of January.
GOVERNMENT PROMOTES 22 APROS'
Chandigarh February 7, 2009
The Assistant Public Relations Officers Association Punjab places
on record its deep sense of gratefulness to the visionary and
dynamic young leader and deputy Chief Minister S. Sukhbir Singh
Badal who on taking over the charge of the department felt the
urgency to end the stagnation of particularly the assistant public
relations officers at the Headquarters as well as the districts
and ordered to promote as many as 22 Assistant Public Relations
Officers at a one go.
The President of the Association Shikha Nehra said that it was
amazing that a key department which acts as a vital link between
the government and the people kept its officers in a state of
callous neglect and complete indifference.
The Association expressed special thanks to the Principal Secretary
Mr. D.S.Guru and the Director Mr. Gagandeep Singh Brar for taking
immediate action to streamline the functioning of the department
in accordance with the desires of S. Sukhbir Singh Badal.
On behalf of the Association, the President Shikha Nehra together
with the Vice President S. Sukhdev Singh Randhawa, General Secretary
S. Satnam Singh Chhina and other Executive Members held out an
assurance to the Government that now after their long standing
grievance had been addressed they would work with still greater
determination and involvement in carrying forward the policies
and programmes of the Punjab Government.
