Govt. Determined to make
it a power-cut free summer: Suresh Kumar
Chandigarh; February 28
The power situation in Punjab would see major improvement in
the coming summer months as the Punjab State Electricity Board
has firmed up significant tie ups with outside agencies to make
additional power available to the state during the coming months.
Stating this, the Punjab Secretary of Power and Irrigation, Mr.
Suresh Kumar said that the state government was fully alive to
the needs of the people of the state for enhanced supply of power
during the peak period and was determined to make it a a "power-cut
free summer". Mr. Kumar was reacting to some reports in a
section of the media which had quoted him as saying that power
cuts would continue in the forthcoming summer.
He said that, on the contrary, he had spoken of the government's
acute sensitivity to the need for providing a "cut-free"
summer and was fully geared up to make that possible.
Clarifying on reports that appeared in some section of the Media,
Mr. Kumar said that government is conscious of the shortage of
power and has directed Punjab State Electricity Board to make
all possible arrangements to ensure its maximum availability in
the coming summer. All these arrangements would be finalised by
the PSEB in the enxt two weeks, he said.
" We are fully geared to meet the challenge both in the long
and the short runs. While the short run recipe lies in securing
power from outside agencies, for a long term solution , unprecedented
initiatives have already been taken to more than double the generation
capacity in the state during the next few years," said Mr.
Kumar, adding that the report in a section of the press was perhaps
based on a misunderstanding of his emphasis on the current shortages.
He further said that the power sector was one of the most promising
success stories of the previous two years, with four new mega
thermal plants at various stages of maturity. "We are determined
to make Punjab a power surplus state and are well on course for
achieving our targets," said that power secretary.
Mr. Gurpreet Singh, Raju Khanna as Chairman of Punjab State Youth
Development Board
Chandigarh February 28
The Punjab Government had issued a notification appointing Mr.
Gurpreet Singh, Raju Khanna as Chairman of Punjab State Youth
Development Board and Mr. Ashwani Sharma as Vice President of
the Board. The Chairman of the Board shall have the rank of Minister
of State. The term of the Board shall be initially for a period
of three years and liable to be extended at the discretion of
the Government.
The other non-official members of the board are appointed as
Mr. Amit Singh Rathi, Mr. Tarun Chugh, Mr. Sarbjit Singh, Mr.
Vivek Moudgil, Mr. Sandeep Rinwa, Mr. Satwinder Singh, Mr. Gurpreet
Singh, Mr. Manjinder Singh Dhillon and Mr. Patwinderjit Singh
Panjrath.
SUKHBIR SINGH BADAL CONDOLES THE DEATHS
IN BARNALA BUS MISHAP
Chandigarh, February 28: Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal, Deputy Chief
Minister today expressed sorrow at the tragic loss of 11 lives
and injury to 27 commuters in Barnala bus mishap.
In a condolence message the Deputy Chief Minister prayed to
God to give peace to the departed souls and strength to bear irreparable
loss.
Meanwhile Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal also asked the Punjab Police
to submit detailed report about the mishap. He directed civil
and police administration to extend all logistic support to the
injured and families of deceased in this difficult times. He appreciated
the efforts of local people and NGOs who extended helping hand
to excavate victims from accident site.
BADAL ANNOUNCES COMPENSATION OF RS. 2
LAC FOR THE FARMERS WHO WERE FORECD TO COMMIT SUICIDES
Chandigarh, February 28
In pursuance of the SAD-BJP manifesto, the Punjab Chief Minister
Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today announced to grant a compensation
of Rs. 2 Lac each to the next of the kin of the farmers who were
driven to commit suicides in the state because of farm indebtedness.
Disclosing this here today a spokesman of the Punjab Government
said that the Chief Minister had already directed the financial
Commissioner Revenue to work out the modalities in this regard.
It may be recalled that Mr. Badal has taken this decision conscientiously
due to the Centre’s apathetic attitude towards the farming
community of the state. Mr. Badal regretted that the Government
of India just allocated 0.1 % of total amount of debt waiver of
Rs 71,000 Crores to Punjab. Mr. Badal said: “Therefore it
is the bounden duty of the state Govt. to extend financial help
to the beleaguered peasantry in this hour of crises.”
BADAL ASKS PM TO INTERVENE IN THE TURBAN
ISSUE
Chandigarh February 28 – The Punjab Chief Minister today
asked Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to intervene “personally,
effectively and immediately” to get the ban on the Sikhs’
wearing turban in France revoked.
Mr. Badal asked the Prime Minister to take up the issue at the
highest level with the French authorities as the matter “is
agitating the minds of the Sikhs and all right thinking people
all over the world.
“Considering the highly sensitive nature of the issue,
the matter was agitating the minds of the Sikhs all over the world
. In view of the sensitive nature of the matter, urgent and immediate
action was required,” said the Chief Minister.
Mr. Badal said that it was unfortunate that the Sikhs had been
facing various forms of discrimination in several countries and
the ban on turban in France was only symptomatic of this. He said
that the Centre should show greater concern over these issues.
Regretting that religious intolerance was being allowed to become
the norm in international affairs, Mr. Badal said that the ban
on wearing one’s religious symbols “militates against
the internationally accepted norms of human rights and preservation
of religious and cultural freedom. It is amazing that such a retrograde
step has been taken in a country like France which prides itself
on its liberal traditions on freedom of conscience.”
The Chief Minister said that Dr. Singh, as a Sikh himself, would
be well aware that turban “is one of the inalienable symbols
of the Sikh religion.” As such, any ban on this amounted
to crushing the right to freedom of religion and conscience.
GIVE DIESEL TO FARMERS AT 25% BELOW MARKET PRICE, BADAL
TO PM
Chandigarh February 28, 2008
The Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today asked
the Union Government to announce a one time waiver of all agriculture
loans and implement the recommendations of internationally acclaimed
farm scientist, Dr. M.S. Swaminathan on fixing Minimum Support
Price of farm products 50% above the basic costs of production.
The Chief Minister demanded that diesel being one the critical
agricultural inputs, it should be made available to the farmers
at 25% below the prevailing market price.
He also called for a comprehensive national policy on agriculture
and said that in formulating this the views of the predominantly
agricultural states should be taken and given due weightage.
In a letter to the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Mr. Badal
called for “major long term initiatives on the part of Government
of India are called for in order to provide a lasting solution
to the farm crisis.”
Releasing the contents of the letter, Chief Minister’s Media
Advisor Mr. Hardcharan Bains disclosed that Mr. Badal would raise
these and several other farm related issues with Dr. Singh at
a personal meeting as soon as the Prime Minister resumed duties.
Mr. Badal raised the issue of farm indebtedness and said, “The
issue has assumed the proportions of a grave human tragedy. Although
the problem is countrywide, its severity in Punjab is the in tensest.
Because of the serious crisis that agriculture faces, farmers
are driven to the extreme measure of suicides. The rise in the
incidence of such suicides by the farmers and farm labourers is
alarming and calls for a national response.”
Suggesting effective initiatives to fight the crisis, the Chief
Minister said that as first step all agricultural loans should
be waived as a onetime measure.
Secondly, the system of fixation of Minimum Support Price for
agriculture produce must be rationalized in the light of the recommendations
made by the, Dr. M.S. Swaminathan. According to these recommendations,
farmers should be given the basic cost of production incurred
by them, plus 50% as profit. The Chief Minister regretted that
the whole system of arriving at cost-price equation was flawed
and out of synch with the practices followed in other professions
like business, trade and industry. For example, said Mr. Badal,
the value of land, which is “the basic asset for farm operations,
is not taken into account while arriving at the final figure of
cost incurred by the farmer. Same is the case with human resource
as labour. These should be factored into the final analysis for
calculating economic in-puts. For this purpose, he said, farm
labour should be deemed as a semi-skilled human resource.
Mr. Badal also suggested the setting up of a team of agro-economic
experts to constantly update national agriculture data to enable
the government to take decisions in tune with the prevailing realities.
PUNJAB GOVT. LAUNCHES GOLDEN GRAIN/ATTA SCHEME
CHANDIGARH FEBRUARY 28, 2009
The Punjab government has launched ‘Fortified Atta’
under a prestigious scheme for the people of the state at competitive
rate with an objective to fight the menace of hidden hunger and
malnutrition. The Fortified Atta would be available in special
nitrogen filled flour bags to increase its shelf life. A decision
to this effect was taken last week.
Disclosing this here today Food & Civil Supplies Minister
Mr. Adesh Partap Singh Kairon said that this step had been taken
after the report of India having a high percentage of malnutrition
that created stir in recent study conducted by certain organizations.
Under the scheme, Mr. Kairon pointed out that the consumer in
Punjab would be able to get wheat flour at highly subsidized rate.
The attractive feature of the scheme was the flour was going to
be fortified with nutrients like iron, folic acid and would be
whole some. The fortified wheat flour would also provide health
and vitality, taste & nutrition and high fiber besides iron
and folic acid. Under the scheme, the fortification would also
help to eradicate the high percentage of iron deficiency/Anemia.
It may be recalled that as per the National Family Health Survey
Report 1999, 50% of all pregnant women and 71% of pre-school children
in the country are expected to be suffering for the major problem
of Iron Deficiency Anemia (IDA). 41% women in Punjab are Anemic
and 80% of children were found to anemic-cutting across social
strata. Prolonged IDA leads to reduced learning abilities, impaired
mental development, lower work capacity and illness.
The Minister further said that this scheme subscribed to the
issue raised by world bank in its publication “Enriching
lives” which states on benefits of fortification that probably
no other technology available offers as large an opportunity to
improve lives and accelerate development at such cost and such
a short time. This scheme would also strengthen the food processing
industry in the state especially when the country was undergoing
economic slow-down besides increasing industrial employment manifold.
BADAL CONDOLES THE DEATH OF 11 PERSONS
IN BUS TRAGEDY
Announces ex-gratia grant of Rs. 1 Lac for deceased and Rs 50
thousand for seriously injured.
Chandigarh, February 28:
Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today expressed
profound grief and sorrow over the tragic Bus accident near Barnala
which claimed the life of 11 persons and left 27 persons injured.
In a condolence message, Mr Badal prayed to the Almighty to give
strength and courage to bear irreparable loss and grant peace
to the departed souls.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister also announced an ex-gratia grant
of Rs. 1 Lac each for next of the Kin of the deceased and Rs 50
thousand for the seriously injured. He also announced that the
State Government would bear all the expenses on the treatment
of the injured.
The Chief Minister also directed the Civil and Police administration
of Barnala district to extend all possible help to the relative
of the victim in this hour of crises.
SUKHBIR SINGH BADAL CONDOLES THE DEATHS
IN BARNALA BUS MISHAP
Chandigarh, February 28
Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister
today expressed sorrow at the tragic loss of 11 lives and injury
to 27 commuters in Barnala bus mishap.
In a condolence message the Deputy Chief Minister
prayed to God to give peace to the departed souls and strength
to bear irreparable loss.
Meanwhile Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal also asked the
Punjab Police to submit detailed report about the mishap. He directed
civil and police administration to extend all logistic support
to the injured and families of deceased in this difficult times.
He appreciated the efforts of local people and NGOs who extended
helping hand to excavate victims from accident site.
