HARSIMRAT SEEKS EARLY SANCTION OF RS. 3500 CRORE CANAL REVAMP PROGRAMME

• MATTER RAISED IN LOK SABHA
• UNION MINISTER ASSURES EARLY ACTION

Member Parliament from Bathinda Parliamentary constituency Mrs. Harsimrat Kaur Badal today sought immediate sanction by Union Government of Rs. 3500 crore canal revamping and rehabilitating the canal system in Punjab to save precious water, for the sake of national food security.

Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha during question hour, Mrs. Badal pointed that 150 year old irrigation network of Punjab has virtually collapsed and over 25% irrigation water was being wasted due to seepage in broken canals. She said that water level in all the Dams have reduced considerably.

Against he normal level of six to seven thousand cubic meter, the level of Pong Dam was 3400 cubic meter. She said that Punjab has already exploited its ground water to the maximum for the sake of National Food Security and due to over exploitation of ground water, most of the blocks have been declared black zones by the Union Ministry.

She said that the ambitious programme of Rs. 3500 crore of relining and strengthening of irrigation network should not be treated as state project but a project of national importance necessary for maintaining food security of the country.

She sought an assurance from Union Water Resources Minister Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal that Union Government would take any drastic measure in a limited timeframe to support the state to sanction this project that was necessary for food security of the nation.

Accepting the grim situation of depleting ground water level in Punjab, Mr. Bansal said that there was no denying the fact that Punjab has suffered immensely and the ground water level has come down. He said that perhaps it was one of the most over exploited region in the country along with Haryana and Delhi where the water being extracted was much more.

He said that Prime Minister has included Shahpur Kandi Project of Punjab as the national project in the 14 national projects whereunder funding would be done by the government of India. He said that he was the aware of the fact that Punjab & Haryana were two states which are food kitty of the country. He said they are the food basket of the country. Therefore, all that the government of India can do in this regard would do.

Mr. Bansal replied that under ERM i.e. extension, renovation and modernization of canal system this matter was pending. He said that there are certain constrains for the release of funds from the Centre because we have one scheme at a time. One scheme that has been completed to the extent of 90%, we would treat that to be fully completed scheme to enable the state to include another scheme in the project.

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GOVT. TO SPEND RS. 425 CRORE DURING CURRENT FISCAL ON EDUCATION – BADAL

BADAL (MUKTSAR) APRIL 21:

The Punjab government would spend Rs.425 crore on the upgradation of educational infrastructure during the current financial year at all levels be it school, college and university in order to spearhead an educational revolution in the state. 

While addressing on the convocation function of the Dasmesh Girls College of Education here, the Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal said that the education was the core sector for the development of any state or nation.  He said that development without strong educational base would be a temporary phase which would wither away soon with the passage of time.   

He said; “To ensure overall development growth and prosperity in Punjab, our government has made concerted effort to strengthen educational infrastructure in the right earnest to focus on the human resource development”.   He called upon the academicians and educationists to come forward for the extension and growth of education at all levels.  

To give fillip to the higher education in the state, Mr. Badal said that the SAD-BJP government had taken a major initiative to strengthen the educational network at all levels of Schools, Colleges and Universities. A Central university at Bathinda, world Class University at Amritsar and Sri Guru Granth Sahib University at Fatehgarh Sahib were coming up to offer varied opportunities in the field of higher education. Apart from this 7 hi- tech government polytechnic colleges, 13 degree colleges and 21 model schools were being established. 

As many as 26000 teachers had been recruited to ensure the smooth functioning of the schools.   A knowledge city was being set up at Mohali where Indian Business School would be set up to provide state-or-the-art education in the field of management and business studies.   

Reiterating the firm commitment of SAD-BJP government to impart vocational training to the unemployed youth to enable them suitably employed not only with in the country but overseas also, Mr. Badal said that the State Government had already set up Department of Employment Generation to give sharpened focus to check the problem of unemployment in a result oriented manner and had successfully launched Skill Development programme in collaboration with renowned Bharti Wal Mart to impart training in retailing, logistics and supply chain management, L&T for  construction skills and Tata Motors for driving and Automotive skills for the youth of the state. He said that all the districts of the state would be soon covered under this unique programme in a phased manner. 

As a bold initiative to ensure gainful employment to our youth in the prestigious IITs and National Defence Academy, the Punjab government in collaboration with the Guru Nanak Dev University had opened a Center at Amritsar for preparing rural students of the state for admission to Indian Institutes of Technology from the academic session 2010-11.  Likewise, a Maharaja Ranjit Singh preparatory institute for military training at Mohali had been established to ensure the placement of our youth in the defence services. 

Mr. Badal further said that a Japanese Pharmaceutical Company Sanyko Diachi would soon provide two well equipped mobile medical vans in each districts of Muktsar, Mansa, Bathinda and Sangrur to provide the best treatment and care to the cancer patients.  

 On the occasion, Mr. Badal congratulated 350 students who were awarded degrees and advised them to work hard to secure a brilliant future.  He also bestowed upon the guest of honour award instituted in the memory of Mata Jaswant Kaur to an eminent academician Dr. Gurinder Kaur Sidhu and renowned architect Mr. PR Luthra for their outstanding contribution in the field of education and architecture. 

Prominent amongst others who were present on the occasion included DIG Bathinda Mr. NS Dhillon, Deputy Commissioner Mr. Varun Rujam, SSP Mr. Indermohan Singh, Ms. Gurdial Kaur Mallan and Dr.Deepak Manmohan Singh both directors of the management committee of the college.  

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PUNJAB EMBARKS UPON A PLAN TO REVAMP OVER 13000 KMS ROAD NETWORK AT A COST OF RS. 11000 CRORE
 
NEWYORK  APRIL 21:
Under the visionary leadership of the Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal, the Punjab Government has undertaken a major infrastructure revamp in the state, covering over 13,000  kilometers and involving major four-laning, six-laning, widening and up-gradation of all key transport arteries with an investment of Rs. 11000 crore in the state.

Talking to media persons, the Chief Minister’s Media Advisor Mr. Harcharn Bains said that the next two years would see all major destinations in the state interconnected and connected with the rest of the country with state of the art road network.  Among the more significant arteries, Mr. Bains said that Shambu-Jalandhar road will be completed by March 2011.

On going work of four laning highways worth Rs.2225 crore would be completed with in next 6 months. These roads include Kurali – Kiratpur Sahib, Amritsar – Wagha road, Jalandhar – Dhilwan, Dhilwan – Amritsar, Ludhiana – Malerkotla, Kharar – Landran, Desu Majra – Kharar, Pathankot – Amritsar, Jalandhar – Pathankot. Apart from these work on five new 4 lane roads at a cost of Rs.2515 crores including Kharar – Ludhiana, Ludhiana – Talwandi Bhai, Zirakpur – Patiala, Patiala – Sangrur – Bathinda would be taken up soon.

Two high level bridges at a cost of Rs.100 crores at Sarai ka Pattan over Satluj and Gidderpindi near Makhu over Satluj would be completed within this year. 1370 Km of new link roads out of 1792 Km had been completed at a cost of Rs.300 crore and likewise, 9611 KM of link roads had been repaired out of total 11842 KM at a cost of Rs.1922 crore.

The department had also carried out the widening and strengthening of 500 KM roads in border areas. Under the Punjab state road project of Rs.2700 Crore, length of 700 KM under 1st phase was nearing completion and work on 950 KM in 2nd phase was being taken up this year.

Referring to the unprecedented growth of civil aviation in Punjab, Mr. Bains said that the state Government had taken embarked upon an ambitious programme to put Punjab on the global aviation map, with projects for two international airports at various stages of progress. One of these was being set up at SAS Nagar and proposed to be named after Shaheed-e-Azam Sardar Bhagat Singh.

The other will come up near Ludhiana, making Punjab the smallest state to have three international airports. Besides, the expansion of Amritsar International Airport, Sahnewal Domestic Airport has also been upgraded. Similarly, a new domestic airport was coming up at Bathinda for which the land has been acquired and the design of the airport has been approved, added Mr. Bains.

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