Punjab News, NRI News

SUKHBIR PROJECTS LUDHIANA AS MOST APPROPRIATE
INVESTMENT DESTINATION
* SUKHBIR’S PRESENTATION SUMS UP DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES FOR THE CITY
* ANNOUNCES RS 1120 CRORE PACKAGE FOR LUDHIANA

Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister today projected Ludhiana as the most appropriate destination for investment and said that even latest study of World Bank as adjudged Ludhiana as the best place for doing business in India.

Giving a presentation of initiatives taken by the SAD-BJP government to fulfill promises made 540 days ago to Ludhianvis and progress made on all these fronts, besides future vision of the city, the Deputy Chief Minister donned the role of a corporate CEO while the giving Power Point presentation to the top industrialist s of Punjab, elite and intellectuals of Ludhiana. Accompanied by Industries, Commerce and Local Government Minister Mr. Manoranjan Kalia, Jails and Tourism Minister Mr. Hira Singh Gabria and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Mr Harish Rai Dhanda , the Deputy Chief Minister said that he had promised domestic flights from Ludhiana, major initiatives on power generation sector, four laining of road along Sidhwan canal, besides introduction of City AC Bus Service in Ludhiana. He said that fulfilling his promise Indian Airline Flight landed at Sahnewal on 13th May 2010, whereas, Kingfisher has also started flights from 2nd August 2010. He said that Punjab is suffering because previous government failed to generate a single unit of power, widening the gap between availability and the demand of the power. He said that the present government has initiated four Thermal Plants at the cost of Rs 36000 crore to attain self sufficiency in power sector. He said that work on 1980 MW Talwandi Sabo, 1320 MW Rajpura and 540 MW Goindwal Sahib was in full swing, where as , 2640 MW Giderwaha plant was awaiting co-linkage from Union Government. He said that work on Rs 328 crore project of four laining of road along Sidhwan Canal was in full swing and it would be completed by November 2011. He said that his fourth promise to the people of Ludhiana would be fulfilled soon, as local AC Buses would start operating in city in the month of December.

Congratulating the people of Ludhiana , the Deputy Chief Minister said that eight projects dedicated to the people of Ludhiana today including ROB Jagroan, beautification of entry point of Ludhiana, widening of Ferozepur road, construction of under path at Agar Nagar and District Complex, covering of Ganda Nalha, construction of road along Budha Nalha and starting of Police Control Room and Web Portal of Ludhiana Police are set to change the face of Ludhiana city, enabling it to face the future challenges of accelerated growth this industrial city.

Mr. Badal said that Ludhiana has emerged as number one destination for doing business in India, as per World Bank studies- 2009, Mr. Badal said that it was the entrepreneurial qualities of Ludhiana residents that has made the city number one in the world. He said that state government was moving with the focused approach to improve the infrastructure of the city, besides connectivity with rest of the world, so that people from various could invest in Ludhiana. He said that present government was focusing on infrastructure of the city including roads, fly over bridges, beautification, focal point roads and sewerage & water works has now sanctioned Rs 1120 crore for upgradation of Ludhiana city infrastructure.

Giving the details of development initiating, Mr. Badal said that fly over of Rs 15.4 crore project of Gill Chowk and up ramp of Jagroan bridge ( Rs 2.46 crores) have been completed in May this year, whereas, another crucial project of Partap Chowk (Rs 23 crore ) would be completed by May 2011. The ongoing work on Lakkar Bridge ( rs 58 Crore) would be completed by March 2011, whereas, ROB at Lodhi Club ( Rs 30 Crore) would be completed by November 2011. ROB at Pakahowal road ( Rs 25 cror) would be completed by November 2011, whereas ROB at Dana Mandi ( Rs 45 crore ) was set to be completed by September 2011. Up Ramp of Gill Chowk fly over from Malerkotla side would be dedicated to the people by October this year, whereas nine grid separator at Jamalpur Chowk ( Rs 25 crore) would be completed by September 2011.

Mr. Badal said that with world class infrastructure surplus power, smooth traffic , Ludhiana is all set to become most beautiful city of Punjab.

Referring to the initiatives on sewerage and water supply front, Mr. Badal said that Ludhiana by the end of this year would have the largest Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) of the state with completion of Rs 100 crore project, besides investment of Rs 141 crore for ensuring total sewerage net work of the city. Mr. Badal said that he had already sanctioned Rs 27 crore for up gradation of water supply net work in old Ludhiana city.

Dwelling on initiatives in Governance reforms sector, Mr. Badal said that digital control rooms, outreach centers at each Thana, Web potals, e- sewa kenderas in the urban areas, besides GPC equipped police petrol is all set to make life of every citizen comfortable . He said that self declaration in life of affidavits, self declaration to be part of the application for need bases services, on line National permits for commercial vehicles, compounding of traffic offences , industry portal for online filling of applications with helpline, e-filling of VAT returns, e-tendering in PWD, irrigation etc and online payment of electricity bills are certain reforms that has checked corruption, besides making the life of ordinary citizens. He said that other reforms like online system of issue of RCs by dealers, online land records, e- sewa kenders and e-grams would make the interaction of public with government pleasant.

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The Punjab Government has constituted a Coordination Committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary to address various pending issues of the employees of Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd. (PSPCL).

A decision to this effect was taken today by the Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal during a meeting with 8-member delegation of 'PSEB Engineers' Association led by its President, Er. HS Bedi and General Secretary, Er. Bhupinder Singh. Mr. Badal assured the delegation that the state government was fully committed for the welfare of all the employees of PSPCL after the restructuring of Punjab State Electricity Board and there would be no change in service conditions for these employees. He also directed the Chief Secretary to clear all the issues by the end of September 2010.

Taking part in the deliberations, Mr. Badal said that he was also taking up with Bureau of Energy Efficiency (GoI) the issue of early implementation of CFL scheme (BACCAT LAMP YOJANA) In Punjab. Emphasizing the need to reduce the Transmission and Distributaries (T&D) losses, the Chief Minister asked the members of the association to suggest ways and means to make Power sector more efficient and consumer friendly with the active involvement of High Tec. IT sector.

Chief SecretaryMr. SC Agrawal, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mr. DS Guru, Principal Secretary Finance Mr. KBS Sidhu, Special Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mr. KJS Cheema, Chairman cum Managing Director Punjab State Transmission Corporation Ltd. Mr. Anurag Aggarwal and Chairman cum Managing Director Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd. Er. KD Chaudhary were also present in the meeting.

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* EIGHT PROJECTS WORTH RS. 121 CRORE DEDICATED TO THE PEOPLE
* SUKHBIR ANNOUNCES RS 1120 CRORE DEVELOPMENT PACKAGE FOR LUDHIANA
* TIMELY COMPLETION OF PROJECTS IS THE APT REBUTTAL OF CONGRESS’S FRUSTRATED CRITICISM
* E-SEWA KENDERS TO PROVIDE 17 CITIZEN SERVICES UNDER ONE ROOF FROM 8 AM TO 8 PM X 7 DAYS
* PUNJAB TO ANNOUNCE RS. 2500 PACKAGE FOR URBAN AREAS SOON

The ‘Manchester of Asia’, Ludhiana was today put on higher orbit of development with Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal Deputy Chief Minister Punjab dedicating 8 Major infrastructure projects with combined cost of Rs. 121 crores to the people of Ludhiana besides starting the first ever web portal of Police for Ludhiana city to register complaints of people online.The Deputy Chief Minister also announced a gift of Rs. 1120 crore package for the accelerated development of Ludhiana.He also announced the sanction of four laning of Ludhiana-Moga-Talwandibhai road that would be completed by March 2011.

The Deputy Chief Minister inaugurated Jagraon Railway Over Bridge on Jagraon – Raikot – Barnala road besides laid the foundation stone of 8 laining of road along Sidhwan Canal touching Ferozepure Road ( 40 crores ) Pedestrian Under Passes near Agar Nagar and Administrative complex ( Rs. 7. 80 crore ) covering of Ganda Nala and beatifying the road ( 28 crore ) and construction of road in alignment with Budhan Nala to provide another by pass for the city ( Rs. 30 crore ) . The Deputy Chief Minister threw the Jagraon Railway over bridge open to the traffic, solving the major problem of traffic being faced by people going from Jagraon to Raikot and Baranala. Mr. Badal said that present SAD-BJP Government has create a World record by completing 15 ROBs worth Rs. 300 crore in last two years and was set to complete 13 more ROBs in next 18 months. He said that 15 more ROBs are in the pipeline and work on them would start in the next financial year.

Mr. Badal said that focus of the SAD BJP Government was on infrastructure sector including on power generation, improvement of road infrastructure to world class level, aviation sector, besides ushering in administrative reforms to make the life of every citizen comfortable. Mr. Badal said that Punjab government would soon announce Rs. 2500 crore package for improving civic communities in urban areas and a core group of SAD BJP Government was giving final touches to this package, keeping in view the rising aspirations of urban people from this government.

Giving detailed presentation of administrative reforms Mr. Badal said that Punjab was adopting a unique model of E-sewa kender that would become operational by March 2011. He said that each E-Sewa Kender catering to average population of 2 Lakh would provide 17 citizen services including birth and death certificates, application of new water / sewerage connections, payment of property tax, request for TS 1 form, license for Rickshaw , Rehri, Mule cart, slaughter house, Atta Chaki, Issuance of NoC for commercial power, sanction of building plans, issuance of public certificates , Library membership, issuance of NOC for fire safety, sweeping and lifting of garbage, request for spray and fogging , penalty for stray cattle etc. under one roof. Mr. Badal said that the interface of citizens with the government authorities had to be made more pleasant and trust worthy. He said that a network of e-Sewa Kendra to be set up on the pattern of Karnataka Model would provide these services in Air conditioned environment from 8 AM to 8pM on all the 7 days in the week. Mr. Badal said that Punjab Government has made all preparations for this project and most of the record for backend operations has already been computerized and one e-Sewa Kendra for a cluster of population of 2 Lakhs would become operational by March next year.

Later in the day Mr. Badal laid the foundation stone of Rs. 80 Lakh project to beautify the entry point at Ferozepur road to be constructed near Octroi point. The ambitious Rs. 40 crore project of GLADA of Eight Laining the road along Sidhwan Canal to Ferozepur road, constructing the southern bye pass of Ludhiana was put on fast track, with Mr. Badal formally starting the work of this project. He said that this Chinese joint venture company would complete this project with in 6 months, easing the traffic flow in the city. He said that DC Ludhiana and MD PIDB would weekly review the progress of this project.

The Deputy Chief Minister also laid the foundation stone of two under passes to be constructed near Agar Nagar and at near Administrative Complex at Ludhiana. This Rs. 8 crore project would provide 44 meter long and 12 meter wide under passes and would also have 24 shops.

The chronic problem of stinking Ganda Nala would be solved with Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal formally starting the work on covering of Ganda Nala from Gurdwara Sri Dukhniwaran Sahib to Dhoka Mohalla. Mr. Badal said the project report of Rs. 28 crore project has been finalized after consulting technical and structural engineers of Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee. He said that using the latest technology, AA class loading slabs would cover this Ganda Nala on which a road would be also constructed. The Deputy Chief Minister said that rain disposal intake chambers would be constructed and interconnected so that people of adjoining area do not face the problems of flooding during rainy season. He said that with completion of this project next 6 months the people of Ludhiana would be relieved of 62 year old curse of unbearable stink of this Nala.

Keeping in view the futuristic scenario, the Deputy Chief Minister formally started the work on construction of 9 KM road on the both sides of Budhan Nala giving another bye pass to people of Ludhiana as this road would be link to Jalandhar bye pass to Pavitar Nagar.This Rs. 30 crore project has been started after certification from qualified structural engineers and soil scientists & year long survey of this region. Besides easing the traffic flow to Jalandhar bye pass this 9 km long and 7.2 meter wide road on both sides of Budha Nala would provide relief to the people of this industrial city.

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Manoranjan Kalia, Local Government and Industries Minister Punjab said that the state has been divided in nine hubs for door to door collection, transportation and processing of garbage to make the urban areas clean.

Prominent amongst others who were present on the occasion Mr. Parminder Singh Dhindsa, PWD Minister Punjab, Mr. Sital Singh Dharamkot, Chief Parliamentary Secretary ; Mr. Sharanjit Singh Dhillion, Chairman Punjab Agro Industries corporation ; Mr. Gurcharan Singh Galib and Mr. Amrik Singh Aliwal both Ex MPs ; Mr. Gurdev Singh Badal, Mr. Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal both former Ministers, Mr. Bhag Singh Mallah and Mr. Ranjit Singh Talwandi both Ex. MLAs.

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The Punjab Government has ordered following postings and
transfers with immediate effect

Mr. Satwant singh, I. A.S, Deputy commissioner, Moga transferred and posted as Joint Development Commissioner IRD, Punjab and in addition Commissioner NREGA vice Dr. Sirra Karuna Raju, I.A.S. who has been transferred and posted as Deputy Commissioner, Faridkot vice Sh. Vijay Namdeorao Zade. IAS who has been transferred and posted as Deputy Commissioner Moga. Sh Prabhjot Singh Mand, IAS Deputy Commissioner, SAS, Nagar transferred and posted as Special Secretary, Revenue. Sh Parveen Kumar, IAS, Chief Administrator, Jalandhar Development Authority, Jalandhar transferred and posted as Deputy Commissioner, SAS Nagar.

Meanwhile Ms. ManishaTrighatia, IAS (available for posting) has been posted as Additional Secretary, Planning against vacant post. Smt.

Kavita Mohan Singh Chouhan, IAS, Additional Director-cum-Additional Secretary, Local Government, Punjab transferred and posted as Director, Social Security, Development of Women and Children, Punjab relieving Smt. Madhvi Kataria, PCS of this additional charge. Smt.

And Finance corporation and in addition Director, Welfare of SC's and BC's transferred and posted as Executive Director, Punjab Schedule Castes Land Development and Finance Corporation, in addition Director, Welfare of SC's and BC's and in addition Executive Director Backfinco relieving Smt. Madhvi Kataria, PCS of this charge.

Mr. Vijay Kumar Singh, IAS, Managing director, MILKFED is hereby transferred and posted as Secretary, Expenditure, Department of Finance in place of Shri Anirudh Tewari, IAS and he will also look after the work of Managing Director, MILKFED in addition to his own duties.

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CM APPROVES RS. 129 CRORE FOR DEVELOPMENT WORKS IN
PATIALA AND SANGRUR DISTRICTS
Badal Asks DCs to Conduct Survey to Assess Loss of
Damaged Tubewells due to Floods

Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today sanctioned Rs.128.97 crore for the execution of various development works in all the assembly constituencies of Patiala and Sangrur districts.

Presiding over the separate meetings of the MLAs of Nabha, Patiala (Rural), Patiala (Urban), Rajpura, Ghanour, Sanaur, Samana and Shatrana in Patiala district and Malerkotla, Amargarh, Lehragaga, Dirba, Dhuri, Sangruru, Sunam and Sherpur in Sangrur district held here at Chief Minister's residence to review the progress of the on-going development works, Mr. Badal approved Rs.51.70 crore for all the assembly constituencies of Patiala and Rs.47.70 in Sangrur district. A sum of Rs.37.66 crore and Rs.43 crore would be spent on the construction and repair of link roads, latrines and civil works in the government schools in the rural areas of Patiala and Sangrur districts.

Out of Rs. 24.35 crore earmarked for the upgradation of health infrastructure, Rs.7.80 crore Rs.16.55 crore would be spent in Patiala and Sangrur districts respectively.

The Chief Minister directed the Deputy Commissioners of Patiala and Sangrur to immediatley undertake the survey to assess the damage caused to the tubewells in the region due to floods so that the farmers could be compensated adequately. He also asked the Secretary Mandi Board to construct a link road from village Faganmajra to Lang, to be named after the Kargil martyr Shaheed Dharam Pal Singh. The Chief Minister also convened a special meeting of senior officers of PUDA, Local Government and district administration for the overall development of Patiala city on August 22 at Chandigarh.

Mr. Badal also directed the Secretary Social Security to work out the modalities for the simplification of the procedure for the disbursement of old age/widow pension to save the beneficiaries from harassment due to inordinate delay in the payment of pensions. He also asked the Social Security department to tie up with the local banks to ensure the regular payment of pension to the beneficiaries in time. He also asked the Deputy Commissioners to instruct the SDMs to initiate a procedure for the inclusion of new eligible beneficiaries for old age and widow pension and also asked them to delete the names of the bogus persons after proper varifications. He solicited the cooperation from the local MLAs and village panchayats to ensure that only genuine beneficiaries should avail of these facilities.

The Chief Minister also asked the MLAs to ensure the quality of the development works by personally monitoring the progress of such ongoing works besides motivating the local panchayats and municipal councils to involve in these developmental activities. He also asked the deputy commissioners to regularly review the progress of these development works to ensure their completion within the stipulated time schedule. Mr. Badal also asked the departments of PWD (B&R), Irrigation, Drainage and Water Supply & Sanitation to get the estimates of development works throughly checked from the Technical Advisor Lt. Gen. (Retd.) BS Dhaliwal to make these projects cost effective and financialy viable.

The Chief Minister also asked the MD Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Secretary PWD (B&R) and Secretary Mandi Board to prepare a comprehensive plan for the 100% coverage of drinking water, sewerage and roads in the Longowal town as a befitting tribute to Sant Harchand Singh Longowal. He also approved Rs.45 lakhs for the provision of shed in the grain market Longowal and asked the Mandi Board to complete this work on the priority. He also asked the MD PRTC to speed up the work for the construction of bus stand at Sangrur. Mr. Badal also decided to set up market committee at Dirbha to facilitate the local farmers to sell their produce.

A provision of Rs. 2.94 crore and Rs.1.28 crore had been made for the upgradation of veterinary services in these constituencies of Patiala and Sangrur districts.

These meetings were attended by the Chief Parliamentry Secretary and MLA Rajpura Mr. Raj Kumar Khurana, SAD General Secretary Prof. Prem Singh Chandumajra, former Minister Mr. Harmel Singh Tohra, District SAD President Patiala Rural Mr. Ajaib Singh Mukhmailpur, former Minister Mr. Surjit Singh Kohli, former Minister Mr. Hameer Singh Ghagga, Mayor Corporation Mr. Ajitpal Singh Kohli, District President SAD and Chairman Improvement Trust Mr. Inderjit Singh Bajaj, former Chairman Punjab SSS Board Mr. Tajinderpal Singh Sandhu and District President BJP Patiala unit Mr. Arun Gupta, Member Rajya Sabha Mr. Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, PWD (B&R) Minister and MLA Sunam Mr. Parminder Singh Dhindsa, Director Administration Powercom Mr. Gurbachan Singh Bachi, MLA Dhuri Mr. Iqbal Singh Jhunda, Mr. Gobind Singh Kanjla, Mr. Gobind Singh Longwal, Mr. Abdul Ghafur (all former Ministers). Besides, Advisor to Chief Minister Dr. Daljit Singh Cheema, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mr. DS Guru, Special Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mr. KJS Cheema, senior officers of the different departments and deputy commissioners of these districts were also present in these meetings.

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BADAL CONGRATULATES PUNJAB TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY FOR
WINNING THE e-INDIA 2010 AWARDS

The Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today felicitated the Punjab Technical University (PTU) for being awarded as the Best University in Digital Learning & also the best Open & Distance Learning initiative at Hyderabad.

Disclosing this here today a spokesman of the Chief Minister's Office said that the PTU had been conferred upon these prestigious awards for its various initiatives in both the categories, i.e. "selection by Jury" & also through "public voting".

On the occasion the Chief Minister lauded the PTU team for this achievement and expressed satisfaction for re-establishing PTU on the national & international platforms. Mr. Badal appreciated the efforts of Vice Chancellor Dr. Rajneesh Arora , Dr. N.P. Singh, Dean-Distance Education Programme (DEP), Er. H.S. Bains (Registrar) & their team, for their exemplary performance.

Mr. Badal further stated that Distance Education has opened a new window of opportunities for those who craved for further studies & in a way it has helped numerous professionals, school drop-outs, housewives etc to accomplish their unfinished dreams. He also said that the innovative use of ICT tools in PTU’s Distance Education has benefitted the enrolled students tremendously & has re-iterated PTU’s mandate of "Anytime, Anywhere Education". The Chief Minister assured of all possible assistance & support by the Government to further strengthen the initiatives of Punjab Technical University.

It may be recalled that eINDIA 2010 Awards organized in association with Department of Information Technology (DIT) under the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology, Government of India, were held at Hyderabad International Conventional Centre, Hyderabad on August 5, 2010. These awards acknowledge and felicitate unique and innovative initiatives in the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for development in diverse domains namely, e-Governance, Digital Learning, e-Health, e-Agriculture, Municipal IT & Tele Centre through a two way process of jury evaluation and of public voting.

The Chief Minister was accompanied by his Principal Secretary Mr. D S Guru. The others members of the team included Dr. J S Dhaliwal Chairman PUTIA, Vice Chairman Doaba Group of Colleges & PUTIA, Mr. Manjit Singh, Chairman Chandigarh Groups of Colleges Mr. Satnam Singh Sandhu President of Chandigarh Groups of Colleges Mr. Rachpal Singh Dhaliwal, Chairman Indo Global Group of Colleges Mr. Sukhdev Singla and Chairman Desh Bhagat Group of Colleges Dr. Zora Singh. Secretary DEP Mr. Gurmeet Singh and Vice President DEP Amit Deewan.

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