Road Projects Worth Rs. 1879 Crores approved

NHAI Chairman to visit Punjab to expedite road projects in the State

Chandigarh April 04: 

Road Infrastructure in Punjab is in for major up-gradation with Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal securing in principal approval from Mr. Kamal Nath, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways various road projects totalling to Rs. 1879 Crores. The Union Minister has also instructed Chairman, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to visit Punjab next fortnight to discuss and remove impediments coming in the way of expeditious completion of road projects in the State.

Accompanied by Mr. Parminder Singh Dhindsa, PWD Minister Punjab , Mr. Naresh Gujral, Member Parliament, Mr. Badal emphasized on Union Minister early clearance of various infrastructure projects that were getting delayed due to lack of coordination.

The project that got approval in the meeting included four laning of Southern Bye Pass Ludhiana to be constructed at Rs. 416 crores, NH-95 along Sidhwan Canal ( 200 Crores), Ropar Bye Pass ( 60 Crores), Ropar Bye Pass Phase-II ( 95 crores), Four laning of Ropar-Nawanshehar- Phagwara Road ( 700 crore). The meeting also approved Batala-Mehta-Beas Road ( 34Km) , Tanda – Sri Hargobind Pur- Amrtisar Road ( 77 Km), Kotkapura-Mukatsar Road ( 30 Km) , Morinda – Kurali – Siswan – Baddi upto Haryana Border Road ( 33 Km) , Phillaur – Nakodar – Kapurthala Road ( 66 Km). These all road would be completed at the cost of Rs. 400 crores .

The Minister also assured that he would asked the ministry to explour the possibility of transferring Amritsar  - Harike – Faridkot – Sri Ganga Nagar Road ( NH-15) back to state so that its four laning could be expedited. The Minister also assured suitable enhancement of allocation in Central Road Fund.

Mr. A.V.Sinha, Director General Roads,  Mr. S.K.Marwaha and Mr. Ashok Kumar both Chief Engineers of Union Ministry were also present in the meeting . Media Advisor to Chief Minister Mr. Harcharan Bains accompanied the Deputy Chief Minister.         

 Coalition reflect social consensus: Sukhbir

Single party domination fatal for regional aspirations

Future belongs to coalition governments: SAD

Chandigarh April 04: 

The Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal Deputy Chief Minister said here today that the days of single party rule in India were over and that the future of Indian polity beloged to coalitions.

Mr. Badal was taking part in a panel discussion on 'coalition governance and rapid growth' organised by a national media house at New Delhi this morning.   He was accompanied by the Chief Minsiter's Media Advisor, Mr. Harcharan Bains.

The Bihar  Chief Minister Mr. Nitish Kumar and the madhya Pardesh chief Minister Mr. Shiv Raj Chauhan were the other dignitaries to take part in the panel-discussion.

Punjab's young Deputy Chief Minister chose the occasion to show case his party's position on  sensitive issues like federalism, regional and cultural diversity of our people and cente-state relations.  Badal described coalition politics as "a mirror-image of social and cultural coalition which our country truly is, with  a rich religious, linguistic, cultural and regional diversity being its most unique and dynamic feature. He said that coalition and federal politics were two sides of the same coin, adding  that  coalitions were imperative for Indian politics as these served as  tools for strengthening and promoting the federal system in our constitution. 

Rubbishing the off repeated charge that coalitions led to  political instability and a consequent adminstrative indecisiveness which allegedly slowed down growth, Mr. Badal said that instead of as opposed to the dictatorial imposition of an autocarats individual will under a single party dispensation, the coalition exercise gave full play to ideas, opinions and aspirations fo much wider base-popular, giving in depth attention to the pros and cons of every prospective decision.

It was only in a politics driven by consensus and coalition that " all things are given a fair play through an elaborate application of mind preceded by brain storming over critical issues . This actually meant that development was along balanced policy lines, with each constituent group ensuring justice for the  linguistic, cultural, relgious or regional segment it represented.

Tracing the history of Indian polity during last 62 years, Mr. Badal said that first 25 years saw single party rule by an autocartic Congress party whereas next 25 years witnessed emergence of strong opposition and now we are witnessing the evolution of coalition politics in the country in which there are two major axis of power but no single party in a position to impose its will on any other party.

Mr. Badal said that pre-election coalitions were more stable whereas post election coalitions sometimes compromised on matters of principle.

Appreciating the growth model of Nitish Government in Bihar, Mr. Badal said that last five years had witnessed a  creation of plethora of job opportunities in Bihar with infrastructure projects in the back ward state registering the unprecedented growth.

He said that the Bihar development has resulted in absorption all Bihar labour in that state only with Punjab agriculture sector witnessing labour shortage. He said that this shortage of labour had proved to be a blessing disguise as the Punjab farmers had now learnt to rely more heavily on technology for their farm operations, and this has actually led to a rsie in productivity and better marketing.

Giving an overview of accelerated development of infrastructure sector in Punjab Mr. Badal said that Punjab being a land locked highly taxed island surrounded by Tax free  states, had focused on  improving road infrastructure, doubling the power generation besides improving connectivity by setting up three international airports. “ Out of 19 International Airports in the country, Punjab with 1.3% geographical area of the country was proud to have 3 International Airports”, Mr. Badal quipped.

Earlier in the panel discussion Mr. Shiv Raj Chauhan said that difference between Bharat and India should be bridged at the earliest and state government must improve delivery system to ensure that benefits of development should reach the target population. Mr. Nitish Kumar Bihar Chief Minister lamented the partisan rule of congress party in reducing the allocation of funds to the states.

 99.63 LAKH TONNES WHEAT PROCURED IN PUNJAB

Chandigarh, May 4:

Government agencies and private millers procured more than 99.63 lakh tonnes of wheat till last evening as compared to  102.30 lakh tones in previous year on the day.

Out of total procurement of 99.63 lakh tonnes of wheat in all the procurement centers of Punjab, Government agencies procured 99.19 lakh tonnes of wheat (99.6%) till date whereas private traders procured 43081 tonnes (0.4%) of wheat. Till May 3, PUNGRAIN had procured 16.46 lakh tonnes (16.5%) whereas MARKFED procured 23.15 lakh tonnes (23.2%). PUNSUP procured 22.32 lakh tonnes (22.4%), PSWC procured 10.99 lakh tonne (11.0%) whereas PAIC was able to procure 10.12 lakh tonnes (10.2%) of wheat.

The Central Government agency FCI had been able to procure 16.13 lakh tonnes (16.2%). 

The spokesman added that District Ferozepur with 11.31 lakh tonnes of procurement was leading in procurement operations whereas District Sangrur with 9.13 lakh tonnes of procurement was at second slot and district Patiala with 8.17 lakh tonnes of procurement ranked at third position.   

The State Government has set up 1650 procurement centers and activated its total machinery to ensure smooth procurement of wheat, the spokesman added.

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ENIOR CITIZENS REMEMBER P.H.VAISHNAV

SURINDER VERMA
Chairman

Chandigarh Senior Citizens’ Association, held function at Bal Bhawan today, honoured medical insitutions, NGOs and Government Departments which had assisted them in organizing socio-medical camps held last week in memory of Sh. P.H.Vaishnav, their late President.

Sh. Vaishnav, former chief Secretary of Punjab, who died this day last yeat at the age of 77, had served the Association as President for 8 years initiating several innovative programmes and overseeing the expansion of the senior citizens’ movement in the region. He was greatly concerned about welfare of the poor among the older persons.

The purpose of holding these camps, according to Maj. Gen.M.S.Kandal , the Association President, was to provide door-step service not only in health care but also in other Government Schemes such as rations, pensions and insurance and creating awareness among challenged sections of society.

He thanked the mangements of Fortis, Ivy and Alchemist Hospitals, Grewal Eye Institute, Dr. Sanjay Kalra’s Dental Trigon, Gurdwara Patshahi Dasween and Dr. Harsimran Kaur as well as UT Administration’s Education, Social Welfare and Food and Supply departments and UT Red Cross for their support and cooperation which enabled nearly 2000 citizens to derive benefit from these camps.

Advisor to Administrator Pradip Mehra, Patron of the Association, who was the Chief Guest distributed Certificates of Appreciation and lauded the work done by the Association.

Mayor Anu Chatrath released a Handbook on SENCONSULT (Senior Experts Services Consultancy Forum), a new project started by CSCA to utilize the reservior of knowledge, experience and expertise available with senior citizens for the benefit of the society.

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