Chandigarh, September 8, 2014: Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today directed the local bodies department to ensure coverage of all towns of Punjab with ultra modern sewerage system besides installation of sewerage treatment plants (STPs) by February 15.
Reviewing the status of ongoing sewerage projects in a high level meeting here on Monday, Badal asked senior officers to expedite the work of installation of STPs and potable water supply system in all 163 towns along with 60 nagar panchayats. He directed the officers of local bodies and water supply and sewerage board to complete the task before 15 February 2015.
Badal also emphasized Punjab Engineering College would be the independent agency for independent quality control for works being executed. He said an external agency would audit the independent quality control for works being executed under JNNURM and UIDSSMT while WAPCOS would be technical quality control agency for PIDB funded schemes.
The Deputy CM said Punjab water supply and sewerage board would be overall executing agency and Technical Advisor to Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal would lead the team of officers. Badal also directed officers of PWSSB to regularly visit in the field to inspect the quality of works.
The officers of PWSSB apprised Deputy CM that water supply works were already on full swung in 69 towns, sewerage works in 47 towns and STPs in 61 out of which in 35 towns it was on war level while in 26 it would initiate very soon. They informed that in 15 towns, sewerage and STPs were already completed.
Badal also asked to use ultra modern techniques in cleaning of sewerages in the cities. It was also informed that for cleaning of Sewers, super sucker machines were being used. Deputy CM also directed all Deputy Commissioners to submit the status report of land acquisition process for STPs within two days. He said that DCs would be overall incharges to monitor all sewerage projects. Adding further he also asked DCs to check quality of work as well as treated water and bi-monthly reports in this regard to be submitted.
Prominent among others present in the meeting included Som Parkash Chief Parliamentary Secretary, P.S Aujla Principal Secretary to Deputy CM, Ashok Gupta Secretary Local Bodies, D.K. Tiwari CEO PWSSB, Ravinder Singh Chairman Punjab Pollution Control Board, Yogesh Goyal MD PIDB, R.K. Goyal and R.P. Gupta both Chief Engineers of PWSSB.
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Chandigarh, September 9, 2014: Vigilance Bureau, Punjab today nabbed an Inspector, Food and Civil Supply Department red handed while receiving bribe of Rs. 3000.
Disclosing this here today an official spokesperson of the Vigilance Bureau said that Inspector Vishal Kumar, Food and Civil Supply Department, posted at Patiala was nabbed on the complaint of Baljit Singh of village Issarheri, District Patiala. The complainant, who was a depot holder, alleged that the Inspector Vishal Kumar has been demanding bribe from him on monthly basis.
On the tip off, a trap was laid by the team of Vigilance Bureau team headed by inspector Ramfal during which Inspector Vishal Kumar was caught red handed while accepting bribe of Rs. 3000 from the complainant.
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Chandigarh, September 9, 2014: The Punjab government has taken a major initiative of integrating Aadhaar number of applicants with all service delivery applications and all departments have been asked to collect the Aadhaar numbers of applicants and feed them in their software for proper integration. This initiative is being taken to identify the duplicate and bogus beneficiaries in the database besides bringing transparency in the whole system.
According to an official spokesman, a communiqué has been issued to all Financial Commissioners, Administrative Secretaries saying that task force established under Chief Secretary, Punjab to monitor various e-Governance Projects has decided that presently there are 2.3 crore Aadhaar Cards generated in the state and all departments should take steps to share the benefits of State Resident Data Hub (SRDH) and Aadhaar Seeding for universal integration of Aadhaar with all departmental applications.
The Governance Reforms department has asked all the Departments to start collecting the Aadhaar no./Acknowledgement no. from the people at the time of service application or service delivery or service application and store it in their Departmental Database. Besides this, the Departments have been asked to direct their system integrator for a provision to be made to store Aadhaar no./Acknowledgement no. in the department';s application, so as to fully integrate it with the system.
Giving the details of SRDH, the communication emphasised that SRDH was a state level subset of National Aadhaar Database called Central Identification Repository (CIDR) and it included the information like Aadhaar number, name, address, date of birth, mobile no., email address and photograph of the residents. It said that SRDH can be accessed through a web portal and reports are available to download the village wise list of Aadhaar card holders in PDF format. It can be downloaded at district level and printouts can be shared which will help in Aadhaar seeding.
It was explained that many web services of SRDH can be helpful to the departments to connect the SRDH on demand and get the necessary information through their home servers. The Communication said that demography based search module can also be used to seed Aadhaar into departmental database in-organically.
The Departments have been asked to digitize their beneficiary masters through populating records from SRDH by collecting Aadhaar numbers of the beneficiaries as seeding of Aadhaar would help the department in identifying the duplicate and bogus beneficiaries in their database.
The spokesman said that departmental databases seeded with Aadhaar can communicate among each other using the common field-Aadhaar, which will be useful in making state level policies.
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Ludhiana, September 9, 2014: Rakesh Kumar Popli, Estate Officer, GLADA, today inaugurated Wedding Box Studio in the name of Seven Seas Paradise, Gurdev Nagar, Ludhiana. After inaugurating the showroom Popli the chief guest himself remarked that the huge variety of wedding boxes/cards & allied items will fulfill the needs of Ludhianvis who are known for celebrating their weddings in distinctive ways.  
Harmanjit Singh, owner of the showroom said he believes in qualitative presentation. The variety of wedding boxes/cards, dry fruits, chocolates at reasonable rates will attract Ludhianvis. He said the showroom shall cater all sections of the society and he will provide them true value for their money.
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Chandigarh, September 9, 2014: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today reviewed the massive campaign launched by the police department against the drug trafficking, besides ensuring elaborate arrangements by the Health Department for the rehabilitation of the drug addicts in the state.
Disclosing this here today a spokesperson of the Chief Minister's office said that Badal was presiding over a meeting of the ';Punjab State Drug de-Addiction and Rehabilitation Board'; recently constituted to have better coordination and synergy in the initiatives aimed at eradicating the menace  of drugs from the state.
Taking part in the deliberations during meeting the Inspector General of Police (Narcotic Cell) Ishwar Singh apprised the Chief Minister that focusing at the nil availability of narcotics in the state, Police had initiated this successful gigantic drive under which the total arrests made so far included about 25% of top smugglers and to arrest proclaimed offenders (POs), operation was being carried out at war footing. These efforts had brought nearly total cut-off the Narcotics supply line in the state, said IG.
The Chief Minister also approved the proposal mooted by the Chief Secretary that various drug addicts arrested with non-commercial quantity of drugs (self consumption quantity) during the state wide drive could bailout after signing a bond paper in the respective court, auguring to undergo anti-drug/detoxification treatment and regular monitoring in Government recognised drug de-addiction centre for a period of one year. Badal asked the Chief Secretary to review the 3677 such cases identified by the Jail and Police authorities and work out a legal remedy.
Meanwhile the Special Secretary Health informed the Chief Minister that as many as 2,61,132 drug addicts as outdoor patents (OPD) had been given treatment so far in the government hospitals, whereas indoor treatment had been provided to 7874 drug addicts in various government hospitals. At present a net work of total 21 DDA Centres and 18 Rehabilitation Centres across the state was available that would soon be more strengthened with the competition of under construction six new DDACs and five state-of-the-art Rehabilitation Centres. Requisite number of Psychiatrists and Consulars would also be arranged soon.  
On the occasion Dr. Ajit Awasthi from the psychiatry department PGIMER appreciated the sincere efforts of the state government under the guidance of Badal. He said that undoubtedly this task was very tough but the speed with which the state government was handling it was really appreciable.        
Prominent amongst those present in the meeting included Cabinet Minister Surjit Kumar Jiyani, Chief Secretary Sarvesh Kaushal, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister SK Sandhu, Principal Secretary Health Vinie Mahajan, Principal Secretary Home JS Sandhu, Special Principal Secretaries to Chief Minister Gaggandip Singh Brar, Managing Director Punjab Health System Corporation Hussan Lal, Secretary Technical Education  Rakesh Verma, Special Principal Secretary Health Vikas Garg, Director Social Security Alaknanda Dayal, ADGP Prisons RP Meena, Inspector General of Police (Narcotic Cell) Ishwar Singh, Dr. Ajit Awasthi and Dr D Basu from the psychiatry department PGIMER and Director Health and Family Welfare Dr. Karanjit Singh, besides Commissioner Of Jalandhar, Patiala and Ferozpur Divisions R VenketRaman, AS Pannu, and VK Sharma .

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Chandigarh, September 9, 2014: Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today formed an exclusive Solid Waste Management Authority to administer the functioning of all proposed 8 solid waste management clusters in the state. He also fixed deadline of December 2015 for completion of this unique statewide project.
Presided over review meeting of solid waste management project accompanied by Local Government Minister Anil Joshi and Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia, Deputy Chief Minister finalised green cover norms besides giving nod to engage sufficient manpower to expedite the project. Badal asked Secretary Local Government and CEO PMIDC to ensure mandatory and adequate green cover norms. He said boundary walls of dumping sites should not be less than 15 feet along with green inside and outside green belts around the sites.
The Deputy CM also directed the authorities to implement and initiate the project in given time frame as this unique and prestigious project would also be further implemented in villages too. Badal also gave nod to the proposed appointment of requisite staff including Project Director, Assistant Project Director, Executive Engineers, Sub Divisional Officers at cluster level and other manpower in newly established authority for implementation of project in true spirit.
Badal asked Local Government Department to expedite the work in all 8 clusters where in 137 urban local bodies would lift 4065 tonnes of garbage daily by ensuring well-mannered door-to-door collection. Badal also finalised the centralised payment mechanism at cluster level, from where the payments would be drawn from dedicated fund.
Badal also gave strict directions to maintain cleanliness, green cover norms, dress code, covered vehicles and rickshaws in which garbage to be lifted and their scientifically land filling.
Apprising Deputy CM about current status of project J. M. Balamurgam Secretary Local Government cum CEO PMIDC said that Bathinda cluster would become fully operational for scientific collection of garbage and its processing by the mid of next year. He said that a chunk of 20 acres land for processing unit has been earmarked on Mansa Road. He said that formalities for Ferozepur cluster has been completed and physical work on this project would initiate very soon. He informed that by October this ongoing physical work in Ludhiana would be streamlined, whereas in Amristar the physical work would be allotted soon as the tenders have been floated.
Secretary Local Bodies Mr. Ashok Gupta informed that the project was on advanced stage of initiation at Mohali since GMADA has started the process of 50 acres land acquisition while the lands would be identified at Pathankot and Patiala very soon. He said that by the end of next year the four clusters would become fully operational and the remaining would become functional partially.
Prominent amongst those present in the meeting included Chief Secretary Sarvesh Kaushal, Principal Secretary to Deputy CM P.S. Aujla, Special Principal Secretary to Deputy CM Mavesh Singh Sidhu and Rahul Tiwari.
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Chandigarh, September 9, 2014: In continuation of the drive of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to ensure punctuality and regularity of Officers and Officials in all Government offices, a team led by Gurpreet Sapra, Special Secretary (Personnel) inspected the office of Director, Rural Development and Panchayat and Joint Development Commissioner (IRD), in Sector 62, SAS Nagar today at 9.20 AM. Hakam Singh, Joint Secretary (Vigilance) also joined the inspection team.
Disclosing this here today an Official Spokesman of the Punjab Government said that the team inspected office rooms of some senior level officers such as Director, Deputy Directors etc. and Administrative branches of the said Directorate and found 146 officers/officials absent which included Deputy Directors, DCFA';s, Law Officers, Superintendent Engineers, XEN';s and other Ministerial cadres.
The surprise check lasted from 9.20 A.M. till 9.50 AM. The team of senior functionaries of the Personnel Department collected all attendance registers of the offices and has already submitted its report to the Chief Secretary to the Government of Punjab. The Chief Secretary has ordered that M.S. Sandhu, Financial Commissioner, Rural Development and Panchayat should seek explanation of the absentee officers and officials and take necessary action within seven days. In case satisfactory explanations are not received within seven days, the absentee officers/officials shall be charge-sheeted by the competent authorities. The Chief Secretary Punjab has further ordered issuance of warning to the C.V.O of the Department due to his failure to ensure punctuality and regularity.
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Chandigarh, September 9, 2014: The Punjab government today announced to extend date of property tax payment without penalty or interest till September 30.
According to an official spokesperson, the Local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi had received representations from various organisations and societies in this regard. He said that after sympathetically considering their demand, Joshi has decided to extend the date for paying property tax without penalty or interest to September 30.  He said that earlier the last date was August 31, 2014 for payment of Property tax without any penalty and interest.
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Nawanshahar (Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar), September 9, 2014: Out rightly rejecting any possibility of reviewing the ongoing power subsidy to the farmers in the state, the Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said that the providing subsidies to compensate the farming community for ensuring food security was a ‘global phenomenon’.
Interacting with the media persons after dedicating the newly constructed ultra modern Civil Hospital to the nation here today, the Chief Minister categorically said that there was no need for reviewing or rationalising the ongoing power subsidies to the farmers as it was the bounden duty of the state government to share the whopping burden, meted out by them while serving the entire country. He said that the hard working and resilient farmers of the state had played a vanguard role in making the country self reliant in food production and the power subsidy was a meager way to compensate them for this gigantic task. Badal said that the countries across the globe were assisting their food growers by extending them such subsidies adding that Punjab was no exception to it.
Replying to another query, the Chief Minister said that the SAD-BJP alliance would contest the coming civic body polls in the state together. He said that the necessary strategy for contesting these polls would be chalked out soon by the top brass of both the alliance partners.
Terming the floods in Jammu and Kashmir as a national tragedy, the Chief Minister said that the state would extend fulsome support and cooperation to the hill state in this hour of crisis. Expressing deep concern over the havoc and devastation caused by floods which left behind a trail of unprecedented death and destruction in the valley, Badal said that the Punjabis were firm believers of the ethos of universal brotherhood, communal harmony, tolerance and peace as propagated by the Sikh Gurus, saints and seers, therefore the state government would make all out efforts to help the Jammu-Kashmir government in rescue operations.
When asked to comment on INLD MP Dushyant Chautala’s statement that Badal would be the star campaigner of their party in Haryana, the Chief Minister said that SAD has always stood by the side of their allies and therefore he would be certainly campaign for INLD in the ensuing assembly polls. Badal said that the SAD and INLD had contested the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls together and there was hardly anything objectionable in it. “Late Chaudhary Devi Lal and his family have close ties with us, so both of us will contest these polls together” he added.
Later on while addressing a mammoth gathering the Chief Minister listed the initiatives taken by the state government to emerge Punjab as a major hub of Super Specialty treatment across the globe. He said that the setting up of the Homi Bhabha Cancer Treatment and Research Center at Mullanpur (New Chandigarh) was a right step towards this direction. Badal said that the state government has already made elaborate arrangements to provide state of the art treatment to the patients afflicted with the cancer in the Government Medical Colleges at Amritsar, Patiala and Faridkot besides the upcoming ultra modern Cancer treatment centers in Bathinda and Sangrur. He further said that the state government had also initiated a cashless treatment scheme for the cancer patients besides making efforts to provide subsidised medicines to them.
Likewise, the Chief Minister said that the state government had already declared a war on drugs and crores of Rupees were being spent on the establishment of Drug de-addiction centers and Rehabilitation centers for drug addicts across the state. Highlighting the significance of Skill training, Badal said that the state government was fully seized with the problem of growing unemployment and the only solution to tackle this menace, especially amongst the college/ school drop outs, was to impart Skill training in different fields to enable them to earn their livelihood. He said that the state government has set a target of training nearly one lakh youth annually under various skill development programs in order to cater the needs of the local industry.
The Chief Minister was accompanied by Cabinet Ministers Surjit Kumar Jiyani and Dr. Daljeet Singh Cheema, Lok Sabha MP Prof. Prem Singh Chandumajra, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Chaudhary Nand Lal, Chairman District Planning Committee Dr. Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi, former Chief Parliamentary Secretary Chaudhary Mohan Lal Banga, senior Akali leaders Satinder Kaur Kariha and Jagteshwar Singh Majithia, Principal Secretary Health Vinnie Mahajan, his Special Principal Secretary Dr. S Karunaraju, Managing Director Punjab Health Systems Corporation Hussan Lal and Deputy Commissioner Anandita Mitra.   
 

Chandigarh, September 9, 2014: The vigilance bureau has intensified its anti corruption campaign. During two different traps laid by the sleuths of vigilance bureau at two different locations, a registry clerk and a patwari were nabbed in graft cases.
Disclosing this here today an official spokesperson of the vigilance bureau said that the first trap was laid at district Gurdaspur where a registry clerk Kulwinder Singh deputed at Suwida Kendra, Gurdaspur was nabbed along with his private assistant Joginder pal with the bribe money of Rs. 6,000. Complainant Mr. Lakhbir singh of village Sekhwan, district Gurdaspur has alleged that the registry clerk was demanding bribe of Rs.6, 000 for providing him the true copies of a case.
In second such trap revenue patwari Sukha Singh, posted at revenue area Gulalipur, District Tarn Taran was nabbed alongwith his private assistant Gurbhaj Singh with the bribe money of Rs. 5,000. Patwari was demanding bribe from Gurmukh Singh of village of Gulalipur, District Tarn Taran in lieu of registering the mutation of his hereditary property.
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Chandigarh, September 10, 2014: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today urged the Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport & Highways Nitin Jairam Gadkari to seek his personal intervention for issuing directions to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to take over the portion of NH-95 within the MC limit from the Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana for its early improvement.  
In a letter addressed to Gadkari, the Chief Minister apprised him that NH-95 was being 4-laned from Chandigarh up to Samrala Chowk Ludhiana by NHAI. Request For Quote (RFQ) for this prestigious project had already been invited.  In addition to above NHAI has also taken up the work of 4-laning of Ludhiana- Ferozepur section on BOT basis and work at site was in progress.  However, it has been learnt that a portion of about 10.00 KMs of NH-95 from Samrala Chowk up to MC limit Ludhiana which was under jurisdiction of Municipal Corporation Ludhiana has not been included in these projects. There was heavy vehicular traffic on this portion of National Highway, which resulted in frequent traffic jams due to number of busy intersections such as Bhai Bala Chowk, Aarti Chowk, PAU gate no.1 and 2 etc.
Badal further informed the Union Minister that the Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana did not have sufficient funds for improvement and maintenance of this National Highway within MC limits. Therefore, it would be appropriate if this stretch of about 10 Km was also handed over to NHAI for improvement. Moreover, it would also lead to continuity of jurisdiction of NH-95 under NHAI.  Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana was ready to handover this stretch to NHAI. The improvement of this portion would provide major traffic relief to the citizens of Ludhiana and enable commuters to enjoy full benefit of up-gradation of NH-95, the Chief Minister added.
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Chandigarh, September 10, 2014: The Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today announced to undertake ‘Health Audit’ of every citizen residing in the state for achieving the goal of health for all.
This decision was taken by Badal while presiding over the first meeting of the State Health Mission here today at CMO this morning. He directed the Health department to chalk out a comprehensive plan after meticulously studying the modalities to issue a Health Card to every citizen of the state as a part of health audit so as to enable them to lead a healthy, prosperous and cheerful life.   The Chief Minister categorically directed the officers and workers of the health department to work relentlessly for further strengthening the health sector to provide proper and timely health care facilities to every person in the state at their door steps through Mobile Health Vans especially in the far-flung areas in the state.
He also approved to initiate a Pilot project in this respect under Universal Health Coverage (UHC) scheme in Balachaur and Mukandpur Blocks of District SBS Nagar, covering 210 villages with population 1,85,311. Under this project printed Family Health Cards would be initially  maintained, which would be later converted into individual smart card with personal digital health record having tracking facility of particular person at all levels regarding health services.         
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister also approved the construction of 11 new Urban CHCs at a cost of Rs. 35 crore, besides ten new Urban PHCs in the state. In another significant decision Badal also approved to establish 23 Urban Kiosks  in the slum areas at a cost of Rs. 16.50 crore. Under this scheme, two  Kiosks in Amritsar,  four in Bathinda,  six in Jalandhar, Seven in Ludhiana and one each in Patiala, Malerkotla, Khanna & Mohali would be set up.  For strengthening the manpower in the state Health department, Badal also gave nod to recruit 33 full time and  60 part-time doctors, 186 Staff Nurses, 33 Pharmacists, 93 Lab Technicians and 340 ANMs and 2394 ASHAs. Mapping and survey of the 40 cities would also be conducted besides constituting 8974 Mahila Arogya Samitis soon after the deployment of ANMs and ASHAs.
The MD PSHC apprised Badal that work for the construction of  new building of District Hospital Gurdaspur (Rs. 20 crore), major repair of District Hospital Ropar (Rs. 5 crore), additional & new building  of SDHs at Derabassi and Sardulgarh (Rs. 10 crore) was under process. He said that the State was also constructing six Mother and Child Health (MCH) wings at a total cost of Rs.66.32 crore at Amritsar, Bathinda, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala and Barnala through expanding existing Health Infrastructure.
Referring to the state's new activities under NHM, he informed that both the National Rural Health Mission initiated in April 2005 and National Urban Health Mission -2013 had now been merged as National Health Mission. Working effectively under this mission, the state State Government was providing all deliveries and delivery related services free of cost to the pregnant women and had succeeded in reducing the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) to 25 (per 1000) besides Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) to 100 (per lakh). State had received incentive grant Rs 106.71 Crore in 2011-12 and Rs 109.32 crore in 2012-13 for reduction in IMR from the Centre. He further informed that prevention and reduction of anemia in women aged 15–49 years was 28%. He said that free treatment was also being provided to girl-child up to the age group of 5 years in the state. Under NHM 10 de-addiction centers with an outlay of Rs. 4.95 Crore – District Hospital (DH) Hoshiarpur, DH Gurdaspur, DH Pathankot, DH Barnala, DH Sangrur, DH Ludhiana, DH Fatehgarh Sahib, SDH Batala, SDH Malerkotla, CHC Khiala Kalan had been constructed to provide best de-addiction treatment to the drug addicts.
Prominent amongst those present in the meeting included Health Minister Surjit Kumar Jiyani, Rural Development and Panchayats Minister Sikandar Singh Maluka, Education Minister Dr. DS Cheema, Navjot Kaur Sidhu, Virsa Singh Valtoha (Both Chief Parliamentary Secretaries) Chief Secretary Sarvesh Kaushal, Financial Commissioner Development Suresh Kumar, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister SK Sandhu, Principal Secretary Health Vini Mahajan, Secretary Housing & Urban Development A Venu Parsad, Special Principal Secretary to Chief Minister KJS Cheema, Managing Director Punjab Health System Corporation Hussan Lal, Director Social Security Alaknanda Dayal, Additional Secretary Public Relations Gurwaryam Singh, Director Health and Family Welfare Dr. Karanjit Singh.
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Chandigarh, September 10, 2014: The Punjab Government today nominated the new Chairmen, Vice Chairmen and members in the three market committees of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district.
Disclosing this here today a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office, said that Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal cleared the file to this effect and orders regarding the nomination of the Chairman, Vice Chairman and members of market Committees Banga, Balachaur and Nawanshehar in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (Nawanshehar) district would be issued shortly.
As per the orders Budh Singh and Sanjiv Jain have been respectively nominated the Chairman and Vice Chairman of Banga Market Committee whereas Harjit Singh, Jasbarinder Singh, Gurmail Singh, Avtar Singh, Harjeet Singh, Surinder Singh, Ram Lubhya, Malkeet Singh, Ravinder Kaur, Kamal Chopra, Chajju Ram Aggarwal, Baldev Singh,  Balvir Singh, Satnam Singh besides the concerned BDPO have been nominated the members of the committee.
Likewise, Tirlochan Singh and Varinder Saini have been respectively nominated the Chairman and Vice Chairman of Balachaur Market Committee whereas Piara Singh, Ram Partap, Durga Dass, Piara Singh, Gurmeet Kaur, Joginder Singh, Harkesh Rana, Hem Raj Dhakdhana, Tarsem Lal, Gurdev Singh Dhuman besides the concerned BDPO have been nominated the members of the committee.
Meanwhile, Gurdev Singh, Sodhi Singh, Kulwant Kaur, Makhan Singh, Joginder Ram, Kulvaran Singh, Parshotam Lal, Varinder Kumar, Inderjit Kaur, Malvinder Singh, Hitesh, Joginder Pal, Sunil Mohan, Ram Singh, Tarlok Singh, Dildar Singh besides the concerned BDPO have been nominated the members of the Market Committee Nawanshehar.
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Chandigarh, September 10, 2014:  The Punjab government has decided to strengthen the Welfare Department, especially at the Tehsil level for ensuring proper delivery of Welfare schemes to the beneficiaries in the remote villages and approved recruitment of 43 Tehsil Welfare Officers.
Giving the approval in a meeting held here today, Punjab Welfare Minister Gulzar Singh Ranike said that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was focussing on streamlining the delivery system of all welfare schemes and ensuring transparency and accountability in this whole process so that fruits of all schemes reach the beneficiary without any difficulty. He said that welfare department has started the recruitment process and these vacancies would be filled very soon.
In a review meeting held with Seema Jain, Secretary Welfare Department and Director Paramjit Singh apprised the Minister that Rs. 30.49 crore has been disbursed to 20,328 beneficiaries under ‘Shagun Scheme’ from February 2014 till date.  Ranike directed that instructions should be issued to all concerned officials so that the beneficiaries should not face any problem.
Besides this, Gulzar Singh Ranike also took stock of arrangements in place for the distribution of free text books to students and directed the officials for the smooth operation of this scheme.
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Chandigarh, September 10, 2014: The Punjab Government has invited applications for State Award to Physically Handicapped for the year 2014. This award is given to the persons, self employed, organizations, employees who have done a commendable work for the welfare of Physically Handicapped.
Disclosing this here today Official Spokesperson of the Punjab Government said that that Rs 25000 per institute would be given to the Organisation/NGO working for the welfare of handicapped persons, Rs 5000 for personal achievements of handicapped sportsperson/personal achievements of women, and Rs 10,000 for employee/self employee/personal. Spokesperson further clarified that in all cateogories only one employee/self employee/personal  would be selected for the award.
Spokesperson said that interested person/ Oragnision could get specific Performa from the District Social Security Officer to apply for this award. He said that a committee is constituted at the district level to recommend the names of the applicants for the award. Spokesperson further said that applications should reach the main office (Directorate of Social Security and Women & Child Development, Punjab, SCO No102-103 Sector-34 A, Chandigarh) on or before 30th September, 2014 with the recommendation/approval of the district committee.
Applications without the recommendation of the district committee would not be entertained.
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Ludhiana, September 10, 2014: A patient was brought to DMCH emergency today with a complaint of large metallic foreign body. A team of doctors led by Dr Sumeet Chopra, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, found that the patient had got a large piece of metal (measuring 1 1nch × half inch × quarter inch) in his eye, while working in a factory. After the successful removal of foreign body by a team of ophthalmologists, the patient’s eye was saved.. According to Dr Chopra, the foreign body had gone inside the eye and damaged the sensitive layer of the eye called the retina, resulting in retinal detachment and bleeding called vitreous hemorrhage.
The patient was referred to DMCH and operated as an emergency case to save the critically damaged eye.
Dr Sumeet Chopra said that Ludhiana being an industrial city, lot of patients suffer eye injuries while working in factories and also injuries with fire crackers at Diwali. People should wear protective eye wear to safeguard the eyes.
Safety  Tips Suggested :-
  Taking a few eye safety precautions in your everyday life can dramatically decrease the risk of eye injuries. Making habits out of these tips and teaching them to your children will help safeguard your family's vision for the long term.
  Always handle sharp objects, including knives, scissors, and even pencils, with extreme care. Never point them at your face or someone else's, and do not allow small children to have access to them.
  Supervise children’s activities and select toys for them that have no sharp, pointy ends or high velocity projectiles.
  Always wear proper eye protection, taking special care when working with chemicals or power tools or engaging in hobbies involving small pieces of materials.
  Wash your hands after using any chemicals so that you do not accidentally rub them into your eyes.
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Chandigarh, September 10, 2014: Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today assured the wards of ’84 riots and terrorism victims that state government would soon provide compassionate jobs to them and instructed heads of departments to expedite the process in this regard. He also promised government job to Paralympics athlete Balwinder Kaur Noori.
Badal issued these instructions while listening to the grievances of people at weekly Sangat Darshan programme held here on Wednesday. He instructed the departments to look into such cases and take immediate action to provide justice to the deserving candidates. He also issued instructions to give a government job to Paralympics athlete Balwinder Kaur, who showcased her achievements to the Deputy Chief Minister at the Sangat Darshan programme. Balwinder brought to the notice of Deputy CM that she had won 15 gold, 4 Silver and 2 Bronze medals besides bagging the Bronze medal in World Athletics meet held in February 2014.
On the plea of Punjab Police Welfare Association, Badal asked his Principal Secretary P. S. Aujla to look into the problems being faced by the dependents of police officers who sacrificed their life during terrorism, in getting pension after superannuation period. He assured the association that the problem would be fixed soon.
Marriage Palace Owners Association and Lottery Stockers Association also shared their grievances with the Deputy CM. He also assured the associations that the Punjab government had already working on the issues raised by them. Badal said many of their problems would be resolved once the government took a decision to rationalise taxes like VAT and excise. Meanwhile, Badal also assured the delegation from Nathana that a new market committee for Nathana town would be set up soon.
Today, in Sangat Darshan more than 1200 people shared their grievances with Deputy Chief Minister. On the occasion Dr Daljit Singh Cheema Education Minister, Advisor to Chief Minister Maheshinder Singh Grewal, Media Advisor to Deputy CM Jangveer Singh, Principal Secretary to Deputy CM P.S. Aujla, IG Law & Order B.K. Garg, Manvesh Singh Sidhu, Rahul Tiwari and Ashwani Kumar Sharma (all Special Principal Secretaries to Deputy CM), OSD Charanjit Singh Brar and Political Advisor Parmjit Singh Sidhwan were also present to help the people in getting done their problems solved.
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Chandigarh, September 10, 2014: The Punjab Government has appointed S.S.Channy IAS (Retd.) as State Chief Information Commissioner of Punjab State Information Commission.
Disclosing this here today a spokesman of the Punjab Government said that terms and conditions of his appointment State Chief Information Commissioner Punjab would be notified in due course.
The spokesman further said that a notification has already been issued in this regard.
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Chandigarh, September 10, 2014: Cracking a whip on erring late comer staff posted in Punjab Civil Secretariat, the Secretariat Administration today issued show cause notice to 55 employees of Secretariat who were not found on their seats at 09.07 Hours in a surprise check conducted by Chief Secretary Punjab Sarvesh Kaushal.  The absentee employees have been issued show cause notice under section 10 of Punjab Civil Service (Punishment and Appeals) Rule 1970.
According to an official spokesman four Under Secretaries have also been issued explanation call for their failure in not ensuring punctuality of staff working under them and for their lax supervision.  Those found absent by Chief Secretary in surprise check included 4 superintendents 20 Senior Assistants, 7 of personal staff and 24 other employees.

Names of the official who were found absent included Teja Singh, ND Sharma, Balbir Kumar Behal and Suresh Kumar (all Superintendents), Parmjit Singh, Satwinder Singh, Nirmal Singh, Rashni Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar, Pardeep Singh, Ashok Dogra, Chanchal Singh, Kulwinder Singh, Paramjit Singh, Gurdeep Singh, Daljit Singh, Hardeep Singh, Sunita Dhiman, Kamal Sharma, Gurcharan Singh, Devinder Singh, Gurjeet Singh, Satbir Kaur, Shelja Gowd, Manoj Kumar and Rajesh Kumar (all Senior Assistant), Parmjit Singh, Rajiv Awasthi, Prabhdeep Kaur, Sharanjit Kaur, Gurjant Singh, Hardeep Singh and Gurpreet Kaur (Personal Staff), Prabhpreet Singh, Sandeep Singh and Narinder Kaur (all Administrative officers-1), Manoj Kumar and Sangram Singh, Ramesh Chand, Gurmukh Singh, Chanchal Singh and Atanpuri (Restorer) Lakhwinder Kaur and Anuj Sharma (Telephone Operator), Netar Singh and Khairti Lal (Care Taker), Palwinder Singh, Malkit Singh, Vishnodevi, Ravi Kant and Surjit Kaur (Peon) and Surinder Kumar (Daftari).
 A spokesman said that they have been asked to submit their reply within seven days after that government would take necessary disciplinary action against them. The spokesman said that the Punjab Government were fully determined to maintain punctuality of its staff in all offices throughout the state and Chief Minister Punjab Parkash Singh Badal watch personally monitoring this.
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New Delhi, September 10, 2014: The Union Minister for Rural Development, Sanitation, Drinking Water & Panchayat Raj, Shri Nitin Gadkari today approved 28 rural road projects worth Rs. 438 crores for building roads in Leh and Kargil districts in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY).

A total of 350 Km of rural road network will be built under these projects in proposals for which were submitted by the state government.

Shri Nitin Gadkari took the decision to clear these pending projects when a delegation from Ladakh led by local BJP Member of Lok Sabha Shri Thupstan Chhewang called on him here.

The projects cleared include six proposals in Leh District covering road length of 142 Km to be constructed at a cost of Rs. 181.4 crores.

Another 22 projects in Kargil district were approved to build 207 Kms of rural road at a cost of Rs. 256.6 crore.
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