Punjab has not only scored maximum points for Governance and management, but has also shown improvement by at least 20 percent points.
The smart school policy, online teacher transfer policy, direct recruitment of administrator level posts through Ppsc, introduction of pre-primary classes, recruitment of teachers, online Education and distribution of free smartphones under Punjab Smart Connect scheme have become the base of the improvement in the level of education in the schools.
Nearly 45,000 acres of prime land is under illegal occupation, which the Aam Aadmi Party government is hoping to take back.
According to information, while 22,500 acres of forest land and 21,103 acres of panchayati land is illegally occupied. Besides, around 1,000 acres of the Irrigation Department, 239 acres of DEFENCE land and 46 acres owned by the power department is also under illegal occupation.
Another 42,606 properties of the Wakf Board are also under illegal occupation. The total value of the land is believed to be in thousands of crores.
Punjab Finance, Planning, Excise and Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Thursday said that the Punjab Excise Department has registered a historic Rs 2,587 crore (41.41 percent) increase in revenue during 2022-23 as compared to the previous financial 2021-22.
Releasing the figures, he said that there was a negative Growth rate of – 1.2 percent during FY 2022-23 with a collection of Rs 6254.74 crore as compared to the previous year. The year 2020-21 had an increase of 23.7 per cent over the previous years with a figure of Rs 6335 crore, but there was negative growth of – 0.7 percent in 2019-20 with collection of Rs 5117 crores, a 0.33 percent increase was in 2018-19 with collection of Rs 5,155.86 crores, 16.6 percent increase in 2017-18 with collection of Rs 5139 crores, and again a negative – 8.15 percent growth in 2016-17 with a collection of Rs 4406 crore with respect to the previous years, he added.
The and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) have approved $300 million loan for canal-based drinking water schemes under Punjab Municipal Services Improvement Project.
The move aims at ensuring quality drinking water 24×7 and minimise water losses for Amritsar and Ludhiana. The two cities are currently being supplied water from tubewells. Two other canal-based water supply projects are already under execution in Jalandhar and Patiala.
As per the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) report, the groundwater has been over exploited and the quality of water has deteriorated, causing Health hazards. Therefore, it has been proposed to change water supply from ground to canal water to ensure uninterrupted potable drinking water supply in urban areas.
The project would be co-financed by IBRD (World Bank) loan of $105 million and an AIIB loan of $105 million along with $90 million government funds. For Amritsar, the source of surface water supply would be Upper Bari Doab Canal and for Ludhiana Sirhind Canal. Treatment plant in Amritsar would be of 440 MLD and in Ludhiana 580 MLD.
Punjab Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Janjua assured the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in the National Capital Region that the state will reduce the stubble burning instances by 50 percent in comparison with 2022.
The is taking every step to effectively tackle Air Pollution, said Januja, during the meeting chaired by CAQM chairperson Dr MM Kutty with the senior officers and all Deputy Commissioners of the state. During the meeting, the plan was discussed for paddy crop residue management in respect of the coming Kharif harvesting season in the state.
Continuous non-payment of dues in lieu of subsidies clubbed with the recent pre-poll freebies have added to the financial burden of the already cash-strapped Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (Pspcl).
As a result, the next government will have to face total dues of Rs 12,600 crore, including around Rs 9,000 crore pending power subsidy.
According to data collected by The Tribune, at present the owes more than Rs 8,900 crore of pending subsidy to PSPCL in next quarter as it has paid only Rs 9,600 crore in the first three quarters of the financial year, including Rs 900 crore this week.
In the Annual Revenue Requirement (ARR) for next financial year, now PSPCL has submitted a revised subsidy payment estimate for the year 2021-22 amounting to Rs 12,245 crore.
This was disclosed by Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan, after reviewing department-wise progress of the state as per the SDGs India index-2020-21.
the Chief Secretary said there were 22 indicators where the performance of the state/index score was 100. These included major indicators such as Percentage of individual household toilets constructed against target (SBM-G), pupil-teacher ratio at secondary level (Class IX-X), percentage of households electrified, districts verified to be ODF (SBM-G) and individual household toilets constructed against targets.
The Chief Minister, reviewing the progress of EMPLOYMENT Generation and Training Department, lauded its efforts in facilitating 17.61 lakh jobs in government, private besides self-employment since March 2017 even during the trying circumstances of COVID-19.
He also asked the Department to give special thrust on the Skill development training as it would be instrumental in making our youth skilled as per the needs of the local .
Punjab Government will soon set up fast track courts in the State to facilitate Punjabi NRIs in addressing their issues in a short span of time.
Announcing this while presiding over fifth Punjabi NRIs Naal Milni programheld at Amritsar on Friday, Punjab NRI Affairs Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said that the was committed to prompt resolution of their grievances by taking the initiative of such meets. He said that the State Governments this endeavour will go a long way in bringing positive results.
The Minister said that these courts would be functioning dedicatedly for the speedy redressal of Non Resident Indians’ (NRIs) issues pertaining to civil cases. The proceedings will be initiated soon to establish courts to deal civil cases of NRIs so that their precious energy, time, and Money could be saved, he added.
CM Channi said that his government is committed for this objective for providing succour to the common man.
Batting for making necessary amendments in the curriculum, the Chief Minister said that it needs to be fine tuned as per the requirements of existing Society. He said to achieve this goal universities are required to play a proactive role. CM Channi said that these institutions are temples of higher Learning and therefore the fee structure should be rationalised so as to make Education easily accessible to one and all.
Pointing out further, Channi said that his government has already set the wheels in motion to bail out the universities from fiscal crisis.