PUNJAB

To ensure seamless Services to the states citizens in a transparent manner, Punjab Government has planned to start door-step delivery of services being provided at Sewa Kendras in the State.

Announcing this while chairing the 16^thmeeting of the Board of Governors (BoG) of Punjab State e-Governance Society, the states Governance Reforms and Public Grievances Minister Aman Arora on Wednesday directed the Department officials to expedite the process to start the door-step delivery of service scheme.

Currently, over 400 services are being provided to the citizens via Sewa Kendras and the doorstep delivery of all these services will be started in the coming months, said the Minister, while adding that with the start of this flagship scheme of the Punjab Government, people of the state will be able to avail government services sitting at their homes.

He said that an applicant will be able to avail doorstep delivery of the services included in the list by booking a Home visit by just calling a toll-free number and a person will visit the home of the applicant and collect as well as upload all requisite documents and then will submit it to the department concerned.

The Punjab cabinet led by chief minister Bhagwant Mann gave final approval to the policy for providing 600 units of free power to every household per billing cycle in the state with effect from July 1, 2022.

As per the decision, Scheduled Caste (SC), non-SC BPL and backward class (BC) domestic consumers who are currently eligible for free 400 units (per billing cycle) of power will also get a subsidy of 600 units now.

Likewise, freedom fighters of Punjab and their successors (upto grandchildren) domestic consumers who are currently eligible for free 400 units of power will also get a subsidy of 600 units per billing cycle.

In case, consumption of SC, non-SC BPL, BC and freedom fighter categories exceeds units per billing cycle then they will pay only for units consumed in addition to 600 units along with full fixed charges, meter rentals and government levies as applicable.

When Union Power Minister Raj Kumar Singh attacked the Punjab Government yesterday, saying the state had not enhanced its transmission capacity for many years, he was not off the mark. As the enhancement of transmission capacity takes several years, Punjab has not been able to keep pace with the rising demand in the peak season.

Though many in the power sector blame successive governments of deliberately going slow on the enhancement of transmission capacity in order to keep under control the free power given to farmers and other socio-economically vulnerable sections, the cash crunch with the state power utilities is also a major factor responsible for this slow transmission capacity enhancement.

Punjab has a transmission capacity of 6,400 MW for quite a few years now. The states capacity in 2011-12 was 4,700 MW, which means it has gone up by 1,700 MW in the past 10 years. On the other hand, as Punjabs peak demand went up to over 15,000 MW this year, the power availability in the state, including its own generation and through short-term and long-term agreements, could not exceed 13,300 MW, resulting in a gap of 1,700 MW.

Punjab Government is working on a policy against the exploitation of the states womenfolk in other countries. For the same, a discussion will be held with the victims under the chairmanship of Punjab Social Security, Women and Child Development Minister Dr Baljit Kaur on June 11 in Jalandhar to draw up a state-level policy to prevent the exploitation of women.

The is committed to protect the rights of women of Punjab who are willing to go abroad, have settled there, or have returned. Special attention is being given by the Punjab Government towards them, said Dr Baljit on Monday.

She said that some agents are giving fake jobs and falsely sending the women of the state to foreign countries illegally. By making statements, they are exploited in various ways. Efforts are being made by the Punjab Government to prepare a state-level policy to overcome this situation, she said.

To listen to the tragedies of women who have suffered all kinds of exploitation and to include their suggestions in the policy, a discussion is being organized on June 11 at the office of Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner from 11 am to 1 pm.

The Minister explained that incidents of exploitation of women are reported, especially from America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Middle Eastern countries like Kuwait, Dubai, Oman etc. Such bad behavior has been taken seriously by the state Government, she said.

Beginning July 1, this year, the Government will ensure free Education in government institutions, for such children as well as children belonging to families that have lost their breadwinner to COVID.

The Chief Minister, announcing the decision, termed it the states duty to become the foster parents of the children who have lost both their parents in the unprecedented pandemic.

Affected persons would also be eligible for grant of Rs 51,000 under Ashirwaad Scheme with effect from July 1, and would be entitled to free ration under the State Smart Ration Card Scheme and coverage under the Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana.

Dedicating the newly-renovated Guru Tegh Bahadur Museum to the masses, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann exhorted the people to uphold and emulate the high ideals of and humanitarianism embodied by the ninth Sikh Guru.

The Chief Minister, addressing the gathering after inspecting the ongoing work at Panj Pyara Park, said that the ninth Sikh guru, who founded the holy town of Sri Anandpur Sahib, was the epitome of Socialism and secularism as he sacrificed his life for the sake of preserving Human Rights in the country.

Mann urged the people to imbibe the spirit of self-sacrifice preached and practiced by Hind Di Chaadar, Guru Teg Bahadur Ji, who laid down his life to safeguard the freedom of worship, besides upholding the human and secular values. He said that the bani of Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Ji, which is included in Guru Granth Sahib, preaches the message of oneness of mankind, universal brotherhood, righteousness, valour and compassion, which need to be followed by one and all.

The Chief Minister said that the life and Philosophy of Sri Guru Teg Bahadur is a lighthouse for the entire humanity adding that this Museum will help in perpetuating this glorious legacy on one hand and further cementing the ties between people on the other.

The Chief Minister further said that the State Government has inherited a debt of Rs 9020 crore of Powercom from previous governments. This bad debt is being repaid through installments worth Rs 1804 crore. The State Government has, so far, provided more than 28,000 jobs to the youth in the state, he added.

To promote trade and and improve Ease of Doing Business in the state, the Punjab government has done away with 479 compliances that were earlier required for seeking various approvals and renewals by industrialists.

These compliances were part of a total 541 age-old mandatory approvals identified to be scrapped under Phase-I of reducing compliance burden by various departments.

The Chief Secretary was informed that as part of Phase-II plan, 70 compliances have been identified across four areas that require amendments to the existing laws, implementation of which is underway and needs to be completed by August 15.

The Punjab government will further strengthen activities, including strengthening of Village Water and Sanitation Committee(VWSC) and setting up more water testing laboratories under the Centres flagship Jal Jeevan Mission(JJM).

The JJM, implemented by the Jal Shakti Ministry in coordination with the State governments, aims to provide piped drinking water to every rural household in the country by 2024.

The recently apprised the Jal Shakti Ministry that it has planned to build the capacity of over 60 thousand stakeholders which includes government officials, public Health engineers, village water and sanitation committee, surveillance committee and Panchayat members in 2021-22.

Skilling of local people will be ensured to work as mason, plumber, fitter, electrician and pump operator. Such initiative of providing EMPLOYMENT in the villages under skilled and semi-skilled sections will provide income generating opportunities in villages.