LAYING MAJOR THRUST ON ENHANCING THE SHARE OF RECRUITMENT OF YOUTH FROM STATE IN THE INDIAN ARMED FORCES: CM

DELEGATION OF NDC CALLS ON CM

CM REITERATES FIRM COMMITMENT OF STATE GOVERNMENT TO ENSURE WELFARE OF SOLDIERS

Chandigarh, February 4:Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Tuesday said that the state government is laying major thrust for enhancing the share of recruitment of youth from the state in the Indian Armed forces.

Interacting with a delegation led by Air Marshal Hardeep Bains AVSM VSM, the Commandant of National Defence College, the Chief Minister said that Punjab has a glorious history of serving the country in Indian Armed forces. He said that though this trend has now dipped, the state government is making concerted efforts for giving fillip to the recruitment of youth in Armed forces by encouraging them. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that already the Mai Bhago Armed Forces Preparatory Institute and Maharaja Ranjit Singh Armed Forces Preparatory Institute set up by the state government and C-Pyte centres are doing a commendable job in this direction.

The Chief Minister said that besides being the nation’s food bowl, Punjab also has a distinction of being the sword arm of the country and its people are well known all over the world for their courage, resilience and spirit of enterprise. He said that every inch of this sacred land has the footprint of great Gurus, saints, seers and martyrs, who have shown us the way to oppose tyranny, injustice and oppression. Bhagwant Mann also said that the state has 532 kilometre of border with Pakistan due to which support of Armed forces is pivotal.

The Chief Minister said that Recognising the immense contribution of jawans of Armed forces, Paramilitary forces, Police and even Agnivirs in safeguarding unity and integrity of the country, the state government gives financial assistance worth Rs 1 crore to the family in case the jawans attain martyrdom in line of duty. He said that this is in consonance with the commitment of the state government to ensure the well being of the soldiers (from Armed forces, paramilitary and Police) and their families. Bhagwant Singh Mann hoped that this humble initiative by the state will go a long way in helping the aggrieved family on one hand and securing their future on the other.

The Chief Minister said that the state Government has launched the first of its kind initiative in the country, a dedicated Sadak Surakhya Force to ensure enhanced security and to save precious lives on the State and National Highways. He said that specially trained, freshly recruited 1597 personnel including girls are acting as the backbone to this force, who have been provided with the latest, fully equipped 144 vehicles and since its launch in February last year the state has witnessed a 48% reduction in casualties due to accidents. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that force has been deployed all along 4200 km of the Highways, prone to traffic accidents adding that in addition to patrolling in the assigned areas, they act as a deterrent for traffic violations and more.

Welcoming the delegates, the Chief Minister said that Punjab is glad to host this delegation comprising 15 officers including six foreign delegates of the rank of Brigadier/Jt Secretary equivalent from the Military, Civil Services and Friendly Foreign Countries undertaking tour of state from February 03rd - 07th. He expressed hope that this tour will give an opportunity to delegates to visit the state and examine socio-political-economic, cultural and religious aspects. Likewise, Bhagwant Singh Mann envisioned that this tour will also apprise the delegates about the challenges of administration, governance and enforcing law and order, at state level and down to village level.

The Chief Minister also said that the delegates will also get a closer view of different aspects of the development including various Government-sponsored programmes for Social Development like Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Law and order. Empowerment of Women, Health/ Agriculture/ Education/ Energy Sector a n d functioning of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and others. He directed the officers to showcase the rich cultural legacy of the state before the visiting dignitaries besides ensuring warm hospitality to them during their stay. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that apart from assuring their cozy stay in state, the guests will also be given a glimpse of rich Punjabi culture.

Meanwhile the visiting delegation, comprising of officers from six foreign countries including Sri Lanka, Egypt, Korea, Oman, Russia and others lauded the steps being taken by the Chief Minister for the well being of Armed forces and their families.

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OVER RS 4-CR RELEASED TO SCHOOLS FOR NATURAL CALAMITY & EMERGENCY MEASURES, SAYS BAINS

•Display boards carrying emergency helpline numbers & instructions to be installed in schools

Chandigarh, February 4:Punjab School Education department has allotted a fund of over Rs 4 crore to create awareness among the school staff and students regarding how to react during an emergency or natural calamity related incidents, besides making arrangements to avoid any exigency like electrocution or fire.

Disclosing this in a press communiqué issued here today, Punjab School Education Minister S. Harjot Singh Bains said that the instructions have been issued to the heads of elementary and secondary schools to use the funds to install display boards carrying emergency helpline numbers like police-112, fire-101, ambulance-108, women helpline-1091, traffic helpline-1073 and child helpline-1098 etc.

The Minister further said that the school heads have also directed to draft an evacuation plan keeping in view of the safety of school staff and students in case of any fire incident in the school or natural calamity, and install emergency panic alarms wherever needed. He said that the school's staff has been asked to keep regular checks on school buildings to ensure that electric equipment and wires are in order.

Emphasising on the need of training to tackle with any exigency, the School Education Minister said that the instructions have been issued to organize special training programs in the schools inviting experts dealing with the natural calamities. He said that the school heads would ensure that the expenditure should be incurred through the EAT module of the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) portal and the same should be timely updated on PRABANDH portal to facilitate online monitoring of the funds.

Reiterating the Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann led Punjab Government’s commitment to provide safe and secure environment in the schools, S. Harjot Singh Bains said that the school education department is working on a mission to provide the state-of-the-art educational facilities in its schools, besides ensuring adequate and safe amenities for its students and staff.

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SEC announces to conduct the election to elect the members of the Gram Panchayat Lakhmir Ke Uttar, District Ferozepur on 23, February 2025

Chandigarh, 4 February 2025:The Punjab State Election Commission informed that the election to elect the members of the Gram Panchayat Lakhmir Ke Uttar, District Ferozepur, would be held on 23.02.2025. The voting will be held from 8.00 AM to 4.00 PM on 23.02.2025.

Disclosing this here today, Punjab State Election Commissioner Raj Kamal Chaudhari said that the formal notification of commission regarding schedule of election would be issued on 07.02.2025.

In this regard District Election Officer-Cum-Deputy Commissioner, Ferozepur, has been directed to make all necessary arrangements for a free and fair poll. The Model Code of Conduct will come into force from the date of notification, in the revenue jurisdiction of Gram Panchayat Lakhmir Ke Uttar, District Ferozepur.

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Vigilance Bureau arrests two accused in multi-crore State Bank scam

Chandigarh, February 4, 2025 – The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) has arrested Satnam Singh and Sarabjit Singh Numberdar, both residents of Sarupwal village in Sultanpur Lodhi tehsil, for their involvement in a multi-crore scam at the State Bank of Patiala (now State Bank of India), Sultanpur Lodhi branch, district Kapurthala. The accused, in connivance with bank officials, private individuals, and officers/employees of the state Revenue Department, embezzled crores of rupees through fraudulent means.

Providing details, a VB spokesperson stated that, based on an investigation into a vigilance enquiry registered seven years ago, an FIR No. 5, dated 09-03-2017 was lodged at the Vigilance Bureau Range Jalandhar police station under Sections 409, 420, 467, 468, 471, and 120-B of the IPC, along with Sections 13(1) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The investigation revealed that the accused, in collusion with the branch manager and other bank employees, as well as revenue officials, fraudulently obtained loans and credit limits, siphoning money from the treasury. The inquiry established that approximately Rs 3.71 crore had been misappropriated through 14 loan files as of April 30, 2016.

Explaining the modus operandi, the spokesperson added that the accused secured bank loans using fictitious identities and fraudulent land records. They obtained incomplete field reports and forged guarantor deeds in collaboration with private individuals and revenue officials. Despite the fact that the purported borrowers were not the actual owners of the land, which in reality belonged to the Punjab Government, the land was falsely shown as privately owned. Revenue officials facilitated this fraud by issuing falsified fards, fard-girdawaris, and free-of-encumbrance certificates.

Satnam Singh Sarupwala provided forged Fard Jamabandi, Fard Haqiyat, Fard Girdawari, and a mortgage certificate to secure an agricultural loan from Sulinder Singh, the then-manager of the State Bank of Patiala, Sultanpur Lodhi branch. Based on these fabricated documents, the bank manager, in collusion with other accused bank employees, including Field Officer Surinder Pal and panel lawyer Tara Chand, prepared false reports to approve a loan in Satnam Singh’s name for his personal benefit. Consequently, the bank manager sanctioned a Rs 16 lakh loan, despite revenue records proving that the Jamabandi of Lohian village did not match official records. The Khewat-Khatoni and Khasra numbers mentioned in the loan documents were also absent from revenue records. Furthermore, no official entry regarding this loan was recorded in the Roznamcha (daily revenue journal).

Similarly, upon verifying the mortgage deed, it was discovered that the bank manager, in collusion with Satnam Singh and others, had fraudulently affixed a fake registration number of the Joint Sub-Registrar, Lohian, on the deed. Sarabjit Singh Numberdar of Sarupwala had provided false testimony regarding this forged document.

It is noteworthy that this case was registered against 33 individuals based on the vigilance inquiry. So far, 28 accused have been arrested, while three have been declared absconders by the court. The Vigilance Bureau is actively working to apprehend the remaining accused. The arrested accused Satnam Singh and Sarabjit Singh would be produced in court tomorrow, and further investigation was underway, he added.

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Vigilance Bureau arrests PSPCL Head Cashier for accepting Rs 2,60,000 bribe

Chandigarh, February 04, 2025 -The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB), during its ongoing campaign against corruption in the state, on Wednesday has apprehended Amrit Bhushan, posted as Head Cashier at PSPCL office in Dinanagar in Gurdaspur district for demanding and receiving a bribe of Rs 2,60,000.

Disclosing this here today an official spokesperson of the state VB said the above-mentioned accused has been arrested after an inquiry of a complaint lodged by Raghubir Singh, a resident of Changi Saroop Dass, district Gurdaspur.

He further informed that during the verification of the said complaint, it was found that the said accused had taken a bribe of Rs 2,60,000 for getting the work done of shifting 11 KV electric lines however he never got shifted the said power lines.

He added that in this regard a case under Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered at VB Police Station, Amritsar Range. The accused would be produced in the competent court tomorrow and further investigation was under progress, he said.

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PUNJAB GOVT STANDS IN SOLIDARITY WITH FARMERS, PROVIDES JOBS TO 597 KINS OF FARMERS DIED DURING ANTI-FARM LAW PROTEST

•Gurmeet Singh Khudian hands over appointment letters to three persons from families of martyr farmers in Statistic wing of Agri Dept

Chandigarh, February 4:In a significant move, the Punjab Government led by Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann has provided government jobs to 597 kins of farmers, who lost their lives during the agitation against the contentious farm laws. This gesture demonstrates the state government's unwavering commitment to supporting the farming community and their families, said S. Gurmeet Singh Khudian, Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister, Punjab.

S. Gurmeet Singh Khudian, on Tuesday, handed over appointment letters to three individuals from families of deceased farmers, who have been appointed as Computer (Stat) in the Statistics wing of the Agriculture Department. The newly inducted officials, Jasvipan Kamboj from Fazilka district, Ramadeep Kaur from Tarn Taran district and Parwinder Kaur from Jalandhar district, were wished well by the Agriculture Minister, who also encouraged them to work towards the development of Punjab while ensuring transparent and efficient delivery of services.

He said that the CM Mann-led Punjab Government has been making concerted efforts to create job opportunities for the youth and addressing the concerns of farmers. By fostering a collaborative environment, the state government aims to implement policies that promote agricultural growth and improve the livelihoods of the farming community. S. Gurmeet Singh Khudian exhorts the newly inducted officials to uphold the values of integrity and accountability in their work.

Notably, the Punjab Government has provided over 50,000 government jobs in various departments so far, reflecting its commitment to supporting the youth of Punjab in securing stable and meaningful employment opportunities.

Director Agriculture & Farmers Welfare department Jaswant Singh and other officials were also present on the occasion.