Laljit Singh Bhullar orders purchase of new buses during new year
Directs officials to ensure government bus service on every route in the state
Asks to furnish list of routes without government bus service within 15 days
Chandigarh, January 1- Punjab Transport Minister S. Laljit Singh Bhullar today ordered the inclusion of new buses in the Punjab Roadways and PRTC fleet during the new year.
While chairing a meeting to review the functioning of Punjab Roadways/PUNBUS, PRTC and State Transport Commissioner's (STC) office, S. Laljit Singh Bhullar instructed officials to achieve the targets set by the government and increase government revenue in this year, just as they achieved the targets in the previous year.
He directed the officials to lease out the state's bus stands to ensure revenue enhancement along with their maintenance and cleanliness.
S. Laljit Singh Bhullar said that government bus service should be started on routes where private buses predominantly operate and government bus service is minimal so that women can benefit from free bus service along with providing convenience to other passengers.
He said that department officials should ensure government bus service on every route in the state to curb the monopoly of private bus operators. The Cabinet Minister also instructed officials to submit list of all routes where government bus service is not available, within 15 days.
S. Laljit Singh Bhullar asked the officials of State Transport Commissioner's office to adopt effective recovery procedures to crack down on tax defaulters. He said that public services being run by the department should be made more effective and service delivery should be ensured in a time-bound manner.
Prominent amongst others who were present in the meeting included PRTC Chairman S. Ranjodh Singh Hadana, Additional Chief Secretary Transport Mr. D.K. Tiwari, STC Mr. Jaspreet Singh, MD PUNBUS Mr. Rajiv Kumar Gupta, MD PRTC S. Bikramjit Singh Shergill, Deputy Director S. Parneet Singh Minhas, ADO PUNBUS Mr. Rajiv Dutta, GM PRTC S. Maninder Singh and other officials.
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Vigilance Bureau nabs 173 persons red handed taking bribes in 134 traps during 2024 : Varinder Kumar
10 gazetted officers, 129 non-gazetted officers arrested
32 police personnel, 24 revenue Patwaris apprehended
Chandigarh, 01 January 2025 :Aiming to weed out corruption from the society, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) adopted a multi-facet approach to corner the bribe seekers and to generate awareness among the public with a resolute stand to curb this social malady. During the period the VB has apprehended 173 persons red handed taking bribes in different cases.
Disclosing this here today, VB Chief Director-cum-Special DGP Varinder Kumar, said the VB has been able to nab 139 officials of different departments and 34 private persons while accepting bribes in 134 trap cases during the year 2024. Adopting a zero tolerance policy towards all forms of corruption, the Bureau had nabbed 10 gazetted officers (GOs) and 129 non-gazetted officials (NGOs) from January 1 to December 31, 2024.
VB Chief revealed that during the year, apart from other departments, 53 personnel of Punjab Police, 33 of Revenue Department, 9 of Power, 3 of Panchayats and Rural Development, 8 of Health department, 18 of Local Bodies department, 3 of Food & Civil Supply department were nabbed red handed while taking bribes in separate cases. In addition to this, the VB has apprehended two employees each of Forest department, Labour, Finance and Transport department in graft cases.
Giving more details about the performance of the Bureau he added that the VB had registered 124 criminal cases against the accused in which include 29 GOs, 117 NGOs and 117 private persons. Apart from this, 60 Vigilance Enquiries had also been registered to probe corruption complaints against 26 GOs, 27 NGOs and 7 private persons. Besides, 3 cases of disproportionate assets were also registered against 3 NGOs.
In addition, 1 Gazetted officer and 1 Non Gazetted Officer has been dismissed from their services by their respective administrative departments due to conviction by the competent courts while deciding the VB cases. He further revealed that the Bureau had been able to conclude 71 Vigilance Enquiries during the year. .
Sharing details, DGP VB said various competent courts have sentenced 50 accused in 41 cases filed and contested by the Bureau under prevention of corruption act which includes 3 GOs, 31 NGOs and 16 private persons and awarded imprisonments ranging from one year to seven years. The courts have also imposed fines varying from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 5,00,000 in these cases which amount to a total sum of Rs. 22,42,000, he added.
The VB has effectively implemented awareness campaigns during Vigilance Awareness Week in which seminars and public meetings were held in urban as well as in rural areas to weed corruption from the society and integrity pledges was also administered to all the officers and employees of the bureau," he added.
He further informed that prominent persons have been booked/arrested in corruption cases during the last year included I.A.S officer Vinay Biblani, P.C.S officer Harpreet Singh Assistant Labour Commissioner Hoshiarpur, A.C.P Nirdesh Kaur Ludhiana, executive engineers Ranbir Singh and Rajinder Singh, DCFA Pankaj Garg, C.T.P. Pankaj Bawa, Jarnail Singh Bajwa, of Bajwa Developers Mohali and Medical Officer Dr. Narinder Pal Singh. In addition this, Gurmukh Singh, Sarbjit Singh and Kulwinder Singh all BDPOs, posted at Ludhiana, Ferozpur and Mohali respectively, Baldev Raj DFSO, Tehsildar Sukhchain Singh and Lakhwinder Singh, Deepak Kumar Singal of Deepak Builders, Arvinder Singh Chief Engineer, Paramjit Singh and Sarbraj Kumar both Executive Engineers were also arrested/booked during the year.
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Vigilance Bureau apprehends de-addiction center owner Dr Amit Bansal for misappropriating medicines used for rehabilitation of addicts
Drug Inspector Ludhiana also been booked for conniving with accused
Chandigarh January 01, 2025 -The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) has arrested Dr. Amit Bansal s/o Subhash Bansal, a resident of H.No. 141, Sector 28-A Chandigarh for committing illegal activities at his 22 de-addiction centers being run/owned by him in different parts of the state. In this case Rooppreet Kaur Drug Inspector Ludhiana has also been booked and would be arrested soon.
Disclosing this here today an official spokesperson of the state VB said in this regard a case FIR No. 12 dated 31.12.2024 has been registered against the aforementioned accused under section 7, 7-A of Prevention of Corruption Act and 120-B of IPC, at Vigilance Bureau, Flying Squad -1, Punjab at Mohali.
Giving more details he revealed that as per the information Dr. Amit Bansal is running 22 de-addiction centers in Punjab where tablets Addnok-N 0.4 and Addnok-N 2.0 (Buprenorphine & Naloxone) are used for the treatment of addict patients. During interrogations it has came to fore that these tablets were misused in the drug de-addiction centers run and owned by the accused Dr. Amit Bansal and were sold in the market to other persons (addicts) which were not on the rolls of these rehabilitation centers.
He further added that a case FIR No. 242 dated 05.10.2022 was earlier registered at Police Station STF, Phase-4, Mohali against the employees of Dr. Amit Bansal namely Vidant and Kamaljit Singh of Simran Hospital/De-addiction center at Ludhiana. On the disclosure statement of these employees, a recovery of about 23000 tablets were confiscated from these employees and a drug money of Rs. 90000 was also recovered from them. On the same day, the STF Team inpected the above said Simran De-addiction Center in the presence of Drug Inspector Rooppreet Kaur and found a shortage of 4610 Tablets.
The spokesperson added that after this inspection a report was prepared under the signatures of the inspecting team but the above said Drug Inspector Rooppreet Kaur send a separate report to the Director, Health & Family Welfare Punjab in which she mentioned the shortage of only 4000 tablets instead of 4610 tablets in connivance with Dr. Amit Bansal to save him from the legal criminal action of shortage of 610 tablets which clearly shows her official misconduct and corruption.
It is also pertinent to mention here that a video of another de-addiction center namely Sehaj Hospital Nakodar was got viral by someone whose cognizance was taken by the then Deputy Commissioner Jallandhar and a case FIR No. 64 dated 08.06.2024 was got registered at police station city, Nakodar in Jalandhar. During the inpection of the said Sehaj de-addiction center around 144000 tablets, Addnok-N were found by the inspection committee. The then Deputy Commissioner Jalandhar ordered to freeze the credential of online portal till completion of inquiry and suspend the license of Sehaj Hospital/De-addiction Center Nakodar. Afterwards Dr. Amit Bansal, in conviance with the officers/officials of Directorate of Health & Family Welfare Punjab hush up the matter. Mentionably, it was also come to notice that a separate case FIR No. 154 dated 11.11.2024 has been registered at police station, Grain Market, Patiala against the employees of Adarsh Hospital/De-addiction center Patiala run and owned by Dr. Amit Bansal.
The spokesperson informed that VB, Flying Squad-1, Punjab is thoroughly investigating the case to find out the role of other officials/private persons involved in this whole nexsus to execute illegal activities at the de-addiction centers being run/owned by the accused Dr. Amit Bansal.
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SAINIK SCHOOL KAPURTHALA OPENS ADMISSIONS FOR ACADEMIC SESSION 2025-26
State Government offers income-based scholarships to cadets of Punjab domicile
Last date for submission of online application form is 13th January 2025
Chandigarh, January 1,An official spokesperson informed that Sainik School Kapurthala has opened online applications for admission to Classes VI and IX for the academic session 2025-26 through the All India Sainik Schools Entrance Examination (AISSEE). The entrance exam, conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), is open to both boys and girls for Class VI and IX. The exact date of the examination will be notified on the NTA website in due course
The spokesperson further stated that candidates for Class VI must be between 10-12 years of age, and for Class IX, they must be between 13-15 years of age as of March 31, 2025. These age criteria ensure that applicants are suitably prepared for the academic and physical training provided at the school.
Regarding financial assistance, the spokesperson mentioned that the Punjab Government offers income-based scholarships to cadets of Punjab domicile. Families with an annual income of up to ₹3,00,000 are eligible for 100% tuition fee reimbursement. Those earning between ₹3,00,001 and ₹5,00,000 receive 75%, while families earning between ₹5,00,001 and ₹7,50,000 are eligible for 50%. Cadets from families with an income between ₹7,50,001 and ₹10,00,000 receive 25% reimbursement. No financial assistance is provided to families with an annual income above ₹10,00,000.
Additionally, the official spokesperson highlighted that other financial assistance is available for eligible cadets,including scholarships from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for children of Defence personnel based on rank, share of burden and central assistance from MoD, NDA incentives for two years, and Bihar Government scholarships for cadets of Bihar domicile.
For further details, the spokesman advised candidates to visit the school’s official website https://www.sskapurthala.com or the NTA website https://exams.nta.ac.in/aissee. The last date for submission of the online application form is 13th January 2025 (up to 5:00 PM).
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Vigilance Bureau apprehends ASI accepting Rs 5,000 bribe
Accused previously took Rs 1500 for favour in resolving police complaint case
Chandigarh, January 1, 2025 -The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB), during its ongoing campaign against corruption in the state, has arrested an Assistant Sub Inspector of Police Manjit Singh, posted at police station city-2, Kapurthala for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000.
Disclosing this here today an official spokesperson of the state VB said this case has been registered against the aforementioned police official on a complaint lodged by Gurjit Kaur, a resident of Fattudhinga, in Kapurthala district.
He further informed that the said complaint has approached the VB and informed that the said accused had demanded Rs 5,000 for issuing copies of complaint made against her and a mutual agreement signed by her with the complainants. She further informed that the accused ASI had already taken Rs 1,500 to resolve this police complaint in her favour.
The spokesperson further added that after a preliminary enquiry into this complaint the VB team laid a trap during which the said police personnel was caught red handed while he was receiving the bribe money from the complainant in the presence of two official witnesses. In this regard a case under Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against the accused at VB police station Jalandhar range and further investigation into this case was under progress, he said.