Industry Minister hoists National Flag on I-Day

Tribune News Service

Nawanshahr, August 16

The Industries and Commerce Minister, Sunder Sham Arora, hoisted the tricolour here at the district-level Independence Day function organised at ITI Grounds on Wednesday.

Paying tributes to the martyrs, who sacrificed their lives for attaining the freedom, the minister cautioned the people from the nefarious designs of the forces, which had been trying to sabotage the unity of the country by playing politics of caste and religion.

Exhorting the people to come forward to wipe out the stigma of drug addiction, he said the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, had launched various drives including ‘DAPO’, ‘Buddy Programme’, ‘Tandarust Punjab Mission’ and ‘Ghar Ghar Hariyali’ with missionary zeal to bring back the lost glory, progress and prosperity of Punjab.

With a view to convert the drive against drug abuse into virtual mass movement, the state government, has launched ‘Buddy Programme’ in the schools on Thursday. Under it, the students from the very beginning of teenage, will not only be made aware about the ill effects of the drug abuse but also be made ambassadors to spread the message in their vicinity.

The Minister also disbursed loan waiver certificates pertaining to commercial banks worth Rs 1.01 crore among the beneficiaries to fulfil the pre-poll promise of waiving of the loans of farmers.

“During the first phase, the loans amounting to Rs 72 crore of farmers of the Nawanshahr had been waived off and in the second phase, the loans drawn from commercial banks had been waived off,” he said. He also announced a grant of Rs 5 crore for completing the construction work of the District Administrative Complex.