Don’t mislead public on services at Suvidha Kendras, says Arora

Punjab Cabinet Minister Aman Arora on Monday warned officials against misleading people on services being provided by the government and stressed that it would attract strict action.

Arora, who holds the Department of Good Governance and Information Technology, said this in the state Assembly while replying to a query by Faridkot legislator Gurdit Singh Sekhon.

He was speaking as Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was absent on the first day of the session.

Arora’s statement came days after AAP MLAs, during a meeting with their party chief Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi, flagged the issue of corruption in government offices.

Following the meeting, the Punjab Government had directed deputy commissioners, sub-divisional magistrates, senior Superintendents of police, and station house officers (SHOs) to check corruption in their respective areas.The government has also dismissed over 50 policemen over corruption charges.

Sekhon had sought to know if there was a minimum threshold to issue income certificates, which was denied by the minister.

Arora urged the legislators to bring to his notice if any official was found misleading people in the delivery of the services being provided at Suvidha Kendras in the state.

The minister was told that Paramjit Kolu of Doger Basti in Faridkot had approached a tehsildar to make an income certificate for his two differently-abled brothers but was told that it could be issued only if their annual income was Rs 80,000. Arora told the House that it was totally misleading as income certificates were being issued to people with zero income.

410 serving life term eligible for early release

Transport and Jails Minister Laljit Bhullar, in a reply to a question by Payal MLA Manwinder Singh Giaspura, told the House that as on January 10, 410 prisoners undergoing life imprisonment (life convicts) were eligible for premature release under various policies made by the government from time to time. He said their applications are being considered at various levels.

28.95 BCM groundwater extracted in 2023-2024

Water Resources Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal said a total of 28.95 billion cubic metres of groundwater was extracted in the Punjab during 2023-24.

The minister said this replying to a query raised by Balluana MLA Amandeep Singh Musafir.

The average annual rate of depletion in the State during the last five years is 0.16 m. There are a total 153 blocks in Punjab, of which 115 are in the overexploited zone. The difference between groundwater extracted and recharge during the year 2023-24 was 11.32 BCM, he said.

Assembly Notes

Resolution over draft agri marketing policy

The Punjab Vidhan Sabha will take up on Tuesday a resolution against the draft National Policy Framework on Agriculture Marketing. The resolution will be moved by Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian. While the state government has already rejected the policy, farmer unions had demanded that a resolution be passed in the House.

Pargat slams AAP govt over illegal mining

Congress MLA Pargat Singh asked Cabinet Minister Aman Arora to accompany him to see the extent of illegal mining in Hoshiarpur. “During the last Assembly session, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had agreed to accompany me to Hoshiarpur. Though the CM sahib spared time to go to the Hoshiarpur Forest Guest House recently, he did not pay a visit to see illegal mining,” the MLA said.

Five first-time legislators attend session

Four newly elected MLAs — Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon, Ishank Chabbewal, Gurdeep Singh Randhawa MLAs — all from AAP, and Kuldeep Singh Dhillon from the Congress, made their debut in the Vidhan Sabha on Monday by participating in the Zero Hour.

Opposition targets govt over CM’s absence

While Congress’ Jalandhar MLA Pargat Singh said the absence of CM Bhagwant Mann on the opening day of the session showed his seriousness for the legislative business, Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa said Mann had avoided giving answers to burning issues of Punjab. Shiromani Akali Dal slammed the AAP government, saying the “deliberate sidelining” of Mann proves that he is no longer in control.

Minister takes to Urdu poetry to hit out at Cong

Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh recited a popular Urdu couplet of poet Mirza Ghalib, but with a twist, while responding to the criticism of his government over a defunct medical oxygen-generation plant in Gurdaspur. Replying to Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bjawa, he accused the previous Congress govt of “wasteful” expenditure. “Hum ko maloom hai Congress ki haqiqat lekin/dil to bahalane ko Ghalib yeh khayal achcha hai”, he said replacing word jannat with Congress. He also drew the poet in Bajwa, who quoted famous poet Shauq Bahraichi and said, “Barbaad gulistan karne ko sirf ek hi ullu kaafi hai/anjame gulistan kya hoga jab har shaak pe ullu baitha ho.”

Legislators flag poor condition of roads

While Dera Bassi AAP MLA Kuljit Singh Randhawa raised the issue of the pathetic condition of roads maintained by the Punjab Mandi Board, especially due to diversion of traffic after the closure of the Shambhu border due to the farmers’ stir, Congress MLA from Shakot Hardev Singh Laddi and SAD’s Majitha legislator Ganieve Kaur also raised the issue of poor condition of roads in their constituencies. (Contributed by Rajmeet Singh and Ruchika M Khanna)