Eviction of farmers, assault on Col rock Punjab Assembly

The Budget session of the Punjab Assembly started on a stormy note on Friday as the Congress staged a walkout during the Governor’s address to corner the government over the crackdown on farmers and the thrashing of a colonel by police personnel in Patiala.

The Opposition legislators entered the Assembly wearing black armbands.

Shortly after Governor Gulab Chand Kataria began his address, they entered the well of the House and raised slogans against the government before staging the walkout.

Speaking on the government commitment on making the state drug-free, the Governor said a special focus was being laid on breaking the supply chain of the peddlers.

Properties of drug smugglers were being demolished to send a strong message to them, he said.

Kataria said the Anti-Gangster Task Force of the Punjab Police had arrested 1,588 criminals, neutralised 13 gangsters, busted 571 modules, and recovered 1,477 weapons.

Since January 1, 2024 to November 28 last year, the police busted nine terror modules, resulting in 59 arrests. He said as many as 33,079 public awareness meetings were held and 19,523 village defence committees formed.

Draft agriculture policy

The Governor said the government had circulated a draft agriculture policy among all stakeholders, particularly farmers, seeking their comments.

The draft agriculture policy has been prepared by an 11-member committee for sustainable agriculture, protecting natural resources, and increasing farmers’ income.

During the 2024 kharif season, 2.53 lakh acres was cultivated under the direct seeding of rice method compared with 1.70 lakh acres in the 2023 season, Kataria said.

Under the technique, rice seeds are sown directly into the field, bypassing the traditional method of raising the seedlings in nurseries and then transplanted.

The Government ensured more than eight hours of power supply to agriculture consumers during the paddy season without any cuts on domestic, commercial or industrial consumers.

“To compensate for GST on goods purchased at the Golden Temple and Durgiana Mandir in Amritsar, the government has released Rs 2.7 crore,” he said.

New medical colleges

The Governor said the government was also in the process of setting up three new medical colleges at Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Malerkotla under centrally sponsored schemes and two new medical colleges at Sangrur and SBS Nagar.

A total of 2.98 crore patients have availed health services at 881 Aam Admi clinics in the state, he said.

Plan for student entrepreneurs

Under the Business Blaster Scheme for senior secondary students, 51, 565 students in 6,700 teams had been given the seed money Rs of 10.32 crore to convert their business ideas into real-life businesses, he said.

Kataria said the state government has executed 79 projects for the repair of canals in the current financial year.

As many as 77 water bodies abandoned during the past 30-40 years have been restored, he added.

Kataria said since March 2022, the government received 5,986 investment proposals with potential investment figures of Rs 96,836 crore. These have the potential of creating 4,20,030 jobs, he added.

The discussion on the Governor’s address will take place on March 24. The Budget for 2025-26 will be presented on March 26, and the discussion on budget estimates will take place on March 27.

‘Rationalising canal water supply’

Water Resources Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal said the government was rationalising canal water distribution to ensure that the supply reached tail-end areas and districts receiving less canal water. He said this replying to a query raised by Dharamkot MLA Davinderjeet Singh Laddi Dhose. The minister said the government had increased water allowance by 50 per cent from two cusecs to three cusecs in many districts to ensure that the areas with higher groundwater extraction receive canal water on a priority. The water allowance in many districts is six to eight cusecs, while in districts like Sangrur, Barnala, Patiala and Mansa, it is only two cusecs. As a result, groundwater is being extracted in larger quantities in these districts, he said.

Deliberations on minimum wages

A proposal to increase the minimum wages in Punjab is under consideration of the Labour Department. This information was provided by Punjab Labour Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond while responding to a question by MLA Kulwant Singh. The minister said the increase would take place within this year, making 2025 the new base year for minimum wages.

Backlog in printing of driving licences

Transport Minister Laljit Singh Bullar on Friday admitting to a large pendency in the printing of driving licence and registration certificate smart cards and assured the Assembly that the backlog would be cleared within a month. Replying a question by Fardikot AAP legislator Gurdit Singh, the minister said to address of the issue of vehicle owners having paper-based driving licences, the department had decided to empower regional transport officers to verify their records and issue them smart cards. The MLA had said that vehicle owners were in a fix as they were unable to get their licences due to the non-availability of old records with the department.