Minister promises probe into CSR spending by Rama Mandi refinery

The state government will conduct an audit and probe into the spending of Rs 156 crore corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds by the Guru Gobind Singh Refinery, Rama Mandi.

An assurance in this regard was given by Labour, Industries and Commerce and Rural and Panchayats Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond while replying to a question raised by Talwandi Sabo MLA Baljinder Kaur on the concluding day of the two-day Vidhan Sabha session.

After the MLA sought to know where the CSR funds had been spent by the refinery, the minister informed the House that of the Rs 180.56 crore collected as CSR funds in the past five years, Rs 153.56 crore had been spent so far.

Alleging a scam, the MLA said the funds had been spent on insignificant works. The minister assured an inquiry and also an audit of the spending.

The MLA further alleged a syndicate of private truckers operating at the refinery had pushed the local transporter out of business.

Mental health policy on the cards

Health Minister Balbir Singh informed the House that the state was coming up with a comprehensive mental health policy having a multi-pronged approach to deal with addicts under treatment at deaddiction centres, students, farmers and deportees from the US and other countries.

On a question raised by AAP MLA Amit Ratan Kotfatta, the minister said the police, Education Department, Skill Development Department and community leaders were being involved in framing the policy. He said all legislators would also be taken on board bbefore finalising the policy.

Reshuffle of block samiti staff

Panchayat Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond said transfer of employees who had been occupying same post for a long time would be considered. He was responding to a question by MLA Jangi Lal Mahajan who claimed long stay of panchayat samiti staff at one station promoted bribery.

Over 2 lakh dogs sterilized

Local Government Minister Ravjot Singh said 2,18,063 dogs had been sterilized in the state, with nearly 80,000 procedures conducted between 2022 and 2024. Under the programme, 14 urban local bodies had established Animal Birth Control Centres, he said. Additionally, eight municipal bodies had set up dog pounds for temporary sheltering of stray animals.

Survey of ownership rights 

Revenue, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management Minister Hardip Singh Mundian said the survey of ownership rights of people living within "lal dora" in villages under the Mera Ghar Mere Naam Scheme would be completed by 2026. Earlier, it was scheduled to be completed by December 2025. While a drone survey of 10,323 villages had been completed till now, 24,315 property cards had been generated in the state, he said.

Hike in compensation for PSPCL staff

Power Minister Harbhajan Singh informed the House that in case of fatal or non-fatal accidents while working on generation, distribution and transmission system of the department, the compensation for regular and contract/contractor-employed workers of the PSPCL had been increased from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 30 lakh for the regular staff and from Rs 10 to Rs 20 lakh for the contractual staff.