Six working women hostels in Punjab by end of 2026: Minister Dr Baljit Kaur

Minister for Social Security and Women and Child Welfare Dr Baljit Kaur today said that Punjab would commission six working women hostels by next year (2026). He was replying to a query by Mohali MLA Kulwant Singh during the Question Hour on the last day of the Vidhan Sabha session here.

Three of these hostels are coming up in Mohali (SAS Nagar) and one each at Amritsar, Bathinda and Jalandhar.  Coming up under the Nirbhaya and Special Capital Assistance to States schemes of the Centre, the hostels will provide residency facilities to at least 800 working women.

The sites earmarked for hostels in Mohali included the National Institute of Fashion Technology in Phase I, a five-acre GMADA plot in Sector 66 and a plot in Sector 79.

Illegal buses

AAP MLA Narinder Kaur Bharaj said despite government claims of having ended the illegal buses on roads, these were running openly. Having paid nominal fines to show action, a number of the buses in this category were back on road.  She made specific reference to names of Fatehgarg, Dhaliwal, Ghuman and New Fatehgarh Bus Services. She also sought details of the actual bus routes they had and the ones they ran their buses on. Attaching the list of routes and fines imposed on the companies, Transport Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar said, “Almost all illegal routes have been plugged. Still, if you have any specific complaints, let me know.”

50 courses at GNDU

Higher Education and Languages Minister Harjot Singh Bains said Guru Nanak Dev University will be introducing 50 skill-based courses in alignment with the National Education Policy (NEP 2020) from the new academic session (2025-2026). The dual degree programmes are being started in collaboration with foreign institutes and Ethical AI Centre. He was replying to a question by AAP MLA Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh on low teacher recruitment. He gave the data of a very big mismatch between the regular and contractual staff.

Old bridges in Jagraon

Barring a few, nearly all 138 bridges on the canals and drains in Jagraon constituency are more than 50 years old, replied Water Resources Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal to a question by AAP MLA Saravjit Kaur Manuke. Accepting the point of pitiable condition of certain bridges made by the Jagraon MLA, Minister Goyal said he would look into the cases and take up the matter with the specific departments immediately.