Saturday, June 30, 2012

Punjab targets 40 crore new saplings in eight years

by Punjabnewswire4u (Balbir)
CHANDIGARH, JUNE 30
            Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said that in order to make the state clean, green and pollution free, the SAD-BJP alliance government has set up a target of planting 40 crore new saplings across the state in next eight years.
            Presiding over a high level meeting of the top brass of the state government and all the Deputy Commissioners (DCs), the Chief Minister said that the state government would be formally launching the “Greening Punjab Campaign’ on Sunday from Fazilka for enhancing the forests cover in the state. He said that they have set a target of planting five crore saplings every year for which the DCs are required to play a proactive role for transforming this campaign into a public movement. Mr Badal asked the DCs to identify the vacant government land in their respective districts for ensuring massive plantation on it.
Likewise the Chief Minister asked the Financial Commissioner Forests Mr DS Bains to personally visit all the districts of the state to monitor the plantation drive at ground root level. He said that there was no dearth of fund and keeping in view the importance of greenery in the state, the Punjab Government had already constituted a dedicated “Greening Punjab Fund” specifically for this purpose. Mr Badal also said that he would be regularly monitoring this campaign and asked the DCs to submit weekly reports in his office regarding it. He also asked the DCs to constitute district level monitoring committees apart from appointing the Nodal officers for this campaign so that it could be carried out in an effective manner.     
            Taking part in the deliberations the Chief Minister further said that the state government was fully committed to check the illegal mining in the state for which a new Mining policy would be announced by the state government in coming days. He said that the Cabinet Sub Committee constituted on the matter has already submitted its recommendations to the state government which would be incorporated into the policy. Mr Badal categorically directed the DCs to take strictest possible action against the illegal miners in their respective districts, regardless of their political affiliations, so that it could be checked effectively. Mr Badal further said that any sort of leniency in checking this unlawful trade would not be tolerated at any cost.
            Discussing the measures being taken by the state government for controlling floods in Punjab, the Chief Minister also directed the DCs to personally supervise the ongoing flood protection works in their districts to tackle with any sort of eventuality rising out of ensuing monsoon. He said that the required funds for flood protection have been already released by the state government and the DCs must ensure that all the flood control works were completed by July 7. Mr Badal also approved to release Rs 5 lakh for each district to enable the DCs to pay compensation promptly for any loss of property or cattle of the people during the monsoon season.
            Reiterating the commitment of the state government to provide uninterrupted power supply of eight hours to the farmers during the ongoing paddy season, the Chief Minister asked the Deputy Commissioners to ensure that any sort of power failure due to local power break down was addressed promptly so that the inconvenience caused to the farmers on this count could be avoided.
            Likewise the Chief Minister also said that in the month of September the procurement of paddy crop would start for which the DCs should ensure adequate storage capacity for paddy, well in advance. He asked the officers to remain well prepared by earmarking the required storage capacity of food grains in their districts so that the crop could be properly stored.
            During the meeting the Chief Minister also directed the DCs to ensure installation of proper fire Fighting systems in the government offices. He said that the state government has already conducted a survey regarding the requirement of up gradation of fire fighting in the big cities of the state, so that Fire fighting staff could be made capable of coping up with any sort of mishap.
            Likewise the Chief Minister also asked the DCs to collaborate with the Gaushalas in their respective districts for tackling the menace of stray cattle. He said that it was the need of the hour to take effective steps to tackle this grave problem, which was causing a lot of inconvenience to the people. In the same manner Mr Badal also said that serious efforts need to be made for tackling the problem of stray dogs both in the cities and villages of the state because it was posing a serious threat to human life. 
            The Chief Minister also asked the DCs to ensure that Shaguns under Shagun Scheme must be disbursed to the beneficiaries’ in-time so that poor people could be benefited. He also asked the officers to ensure that all the pending cases, if any, related to the scheme must be disposed off at the earliest. In the same manner Mr Badal also asked the Deputy Commissioners to ensure that the pending dues of the old and widow pensions is also cleared at the earliest so that people could be benefited from it. The Chief Minister directed the DCs to personally monitor the Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) Scheme of the Pension disbursal by having regular meetings with the concerned banks so that beneficiaries could get the pension at their doorsteps besides checking the malpractice of fraudulent pension cases.
            Mr Badal told the officers that the state government was committed for supply of potable drinking water in all the villages of the state by December 2013 for which the DCs must ensure that the state government’s scheme in collaboration with the World Bank and Government of India (GoI) was properly implemented.
            The Chief Minister reiterated that in order to facilitate the people for getting their routine administrative works done the DCs must attend their offices regularly and ensure their presence for three days viz. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Apart from this, Mr Badal asked the officers to regularly tour the villages under their jurisdiction to make themselves apprised with the problems of their areas to ensure its timely resolution.
            Prominent amongst those present in the meeting included Cabinet Ministers Mr Chunni Lal Bhagat and Mr Sikander Singh Maluka, Chief Secretary Mr Rakesh Singh, Financial Commissioner Revenue Mr NS Kang, Financial Commissioner Forest Mr DS Bains, Principal Secretary Local Government Mr Suresh Kumar, Principal Secretary Irrigation Mr KBS Sidhu, Principal Secretary Finance Mr Satish Chandra, Principal Secretary Rural Development Mr Mandeep Singh Sandhu, Special Principal Secretaries to Chief Minister Mr KJS Cheema and Mr Gurkirat Kirpal Singh, Secretary Social Security Mr R Venkatratnam, Secretary Transport Mr Mandeep Singh, Secretary Personnel and Co-ordination Mr Ashok Gupta besides all the Deputy Commissioners and their representatives.


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