WILL SEEK APPOINTMENT WITH RAHUL AFTER BUDGET SESSION TO DISCUSS CABINET EXPANSION<\/p>\n
Chandigarh,<\/p>\n
Dismissing as baseless the allegations that Justice (Retd) Ranjit Singh had been denied appointment for the submission of his report into the sacrilege cases,<\/p>\n
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said the Commission was yet to complete its probe and hence the final report was not ready for<\/p>\n
submission.<\/p>\n
Interacting with mediapersons in the press gallery of Punjab Vidhan Sabha, the Chief Minister clarified his stand on various issues, including Navjot Singh<\/p>\n
Sidhu\u2019s decision to work on TV shows, the rising prices of sand and gravel in the state, the Irrigation scams, leakage of the STF report, his government\u2019s<\/p>\n
decision to allow universities and colleges to hold student union elections, and the expansion of his cabinet.<\/p>\n
On the Justice (Retd) Ranjit Singh’s Commission of Enquiry, the Chief Minister made it clear that while it had completed its probe into the Behbal Kalan and<\/p>\n
Bargari incidents, other cases of sacrilege of holy scriptures like Srimad Bhagvad Geeta, Quaran and Sri Gutka Sahib were still in the process of investigation.<\/p>\n
Once the entire investigation is completed, the government would immediately take the complete report instead of receiving it piece-meal, he added.<\/p>\n
To a question about Local Government Minister Navjot Sidhu\u2019s participation in television shows, the Chief Minister reiterated his earlier stand that he did not find<\/p>\n
anything wrong in the same. It was Sidhu\u2019s source of livelihood, said the Chief Minister, adding, \u201cIf someone asks me to give up agriculture tomorrow, do you<\/p>\n
really think I can do that, since it is my source of livelihood?\u201d<\/p>\n
The Chief Minister also made it clear that he had obtained all the requisite approvals and clearances from the authorities concerned before execution of any<\/p>\n
type of construction activity or boring of tube-well at his farm house in Siswan.<\/p>\n
On the issue of multicrore scams in the Irrigation Department, the Chief Minister said that the Vigilance Department was already investigating the entire issue.<\/p>\n
He assured that no one would be spared, if found guilty, irrespective of how high or influential he may be.<\/p>\n
Replying to a question on the skyrocketing prices of Sand and Gravel, the Chief Minister attributed it to his government\u2019s clampdown on illegal mining, which had<\/p>\n
resulted in scarcity of construction material. A cabinet sub-committee had been constituted and mandated with the task of monitoring the situation and giving<\/p>\n
recommendations to tackle the problem of illegal mining effectively, besides ensuring supply of sand and gravel at affordable prices, said Captain Amarinder<\/p>\n
Singh. The committee would soon submit its report after which the present crises would ease out, he added.<\/p>\n
Referring to the issue of leakage of STF report in the media, the Chief Minister said the matter would be investigated and action taken accordingly. He made it<\/p>\n
clear that anyone found involved in drugs, irrespective of his\/her political affiliation, would be punished as per the law of the land.<\/p>\n
Replying to a query regarding the expansion of his Cabinet, the Chief Minister said that he would be seeking an appointment with AICC president Rahul Gandhi<\/p>\n
in this regard soon after the Budget session.<\/p>\n
On the issue of enacting legislation of conflict of interest to bring propriety and integrity in the public life, the Chief Minister said that the Government was already<\/p>\n
working in this direction.<\/p>\n
Justifying the levying of development tax of Rs. 200 on Income Tax payees, the Chief Minister said that this decision had been taken for the creation of a<\/p>\n
dedicated fund to meet social obligations such as payment of financial assistance on account of pensions to elderly, widows, destitute besides physically<\/p>\n
challenged and Ashirwad. There was pressure from world bodies such as IMF and ADM to levy such taxes to mop up finances as a pre-condition to them<\/p>\n
pitching in with money, he explained.<\/p>\n
To a question regarding restoration of Student Unions’ elections in the state universities from the academic session 2018-19, Captain Amarinder Singh said that<\/p>\n
since this democratic process was in place before Punjab was plunged into turbulence, it had been decided to revive the same in view of the peace and stability<\/p>\n
prevailing in the state now. Denying any apprehension of involvement of gangsters in these elections, the Chief Minister warned that any such attempt would be<\/p>\n
tackled with an iron hand.<\/p>\n
To a question about recruitment of new college teachers, the Chief Minister said that the government had already decided to open 10 more degree colleges in<\/p>\n
the state. As far as the new recruitment of teachers was concerned, that would be done as soon as the state\u2019s fiscal condition improves, he added.<\/p>\n
On the issue of teaching foreign languages like Chinese, Italian, French etc in schools as optional subject, the Chief Minister said that it was important in the<\/p>\n
current global scenario, where the world had become a global village, making it necessary for youth aspiring to find jobs overseas to know the language of that<\/p>\n
country. Captain Amarinder Singh pointed out that Mandarin language was catching up fast amongst the people of various countries in view of the expanding<\/p>\n
Chinese market, which offers enormous job opportunities to youth.<\/p>\n
The Chief Minister also underlined the need for Punjab\u2019s students to learn English, especially in rural areas, along with studying their mother tongue to enable<\/p>\n
them to compete with their peers at the global level.<\/p>\n
Rubbishing the claims of opposition about harassment and exploitation of NRIs at the hands of the state government, the Chief Minister said the government<\/p>\n
was sensitive to their problems and was ready to offer all help to redress their grievances. He said that the unique initiative of ‘Connect with Your Roots’ would<\/p>\n
go a long way in helping NRIs connect better with their glorious traditions and values.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WILL SEEK APPOINTMENT WITH RAHUL AFTER BUDGET SESSION TO DISCUSS CABINET EXPANSION Chandigarh, Dismissing as baseless the allegations that Justice (Retd) Ranjit Singh […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26218,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[314],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-punjab"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26217"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26219,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26217\/revisions\/26219"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}