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Cabinet meeting: Return gift for Jalandhar, Punjab govt approves ₹108.9-cr for development
Aam Aadmi Party government has announced a special grant of ₹108.9 crore for developing the Jalandhar constituency
Jalandhar
Three days after Jalandhar handed it its only Lok Sabha seat in the byelection, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government announced a special grant of ₹108.9 crore for developing the constituency.
The announcement was made after chief minister Bhagwant Mann chaired a cabinet meeting at Punjab Armed Police (PAP) headquarters in Jalandhar on Wednesday.
Of total funds, ₹95.16 crore will be spent in the area under justification of Jalandhar municipal corporation, while ₹13.74 crore on the construction of Jalandhar-Hoshiarpur highway.
“Our MP, Sushil Kumar Rinku, has not yet been sworn in but we are committed to what we promised the people of Jalandhar while campaigning for the byelection. Within three days of the AAP’s victory, the government has announced a slew of projects to be carried by the Jalandhar municipal corporation,” Mann said.
The funds to Jalandhar MC will also help the administration to complete the pending development works ahead of the civic body elections.
He said that the Jalandhar victory had boosted the AAP’s spirits. “It is not only the party’s victory because I consider it my personal win as I had personally appealed to people of Jalandhar to give us 11 months more for continuing constructive development of the state,” the CM said.
The AAP ended the supremacy of the Congress on the Jalandhar parliamentary seat after its candidate Rinku got the better of Congress candidate Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary by 58,691 votes. The Congress remained undefeated in this constituency since 1999 before the AAP breached the Congress stronghold with the result of this bypoll on May 13.
After a three-hour cabinet meeting, Mann said another demand of rural voters of resuming construction on the Jalandhar-Adampur-Hoshiarpur national highway and flyover has been fulfilled.
“The long-pending demand of residents of Adampur has been fulfilled today as the state government is going to take over the project and resume construction of the project from today itself at a cost of ₹13.74 crore. It will be completed by September this year,” the CM said.
The project was initiated in December 2016 jointly by state and centre government but it was stalled in-between due to some design technicalities and issues with the contractors.
He also announced that the work on the 7.46km Nakodar-Goraya road via Jandiala will be completed by September.
Key decisions
The cabinet further gave nod to create 18 new posts in excise and taxation department to streamline its functioning and transfer the Government Ayurvedic College and Hospital, Patiala, and the Government Ayurvedic Pharmacy, Patiala, to Guru Ravidas Ayurveda University, Hoshiarpur.
The Cabinet also gave nod to implementing University Grants Commission (UGC) scales for teaching and non-teaching faculty of the Guru Angad Dev Veterinary Sciences University.
The cabinet gave approval to repeal the Punjab Revenue Patwari (Class 3) Service Rules, 1966 and the draft of the Punjab Revenue Patwari (Class 3) Service Rules 2023. This will enable new ‘patwaris’ to complete their training during the probationary period only. As per the new rules, the training period of the Patwari candidates has been reduced from one-and-a-half years to a year.
