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Return gift for Jalandhar, Punjab govt approves ₹95.16 crore for development
The announcement was made after chief minister Bhagwant Mann chaired a cabinet meeting at Punjab Armed Police headquarters in Jalandhar on Wednesday.
Three days after Jalandhar handed it its only Lok Sabha seat in the byelection, the Aam Aadmi Party government announced a special grant of ₹95.16 crore for developing the city.
The announcement was made after chief minister Bhagwant Mann chaired a cabinet meeting at Punjab Armed Police (PAP) headquarters in Jalandhar on Wednesday.
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“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.
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 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. 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 construction of Goraya-Jandiala road in Jalandhar district.
Among other decisions, the cabinet has announced creating of 18 new posts in the excise department; the Government Ayurvedic College, Hospital and Pharmacy will be brought under the purview of Guru Ravidas Ayurveda University, Hoshiarpur; UGC pay scales for the faculty of Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU), Ludhiana; land acquired for the construction of a power plant at Gobindpura village of Mansa district will be used for setting up solar and renewal energy plant.
Other decisions include considering training period of revenue patwaris as probation period and pay parity and extension in the services of 497 safai sewaks working in veterinary hospitals for one year.
