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Ensure ministers’ presence in House during question hour: Speaker to govt
Disapproving the absence of some ministers during the question hour, Punjab Vidhan Sabha speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan on Monday asked the state government to ensure that they are present in the House to answer the members’ questions.
Chandigarh
Disapproving the absence of some ministers during the question hour, Punjab Vidhan Sabha speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan on Monday asked the state government to ensure that they are present in the House to answer the members’ questions.
The speaker frowned upon the ministers’ absence from the question hour on the second day of the budget session of state assembly as he had to defer about half-a-dozen questions pertaining to their departments. He told parliamentary affairs minister Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar that the ministers should be present during the question hour. If any minister is busy due to some engagement, he should authorise another minister so that the sanctity of the question hour is maintained, Sandhwan said.
Education minister Harjot Singh Bains and defence services minister Chetan Singh Jauramajra were not present in the House when questions pertaining to their departments came up during the question hour. There were four questions pertaining to higher education and school education departments held by Bains that were deferred. Transport minister Laljit Singh Bhullar arrived late and was not present when a question regarding a new bus service from Talwara to Harmandir Sahib came up, but he answered it later.
‘ ₹6 crore bond money collected from docs’
Hitting out at the previous governments during the question hour, health minister Dr Balbir Singh said there were 400 specialist doctors coming out of medical institutes in the state each year, but there was still a shortage of specialists in government hospitals. At the time of admission, there is a condition of indemnity bond of ₹15 lakh for doctors to serve the state government for a period of two years. The previous governments neither made the specialist doctors serve for two years nor recovered the bond money, he said, pointing out that the present government has ₹6 crore from indemnity bond.
The minister spoke on the issue doctors while responding to Moga MLA Dr Amandeep Kaur’s question whether there is any proposal under consideration of the state government to open a medical college in her assembly constituency and the timeline for the state. The minister replied in the affirmative, stating that it is under consideration.
15.56% increase in revenue from sale deeds
In response to a query from Congress MLA Partap Singh Bajwa, revenue minister Brahm Shankar Jimpa informed the House that the income from registration of sale and order deeds was up by 15.56% between April 1, 2022, and February 28, 2023, as compared to the corresponding period of the previous financial year. Bajwa attributed the increase in revenue to a hike in collector rates. In the current market conditions, land was available for sale, but there were no buyers, he said, urging the government to extend the exemption of 2.25% allowed in stamp duty charges. Jimpa said the circles rates of property were different for different areas and were fixed by deputy commissioners. The collector rates were increased in only those areas where they were much lower than the market rates, he added.
Congress MLA Avtar Singh Henry raised a question on problems being faced by people in getting NOCs for property registration, claiming that ₹30,000 to ₹40,000 were being charged for registries without NOCs.
During the zero hour, Congress MLA Amarinder Singh Raja Warring expressed concern over the deteriorating law and order in Punjab in the past one year. He said that whenever they raised the issue, the state government said peace would be maintained in the state. “People are worried. Punjab Police also look weak and helpless,” he said, pointing out that even police stations were not safe any longer. He said no action had been taken in the incident attack on police station (in Ajnala) so far.
‘Steep rise in Hepatitis C cases in state’
Dr Raj Kumar Chabbewal of the Congress drew the attention of the Punjab government towards the spread of ‘silent killer’ disease Hepatitis C in the state. He said there has been a steep rise in case of Hepatitis C with the state recording 16,136 cases in 2022-23. “In some jails, about 67% inmates are Hepatitis C infected and that indirectly speaks about drug abuse,” he claimed.
Chabbewal also raised questions about the use of ‘Mukh Mantri Punjab Hepatitis C Relief Fund’ and urged the government to take immediate steps to check the spread of this disease. While Nachattar Pal of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) spoke about the cancellation of ration of poor and needy people in a survey being conducted by the state government, independent MLA Rana Inder Pratap Singh took up the issue of arbitration going on regarding compensation to landowners in Tibba village for land acquisition for highway projects.
