The veterinary interns from Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) who have been protesting for over a week met panchayat minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal on Monday.
Jashandeep Singh, one of the interns, said till the government won’t provide a written assurance to increase the stipend, the protest would continue.
The interns are currently receiving ₹6,200 per month as stipend. They demand that it should be increased to ₹17, 000 which is at par with the amount provided by the veterinary universities of other states.
The minister, while chairing a seminar held at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) on the issue of the role of gram sabha in rural development, also called upon all the panchayat members (panch and sarpanch) of 12,581 villages from across the state to hold sessions of gram sabha in their respective villages between June 15 and 26.
Dhaliwal announced that all the proposals-cum-resolutions passed during the session of these gram sabha would be accepted by the government and the requisite funds would also be made available to the villages concerned within a short span of time.
The minister said the state government had embarked on two missions— rescue of panchayat lands and revival of gram sabhas in the state, adding that over 5,500 acres of land have been freed from the illegal occupants across the state.
{{/usCountry}}The minister said the state government had embarked on two missions— rescue of panchayat lands and revival of gram sabhas in the state, adding that over 5,500 acres of land have been freed from the illegal occupants across the state.
{{/usCountry}}Raj Balwinder Singh, a 27- year- old sarpanch of Sahungra village near Saroya town in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar and Manjeet Singh, 70, an Australia-based NRI and member panchayat of Sarsini village in Fatehgarh Sahib narrated the tale of how collective effort of people transformed the village.