Adding another milestone to the long list of achievements intended at making Punjab a world class state, the Deputy Chief Minister, S. Sukhbir Singh Badal today launched the first phase of the Ludhiana Safe City project with a bang.At police lines here, the Deputy Chief Minister while elaborating on the project said that the project has come up at the cost of Rs. 80 crore and would be instrumental in ensuring safety of the people which is of paramount concern to the state government. Divulging more, he said that the rationale behind the project is to put a stop to the crime as well as ensure effective traffic management so as to provide succour to the common public. He further said that a total of 159 locales have been equipped with 1442 CCTV cameras keeping hawk's eye on all the significant spots in the city with control room at police lines. He said that this project would go a long way in keeping the law and order situation under control.
Thanking the efforts of Punjab Police and Reliance Jio for being of immense assistance in the successful initiation of the project, S. Badal disclosed that by next year he visualises to implement the project in all the corporation towns of the state. The Deputy Chief Minister also said that soon enough all the link roads, Inside-outside points of the villages would also see the CCTV cameras being installed and would be connected with the district control room. The Deputy CM said Punjab would be the first state in the country where, in the next one and half year, CCTV cameras would be installed in the entire state at a cost of around Rs 500 crore for the safety and security of citizens and to put an end control of crime in the state. After inauguration of safe city project at Ludhiana he said this security system would be fully functional by December 20 which would ease traffic problems besides keeping an eye on the crimes in this industrial town.
The Deputy Chief Minister on the occasion also inaugurated an indoor stadium on Pakhowal road constructed at a cost of Rs. 85 crore and said that it is his dream to see the maximum participation of Punjabi players in the world level tournaments. He detailed it is keeping with this holy commitment in mind that Punjab Institute of Sports (PIS ) has been formed where around 5000 budding players are being provided top notch training with the assistance of expert foreign coaches.Calling Punjabi youth the backbone of the state, S. Badal said that the SAD-BJP government has distributed gym equipments in the villages with the twin purpose of helping them maintain fitness and encouraging them sports.Elaborating on the developmental agenda of the state government, the Deputy Chief Minister said that the SAD-BJP government has created an excellent infrastructure of 4 and 6 laned roads, making Punjab power surplus, constructing International Airport at Mohali. He also divulged that Mohali is emerging as IT hub which would be a Numero Uno destination in terms of technology and would soon provide jobs in the sector to Punjabi youth.
While speaking to media persons, Deputy CM S. Sukhbir Singh Badal questioned AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal to clear his stand on the SYL issue. He asked as to why Kejriwal is silent over this serious issue, which impacts all Punjabis. He said that being the Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal should also respect the decision of center government over demonetization of currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000. He said that as Kejriwal has collected a huge amount of black money to contest the upcoming Punjab elections and that is why he is now worried.While inaugurating the ultra modern sports park at village Sarabha and visiting one such at village Dhaipai, which were developed at the initiative of MLA Dakha Manpreet Singh Ayali, the Deputy Chief Minister appreciated the efforts of Ayali for creating sports infrastructure including 70 sports parks and 16 basketball grounds in the Dakha constituency. On the occasion Manpreet Singh Ayali said that Dakha is the only rural constituency of the country having such an infrastructure. On this occasion, the Deputy CM also announced a grant of Rs 50 lakh for carrying out development works in Sarabha village. S. Badal also paid homage at the Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha memorial and offered floral tributes.
Among others present on the occasion included Irrigation Minister Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, MLA's Ranjit Singh Dhillon, Darshan Singh Shivalik, SR Kler, Punjab Planning Board chairman Prof Rajinder Bhandari, Advisor to CM Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal, DGP Suresh Arora, ADGP (Administration) Dinkar Gupta, Principal Secretary to the Deputy Chief Minister - P.S. Aujla, Commissioner of Police Jatinder Singh Aulakh, Special Principal Secretaries to the Deputy Chief Minister Rahul Tewari and Ajay Mahajan, Media Adviser to the Deputy Chief Minister -Jangveer Singh, Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat, Vice-Chairman Punjab Traders Board Madan Lal Bagga, former minister Sat Pal Gosain, Ramgarhia Welfare Board chairman Gurmeet Singh Kular, Director Information and Public Relations Department Punjab Dr. Senu Duggal and others.