Punjab Health & Family Welfare and Labour Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu today disbursed grants worth Rs.20 crore to Panchayat members for the holistic development of 184 villages of Jalalabad assembly constituency.Addressing the mammoth gathering of Sarpanches and Panches at the function here, Mr. Sidhu said that Captain Amarinder Singh led Congress Government is committed towards the overall development of all cities and villages of the state without any prejudice.In his address, the Health Minister said that since he was designated as the in-charge of the district Fazilka, he had visited district several times to feel the pulse of the hardships of the citizen. He said that most of the grievance of the citizen had been resolved in limited timeframe. He said that today, 142 villages of the Jalalabad block and 42 villages of the Arniwala block had been given the welfare grants of Rs. 20.4 crore to ensure the overall development of the district.Hitting at the previous SAD-BJP government for its callous and discriminatory approach in distributing the welfare grants, Mr. Sidhu said that partisan attitude of the Akalis had casted catastrophic effect on the development of this areas. He said that now, under the visionary and dynamic leadership of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, all the parts of the Punjab were getting equal importance in disbursing of welfare grants. He made special mention of the making of smart cards for Atta-Dal Scheme, e-cards under SarbatSehatBima Scheme for all the eligible beneficiaries of the state without any prejudice.Mocking at the Akalis, he said that though during SAD-BJP government, Health Minister belonged to district Fazilka, but this district remained short of doctors and the position of sanctioned doctors remained unfilled. He said that now the scenario is altogether different and there is no scarcity of doctors.
He assured the citizen that the remaining vacant posts of specialist doctors would soon be filled.Highlighting the flagship SarbatSehatBima Scheme of the Punjab Government, the Health Minister said that 46 lakh families of the state had been brought under the ambit of this ambitious health insurance scheme and each family could avail annual health insurance of Rs. 5 lakh per annum. He said that under this scheme, 2 crore 20 lakh citizen of the state could avail annual health cover. He said that in Fazilka district, 2 lakh families with the total population of 10 lakh had been covered under this scheme.He said that Modi government has destroyed the economy of the country within 100 days. "Companies are firing workers, but the Modi government is distracting people by not paying attention towards the root of the problem", he added. He asserted that despite the poor economy of the country, the Captain government is constantly bringing investment of large business establishments in the state and generating jobs. He exhorted people that if you want continuous development of the state, then strengthen the hands of the Captain and ensure win of Congress candidate from Jalalabad constituency so that I could get maximum grants for the constituency and district as well.Fazilka MLA Mr. Davinder Singh Ghubaya and District Congress President Mr. RanjamKamra have extended their gratitude towards Mr. Balbir Singh for the Punjab Cabinet approval for expansion of Suhelawaladistributory with the cost of Rs.13.52 crore to strengthen the canal irrigation system in Jalalabad. Similarly, Deputy Commissioner Mr. Manpreet Singh Chhatwal said that due to the personal intervention of the Health Minister, the government offices in Jalalabad have been brought under one roof. He thanked the Health Minister to resolve the problems of the people of the district on priority.
Earlier, Mr. Sidhu inaugurated composite office premises for Food & Civil Supplies, Soil Conservation, Drainage, Cooperative Societies and Mining departments near Government Girls College. He said that now onwards, people will able to get hassle-free services of different departments under one roof. "This will obviously save precious time of people", he added. He also planted sapling to make the new office premises green and clean and exhorted Deputy Commissioner to plant more plants in the complex. After this, the Health Minister visited 'SaadiRasoi', which is recently established in Jalalabad. Deputy Commissioner Mr. ManpreetSingh Chhatwal apprised the minister that SaadiRasoi was started in Jalalabad last month after the successful Fazilka project. He said that home-like food is being served at Rs.10 only and 8255 needy people have taken meal from the kitchen so far. Appreciating district administration endeavour, the Health Minister suggested that such projects should be started in other places of the district too.Prominent amongst other, who were present on this occasion, included; SSP Mr. Bhupinder Singh, Former MP Mr. Mohan Singh Falian Wala, Punjab Congress Spokesperson Mr. Rajbaksh Kamboj, CEO ZilaParishad Mr. Ranjit Singh, SDM Jalalabad Mr. Keshav Goyal, Congress Youth Vice President Mr. Sukhwinder Singh Kaka Kamboj, Political Secretary to Health Minister Mr. Harkesh Chand Sharma Machhli Kalan and Congress leader Mr. Sherbaz Singh Sandhu VairoKe, Mr. Madan Kathgarh and SarpanchKulwant Singh Araiyanwala.