Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today directed the Principal Secretary Home to ensure the completion of judicial enquiry ordered into the Jeobala incident in Tarn Tarn district within stipulated time period of three months in order to ascertain the facts that led to the death of ASI Kulbir Singh during farmer’s agitation. An assurance to this effect was given Mr. Badal to the delegation of Kisan Sangrash Committee Punjab led by its State President Mr. Satnam Singh Pannu in the meeting held here today at Punjab Bhawan this morning.
The Chief Minister also asked the state DGP to examine all the cases in which several representative of union participated in the state wide rail and road blockades in support of their agitation sympathetically, in which there was no third party or any inpidual was involved as complainant. He also directed the Chief Secretary to review all those decisions, which were in- principally agreed in the meeting held with representative of the union on December 18, 2011 under his Chairmanship and these must be implemented in the right earnest. Mr. Badal also asked his Principal Secretary to ensure release of Rs. Five lac as compensation payment each to the next of the kin of the two left out farmers immediately who died in such agitations. On the issue of giving compensation to the left out families of farmers/laborers who committed suicides, the Chief Minister assured the union that the state government would also extend the same quantum of relief @ of Rs. two lac to the next of the kin of the deceased on the basis of verification report of the committee comprising the Deputy Commissioner, SSP and Chief Agriculture Officer of the concerned district.
The Chief Minister also directed the Financial Commissioner Development to work out all the modalities to bring a legislation to abolish money lending in the state to safeguard the interests of the farming community in the larger public interest.Responding to another demand regarding the Voluntary Disclosure Scheme (VDS) to slash the rate from Rs 4500 to Rs 1000 per BHP for enhancing the load capacity of the motors in view of depleting water table, the Chief Minister informed the union that the Powercom had already taken up the issue with the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission to reduce this amount from 4500 BHP to 3000 per BHP which would cost Rs. 150 crore to the state government. Subsequently, the regulatory Commission has sought views/comments of Powercom regarding the deposit of subsidy.
Referring to another demand raised by the union regarding the allotment of tube well connections to the applicants whose applications were pending since long, Mr. Badal apprised them that the state government had already framed a new tube well policy for the year 2013-14 to release 25000 Tube well connections in a fair and transparent manner. He said that our government since 2007 had released 2,10,000 Tube well connections to the farmers till date. The policy further stipulated that 9000 AP connections would be allotted to the applicants comprising small farmers having land holding upto 2.5 acre and without any tube well connection as on January 1, 1998, 3000 connections for marginal farmers having land holding of more than 2.5 acre and upto 5 acre as on January 1, 1995 whereas the remaining 3000 connections for big farmers having land holding more than 5 acre as on January 1, 1993. Besides, 7500 Tube well connection would be released priority quota (Kandi, Border, International Fence, Gurdwaras, Panchayats, SC, Gallantry, Drip Irrigation) during the current fiscal. Likewise, the Chief Minister also gave directions to the PSPCL for the release of connections amongst the pending applicants under the Accelerated Release of Tube well connections (ARTC) Scheme since 1992.
On the plea of the union to waive off the condition of installation of four star rated company motors under the guidelines of Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) which were too expensive, the Chief Minister asked the PSPCL authorities to make these motors readily available to the farmers on affordable rates in the market and it was informed there were 14 suppliers in the market to meet the demand.
On the issue of restoring the facility of OYT connection to the farmers for shifting the tube well connection from one site to another, the Chief Minister asked the PSPCL to only charge the actual cost of the material and supervisory thereby doing away with the labour charges as incurred earlier by Powercom. The Chief Minister also assured the union that all the Deras/Dhanis having three or more households under urban pattern power supply for 24 hours would be covered in difficult areas of Border/Kandi at the cost of Rs. 75 crore and the requisite funds have been tide up.
The Chief Minister also informed the union that the state irrigation department had chalked out an ambitious program to de-silt the Upper-Bari Doab Canal system at the cost of Rs. 211 crore during the year 2013-14 thereby enhancing the water carrying capacity of canal and its distributaries and tail end. Likewise, the state government had already embarked upon a massive program to clean 10200 KM of feeders, distributors and minors at the cost of Rs. 22 crore.
Prominent amongst those present in the meeting included Chief Secretary Mr. Rakesh Singh, DGP Mr. Sumedh Singh Saini, PSCM Mr. S.K. Sandhu, FCR Mr. NS Kang, Financial Commissioner Rural Development & Panchayats Mr. Mandeep Singh Sandhu, Principal Secretary Heath & Family Welfare Vinni Mahajan, Secretary Local Government Mr. Ashok Gupta, MD Punjab Health Systems Corporation Mr. Husan Lal and Secretary Power Mr. Anirudh Tiwari.