Stressing zero tolerance towards corrupt practices, Punjab cabinet minister for rural development & panchayats, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries & Dairy Development and NRI Affairs Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal have warned officials not to indulge in any sort of malpractices, especially while conducting development works in villages.Dhaliwal said that officials won’t be spared if their direct or indirect share is found in materials used for the development works in villages such as interlocking tiles, bricks, cement among other things.He said this while interacting with media persons during his visit to Payal today. He was also accompanied by MLAs Manwinder Singh Giaspura, Tarunpreet Singh Sond and Hardeep Singh Mundian, Deputy Commissioner Surabhi Malik, SSP Khanna Amit Kumar, ADC (Rural Development) Amit Kumar Panchal, ADC Khanna Aditya Dachalwal, SDM Deepjot Kaur, besides several others.
Upon his arrival in district Ludhiana for the first time after assuming charge as Cabinet Minister, the District Administration accorded Guard of Honour to Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal at SDM Office Payal. Later he attended a personal function at village Jandiali.The Cabinet Minister said that there is a need to provide safe drinking water at villages and make proper arrangements for the drainage of wastewater and these works will be done on a priority.He said that farmers would be motivated to take up dairy as a subsidiary profession and warned if any person indulges in adulteration of milk or milk products.He said Punjab lives in villages and more than 70 per cent of our population was in villages. He said Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has given him a big responsibility as the Minister of Panchayat and Rural Development and he would try his best to live up to his expectations.
Dhaliwal said that all development works in the villages should be executed with proper planning and drawings from the technical branches.He said that the main agenda of the AAP government is to make Punjab corruption free and provide hassle free services to the people. He also directed the officials to carry out all the development works without any political pressure or discrimination.On the freezing of grants in some villages, the Cabinet Minister said that the previous government had announced huge grants for villages at the fag end to win over the voters. He said that the Punjab government is just checking if the right amount had been doled out and assured that once all verification is done, the government will release the grant again.