Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today called for the need to give wide publicity to the various welfare schemes for the SC/ST population in the state besides creating awareness amongst them for the legal and judicial remedies available under the SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.Presiding over the meeting of high powered State Level Vigilance and Monitoring Committee for SCs/STs here at Punjab Bhawan this evening, Mr. Badal said that a vigorous publicity campaign should be launched to sensitize the SC/ST population in the state about their rights in order to save them from undue social exploitation and harassment in the society.
The Chief Minister thus directed the welfare department to publish printed material in the format of booklets and brochures besides releasing advertisements in the print and electronic media to bring awareness amongst the SC/ST population, which almost constituted nearly 32% of state’s total population.Badal also asked the Secretary Welfare to ensure that the meeting of the high powered state level vigilance and monitoring committee must be convened regularly after every six months as provided in the law. Likewise, he also directed the welfare department to ensure that the concerned Deputy Commissioners of all the districts must convene quarterly meetings to monitor the progress of welfare schemes meant for scheduled castes besides keeping themselves updated regarding the position of cases registered under the SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 to ensure prompt dispensation of justice.Mr. Badal also gave approval to appoint Secretary Welfare as the nodal officer to regularly review the progress of pending cases related to the atrocities against SC/ST population in the state besides coordinating with the GoI to ensure strict implementation of the this act as mandated under the provisions of the said law.
The Chief Minister also asked the Chief Secretary to ensure that the funds under the Shagun Scheme must be sanctioned and allocated in advance by one month so as to enable the district administration to ensure its timely payment to the concerned beneficiaries at the time of marriage of their daughters. Mr. Badal was also apprised that the state government has already earmarked a budgetary provision of Rs.90 crore annually in the state budget.The Chief Minister also directed the welfare department to ensure the participation of the local MLAs and other eminent personalities from different walks of life including top academicians, social thinkers, legal luminaries and jurists in the seminars to be organized for bringing awareness amongst the SCs/STs to safeguard their rights. He also highly emphasized the need to educate these people about the available options under the legal provisions of SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and Protection of Civil Rights (PCR) Act, 1955 so as to enable them to lead a life with self-esteem and dignity.Meanwhile, the Secretary Welfare apprised Mr. Badal in the meeting that under the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana a sum Rs. 35 crore has been released for 100 villages during the year 2014-15. Mr. Badal was also informed that the state government has already agreed to the proposal of GoI to contribute Rs.20 lac as state’s share equivalent to the Centre’s grant i.e. Rs. 20 lac under this scheme to avail additional benefit of Rs.5 lac from GoI. Thus every village under this scheme would be entitled a lump-sum grant of Rs.45 lac. He also asked the welfare department to include villages with maximum SC population on priority to be developed under Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana. He said it was the matter of great satisfaction that Punjab has been included for the first time under this prestigious scheme and all the 2811 villages with maximum SC population would be covered in a phased manner.
To streamline the procedure and bring far more transparency in the disbursement of Post Matric Scholarship of SC students, the Chief Minister constituted a committee comprising Chief Parliamentary Secretary Mr. Som Parkash, MLA Justice (Retd.) Nirmal Singh and Chief Secretary & Secretary Expenditure as Members. The committee has been mandated to explore ways and means to ensure uniform pattern of fees structure in the private educational institutions.The Chief Minister also gave nod to appoint OSD Litigation in the welfare department with immediate effect to meticulously pursue the Court Cases, Roster Checking and Backlog of SC posts in various departments.Prominent amongst others who were present in the meeting included Cabinet Ministers Mr. Gulzar Singh Ranike, Mr. Sohal Singh Thandal, Mr. Parminder Singh Dhindsa, Chief Parliamentary Secretaries Mr. Som Parkash, Mrs. Mohinder Kaur Josh, MLAs Mr. Sarwan Singh Phillaur, Justice (Retd.) Nirmal Singh, Mr. Darshan Singh Shiwalik, Mrs. Harchand Kaur, Mrs. Rajwinder Kaur besides Chief Secretary Mr. Sarvesh Kaushal, Additional Chief Secretary Mr. Jagpal Singh Sandhu, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mr. S.K. Sandhu, DGP Punjab Mr. Sumedh Singh, Special Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mr. K.J.S. Cheema, Secretary Welfare Mrs. Seema Jain, Director Welfare Mrs. Alaknanda Dayal and Director National Commission for SC/ST Mr. Raj Kumar Chhanena.