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Time of India
3 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Number of Cong leaders, workers, social activists join AAP
Ludhiana: A number of Congress leaders, workers and social activists joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), alongwith their supporters, AAP claimed on Saturday. Punjab AAP working president Amansher Singh Shery Kalsi and cabinet minister Mohinder Bhagat formally inducted the new entrants in the presence of party leader Sunny Ahluwalia and local leaders. According to AAP, Sham Lal Bhagat, Congress vice-president from Ward 72, joined the party. Along with him, his associates Devraj Bhagat, Ashwini Bhagat, Ram Bhagat, Jagdish Bhagat, Ravi Bhagat, Vishambhar Bhagat, Rajinder Rinku, Rajkumar Bhagat, Rohit Bhagat, Aman Bhagat, Vasudev Bhagat, and Kishan Bhagat also joined the party. AAP sources said that Ramesh Bhagat is a leader of the Bhagat community and national president of Shivraj Sena. He was accompanied by his associates Ravi Bhagat, Kishan Lal Bhagat, Babbu Bhagat, Madan Chahal, Keval Kishan, Arun Jogi, Mohit Bhagat, Shivchand, Sunil Bhagat, Mohit Bhagat, and Manjeet Kumar. "Several young leaders and social activists from the city also became part of the AAP family. Notable names include Pankaj Mehta, Piyush Sharma, Harjit Arora, Parminder Singh, Sanjeev Aggarwal, Ketan Aggarwal, Honey Singh Bohat, Sherry Singh Bohat, Suresh Birla, Vicky Eklavya, Vikas, Akshay, Vishal Gopal, Shubham, Sunny Gehlot, Ravi, Rohit Atwal, and Tushar Gaurav," the party said. Addressing mediapersons, Shery Kalsi welcomed the new leaders and said, "Leaders from various parties are continuously joining the Aam Aadmi Party. They are influenced by its policies and work. The massive number of people joining us today will undoubtedly strengthen us in the bypoll." He added that under the leadership of chief minister Bhagwant Mann, the AAP government was providing 300 units of free electricity to all households every month without any discrimination. "Moreover, substantial reforms are being made in the education and healthcare sectors. Seeing these revolutionary works of the AAP government, opposition parties are scared," he maintained. Kalsi said that the BJP and Congress have no agenda, therefore, they engage in lower-level and manipulative politics. He accused the BJP of openly supporting Congress. "Both are working hand in hand because they don't want a third party to emerge in Punjab politics," he said. Cabinet minister Mohinder Bhagat described chief minister Bhagwant Mann as the "messiah of the poor." "He has done historic work for the poor, Dalits, and marginalised in the last three years. This is why Punjab's poor and backward communities stand firmly with the Aam Aadmi Party," he said. AAP's Punjab general secretary Sunny Ahluwalia took a jibe at the Congress, saying that its leaders kept fighting among themselves. "Their candidate, Bharat Bhushan Ashu is so arrogant that he doesn't even respect the local MP or his own party's state president, Raja Warring. Last time, people defeated him for his arrogance. This time, too, people will teach him a lesson," he claimed. MSID:: 121694620 413 |
Hindustan Times
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Punjab passes bill relaxing criteria for appointing SC law officers
The Punjab assembly on Monday passed the Punjab Law Officers (Engagement) Amendment Bill, 2025, for relaxation in the minimal annual professional income criteria for engagement of Scheduled Caste candidates as law officers in the office of advocate general, Punjab. The bill, replacing an ordinance, was presented by finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema, who stated that this amendment will provide adequate representation to Scheduled Caste candidates in the AG's office. He said that the state cabinet had reserved 58 posts in the AG's office for Scheduled Caste candidates, but several seats remained vacant due to the income limit criteria set by the 2017 law. The amendment aims to reduce the income limit. Cabinet minister Mohinder Bhagat and MLAs Budh Ram, Nachhatar Pal and Vikramjit Chaudhary thanked Cheema. Chaudhary termed the decision to reserve seats for lawyers from the Scheduled Caste community an important and positive step toward ensuring representation and opportunity for marginalised professionals in the legal domain. He also urged the government to revise the income eligibility criteria for the Shagun Scheme. The current threshold of ₹1.8 lakh per annum per family was no longer adequate and excluded many poor SC families from benefiting under this social welfare scheme, he said.
Indian Express
25-04-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
2 schemes, 2 yrs and counting: How Punjab forgot to start crop diversification projects it announced
Even as Punjab seeks to diversify from its paddy-wheat cycle and promote high-value horticulture crops, two key schemes announced by the state government to support this transition remain unimplemented, months and even years after funds were allocated for the same. In its 2024-25 budget, the government announced the Punjab Horticulture Advancement and Sustainable Entrepreneurship (PHASE) scheme with an allocation of Rs 5 crore. In its earlier budget, (in 2023-24), the government had proposed a price risk mitigation scheme titled Bhav Antar Bhugtan Yojana to cushion horticulture growers against market price fluctuations. However, neither has any work started on the ground for the two schemes nor has there been any mention of the two in the recent budget. In 13 years, area under horticulture crops nearly doubled While the PHASE scheme, launched on March 17, 2024, aimed to encourage entrepreneurship and investment in the horticulture sector and support for small and marginal farmers willing to shift to fruit and vegetable cultivation, the Bhav Antar Bhugtan Yojana promises compensation to farmers when sale price of their produce drops below Minimum Support Price (MSP) or the price fixed by the state. As part of PHASE, the department announced the formation of a chilli cluster in Ferozepur with the goal of increasing efficiency in the value chain, improving marketing, and encouraging crop diversification. It is learnt that department officials held a few meetings with chilli farmers in Ferozepur, but no significant progress has been made since. Officials have also not been able to clarify a timeline for its implementation. Government sources said that a committee was to be formed to study PHASE scheme, howver, to date, no such committee has been constituted. A senior officer in the horticulture department said, 'Chilli growers in Punjab have been doing well on their own with minimal government support, but this scheme could have been implemented earlier. The government seems more focused on paperwork than addressing hurdles on the ground.' While Minister for Horticulture Mohinder Bhagat could not be contacted, farm expert Ramandeep Singh said that it seems the government has made it a mandate to announce one such programme in every budget only to forget about it later. 'The government has been announcing one 'jumla' after another in the name of diversification, but real diversification remains a distant dream. It's one thing to announce schemes and quite another to deliver them on the ground. Proper implementation needs timely clearances and structural readiness,' Ramandeep added. Director of the Horticulture Department Shailender Kaur said that they are doing their best to implement PHASE scheme as soon as possible. 'Several processes are involved, and we are clearing them one by one,' she said. Under the Bhav Antar Bhugtan Yojana, crops such as potato, cauliflower, tomato, and capsicum were shortlisted for MSP coverage, but it was never officially announced. Sources said that the department despite operating at just 25 per cent of its sanctioned strength is pushing farmers for diversification. Over the past decade, the area under horticulture in Punjab has expanded by 42 per cent from 2,78,583 hectares (6.88 lakh acres) in 2011-12 to 482,000 hectares (11.91 lakh acres) in 2023-24. Horticulture currently accounts for only 6.16% of Punjab's gross cropped area, which stands at 7.826 million hectares. Yet its economic contribution is disproportionately high. According to the state horticulture department, the value of horticultural produce reached Rs 26,580.38 crore in 2023-24, comprising 17.03% of Punjab's agricultural GDP, which totals Rs 1,56,068.46 crore. Despite the rising demand and profitability of fruits, vegetables, and flowers, diversification efforts have consistently been hampered by price volatility, lack of storage and processing infrastructure, and the absence of assured procurement — precisely the challenges the delayed PHASE and Bhav Antar Bhugtan Yojana schemes were designed to address. Both schemes had offered a ray of hope for farmers battling sudden price crashes. But without timely implementation, their very purpose is defeated, said a officer. As the next paddy season approaches, all eyes are on the government. Stakeholders are keenly awaiting clarity on whether these long-promised schemes will finally see the light of day. Apart from horticultural schemes, a senior official in the Punjab Agriculture Department revealed that the government had also planned to announce MSP for Basmati at Rs 2,625 per quintal. Under this plan, procurement would begin only if market rates fell below the announced MSP. However, despite having drawn up the proposal, MSP was never formally declared. Meanwhile, farmers and agricultural experts are expressing growing concern that repeated delays in implementing such schemes are discouraging farmers from pursuing diversification — a shift considered crucial to tackling Punjab's groundwater crisis and agrarian distress.
