Punjab Minister slams Kejriwal for promise to end red tapism
Darpan News Desk IANS, 14 Oct, 2021 10:59 AM
Chandigarh, Oct 14 (IANS) Punjab Parliamentary Affairs Minister Brahm Mohindra on Thursday hit out at Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his promise to end red tapism in the state.
Suggesting Kejriwal to keep himself up to date, the minister said the state government has already executed the Punjab Anti-Red Tape Act of 2021 to promote effective administration of public affairs through simplified and trust-based procedures that shall expedite processes and make governance efficient.
Mohindra had moved the Punjab Anti-Red Tape Bill during the Vidhan Sabha session on March 10, which was passed by the House with a voice vote that enables the government to impose a fine of up to Rs 50,000 or dismiss a government official or other employees for unnecessary delay in providing services to the citizens and businessmen.
The Act came into force after the Governor gave his assent to the Bill on March 26.
"I am sending you (Kejriwal) a copy of the Punjab Anti-Red Tape Act of 2021," said Mohindra, asking Kejriwal to update his records.
Terming the 10 promises made by Kejriwal to traders and businessmen for the development and uplift of industry in Punjab as mere an electoral agenda with blatant lies ahead of the 2022 assembly elections, Mohindra said the Punjab government is committed to facilitating all investments in the state.
Chief Secretary H.K. Diwedi held an emergency meeting with the District Magistrates and Superintendent of Polices of West and East Burdwan, Bankura, Birbhum, Hooghly, and Howrah on Thursday evening and took stock of the situation. After that the state government decided to deploy the Army in certain areas. However, NDRF teams have been kept on standby.
According to sources, Amarinder Singh will convene a meeting of leaders close to him in a few days to consider the formation of his new party, which will include all the leaders of the anti-Sidhu faction.
The arrested persons have been identified as Abdul Khalid, Shriram Chaurasia, Zishan Ahmad, Vikas Kesarwani and Krishna Kumar. Inspector (Kareli) Anupam Sharma said the arrested persons had sold SIM cards to law-breakers at high prices after creating fake IDs.
The ex-CM of Punjab recalled that Rawat himself had publicly stated after meeting him that he was satisfied by his government's track record on the 2017 poll promises.
It is learnt that Channi in his first meeting with the Prime Minister after becoming chief minister of Punjab requested that the Centre take back its decision to postpone paddy procurement by 10 days. The Centre has postponed the procurement of paddy by 10 days due to rain in Punjab and Haryana. Earlier the procurement was supposed to start from October 1 but now it will start from October 11.
Scotching speculation to the contrary, former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday made it clear he was not joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but had no intention of continuing in the Congress either, which he said was going downhill with senior leaders completely ignored and not given a voice.
