Pb House winter session: Homage paid to farmers, political,

On the first day of the winter session, the Punjab Assembly today paid tributes to those who laid down their lives on the line of duty, debt-ridden farmers and farm labourers who committed suicide, and the victims of the Ludhiana fire incident.
Homage was also paid to political and other eminent personalities who had passed away since the last session of the Assembly.
The House also paid respects to the students killed in the November 8 Bathinda road accident, as well as the teachers who lost their lives in another accident on Ferozepur-Fazilka road the day before.
The Assembly also paid respects to soldiers from Punjab who died in Army operations in Jammu and Kashmir.

Rich tributes were paid by the members of the Assembly to Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's mother Rajmata Mohinder Kaur, and other deceased ex-MPs - Kanwar Vishvjit Prithvijit Singh and Mohinder Singh Kalyan.
A two-minute silence was observed in the memory of the departed souls during the obituary references at the Assembly.

After obituary references to 20 eminent personalities, Assembly Speaker Rana Kanwarpal Singh passed a resolution for conveying the condolences of the House to their respective families. The resolution was passed by voice vote.
Apart from the three former MPs, the other eminent personalities to whom the House paid its respects were ex-MLAs Harmohinder Singh Pradhan, Balwant Singh, Raja Singh, Balbir Singh, Surjan Singh Joga and Raj Kumar.

The suggestion to pay homage to the farmers who had committed suicide, as well as the teachers and students who died in the road accidents, came from the leader of the Opposition Sukhpal Singh Khaira, which the Speaker accepted.
Meanwhile, former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal attended the Assembly session for the first time after the formation of the Congress-led government in the state.
Talking to reporters later, the SAD patron sought an increase in the duration of the winter session to discuss burning issues of the state.