Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday warned inimical forces against any attempt to destroy the peace and harmony of the country while calling upon the people to join hands in fighting such forces.
Addressing a gathering here at the Guru Gobind Singh Stadium after unfurling the National Flag on the occasion of 73rd Independence Day, the Chief Minister said that there were anti-national forces that were envious of the peaceful atmosphere and development in the state.
"Let us rededicate ourselves to work collectively to build a strong and prosperous Punjab, and to cement the bonds of love, peace, and amity," he said.
Highlighting the immense contribution of Punjabis in the national freedom struggle, he said: "It was now our collective duty to preserve the hard-earned freedom attained through countless sacrifices."
The Chief Minister said that 2019 was a historic year in view of the 550th Parkash Purab of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and Jallianwala Bagh centenary being commemorated with great enthusiasm and fervour.
He recalled the various development and infrastructural projects worth Rs 145 crore in Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts and laying of foundation stones of different projects at a cost of Rs 132 crore kick-started by him yesterday for the holistic development of both districts.
Referring to the crusade against the drug abuse, Singh pointed out that 27,744 cases had been registered under NDPS Act with the arrest of 33,622 persons besides recovery of 767 kg heroin and a huge quantity of other contraband substances. As many as 87,000 addicts were being treated in 178 Out Patient Opioid Assisted Treatment (OOAT) centres in the state.
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Talking about farmer-friendly initiatives, the Chief Minister said that the State government was contemplating to disburse Rs. 520 crore to 2.85 lakh farm labourers and landless farmers who are the members of the Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies. Under the debt relief scheme till date, 5.62 lakh marginal and small farmers had been benefitted by settling their standing crop loans of Rs 4,700 crore.
He also stated that the total annual remuneration of farmers on account of the government procurement of food grain had increased to Rs 1.24 lakh crore since 2017, thereby registering a hike of about Rs 30,000 crore over the earnings in the corresponding seasons of the previous Government. Thus, farmers' income through the sale of food grains had increased by over 32 per cent ever since the government took over.
The Chief Minister also announced that the youth would be provided free smart mobile phones shortly, under the Digital Punjab initiative in fulfilment of the poll promise.
Captain Amarinder Singh also appealed to the people to plant 550 saplings each in all 12,700 villages in the state as part of 550th Prakash Purab of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji. He said 40 lakh saplings had already been planted so far in 3,500 villages to make the state clean, green and pollution-free.
On the revival of industry, the Chief Minister said that the new industrial policy had given a big boost with over Rs 50,000 crore in investments being firmed up.
To give a further push to rural development, the Chief Minister pointed out that an outlay of Rs 680 crore had been kept under the Smart Village Campaign -- an umbrella programme to ensure all-round development of villages, of which Rs. 198 crore had been released as the first installment.
The Chief Minister also honoured three freedom fighters namely Prem Sagar, Dev Brat Sharma and Jawaharlal besides distributing sewing machines to the needy women and tricycles to physically challenged persons.
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