Punjab to touch 1L cases by Sept 15: Capt orders imposition of Section 144

He appealed to all political parties to avoid any gatherings, including protests. In case of any violation of Section 144, the organisers who are putting people at risk by organising such gatherings or allowing people to gather without masks will be arrested, he said.

The Chief Minister also requested all religious and community leaders to ask their followers to take all restrictions/precautions as imposed and not to violate Section 144, in the interest of the state, which was witnessing an increase in Covid cases. He also directed the police to strictly enforce prescribed number and social distancing at marriage and bhog ceremonies.

Amarinder said that the average daily increase for the last seven days was over 1400, and mortality rate was 2.5 per cent.

While addressing the people of the state during his Facebook Live #AskCaptain, Amarinder warned that if people do not take necessary precautions, things will only get worse. Talking tough, he said people were taking thing lightly forcing the government to take harsh measures. The CM said it was shocking that people were not wearing masks and that there were 3000-6000 cases of people being challaned for not wearing masks on a daily basis.

On Thursday, the Chief Minister had ordered re-imposition of several lockdown restrictions in the state, including weekend lockdown, daily night curfew from 7 pm to 5 am in all cities/towns, shutdown of 50 per cent non-essential shops in the 5 big towns of Punjab (Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala, Amritsar and Mohali) on daily basis, all government and private offices to work at 50 per cent strength, and private cars to ply with not more than 3 persons with buses and public transport to ply at 50 per cent capacity. The Department of Home issued guidelines on these restrictions on Friday.

‘Cases to cross 1 lakh by Sept 15’

Urging people to pay heed to his repeated appeals, Amarinder said: “Why don’t we understand that the precautions are necessary for saving your lives and those of other Punjabis.” Noting that the state was headed towards a peak, he said by September 3, the cases in Punjab are projected to go up to 64,000, and cross one lakh by September 15. Deaths will also increase, with experts estimating over 1,500 deaths by September 3, he warned, hoping that the people will listen to him and take due precautions. “We don’t have to let Punjab go the America way,” he added.

Stressing that testing and timely treatment was the key, Amarinder said it was important to report to hospitals within 72 hours of onset of symptoms.

The Chief Minister also reiterated his appeal to recovered patients to donate plasma for saving the lives of others. Many police personnel and PCS officers have already pledged their plasma, he pointed out, urging all citizens who had been cured of the disease to do it too.

On SYL row

He expressed the hope that Haryana will see Punjab’s viewpoint on the issue of SYL, given the latter’s critical ground water situation.

Haryana already has more water than Punjab and will get additional 1MAF of water through the Sharda-Yamuna Link Canal project, said the Chief Minister, hoping that his Haryana counterpart CM Manohar Lal Khattar will look at the issue from a realistic perspective when they meet soon to discuss the matter.

He underlined the need to understand and adhere to international principles on water sharing, as per which all agreements on this precious resource have to be reviewed after 25 years. This was what he had told the Union Minister and Khattar during his video- conference with them, convened earlier this week on the directions of the Supreme Court, he added.

The Chief Minister further said he had told the Centre and Haryana that the Eradi Commission was 35 years old and there was need for reassessment of water availability in Punjab, which now has 109 dark blocks as a result of massive detrimental effects on its rivers due to global warning.

Punjab has fed the nation and has a much larger cultivated area than Haryana, he pointed out, adding that Haryana’s total availability of river water stood at 12.48 MAF as against Punjab’s 12.42 MAF. Even though other assets were divided between the two states in 60:40 ratio at the time of Haryana’s creation, the same was not done for the Yamuna river water, he noted.

On ordinances

Replying to another question from a Tanda resident on the steps being taken by the Punjab government in response to the agricultural ordinances introduced by the Centre, the Chief Minster said his government was strongly opposed to the same and will not accept them at any cost. The ordinances were aimed at shutting down FCI and eliminating the MSP regime, which will spell the death knell for the faring community, he said.

The Union government had announced support prices for crops other than wheat and rice but yet there was no guaranteed purchase, he observed, adding that the farming community could not be protected if the MSP regime came to an end.

Cleanliness ranking

Amarinder expressed happiness over Punjab’s Swachhta Survey (Urban) ranking, as per which it was at number 5 in the big states in terms of cleanliness. He congratulated the Nawanshahr team for retaining its ranking among the top cities over the last three years. He suggested having competition between various districts on cleanliness, as that would help the state further improve its national ranking.

He hailed Mohali district on becoming one of the first nine districts in India to achieve 100 per cent target in terms of providing drinking water connections to rural households. The Chief Minister also congratulated Sagar Setia, SDM Budhlada, for the beautification work done by him in his town.

In response to the request made by an environmentalist to ensure responsibility of the upkeep of the trees planted/being planted to mark the anniversaries of the great Sikh Gurus, the Chief Minister said conservation of the environment was a collective responsibility and “we should take it upon ourselves to not only help saplings to survive, but also to plant as many more as we can.”

In response to a question from a Ludhiana resident seeking clarification on rumours in his village of the state government getting Rs 3 lakh from Centre for every Covid positive patient, the Chief Minister categorically denied receiving any money from the central government for the Covid fight. “This information is wrong, not a single rupee has been received,” he said, adding that his government had repeatedly, in fact, written to the Centre for financial support to fight the pandemic.

Appeal to agitating employees

The CM appealed to striking employees of Group C & D of the Secretariat and Districts to return to work, saying the government was trying to fulfill their pending demands.

Even amid the prevailing crisis, the government was looking into their demands, Amarinder assured the employees, who went on strike after withdrawal of their mobile phone allowances. The employees have not reported for work since then, seeking resolution of their pending issues.

On paddy procurement

Assuring of fool-proof and efficient arrangements for paddy procurement by his government, Amarinder urged farmers not to go for early harvesting of their rice crop.

Making it clear that his government was fully prepared for the paddy procurement, as it had been for wheat, the Chief Minister said bringing the grain to the mandis early would be detrimental as it would simply lie around there till it gets picked up. Harvest and bring the grain only when it is ripe, he urged the farmers while responding to a question by a Samrala resident.

To a request from an Amritsar resident for restarting special flights to take Punjab’s vegetables to different parts of the country, and to tie up with industries for direct procurement as he had done during his previous term as chief minister, Captain Amarinder said he would surely be looking into it.

Inquiry against ASI

To a question, he said he was asking the DGP to inquire into and take action, including dismissal, against the Tarn Taran ASI caught consuming chitta in a social media post. Such actions will not be tolerated, he added.

Job Melas from next month

He said that the process of facilitation of 6 lakh jobs, including 1 lakh in government sector, between FY 2021 and FY 2022, will commence next month.

On the pending recruitment for PSPCL posts even 6 months after declaration of the results, the Chief Minister assured a Jalandhar resident that the process was delayed due to lockdown but appointment letters have already been issued to 2393 selected candidates for Assistant Linesmen and 71 Assistant Engineer (Electrical). Appointment letters would be now handed over to selected candidates of Accounts Officer, Revenue Accountant and Superintendent Divisional Accounts next week.