Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday cautioned inimical forces against any attempts to destroy the peace and harmony of the country.
He was addressing a gathering in Jalandhar after unfurling the national flag at a State-level function to mark the 73rd Independence Day. The Chief Minister said 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.
Capt. Amarinder said in the fight against drug abuse, so far 27,744 cases had been registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act with the arrest of 33,622 people besides recovery of 767 kg of heroine and huge quantities of other contraband substances.
The Chief Minister said the new industrial policy had given a big boost with over ₹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 ₹680 crore had been kept under the Smart Village Campaign — a programme to ensure development of villages, of which ₹198 crore had been released as the first instalment.
Capt. Amarinder said the State government was contemplating to disburse ₹520 crore to 2.85 lakh farm labourers and landless farmers who are members of primary agriculture cooperative societies. Under the debt relief scheme till date, 5.62 lakh marginal and small farmers have benefited.
Annual remuneration
He also stated that the total annual remuneration of farmers on account of government procurement of foodgrain had increased to ₹1.24 lakh crore since 2017, thereby registering a hike of about ₹30,000 crore over the earnings in the corresponding seasons of the previous government.
On the education front, the Chief Minister said for the first time in several years, government schools had outperformed private schools.
With PTI inputs
