Channi Cabinet expresses solidarity with farmers

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 27

Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi today convened an emergency meeting of the newly re-constituted Council of Ministers in view of the Bharat Bandh call given by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) against the three farm laws.

The Council of Ministers passed a resolution expressing solidarity with the farmers and their demands.

Terming the three laws anti-farmer and anti-food security, the CM said these were a potent threat to the livelihood of farmers and their future generations. He said the earlier resolutions passed by the state Assembly in support of the farmers’ demand to repeal these “black” laws should be conceded by the Centre without any further delay.

Expressing solidarity with the families of those who died during the ongoing agitation, the CM stressed the need to win their confidence as the Congress government had always stood in support of their demands.

He asked all ministers to personally visit the houses of the deceased farmers to deliver the appointment letters for government jobs to their family members. He said nearly 155 such appointment letters were ready and should be delivered to people concerned within a week.

He also directed the Chief Secretary to ensure verification of remaining such cases expeditiously so as to complete the process of giving government jobs to the eligible next of kin.

Taking cognisance of the widespread resentment among farmers for being given inadequate compensation for the land acquired by various government agencies, Channi directed the Chief Secretary to explore ways and means to rationalise the quantum of compensation to be awarded to the farmers to their satisfaction.

Prepare 100-day roadmap, babus told

• CM Charanjit Channi on Monday told administrative secretaries to prepare a 100-day roadmap of their departments to bring in more efficiency and transparency
• He asked the officials to submit detailed proposals in this regard to the Chief Secretary within a week
• Chairing the first meeting of the administrative secretaries, Channi said the core sectors of health and education should be prioritised to ensure affordable healthcare and quality education, especially in the rural areas, while asserting corruption would not be tolerated

Next meet on Oct 1

• All other points on the agenda tabled at the meeting have been postponed till October 1, as allocation of the ministers’ portfolios is expected before that because the government wants to roll out pro-people schemes from October 2
• Issues such as regular jobs for Group-D employees, construction of 32,000 EWS houses on priority, free mining of sand by landowners to abolish contract system, increasing free electricity units from 200 to 300 units for SC/BC/BPL domestic consumers are likely to be taken up

Portfolios today?

• A day after the swearing-in of 15 ministers, all eyes are now on the allocation of portfolios
• Throughout the day, there were reports of portfolios being announced on Monday, but sources say approval to the portfolios is expected to be cleared by the party high command on Tuesday

Prune security: CM to ministers

• Underlining the need to curb VIP culture, the CM asked ministers to keep their security personnel at ‘barest minimum’ as he had already curtailed his own security as per the guidelines
• A similar order was passed by his predecessor Capt Amarinder Singh in 2017, but the directions weren’t followed in letter and spirit
• Channi said the initiative would allow deployment of extra security personnel judiciously and save the public from inconvenience