Separate civil, judicial wings for NRIs
Tuesday, 07/01/2014
http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=91415&boxid=57475&uid=&dat=2014-01-07
Chandigarh : In another first, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday announced to set up separate civil and judicial wings to exclusively deal with and address the issues pertaining to the Non Resident Indians (NRIs).
This would be done after the successful establishment of separate NRI police wing, which was also first to happen in Punjab.
Sukhbir announced this after launching a single click solution web portal dedicated to the Punjabi Diaspora on the eve of NRI Sammelan-2014, being held in Anandpur Sahib and Jalandhar on January 10 and 11.
Addressing the overcrowded press conference after launching the web portal www.nripunjab.gov.in, the Deputy Chief Minister said that the special NRI fast track courts would be set up to exclusively deal with the litigations of NRIs while a similar separate set up would be established in the civil administration to serve the NRIs in a prompt and a better manner.
While the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court has given in-principle nod to set up the new NRI courts, the Chief Secretary has been asked to evolve a system for dispensation of civil issues pertaining to NRIs in the state, disclosed Sukhbir.
“We are allocating the requisite corpus for setting up of NRI courts in our next Cabinet meeting, following which we would send a proposal to the High Court for establishing the system,” said the Deputy Chief Minister.
Sharing the success story of separate NRI police wing, headed by IGP Gurpreet Kaur Deo, Sukhbir said that the dedicated system showed result not only with the receipt of almost three times increase in the complaints, which swelled from 1,200 in 2012 to over 3,000 in 2013, but also managed to settle almost 2,100 complaints to the satisfaction of the complainant NRIs.
He also announced Rs 5 lakh insurance cover each for free to all the holders of NRP (Non Resident Punjabi) cards, introduced by the Punjab government last year. Axis Bank would provide the insurance cover as well as boarding lounges at the airports to the NRIs without any charges.
To facilitate more and more NRIs to avail the benefits, the state government has started online registration for NRP cards on the web portal.
Giving details about the NRI web portal, which has been prepared by the same firm, which had established the Vibrant Gujarat web portal conceptualised by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the Deputy Chief Minister said that this would prove a boon for the NRIs as it would have all the required and needful information with the provision of instant action on their plaints, which would be registered online by the NRIs. The portal also contained a photo gallery along with all the required information on Punjab.
Motivating the NRIs to participate in development of their villages and cities, Sukhbir launched the Punjab government’s another initiative, “Mera Pind Mera Scheme”, under which the NRIs would have to give only 25 per cent of the total project cost, the remaining 75 per cent of which would be borne by the state government. Earlier, the contribution of NRIs under this scheme was 50 per cent.
He also launched a round-the-clock call centre for the help of the NRIs with a dedicated service available at telephone number 0172-6672301.
Patting the back of NRIs Affairs Minister Bikram Singh Majithia, whom he credited for Punjab’s taking lead in creating the best system for NRIs in the country, Sukhbir this year’s annual NRI Sammelan, being held in Anandpur Sahib and Jalandhar on January 10 and 11 would be far better than the Pravasi Bharatiya Sammelan being organised by the Union government in New Delhi every year. This year’s event would witness three times more participation than last year.
After the inauguration on January 10, there would be an interactive session at the Virasat-e-Khalsa complex, where elected representatives from all six continents would participate to give suggestions and feedback on the policies and programmes of the Punjab government.
Three Union Ministers of Punjab origin from Canada government, 15 MPs, 7 MLAs, Mayors, 32 journalists and 11 chiefs of gurdwara committees from across the globe would be attending the NRI sammelan.
The concluding day would see an open session at the Bath Castle in Jalandhar on January 11, where NRIs from various continents would deliberate on NRI issues.
Assembly Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal, Chief Secretary Rakesh Singh, Home, Secretary, Dhanbir Singh Bains, Financial Commissioner, Revenue, Navreet Singh Kang, Principal Secretary, NRIs Affairs, S S Channy, IGP, NRI Affairs, Gurpreet Kaur Deo, Cabinet Ministers Ajit Singh Kohar, Sarwan Singh Phillaur, Surjit Singh Rakhra and Sharanjit Singh Dhillon were also present on the occasion.
THE GUEST LIST
Tim Uppal, Bal Gosal and Manmeet Bhullar (all ministers from Canada), Joe Daniel, Jasbir Sandhu, Nina Grewal, Vic Dhillon (all MPs from Canada), Jinny Jogindera Sims, Kanwaljeet Singh Bakshi (New Zealand MPs), Daljit Singh Dalliwal (Adviser to Malaysia Prime Minister), Lord Diljit Rana Westminster (UK), Peter Sandu, Darshan Kang (Canada MLAs), Ramesh Singh Arora, Kanji Raam (Pakistan MLAs), Dr Anarkali Kaur Honaryar (Afghanistan MP), Parmuck Singh Hoogan (Tanzania MP), Parminder Singh Katongole (Uganda MP), Datuk Ranjit Ajit Singh (Malaysia MP), Rashpal Singh (Malaysia MLA), Sachin Gupta (UK Mayor), Amanpreet Singh and Ruby Dhaliwal (Mayors from USA).
SUKHBIR TAKES ON BAJWA
Taking a jibe at the Punjab Congress over the present crisis, Sukhbir Singh Badal said PPCC president Partap Singh Bajwa has taken his party to such a situation that it may even find it difficult to field candidates at all the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab. He announced that as in the past, the SAD would be the first party to announce its candidates for the next Lok Sabha polls.
Reiterating that several Congress MLAs and other senior leaders were in touch with him to join SAD, Sukhbir said the number of such Congress leaders was swelling overnight under Bajwa’s leadership.
TRASHES BHOLA’S CHARGES
Trashing the charges of decorated wrestler-turned-cop-turned-druglord Jagdish Singh Bhola of naming a senior Punjab Minister for alleged involvement in the drug trade, Sukhbir, who also holds the Home portfolio, said it was all a sham. “If we were involved in the racket, how and why would have we arrested him?” he questioned, while refusing to comment on Bhola’s demand to hand over the investigation of the boxers-drugs nexus to the CBI.
SUKHBIR CLAIMS TO BE SIMPLEST
Downplaying the simplicity claims of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Sukhbir claimed himself to be the simplest. “I wear a cotton kurta-pyjama and eat simple dal-roti... I don’t even touch non-vegetarian food and liquor,” exclaimed the Deputy Chief Minister, while asking that what else defined simplicity?
