JALANDHAR
Punjab's Minister for Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Labour, Hospitality, and Rural Development and Panchayats, Tarunpreet Singh Sond, hoisted the National Flag at the district-level function held at Guru Gobind Singh Stadium here today on the occasion of the 79th Independence Day.
The Cabinet Minister inspected the parade and took the salute at the impressive march-past. He congratulated Indians living across the globe on Independence Day and paid homage to the sacrifices made by freedom fighters. He said that it is due to the struggles and sacrifices made by the freedom fighters that we are breathing in a free country today, and we are proud that Punjabis made the highest sacrifices in the nation’s freedom struggle. He added that the Punjab Government is committed to fulfilling the dreams of the freedom fighters and is determined to protect their vision while working towards building a ‘Vibrant, Joyful, and Prosperous Punjab’. Mr. Sond said the Punjab Government has taken revolutionary decisions for the welfare of the people, improving their standard of living, and ensuring they get maximum benefits of government schemes. He highlighted various initiatives, including the expansion of Aam Aadmi Clinics, introduction of new ambulances, free electricity, easy registration of property, cleaning of ponds and water reservoir in all villages for the first time since independence, ensuring water reaches tail ends, war against drugs, anti-corruption drive, construction of playgrounds in rural areas, providing preparation allowance to sportspersons before major events, health insurance of Rs.10 lakh for all, and formation of committees of industrialists for the state’s industrial growth.
On education, Mr. Sond said the government has prioritised the sector since day one, which has resulted in Punjab achieving the first rank in education after many years. He noted that Punjab topped the National Achievement Survey 2024 and, to provide quality education, 118 senior secondary schools are being transformed into ‘Schools of Eminence’. Under the ‘Punjab Sikhiya Kranti’, projects worth Rs. 2,000 crore for infrastructure development in 12,000 government schools have been launched. This year, 848 government school students qualified the highly competitive NEET exam, 265 cleared JEE Mains, and 45 cracked JEE Advanced. Speaking on pro-people decisions, Mr. Sond said every household is now provided with 600 units of free electricity, resulting in 90% of consumers having zero electricity bills, with uninterrupted free power also supplied to farmers. He shared that in a unique initiative, 115 government schools have been renamed after freedom fighters, martyrs, and internationally renowned personalities. In healthcare, 881 Aam Aadmi Clinics are providing quality services, with 200 more to be opened soon. In Jalandhar district alone, 66 such clinics are functioning. To date, 3.69 crore patients have received free treatment worth around Rs.1,650 crore. A WhatsApp chatbot service has been launched in these clinics, enabling people to get test reports, doctor appointments, and health information from home. From October 2, 2025, the state will roll out the Chief Minister’s Health Insurance Scheme, under which every Punjabi will be issued a health card providing cashless treatment up to Rs.10 lakh per family. Terming the state’s anti-drug campaign highly successful, the Minister said that the government has not only driven drug smugglers out of Punjab but also made over 25,000 arrests and demolished smugglers’ houses, proving that there is no place for them in the state. Recently, Punjab became the first state in the country to deploy an anti-drone system along the international border to stop cross-border drug smuggling. Under rehabilitation efforts, free treatment is being provided to addicts at 55 de-addiction centres and 548 OOAT centres across the state. The Minister said the easy registration system for property has been launched in all Sub-Registrar and Joint Sub-Registrar offices, and a portal has been developed for easy deposit of documents. For labour welfare, he noted that 1.55 lakh construction workers and their families are now covered under the Chief Minister’s Health Insurance Scheme, and various Labour Welfare Board schemes have been simplified. To completely curb stubble burning, the Punjab Government has prepared a Rs. 500 crore action plan to provide farmers with Crop Residue Management (CRM) machines on subsidy and implement other strategies. The government has also installed 3,200 solar pumps for agriculture, with 2,500 more to be set up by year-end, and solar plants of 7.7 MW capacity have been installed on 1,098 government buildings.
The minister said this year, the state will commemorate the 350th martyrdom anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji with state-level events from November 19 to 25. Under the Forest Department’s ‘Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji Hariyaval Sankalp’, 3.5 lakh saplings will be planted in each district in 2025–26, along with establishing 52 ‘Sacred Forests’.