Punjab CM announces drives against drugs by involving students
Ludhiana, Aug 15: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday announced special drives against the drug menace in the state by involving students, besides launching the second phase of a loan waiver scheme for farmers.
Speaking during Independence Day celebrations organised at the Guru Nanak Stadium here, the Chief Minister launched 'Tu Mera Buddy' programme to take the war against drugs to schools and colleges.
He called upon the people to take a pledge to wipe out the menace of drugs from the state to secure the healthy future of the coming generation.
Lauding the results of police's Special Task Force to check drug abuse in the state, the Chief Minister said 'Tu Mera Buddy' would further take the campaign to the grassroots.
The buddy project will be led by class teachers and will be supervised by principals and district education officers.
The Chief Minister reiterated his government's zero tolerance against drugs and warned that those involved in exploiting and ruining the youth would not be spared.
Nearly 20,000 cases have been registered under the NDPS Act, involving about 22,000 drug peddlers and distributors, while the state is working to ensure forfeiture of illegally acquired property of drug traders and to secure death penalty for them, said the Chief Minister.
Expressing satisfaction over the positive results of 118 Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment (OOAT) Clinics started in the State for regular treatment of addicts, the Chief Minister said another 80 such clinics would be set up by September.
He said 26,000 addicts have been treated so far in these clinics and the OPD footfall has been more than 5.3 lakh.
Unveiling the Bhai Ghanhya Sehat Sewa Scheme, the Chief Minister handed over cards to some of the beneficiaries of the scheme, aimed at providing cashless healthcare facilities and treatment to members of the cooperative societies and their families across the state.
Every beneficiary is entitled to cashless treatment up to Rs 2 lakh on family floater basis in any approved hospital and on reimbursement basis in any government hospital in Punjab.
Launching the second phase of the debt waiver scheme, the Chief Minister handed over waiver certificates to 10 farmers to extend to them the benefit of outstanding loan waiver of commercial banks up to Rs 2 lakh.
The debt waiver scheme would cover crop loan disbursed to farmers by scheduled commercial banks, cooperative credit institutions, including urban cooperative banks and regional rural banks, collectively called as the lending institutions'.
The Chief Minister said these farmers were expected to be provided total relief of Rs 1,000 crore.
In order to manage the crop residue, the Chief Minister kickstarted a scheme to provide subsidised agri machinery, which would be helpful to curb the trend of stubble burning.
Singh earlier unfurled the national flag at the event where more than 2,000 students participated.
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Padma awardees in Odisha to receive monthly honorarium of Rs 30,000
Bhubaneswar, Jan 16 (PTI): The Odisha government will provide a monthly honorarium of Rs 30,000 to each of the Padma awardees of the state from the current month.
The Odia Language Literature and Culture Department issued a notification to this effect on Thursday.
In view of their outstanding contribution to society in various fields, the state government has decided to provide an honorarium of Rs 30,000 to the Padma awardees, the notification said.
All the Padma awardees of the state, who are alive, will receive the honorarium through direct benefit transfer (DBT) mode from January 2025, it said.
The government has asked collectors and culture officers of all districts to submit details of the Padma award winners (who are alive) including the district collector's certificate, bank account details, IFSC code to the Directorate of Odia, Language, Literature and Culture as soon as possible.
In March last year, the previous BJD government had announced a monthly honorarium of Rs 25,000 for the Padma awardees from Odisha. However, it was not implemented yet, an official of the department said.
In November last year, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi had decided to provide Rs 30,000 to the Padma awardees of the state. Accordingly, the formal notification was published on Thursday, he said.
The Padma Award was introduced in 1954. The award is given to personalities for their outstanding contribution in the fields of arts, education, science, sports, social work, public service, medicine, literature, etc.
As per the Padma Awards website of the Ministry of Home Affairs, till now, the President has conferred Padma awards on 105 eminent personalities from Odisha, which includes 90 Padma Shri, 11 Padma Bhushan and four Padma Vibhushan.
