From old pension scheme and protection of Punjabi to SYL and farm fires, Oppn seeks many answers

Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhatisgarh. In all three states we have implemented it,” he said.

He also raised the issue of disparity of payment of DA to central government staff and the state government employees. “The central government employees got 46 per cent DA while state government employees got 34 per cent only. The DA instalment of 4 per cent dating to January 2022 is still pending for all government employees of Punjab. July instalment of 4 per cent is also pending. When will you release this DA and implement the OPS,” he said.

Bajwa said AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal had also declared that the OPS scheme had been accepted in Punjab in principle.

SAD MLA raises red flag on BJPs national education policy, Lawrence Bishnoi

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MLA from Banga, Dr Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi, raised the issue of new national educational policy being propagated by the BJP government in the centre and said that this policy was a threat to Punjabi language.

“Under the new policy 70 per cent of the education syllabus will be dictated by the centre. Punjabi University Patiala was set up to propagate Punjabi language. Similarly, Guru Nanak Dev University was set up to propagate the thoughts and teachings of Guru Nanak Dev. With this new policy the aims of these universities will fade away. There should be discussions and seminars on this issue,” he said. Referring to the CMs statement in the house yesterday that BJP would even like to remove the word ‘Punjab’ from national anthem, the SAD MLA said that the new education policy was yet another way to finish off Punjabi language.

Dr Sukhi went on to comment on the deteriorating law and order situation in Punjab and particularly referred to the fact that a SIT set up to investigate how Lawrence Bishnoi gave an interview while in judicial custody has not completed its probe in several months. “It has been seven-eight months but Punjab Police has been washing its hands of the matter. Now Punjab and Haryana High Court has summoned ADGP Jails. The Punjab government needs to reflect on this,” he said.

Pargat Singh demands all party meeting on SYL canal

Congress MLA Pargat Singh raised the issue of SYL canal during Zero Hour and said that there have been nearly 15 litigations pending in various courts since 1980-81 regarding SYL canal. “There has been no white paper on this issue till now. Water is the lifeline of Punjab and the coming years will not be very good. An all party meeting should be called on this issue,” he said.

Rana Inder Partap raises stubble burning issue

Independent MLA Rana Inder Partap raised the issue of stubble burning and the consequent air pollution. The MLA said the pollution was greater now than earlier years because while paddy crop was reaped in September earlier, now it was being reaped in November due to

late sowing to save water table. “In September, due to higher temperatures the paddy stubble used to be dry and caused less smoke but now in November it is not the same due to cold and it causes greater smoke to rise. Since wheat has to sowed immediately the farmer has no option to set the stubble on fire,” he said.

Rana Inder Partap added that in Punjab paddy is sown on 32 lakh hectare area and out of it 20 million ton stubble is generated. “Out of this we can utilise 10 million tons of stubbly in situ in the field by burying it there. For the balance 10 million ton stubble you need 10,000 bailers. Today there are only 2500 bailers on Punjab. And the companies manufacturing bailers do not have capacity to make more than 1000 bailers a year. We should ensure a bailer in each village. It will cost Rs 1600 crores. We should undertake the cost along with contribution from the Delhi Government,” he said.