Punjab to get road safety force to check accidents: CM Bhagwant Mann

“The personnel will have a separate uniform and will be given good vehicles. They will help people on the roads, help in removing stuck vehicles, trees or any obstructions on the roads with the help of cranes that will be provided to them.”

He added, “The SSF will reduce the load from Punjab Police which can then focus on other works related to solving crimes, law and order problems etc.”

The driving school is the second such in the state, with the first one being opened by Parkash Singh Badal in the Lambi constituency. Mann said, “We will open many more in Punjab.”

He added, “Punjab tops in road accidents. According to data, daily around 14 people die in Punjab due to road accidents while 70-80 get injured. Annually, around 5,500 accidents take place but they can be avoided if we have better driving schools to teach the drivers and better road discipline while driving.”

Citing the death of famous personalities in road accidents, Mann said, “Our former president Giani Zail Singh, popular actor Jaspal Bhatti, several other artists and many authors have died in road accidents. When Bhatti died, the then Punjab government had found 138 dark spots or accident-prone areas on the roads but nothing was done after that. We will rectify all these spots and if needed, we will acquire land to broaden roads to correct the dark spots.”

The chief minister also, did not miss an opportunity to target the new bonhomie between Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia and Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu.

Without naming anybody he said, “Don’t bother about them, don’t get angry with them. Let them roam around and since people don’t hug them, they are hugging each other. Let us talk about development and issues.”

Talking about the upcoming paddy season, Mann said, “The paddy season is about to start and we will not let you face shortage of electricity but I request all of you to follow the sowing schedule of the crop.”

On his recent meeting with Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Mann said, “I have told them clearly that we cannot accept the proposal of affiliating Haryana colleges with Panjab University in Chandigarh as it belongs to Punjab and will remain so.”

Referring to former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal’s letter in 2008 to the Centre stating that the state has no objection if the Panjab University is accorded a central university status, Mann said, “Now the Akalis are saying the letter had been withdrawn after five days. But why was it written in the first place? They need to answer to the people.”

Punjab will participate in GVK financial bid

The chief minister said, “GVK thermal plant at Goindwal is going for its last bid on June 15 as they have admitted for insolvency proceedings. Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) is also participating in this bid and if we get this plant, we will generate power at Rs 1.5 cheaper per unit than what is being done now as we will get coal from the Pachhwara mine. The previous governments had only shut down state-owned thermal power plants or inaugurated private ones; we are making efforts to acquire a private thermal power plant.”