Suspended Cong MLA raises a sandstorm in the House, minister admits to shooting sand prices

As a corollary to the question, Jakhar raised the issue of illegal sand mining in the state and his own constituency and district and demanded an investigation by the government.

“When are you going to fulfill your target of earning Rs 20,000 crore from mining?” Jakhar asked the minister even as he pointed out that as against the government price of Rs 5.50 per cubic feet, sand is being sold at Rs 38 to Rs 40 per cubic feet. “In Fazilka district, the mafia is rampant. Please get it investigated from your department,” he said.

In his reply, Meet Hayer admitted that the sand was being sold at higher rates in some districts but added that this was due to the paucity of commercial mines and that the government was in the process of rectifying the situation.

“I want to tell the member that there are now 60 public mines in Punjab. There sand is available at the rate of Rs 5.50 per cubic feet. We issued tenders for 40 commercial mines. There were certain delays due to some orders of NGT. In the coming days, we have set a target of 150 public mines and 100 commercial mines. We get complaints that the sand or gravel is being sold at higher rates at some places but that is mostly due to transport cost. These prices will come down when commercial mines get operational,” said Meet Hayer.

Responding to the question of revenue generation, the minister said the mining department is operating on a one rupee margin. “If we were to increase this rate to Rs 10 then our margin will also increase. But our aim right now is to give sand to people at affordable rates. The revenue has increased as compared to previous years and this will increase further when commercial mines are operational,” he said.

The Minister admitted that in Mansa, Barnala, Sangrur and Fazilka districts sand is sold at higher rates. “I agree. But commercial mines will start functioning soon. A village gets approximately Rs 1.5 to 2 lakh per day from labour in sand trade. Rs 50-60 lakh is being generated per month from labour in villages from tractor trolleys being used for sand mining. Earlier this money was only in few hands,” claimed the Minister.

Addressing the issue of illegal mining by some farmers, Meet Hayer said that due to floods, there was 3-4 foot of water in the fields in some villages in flood affected areas. “We have given permission to people to remove the sand, which has accumulated due to flooding. We are keeping a check that no one should indulge in illegal mining in the garb of this,” he said.

Pargat Singh raises Tarn Taran SSP transfer

Speaking during Zero Hour, Congress MLA Pargat Singh raised the issue of the transfer of the then SSP Tarn Taran Gurmeet Chauhan after an AAP MLA’s relative was allegedly found indulging in illegal mining. He demanded that the CM should set up an inquiry to look into the allegations.

“He is one of the outstanding officers. If he has caught a person red handed, it is unfortunate that he has been transferred and the lower staff suspended. We should not lower the morale of the police if they do something good,” said Pargat.

Tripat Bajwa points out IPS vacancies

Congress MLA Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa pointed out that for the past two years, no PPS officer has been inducted in IPS cadre of the state. He said that 36 names have been submitted to the UPSC for the upgradation but for some reason the same has not been done.

Bajwa also raised the issue of the direct recruitment for the rank of inspectors in Punjab Police and said that the previous government had erroneously done away with such recruitment. He demanded that the same must be restored else there will be no Punjabi who can rise to the rank of DIG or IG in coming years.

Speaker institutes quiz in Zero Hour

In a novel move, Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan, asked a question during Zero Hour and said whoever answers it correctly will get to speak for three minutes on his constituency.

He asked who is the protagonist in the movie Mission Raniganj and what did he do. Independent MLA Rana Inder Pratap Singh gave the correct answer naming mining engineer Jaswant Singh Gill and got the chance to speak on his constituency Sultanpur Lodhi.