Maneka seeks closure of Punjab Meats Ltd

CHANDIGARH, May 3: Union Welfare Minister Maneka Gandhi made an impassioned plea today, to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to have...

CHANDIGARH, May 3: Union Welfare Minister Maneka Gandhi made an impassioned plea today, to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to have the Punjab Meats Limited PML plant closed down, even as the Chief Minister announced the grant of sub-division status for Dera Bassi. She was speaking at a function at Dera Bassi to inaugurate the Sadashiv Complex.

Earlier, while laying the foundation stone of Baba Makhan Shah Labana Bhawan, in Sector 30 here, she highlighted that procedures for release of grants by her ministry to various non-government organisations NGO8217;s, trusts and welfare societies have been simplified. She called upon people to form societies to avail of the grants for mitigating the suffering of the needy.

Referring to the acute shortage of water in Dera Bassi, Maneka Gandhi said lakhs of litres of precious water was being used by PML to wash meat. She said a similar situation prevailed in Hyderabad where despite the shortage of water, over 1.6 million litres of water was being supplied to a slaughter house. She also visited a big gaushala at Mukandpur village near here and lauded the role of philanthropists of the area in running the gaushala where old, injured and neglected animals are lodged.

While speaking at Chandigarh, she said that instead of seeking grants from the Welfare Ministry for construction of such bhawans and then using them as money spinners, such premises should be used as drug de-addiction centres, for imparting vocational training to children particularly girls in traditional crafts like Phulkari. Employment opportunities should also be generated at such places for senior citizens, she added. She made a dig at her predecessor, stating that naming bhawans after Ambedkar did not qualify as social service. She later assured Jagir Kaur, Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Social Security Development of Women and Children that proposals of various welfare schemes regarding social security and development of women and children will be cleared on priority, without any delay.

Addressing the gathering, Jagir Kaur said that Baba Makhan Shah Lobana Foundation was conceived during the tricentenary year of martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur, with the main objective of paying tribute by raising a memorial of Baba Makhan Shah Lobana.

Among others who spoke on the occasion include G.S Multani, president, Brigadier Daljitam Singh retd, retired Chief Engineer Sardara Singh and senior vice-president of the foundation. Meanwhile at Dera Bassi, the chief minister announced that the master plan for different areas in the state was being prepared. This would provide a blueprint of problems of a particular area that would come in handy while planning development projects.