Parkash Singh Badal Demands Maize Be Included in Procurement List

Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal asked the central government to include the maize in the procurement list.

I have already taken up the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure procurement of maize at minimum support price (MSP) through the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India. Punjab CM  Parkash Singh Badal said the state government has designated Punjab Agro as its agency for the procurement of maize on the prevailing MSP as announced by the central government.

Presiding over separate meetings of the state maize and the basmati development boards here, the chief minister asked the Basmati rice growers not to sow the '1509' variety before July 15 as the pre-mature sowing of this variety hampered the yield, both in terms of quality and quantity. At the meeting, Principal Secretary to the chief minister, S.K. Sandhu, who met a delegation of state rice millers and exporters in Amritsar last week, apprised Badal about their concerns on the probable fall in the export volumes of Basmati rice from the state during the current kharif marketing season in wake of stringent parameters imposed by Iran, the major importer of the rice variety from India.

Sandhu suggested that in order to safeguard the interest of Basmati growers, the Punjab government should pursue the matter regarding GI (geographical indications) related to Basmati rice in Punjab with the central government. Punjab, India's green revolution state, is the biggest contributor to the national food grain kitty despite having just 1.54 percent geographical area of the country. Farmers in the state mainly rely on growing wheat and paddy every year. This has led to depletion of the ground water level, especially due to paddy cultivation.

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Punjab will be first to realise Modi's 'Skill India' dream

Envisioning the state as a hub of skilled manpower, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said he was confident that Punjab would be the first state in the country to realise 'Skill India' and 'Make in India' dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Addressing a gathering after inaugurating the state-of -the-art multi-skill development centre set up by a private group in Kharar, the Chief Minister said that these centres were the need of the hour for giving fillip to the overall development of the country as well as eradicating the menace of unemployment.

He said these centres were like 'modern temples' as they could be instrumental in transforming the destiny of millions of people. "Punjabis have a penchant for triumphing in every field and with the coming up of such centres, the day is not far away when we will show the way to country for achieving the goal of 'Make In India' and 'Skill India' set by the PM."

The 87-year-old five-time Chief Minister Punjab Parkash Singh Badal said that it was a "matter of great pride" for him that the Prime Minister had constituted a sub-group of NITI Aayog comprising chief ministers of various states under his leadership.

Badal said he had convened several meetings of this sub-group across the country to have a fair idea about the potential and dimensions of skill development. He said that the sub-group would be submitting its report to the Prime Minister within a month so as to give boost to skill training in the country. The Chief Minister bemoaned that currently only three per cent populace of the country was skilled as compared to the advanced countries where more than 90 per cent of their population was highly skilled.

He said the state government has chalked out a strategy to bridge this gap by enhancing the skilled population in the state from three per cent to 90 per cent, for which Punjab State Skill Development Mission has been constituted. Badal said the state government was setting up integrated multi-skill development centres to create a pool of skilled manpower in the state so as to cope up with the need of local industry besides opening new vistas of gainful employment for the youth. In the same manner, the state government is giving support and cooperation to the captains of the industry in the state for setting up skill development centres in various cities.

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Parkash Singh Badal Set Up NRI Schools in Punjab

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal exhorted Punjabi diaspora to establish NRI schools across the state for connecting their future generations with their roots. Addressing a gathering during the second Non Resident Indian (NRI) Sangat Darshan programme, the Chief Minister said through their hard work and dedication, Punjabi NRIs had proved their mettle across the globe.

Unfortunately, younger generations of the Punjabi diaspora have become somewhat detached from the land of their forefathers due to which there was a need to reverse this trend by making all out efforts in this direction, he informed, adding that this goal could be achieved only if the NRIs take the initiative of opening NRI schools across the state. The Chief Minister of punjab Parkash Singh Badal  said that these schools should be built exclusively for NRI students and should be run by management comprising NRIs. He said the standard of these schools should be on par with the schools being run in foreign countries so that the NRI kids could be imparted high-end school education. The NRI students must study in these schools for at least five years, so that they could be acquainted with the rich cultural heritage of their parental land.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal exhorted Punjabi diaspora to establish NRI schools across the state for connecting their future generations with their roots. Addressing a gathering during the second Non Resident Indian (NRI) Sangat Darshan programme, the Chief Minister said through their hard work and dedication, Punjabi NRIs had proved their mettle across the globe.

Listing out the initiatives taken by the punjab government for NRIs in the state, Badal said the Punjab government has decided to set up separate NRI cell in every district across the state for facilitating them in getting their routine administrative works done smoothly. The Deputy Commissioners of every district would be asked to provide a separate room for this 

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