Address all issues raised by MLAs: Punjab CM to officers

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today directed the deputy commissioners and administrative secretaries to address all the people's issues raised by the MLAs and apprise him of the action taken.
The chief minister was presiding over separate meetings of administrative secretaries and DCs here, during which he made it clear that no political interference would be tolerated in matters of governance.
His government was promoting "ease of living" in Punjab, with the people now getting access to basic services without the obstacle of red-tapism, said the Congress leader.
While good governance was his government's priority, there was a need to ensure coordination with the elected representatives to ensure that both worked in tandem for the welfare of the people, he added.

Stressing on the need for a "rapport" between the government and the elected representatives, Singh said the culture of "you" and "me" needed to be replaced with "us".
Taking cognisance of the 30,000 pending service related cases against government employees, the chief minister directed scrapping of all the "frivolous" cases to restore the confidence of the employees and enable them to function in a free-and-fair manner, said an official spokesperson.

Singh also ordered meals to be made available for Rs 10 under the government's 'Sanjhi Rasoi' scheme in all the districts by July 1.
He also set a deadline of July 31 for the completion of the joint verification of beneficiaries for pension and atta-dal schemes with DCs to act as nodal officers.

Singh also asked the Rural and Panchayat Department to prepare a plan on the lines of the Urban Department's proposal for free housing for the homeless people of the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Backward Class (BC) communities.
Stressing the need for the government to be prepared for the implementation of the Goods and Services (GST) tax from July 1, the chief minister asked the administrative secretaries to formulate schemes and programmes to take forward the government's agenda, with year-wise targets defined clearly.
He also directed them to review the Centre's schemes which could benefit the state and submit their proposals on the same to the Finance Department for Budget 2017-18.

Reiterating his promise to provide jobs to the youth, Singh ordered a time-bound, district-wise survey to identify the unemployed youth, while directing to prepare a district employment plan under the district employment bureaus.
He asked the officers to launch a campaign to educate the youth about the ill-effects of drug abuse and added that anyone trying to play with innocent, young lives would not be spared and his government was "duty-bound to free the state of this menace".