Work on memorial of Guru Ravidas to be expedited: Manpreet

Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal today said that the state government would expedite the work on the setting up of a memorial of Guru Ravidas 'Meenare-e-Begampura'.
He was addressing a gathering at the state-level function on the 'Prakash Purb' of Guru Ravidas in Khuralgarh Sahib here, an official release said.
The finance minister said the Kandi and Border area in the state were underdeveloped.
He said during a recent meeting with Union Finance Minister Atun Jaitley, it was proposed that by increasing the central grant under the Border Area Development Scheme and Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, the Kandi and Border areas could be developed.

He said that in this semi-mountainous area, the wild animals often destroy crops.
"In view of which, the Punjab government will provide a subsidy of Rs 50 crore to farmers to protect their crops," he said.

The minister said to solve the problem of irrigation in the Kandi area, 265 tubewells will be installed in 13 Assembly constituencies of the Kandi area.
He said that the Punjab government was committed to provide employment to the youth of the state.
The state finance minister said it has been proposed to the Union government to approve the Rajpura-Mohali railway link in ensuing budget session.