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Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday said 10,000 new recruitments in the police will be made to root out drugs, as he highlighted the state's fight against the drug menace. Speaking at Maharaja Ranjit Singh Academy, Phillaur, after honouring police officers, he said police have full freedom to take every legitimate action against drugs and directed them to go to villages and towns, take people along and crack down on the menace. He said 'Yudh Nashean Virudh' has now become a mass awareness movement across Punjab, while the police force will soon get 450 ASIs and 3,400 police personnel. The state government is expanding and modernising the police force, he said, adding that "We are directly recruiting 450 ASIs. Around 3,400 recruits are currently undergoing training, while 10,000 additional police posts are proposed to be advertised in the coming financial year." "This is a historic initiative through which I, along with the Director General of Police, am directly engagin
After his appointment as the Punjab Congress president, Pargat Singh on Saturday thanked the party leadership for entrusting him with the responsibility and said he will work with dedication to strengthen the party and serve people in the state. The Congress appointed Singh as the president of the Punjab PCC on Friday after Amrinder Singh Raja Warring submitted his resignation. "I sincerely thank Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, K C Venugopal, Punjab Congress in-charge Sachin Pilot and all senior Congress leaders for entrusting me with the responsibility of president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee," Singh said in a post on X. "I will work with complete dedication and commitment to strengthen Congress in Punjab and serve the people of our state," he added. Singh, 61, is a former Indian Hockey captain who led the Indian team in the 1992 and 1996 Olympics. He made his entry into the political arena with the Shiromani
Ahead of Union Home Minister Amit Shah's rally here on Wednesday, a bomb threat email was received, targeting schools, the rally site, Devi Talab temple and the court complex, officials said. A police officer said they are technically analysing the email and trying to find its origin. Security has been stepped up at the rally site and Devi Talab temple, following the Union Home Minister's Jalandhar visit. Shah will address a public gathering in village Paragpur, Jalandhar, as the BJP's 'Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra' concludes. Launched on September 18, the yatra travelled through all 117 assembly constituencies of Punjab, covering 4,000 kilometres, and reached Jalandhar on Tuesday. Police said the bomb threat email mentioned targeting schools, the rally site, Devi Talab temple and the court complex. The fresh scare comes on the heels of similar threats reported in recent months from multiple places in Punjab and Haryana, where such emails later turned out to be hoaxes.
The Punjab government on Wednesday notified an 8 per cent increase in dearness allowance (DA) for state government employees and pensioners, effective September 1. The decision reflects the state government's commitment towards the welfare and financial well-being of its employees and pensioners, an official statement from the chief minister's office said. "The enhanced DA will provide additional financial support to employees and pensioners at a time when household expenses and the cost of essential commodities have increased," it stated. The decision follows a recent meeting between representatives of employee unions and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, during which various issues concerning employees were discussed in detail, including the demand for enhancement of dearness allowance. Mann assured employee representatives that their genuine demands would be considered sympathetically and the government will take appropriate steps in the interest of employees and pensioners. In kee
Former Punjab minister Bhagat Chunni Lal passed away on Thursday, his son and Cabinet minister Mohinder Bhagat said. The 93-year-old Lal breathed his last at his home in Jalandhar. "Chunni Lal Bhagat ji is no longer with us. We are deeply saddened by his demise, Mohinder Bhagat, who is the Horticulture minister in the AAP government, said. His cremation will take place in Jalandhar at 5 pm on Thursday. The Punjab government declared a half-day holiday in view of Lal's demise. Lal was a cabinet minister in the erstwhile SAD-BJP government in 2012. He held the portfolios of Local Government and Medical Education and Research in the then Parkash Singh Badal government. Born in Sialkot (now in Pakistan) on December 1, 1932, his family settled in Jalandhar after partition. Lal unsuccessfully contested his first election as an Independent from Jalandhar South in 1985. He won the election from the same constituency on a BJP ticket in 1997. He again became MLA in 2007 and 2012. In 201
BJP president Nitin Nabin on Tuesday appointed Rajya Sabha MP Vinod Tawde and national general secretary as in-charge of party affairs in Uttar Pradesh and newly appointed national secretary Jagdish Ishwarbhai Patel as co-in-charge. Newly appointed BJP national general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Satish Poonia was made in-charge of party affairs in Punjab, according to a notification issued by the party. Nabin made Rajya Sabha MP Tarun Chugh in-charge of party affairs in Gujarat. "These appointments will come into effect immediately. The appointment of other state in-charges will be made in due course; meanwhile, the current Prabhari arrangement will continue," the BJP said in a circular. According to party sources, these appointments have been made in view of the assembly polls next year. While the assembly elections in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh are due early next year, Gujarat will go to polls later in 2027. This comes a day after the BJP overhauled its national team under party
The Punjab government has urged Governor Gulab Chand Kataria to approve an ordinance that entails a long-pending measure to end the exploitation of thousands of outsourced employees and pave the way for their direct contractual engagement with the state government. The Punjab State Outsourced Personnel Transition to Contractual Engagement Ordinance, 2026, was approved by the state Cabinet on July 13, 2026. Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said here on Saturday that the Bhagwant Mann-led state government has consistently prioritised employment generation and workers' welfare, and accused the previous Congress and Akali Dal-BJP regimes of "institutionalising contractor-based exploitation". Cheema said, "The ordinance, which was approved by the Punjab Cabinet on July 13, 2026, will facilitate the transition of thousands of long-suffering outsourced workers -- including sanitation workers, sewer workers, and power board staff -- into direct contractual engagement with the state ...