Year Ender 2019: Ludhiana remained in news

Several development works were carried out in the city

Ludhiana: The year 2019 remained dedicated to the 550th Parkash Purab of Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji. A digital museum and light and sound shows depicting various aspects of the life and teachings of Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji were organised in the district, which were well received by the residents. More than 20,000 residents attended these shows. Besides, a floating light & sound show was also organised on the banks of Sutlej river (near Ladhowal). Similarly, several competitions were also organised for the students. Students of 533 government schools, besides other private schools, also participated in these competitions in large numbers.
Dedicated to the 550th Parkash Purab of Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, 5,17,550 tree saplings in all villages of district Ludhiana (550 tree saplings in each of the 941 villages) were planted successfully.
Besides this, with the efforts of Punjab Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, several development works were carried out in the city. In the month of February, development projects worth around Rs 570 crore were started by the Punjab government through Municipal Corporation. These include a Rail Over Bridge and two rail under bridges on Pakhowal Road, the work on which is going on in full swing, and the residents of Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar would get a new year gift in the form a Leisure Valley near DAV School, besides four other leisure valleys are also being developed here. A rain water recharging well is also coming up here.
The work to construct smart class rooms in all 137 government schools of Ludhiana city was started and funds amounting to Rs 6.28 crore were allotted to the Education department for this purpose.
Similarly, the construction of roads in three colonies of Ludhiana (Central) was also started with a cost of Rs 2 crore. Work of retrofitting of Sarabha Nagar market and up-gradation of Malhar Road with cost of Rs 38.62 crore was also started. In another good news for the residents of the city, the 30-bedded government hospital in Jawaddi area would become operational in next few weeks time.
The Sidhwan Canal water front project has also been started, which envisages development of the stretch along the Sidhwan canal, starting from Pakhowal Road till Dugri Bridge, as an open public space for citizens of the city. This project includes developing a green belt, dedicated cycling track, playing zone, dedicated footpath along canal, sitting areas, wall climbing activities etc. Green belts, plus dedicated cycle track on both sides double road along canal, etc would be developed here.
In coming few months, Ludhiana will become completely free from stray dog menace. Under the Ludhiana Smart City Project, the Punjab government has started to upgrade the dog sterilisation project, which would be the largest in the state. Under this project, the capacity of sterilising stray dogs would be increased from present 25 per day to 100 per day. The work on 8.275 Km long approach road from Chandigarh-Ludhiana (NH-5) to Hi-tech Cycle Valley Dhanansu amounting to Rs. 31.37 crores has also started. Besides, the construction of several roads such as Chawa-Samrala Road, Raikot-Malerkotla Road, besides several others was also started.
The Dhandra cluster have also got approval under Shyama Prasad Mukherji Urban Mission. Under this cluster, 21 panchayats/villages/colonies have been included and these areas would get city like facilities. Around Rs 100 crore would be spent on this project. The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India has also approved Sewing Machine Cluster at Ludhiana. In order to make the MSME Sector competitive on International front, Govt. of India has launched MSE-CDP Scheme in which a project for establishing common facility centre amounting upto Rs. 15 Crore is considered and a grant ranging from 70% to 90% is given by forming the SPV amongst the cluster members.
Under the Income Tax social responsibility Activity, the Income Tax Department have adopted village Nathowal and the IT department have taken responsibility of development of Village.
In a bid to save environment and promote Mission Tandrust Punjab of the state government, the District Administration have vowed to make district Ludhiana plastic free. Under the first phase of this plan, the students of Skill Development Centres and members of Self Help Groups associated with the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) office were trained for manufacturing cloth-based carry bags, which were sold by setting up kiosks in different parts of the district. Even MC Councillor Mamta Ashu spearheaded a campaign for the free distribution of cloth based bags in Ludhiana.
Several road shows, half marathons and runs were also organised to promote various government schemes and projects. All these events were attended by Deputy Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Agrawal and other district administration officials. The work on 7th economic census of the Union government has started and this time Common Service Centres (CSC) e-Governance Services India Limited, a Special Purpose Vehicle under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, would be the implementing agency for 7th Economic Census (EC) this time.
In a bid to save environment from pollution, the farmers are being provided subsidy on purchasing farm machinery for in-situ paddy straw management. For this purpose, the Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department approved 960 applications of farmers. In a first of its kind initiative of the district administration, classes for expectant mothers were started in district Ludhiana. A brainchild of Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) Mrs Amrit Singh, under this project, the expectant mothers are being educated about various phases, starting from pregnancy to motherhood by holding such workshops. For the identification of eligible beneficiaries who can avail maximum benefits of Punjab government’s welfare schemes, the district administration organised several district-level camps under Mahatma Gandhi Sarbat Vikas Yojana (MGSVY).
Under the Ghar Ghar Rozgar Yojana, more than 70 job placements camps were organised, in which 14728 youth were selected by different companies for jobs. The District Bureau of Employment & Enterprises played a crucial role in this. The youth were also being trained free of cost for competitive exams.
The team of “Jal Shakti Abhiyan” appreciated the efforts of district Ludhiana in their efforts to save wastage of water as well as saving underground water. Around 644 acres of government land near Sutlej river was cleared of encroachments. Verka and Markfed also opened several sale counters in the district, which were inaugurated by Cabinet Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa. North India’s first LPG bank was also inaugurated at Verka Milk Plant, Ludhiana.
Renowned boxer Simranjit Kaur was also honoured by the District Administration for her achievements at International level. Under Ayushman Bharat- Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana, around 4.49 lakh families of district were benefitted. In Ludhiana, 16 government and 26 private hospitals have been empanelled.
On getting to know about shortage of blood in the blood bank of Civil Hospital, Deputy Commissioner Mr Pradeep Kumar Agrawal himself opted for blood donation by visiting the civil hospital. Under the steps being taken by Punjab Govt. to provide skill education and training to youth, the District Administration opened new DRDA Skill Development Centre in District Administrative Complex, here. Training related to the hosiery industry is being imparted in this centre. Boys and girls between the age of 18-40 and having 5th standard pass can get admission in this four-month (300 hours) course. There are 60 seats available for the course and training is being imparted on high-tech machines which were brought by keeping in the view of modernisation of the Industry.
The district administration managed to conduct Lok Sabha as well as Dakha By-election in a peaceful manner. Congress candidate Ravneet Singh Bittu won the election from Ludhiana Lok Sabha constituency, while Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janta Party candidate Manpreet Singh Ayali won the Dakha By-election.
As a part of its mission to boost Digital India campaign, the Government of India had launched a competition among 100 smart cities (from July 1, 2018 to October 31, 2018) to promote digitisation of municipal services such as facilitating citizens for paying municipal taxes through digital means (netbanking/mobile app/ bhim/UPI/credit/debit cards), digitisation of municipal markets, promoting awareness among citizens about the digital payment methods etc. Municipal Corporation Ludhiana won the award for Fastest Growing Smart City in Digital Payments among the million plus category (cities with population greater than 10 lakh). This award was presented by Union Minister Mr Hardeep Puri to Mr Sanyam Aggarwal, CEO, Ludhiana Smart City Limited at 2nd Smart Cities CEOs Conference being organized by MoHUA in Delhi in February.
The Potential Linked Credit Plan the year 2020-21 was launched and under Priority Sector, it has been estimated at Rs. 4878306.51 lakh for Ludhiana district, which is 0.16% more than last year.
In the month of August, there was a 45 feet breach in Sutlej river near Bholewal village, which was plugged with active support of District Administration, village residents as well as social organisations. The dhussi bandh near village Garhi Fazil was saved with the timely efforts of district administration. Punjab Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, MP Ravneet Singh Bittu, Cabinet Minister Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria and MP Dr Amar Singh monitored the arrangements personally. To help the flood hit residents of Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts, District Administration Ludhiana sent relief material. Keeping in view the enthusiasm of residents of district Ludhiana regarding contribution of relief material, several collection counters were set up in district.
In a bid to promote Rural Self Help Groups, the District Administration Ludhiana have started an innovative venture, wherein a weekly “Bazaar” is being set by these groups in District Administrative Complex, here on every Saturday of the month. At this bazaar, the members of rural Self Help Groups are able to sell their produce directly without any middleman. Besides this, the Atma Kisan Bazaar at the office of Chief Agriculture Officer is also showing good results.
A sports facility for visually impaired at Blind School located on Chandigarh Road, here has been developed. This stadium has a gymnasium, activity room, football ground, and a multipurpose ground with facilities for cricket and athletics. This stadium has been constructed by Markfed with a cost of Rs 42 lakh. With efforts of Cabinet Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, the work on laying new athletics synthetic track at Guru Nanak Stadium would start shortly, while work on indoor swimming pool would also start shortly. The work on indoor swimming pool at Rakh Bagh has been a long pending demand of the city residents, and the work on it would commence shortly. All the sports facilities in the city, including the Shastri Hall, Basketball stadium, Table Tennis stadium, besides all others, would be upgraded with best sports facilities. Besides this, a sports park is being developed at the dump site in Jainpur village of district Ludhiana with cost of Rs 40 crore.
Veteran actor Satish Kaul was provided a financial aid of Rs 5 lakh by Punjab government for his treatment. Ludhiana Police led by Commissioner Rakesh Kumar Agrawal, observed Police Commemoration Day, here at Police Lines, to pay tributes to the martyrs belonging to Police and Para Military Forces in October.
Youths from England visited the industrial city of Ludhiana under the 'Connect with your roots' program launched by the Punjab government in the month of August. The second batch of 16 Punjabi-origin youth comprised eight boys and eight girls aged 13-25.
Punjab government also organised several national level tournaments in the city, which included Punjab State Games (U-14), while 65th National School Games and 70th Senior National Basketball Championship is underway at Guru Nanak Stadium these days.