Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit addresses first session of Punjab Vidhan Sabha

Chandigarh, March 21

Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Monday said the past five years in the state had seen a serious disconnect between people and the government.

Addressing the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, he said the rulers became inaccessible not only to the common man but also to their representatives. “This ran against the very concept of democracy. Accessibility is the cornerstone of the new government,” he said.

“My government will adopt a policy of zero tolerance towards corruption. My government is committed to end all sorts of illegal syndicates in liquor, sand mining and transport in the state

“Existing hospitals will be made world class and new hospitals will be developed on a large scale. My government will ensure that every person has access to world-class and affordable health service. Every citizen of the state will get treatment completely free in government hospitals.

“Every citizen of the state will be issued a health card on which all information will be digitised. As many as 16,000 village and ward clinics will be established all over the state on the lines of mohalla clinics in Delhi.

“My government will ensure that anybody who suffers from road accident can be saved. A scheme on the lines of ‘Farishtey’ in Delhi will be launched. Anybody can take any injured to any hospital where he will be provided free treatment. It does not matter how expensive the treatment is, each citizen will be given free treatment.

“Most of the teachers in Punjab have been working for only Rs 10,000 per month for the past 18 years. My government will make permanent recruitment on the existing vacant posts and will formulate a policy for regularising the jobs of existing outsourced and contractual teachers.

“To have an impact on quality of teaching, teachers will be sent abroad to Finland, Canada, the US and England. Teachers will not be assigned non-teaching work. My government will formulate a transparent transfer policy.

“My government is committed to giving 309 units of free electricity to each household in Punjab which means that about 80 per cent households will get zero power bill.

“My government is committed to 24-hour uninterrupted power supply. However, since infrastructure upgrade is required, it will take two to three years to provide 24-hour power supply.”