Will ensure sand at reasonable prices: Anandpur Sahib MLA Harjot Singh Bains

Arun Sharma

Anandpur Sahib, April 19

Defeating senior Congress leader KP Singh by a huge margin of 45,780 votes, the founding president of AAP in Punjab, Harjot Singh Bains, 31, made it to the Cabinet, holding important portfolios of Mining, Jails and Tourism.

Jail security in focus

The jails instead of becoming reformative centres have turned into shelter houses for hardcore criminals. These will be equipped with high-tech security set-up to keep illegal activities in check. — Harjot Singh Bains, Anandpur Sahib MLA

Bains, who hails from Gambhirpur village near Anandpur Sahib, did his schooling and college education in Ludhiana and LLB from Panjab University. He has also done a short course in international human rights law from London School of Economics and Political Science, and is now pursuing LLM in constitutional laws from Amity College, Noida.

Before taking over as AAP founding president in 2014, he founded a Pan Punjab United Youth Organisation when he was a just 18 years old. Besides participating actively in the India Against Corruption movement in 2016, he led “Nawa Punjab March” from Fatehgarh Sahib to Hussainiwala border against drug abuse in Punjab.

Counting on his priorities, he said he would keep illegal mining in check, while providing sand and gravel to people at reasonable prices and increasing the revenue. Many contracts of mining have been terminated till now due to various reasons and issues relating to remaining contracts would be sorted out in the coming days, he said. While re-tendering process of the terminated contracts would be started soon, a pilot project to provide sand and gravel at cheaper rates to public would be started at Amritsar, he added.

“The state has a vast potential in tourism sector and new government would focus on promoting rural tourism with destination weddings and tapping the scenic beauty of areas bordering Himachal Pradesh,” he said. Moreover, efforts would be made to boost religious tourism as well as historical places while publicising the important religious places, including Darbar Sahib, Durgiana Mandir, Anandpur Sahib, Chamkaur Sahib, and different museums in state, added the minister.