Patting Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s back for handling law and order in the state besides taking other “path-breaking” initiatives, his Delhi counterpart and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said that the maturity with which he has handled the situation has sent across a clear message that anyone disturbing state’s peace and harmony will not be spared.

Also lauding Mann for taking several path-breaking initiatives in the field of education, health, and most importantly in law and order, Kejriwal said that due to state government’s strenuous efforts, “most of the gangsters, who were patronized by the previous governments, are behind the bars today”.

“While there were incidents of clashes in some parts of the country on Ram Navami, there was complete peace in Punjab,” said Kejriwal.

“For the past one month, you have been seeing how Mann saab, with maturity and tough steps, gave a message that if anybody tries to disturb peace in Punjab, he will not be spared…Since last week, you have been seeing news from different parts of the country relating to incidents of riot on Ram Navami. There was not a single incident of riot in Punjab. There is peace in Punjab,” he said.

Slamming the previous State Governments over inaction on SIT reports on the drug issue “which kept lying with the High Court for many years”, Kejriwal said that the AAP Government told the Court to open the reports.

Kejriwal said that in the past one year, AAP Government did a lot of work in Punjab. “But the work done on law and order in Punjab is quite praiseworthy,” he said, alleging that the law and order situation was pathetic during the previous governments and when AAP came to power in the state, it came to know that gangsters and criminals had political patronage.

“When our party took over in Punjab, there were many problems…I will not say that all the problems have been resolved. A lot has to be done, and a lot has to be done in each field…We are walking on the right path as we are an honest government in Punjab,” he said.

Referring to the 2015 sacrilege and subsequent police firing incidents, Kejriwal said justice was long pending in these incidents and the party used to hear about it all the time. “We used to hear that very big people were involved in it. Challan was not being presented. We had no connection with anybody,” he said.

Kejriwal said under the Mann Government, Punjab Police’s SIT was given a free hand to probe the matter. “I am happy to note that whatever big names were there, they were named in challan and it has been submitted in the court,” he said without naming anyone.

Notably, SIT, probing the 2015 Kotkapura police firing incident, had named Parkash Singh Badal and Sukhbir Singh Badal, the then Chief Minister and deputy CM, ex-DGP Sumedh Saini, and many others in the 7,000-page charge sheet filed in the Faridkot court.

Kejriwal alleged that the SIT reports on nexus between police and drug traffickers, which were submitted in the High Court, remained closed in envelopes for many years as previous governments did not want these reports to come out in the open. “I came to know yesterday that the court has opened the envelope and those who are the mastermind in the drugs cases will be put behind bars one by one,” he said.

The Delhi Chief Minister also appreciated the State Government for giving healing touch to the farmers by 25 percent hike in compensation for crop loss. “Bhagwant Mann is a true votary of Punjab and Punjabis due to which he is concerned for the wellbeing of every strata of society,” said Kejriwal, while also hailing the initiatives being taken by Mann for the wellbeing of the state’s youth making them active partners of Punjab’s socio-economic growth.

AAP Govt’s flagship ‘CM di Yogshala’ prog launched in Punjab

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and his Delhi counterpart and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday launched the AAP-led Government’s flagship program — CM Di Yogshala. Mann envisioned that the initiative will act as a stepping stone for carving out a healthy, vibrant, prosperous, and progressive Punjab.

Mann, addressing the gathering after launching a portal for the flagship program, said that this citizen-centric project is the brainchild of the Delhi Chief Minister and had attained lot of popularity amongst the people. “A large number of populace in the national capital was benefitted from this pro-people initiative. Due to this only, Punjab has replicated this scheme in the State to ensure that Punjabis can get a huge benefit from it,” he said.

The Chief Minister said that people can dial toll-free number — 7669-400-500, or login to https://cmdiyogshala.punjab.gov.in for free yoga training. “As a part of this campaign, trained yoga instructors will impart free yoga training to the people in open parks and other public places,” he said.

“It is the need of the hour not only to maintain good health but also de-stress the people, who face numerous challenges every day in their lives. Rising stress levels amongst the people is a major cause of concern for everyone and Yoga can play an important role in saving the people from it,” he said.

Kejriwal, in his address, said that new experiments have been made in the national capital, and these experiments are getting rousing response from the common man. “The pro-people initiatives of Delhi Government are being replicated in several other parts of the State too,” he said.

Delhi Chief Minister said that these Yogshalas are being started in four cities — Patiala, Phagwara, Amritsar and Ludhiana — and it will be extended to other parts of the state too. “As a part of the campaign, free yoga will be taught to the people by trained yoga instructors to the people,” said Kejriwal, adding that at a high time, 17,000  people of Delhi had took yoga training free of cost until it was stopped abruptly by the LG of Delhi.

10 Ultramodern Centres to Impart UPSC Training to Youth

The Chief Minister also announced that the State Government will open 10 hi-tech centres for imparting training to the students for competitive exams. “These centres will provide quality training to youth for clearing the UPSC exams and sit on coveted positions in the state and the country,” he said adding that the State Government’s target is to ensure that youth sit in high offices and not in the prisons by indulging in some illegal activity.