Punjab to aid brides prior one month of marriage

Punjab Government has decided to provide monetary assistance to the girls, under its flagship scheme, Shagun, prior a month of their weddings instead on the wedding day. Announcing a pro-poor initiative aimed at extending helping hand to underprivileged sections of the society, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Friday said that the state government has decided to advance the time of financial assistance to a month before the wedding day. 

Badal, speaking on the second day of his Sangat Darshan programme in Amritsar, said that the modalities have been worked out and people would be getting the benefits soon. Under the scheme, scheduled caste families with annual income up to Rs 30,000 are given Rs 15,000 as 'shagun' for marriage of one of their daughters. “It's part of our endeavour to ensure the welfare of the poorest of the poor in the state,” said Badal. 

Urging the Centre to help the states, especially those along the international border like Punjab, to combat the menace of terrorism effectively, the Chief Minister said that funds must be allotted generously to the border states for modernization of the police force. He further said that the Centre and the state must formulate a combined action plan to tackle this grave national problem. 

Batting for effective sealing of borders to check infiltration, he said that the Centre must take necessary action in this regard. Appreciating the Punjab Police for showing exemplary courage during the Gurdaspur attack, he said that every citizen, including the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister, had lauded them for their heroic deed. 

He categorically stated that the allegations pertaining to shifting of IIM from Amritsar to Bathinda were completely baseless and unwarranted. Badal said that neither he nor Cabinet Minister Anil Joshi had brought IIM to the holy city but Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley gave this project, and Post-Graduate Institute of Horticulture Research, to the city in the budgetary speech. 

On the recent statement of Chief Parliamentary Secretary Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu that she “will quit if BJP partners with SAD in 2017 poll”, he said that the alliance was everlasting and firm. Stating that Dr Sidhu was like his daughter, Badal said that he was a votary of morality in politics and would not like to comment on this issue. “Throughout my political career I have refrained from making any personal attack on somebody, as my conscience does not allow it,” he added.