Face2News/Chandigarh
The Punjab government, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, is committed to safeguarding the interests of all sections while continuously striving for the welfare of economically weaker sections, backward classes, and minority sections.
In a review meeting with officials of the Social Justice, Empowerment and Minorities Department, Scheduled Caste Sub Plan, Punjab Scheduled Castes Land Development and Finance Corporation, and Punjab Backward Classes Land Development and Finance Corporation (BANKFINCO) at Punjab Civil Secretariat, Chandigarh, Social Justice, Empowerment, and Minorities Minister Dr. Baljit Kaur instructed officials to ensure that the benefits of government welfare schemes are delivered to beneficiaries on time.
During the meeting, the Cabinet Minister directed officials to make due payments under the Ashirwad Scheme and Post Matric Scholarship Scheme as soon as possible. Additionally, the minister mentioned that construction work for Malerkotla College, to be built under the Minority Scheme, will start soon after receiving the land acquisition certificate.
Dr. Baljit Kaur reviewed the status of various loan schemes of the SC Corporation and instructedauthorities to expedite the loan disbursement process to enable needy individuals under the scheme and to cover the maximum number of cases under the Rs. 5.00 crore credit limit set under the bank-tie up scheme.
The minister emphasized that the government is working for the welfare of economically weaker sections, backward classes and minorities. She instructed the department to submit the one-time settlement scheme to the board of directors for approval, providing relief to long-time defaulting debtors of the corporation and those who have passed away.
She also mentioned that borrowers taking loans from the corporation at the time of the mortgage deed should waive the stamp duty and registration fee levied for obtaining a loan amount exceeding Rs. 5 lakh.
The Executive Director expressed gratitude to the Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann and Social Justice, Empowerment and Minorities Minister Dr. Baljit Kaur for the NMD being run by the Corporation for the welfare of the minority class. An amount of Rs. 25 crore was released by the Punjab Government to revive the scheme.
The Cabinet Minister emphasized that the officers/employees of the corporation should work diligently to provide the benefits of the schemes to needy individuals. She assured corporation officials that any issues related to the corporation at the government level would be resolved quickly by meeting with the Finance Minister, Punjab.
On this occasion, Social Justice, Empowerment, and Minorities Department Director-cum-Joint Secretary Raj Bahadur Singh, Joint Director Sarbjinder Singh Randhawa, Deputy Director Ashish Kathuria, and Punjab Backward Classes Land Development and Finance Corporation (BANKFINCO) Executive Director Parminder Pal Singh Sandhu were present.
