Punjab CM digitally launches construction of 750 rural stadiums

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday digitally launched the construction of 750 rural stadiums and playgrounds in the state.

The 750 stadiums are being built at a cost of Rs105 crore in rural areas under the state government's rural transformation strategy and 'Tandarust Punjab Mission, an official statement said.

The government has set a target of minimum five stadiums per block to be completed in 2020-21, it added.

These stadiums will help youths channelize their energy in a constructive manner, the statement quoted Chief Minster Singh as saying.

Amarinder Singh said the new village stadiums should be named after eminent sports persons so as to inspire youths to excel in sports at national and international levels.

Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi said the stadiums would help strengthen the state's sports infrastructure.

The initiative is part of the Smart Village Campaign launched in 2019, under which 19,132 projects with a total cost of Rs 835 crores were taken up in its Phase-I stage for 2019-20.

The projects under the campaign include renovation of ponds, street lights, parks, gymnasiums, community halls, drinking water supply, model Anganwadi centers, smart schools and solid waste management systems are the integral part of the campaign.

The chief minister also said that to commemorate the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Sikhism's founder Guru Nanak Dev, as many as 72 lakh saplings were planted across the state since last year, thereby increasing the overall green cover of the state.

Meanwhile, while digitally flagging off four ambulances each for Ludhiana, Patiala and Jalandhar, the chief minister thanked a leading media group for donating these ambulances, which, he said, would augment the health infrastructure of the state, especially amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said these ambulances would help augment the existing fleet of 400 ambulances currently available with the government hospitals.

Meanwhile, an MoU was inked digitally between the Local Government Department, Punjab, and the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), Odisha, in the presence of the chief minister, which, as per the official statement, will help push the implementation of the Punjab Slum Dwellers Proprietary Act, framed in April, 2020.

The MoU was signed by the Principal Secretary (Local Government) Ajoy Kumar Sinha and CPR president Yamini Aiyyer.

The chief minister said it would help bestow ownership rights on the people belonging to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) on the land they live.

It will also ensure various amenities, such as sewerage, clean drinking water, electricity, drainage and road connectivity, to 14 lakh slum dwellers of the urban areas in the state through technical knowhow by the CPR.

The ownership certificates would help the slum dwellers in procuring bank loans and would also serve as address proof, said the chief minister.

Local Government Minister Brahm Mohindra assured the Centre for Policy Research that the state government would render all necessary assistance and cooperation for effective implementation of the MoU.