15, August, 2022

 

Topic: ‘SIKHYA-TE- SEHAT’ Project in Punjab

 

Importance: Punjab PCS Prelims and Mains

 

What is the news?

• ‘SIKHYA-TE- SEHAT’ Project to begin from 25 Villages of Anandpur Sahib Constituency.
• The Punjab Government’s flagship program ‘Sikhiya-te-Sehat’, will begin from Anandpur Sahib constituency in 25 chosen villages that have been selected for a pilot project in the first phase.
• Ample funds will be provided to make stadiums, synthetic tracks and other facilities required to create world class sports infrastructure.

Which place has been selected for a pilot project in the first phase?

• The Punjab Government’s flagship program ‘Sikhiya-te-Sehat’, will begin from Anandpur Sahib constituency in 25 chosen villages that have been selected for a pilot project in the first phase.

Purpose:

• The ‘Sikhya-te-Sehat’ fund is primarily aimed at creating and sprucing up of capital assets in the fields of health and education.
• ‘Sikhya-te-Sehat’ fund is primarily aimed at creating and sprucing up of capital assets in the fields of health and education within the geographical limits of the state for the benefit of the public through mobilizing voluntary donations.
• Ample funds will be provided to make stadiums, synthetic tracks and other facilities required to create world class sports infrastructure.
• Instructing the officials to provide facilities and make optimum use of funds, Bains said only if we provide good sports infrastructure and logistics then only will budding sportsperson’s shine and become stars. He said that the designs for stadiums and other facilities in these 25 villages is almost ready and will soon be seen on ground.
• Pointing out sportsperson’s from Punjab gained many accolades during the Commonwealth Games he said the motto of the government is to restore the glory of Punjab in the field of sports.

(Source: CMO Punjab)

Topic: Health Infrastructure in Punjab

 

Importance: Punjab PCS Prelims and Mains

 

What is the news?

• A dynamic initiative of the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led Punjab Government to dedicate Aam Aadmi Clinics to the people on 75 Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, 75 such clinics would be operationalized during the first Phase.

How this will help?

• Establishment of these Clinics, the lower and middle classes would get all health benefits at their doorsteps on one hand ; while on the other hand, it would also help to reduce unnecessary crowding in hospitals.
• The State Government stands fully committed to improving the state’s healthcare infrastructure and providing quality healthcare services to its citizens in line with its ideology of ensuring a robust and healthy Punjab.
• These clinics have been established keeping in mind that health care is the right of every person in the state. With this facility, every gender and age group in the state would get health services without having to worry about their income. Now, there would be no need to go to big hospitals for the treatment of minor diseases, added the Minister.
• Medical officer along with a pharmacist, clinical assistant and attendant have been deployed in these clinics, who would get the health care services provided as well as ensuring free of cost tests of 41 types. These will remain functional between 8 am and 2 pm and 9 am & 3 pm in the winters. The Minister said that the patients with critical complications would be referred.

(Source: CMO Punjab)

 

 

Topic: Eminent Personalities

 

Importance: Punjab PCS Prelims and Mains

 

What is the news?

• Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday conferred state award to seven eminent personalities for their outstanding contribution in various fields on Independence Day today.
• The awardees are social activists, theatre, sports personalities, a businessman and a government official, who had made extraordinary efforts to achieve their respective targets.

 

Who are those 7 eminent personalities?

• Those honored with state award at State Level Function at Guru Nanak Stadium included veteran journalist, educationist and Padma Shri Awardee Jagjit Singh Dardi from Patiala, Social Activist and Head of Aasra Welfare Society Ramesh Kumar Mehta from Bathinda, Eminent theatre personality Pran Sabharwal of Patiala, Musician and Singer Hargun Kaur from Amritsar, tractor manufacturer and businessman Amarjeet Singh from Patiala, Shot Putter Jasmine Kaur and Senior Consultant E-governance Mission team (Department of Governance Reforms and Public Grievances) Jasminder Singh of Mohali.

(Source: CMO Punjab)

 

 

Topic: Freedom fighter who died while seeking communal harmony

 

Importance: Punjab PCS Prelims and Mains

 

What is the news?

• While incarcerated at the Central Jail, Multan, in 1942 for supporting Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘Quit India Movement’, freedom fighter and Gurdwara reform leader Babu Labh Singh fashioned a tricolor out of a piece of his yellow ‘dastar’, a dyed cloth and a strip of white fabric.

About freedom fighter and Gurdwara reform leader Babu Labh Singh:

1)  Born in 1895 to Dula Singh at Lasara village in Phillaur (Jalandhar), Labh Singh started as a clerk that earned him the prefix ‘Babu’. Angered by the Nankana Sahib massacre in 1921, he donned a black turban to his work to the utter chagrin of his British officers which led to him quitting his job.

2) In 1928, he participated in a protest march against the Simon Commission, and in 1930 he, along with a batch of 100 Sikh volunteers from his district, participated in the Civil Disobedience movement launched by the Indian National Congress. He was taken into custody in Delhi, but was released after the Gandhi-Irwin Pact was signed in 1931. He was arrested under the Defence of India Rules during the Quit India movement. He organized from 25 to 27 November 1944 at Jandiala, in Jalandhar district, a massive Sikh conference to celebrate the silver jubilee of the Shiromani Akali Dal.

3) While incarcerated at the Central Jail, Multan, in 1942 for supporting Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘Quit India Movement’, freedom fighter and Gurdwara reform leader Babu Labh Singh fashioned a tricolor out of a piece of his yellow ‘dastar’, a dyed cloth and a strip of white fabric.

4) The flag was hung in their barrack on January 26, 1943, to celebrate “Azadi Din” (Independence Day). Though they wanted to send a message of resistance to the British regime, they were tortured for it.

5) Doaba’s Akali freedom movement ideologue Babu Labh Singh was killed in 1947 by rioters when he was trying to broker peace and prevent communal tension among communities at Rainak Bazaar in Jalandhar.

6) The Jalandhar Civil Hospital in the name of Babu Labh Singh, who was killed by rioters at Rainak Bazaar in March 1947.
The Civil Hospital and Shaheed Babu Labh Singh Nagar are named after him, but locals do not know much about his legacy.

7) Historian and Ghadarite scholar Chiranji Lal Kangniwal said, “Shaheed Babu Labh Singh was as much a Mahatma Gandhi follower as he was a Akali loyalist. When hatred gripped the populace, he worked untiringly to negotiate peace and prevent riots and paid for it with his life. He was born in the Mand area, but settled in Jalandhar city to mobilize residents for the cause of freedom.”

8) A Gurdwara at Rainak Bazar in his name.

9) “He hoisted the national flag before Independence in prison when it was viewed as a crime by the British and suffered immense torture for it. Despite a hospital and other places being named after him, people don’t know his sacrifices for freedom and Hindu-Muslim unity.”

10) As per the book “Akali Lehar De Mahaan Neta”, authored by Pratap Singh Gyani, a former Takht Jathedar, Babu Labh Singh was a part of the first Guru Ka Bagh Morcha in 1922 and also contributed to the Jaito Morcha.

(News Source: The Tribune)