Will provide full protection to Badals in view of threat perception, assures CM

He made the assurance while talking to mediapersons after inaugurating a state-of-the-art Vigilance Bhawan, built over an area of 3.25 acres in Sector 68 Mohali at a cost of Rs.31.29 crores.

Captain Amarinder said, in response to a question, that he was cognizant of recent reports of increased threat perception to the lives of former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and former deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal, and would ensure that full security is provided to the father-son duo.

In response to a question, Captain Amarinder said he was aware of the FIRs being registered against farmers who were burning paddy stubble in the fields in contravention of the prescribed guidelines of the National Green Tribunal, and his government was bound to go by the law, even though he was sympathetic to the problem of the farmers.

To a query regarding the separate memorandums submitted by Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)leaders to the Punjab Governor in support of the demands of the agitating teachers, the Chief Minister said that the Government was fully seized of the matter and was trying its best to resolve the issue. He said that services of nearly 40,000 employees, including teachers, needed to be regularised, which may take some time in view of the fiscal crunch faced by his government.

Meanwhile, the Government has already given an option to the teachers to continue in the existing pay scale or join at the basic pay of 15,300 for three years before being regularized, said Captain Amarinder. The Chief Minister pointed out that the pay scale offered by the State Government was higher than the current central pay scale of 13,900. It was now upto the teachers to take an appropriate call, he added.

The new five storeyed Vigilance Bhawan is a sprawling complex, equipped with work stations for employees, training/conference hall, meeting room etc., designed to provide a congenial atmosphere for efficient functioning. . It will also house the vigilance police station that was earlier located in Phase-8. The building also conforms to the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) to save electricity.

Others present at the inauguration included Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, PWD Ministers Vijay Inder Singla, Animal Husbandry Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu, Media Advisor to CM Raveen Thukral, Advisor to CM Bharat Inder Singh Chahal, Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh, DGP Suresh Arora, Chief Director Vigilance BK Uppal and Director Vigilance G Nageshwara Rao.