Punjab Cabinet Minister Harjot Singh Bains refuted allegations of illegal sand mining in his constituency on Tuesday, saying he was ready to face any probe.
During the Zero Hour on the first day of the two-day winter session of the Punjab Assembly on Tuesday, Congress MLA Pargat Singh alleged that illegal mining was going on in the Anandpur Sahib constituency of Bains.
The minister dared the opposition leader to furnish evidence to back his allegations. “I am ready to undergo a polygraph or narco test,” said Bains.
Bains said that when he was the mining minister, he got a man arrested for his involvement in illegal mining and asserted that the state earned the highest revenue from the mining sector.
After Pargat Singh raised another issue of the recruitment of 1,158 assistant professors, Bains said the Congress government started the process for the recruitment of college teachers at the last moment when the model code of conduct was being enforced.
He pointed out that the Vice Chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, had written a dissent note regarding the recruitment process and despite this, the previous government continued with the recruitment process by going against the rules, which were rejected by the high court.
Therefore, the Congress government is fully responsible for the cancellation of these recruitments, he added.
Candidates had applied for 1,158 posts of assistant professors and librarians in the state colleges in 2021 during the Congress regime. Against these posts, some candidates were given appointment letters.
However, after some candidates challenged the recruitment criteria, the Punjab and Haryana high court in August 2022 quashed the selection process.
Bains said a hearing on the review petition of the Punjab Government concerning the recruitment of 1,158 assistant professors and librarians will take place on November 29.
The state government will request the court permit the immediate allotment of stations to 600 assistant professors selected under this recruitment drive, said Bains.
Meanwhile, Akali MLA Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi sought a probe into the firing incident in Sultanpur Lodhi by the CBI or a sitting judge of the high court.
A home guard Jaspal Singh was killed when a group of ‘Nihangs’ resorted to unprovoked firing in Sultanpur Lodhi in Kapurthala a few days back.
The incident took place when policemen tried to get Gurdwara Akal Bunga Sahib in Sultanpur Lodhi vacated from a faction of Nihangs.
Congress MLA Partap Singh Bajwa sought an adoption of a resolution to press the Centre to accept the demand of farmers who are demanding legal guarantee to the MSP, withdrawal of cases filed against them during the 2020-21 stir against the now-repealed farm laws, compensation, and jobs for any one of the family members of farmers who died during the stir, debt waiver, and pension.
After the Zero Hour, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said the demand of farmers should be fulfilled by the Centre.
