Punjab CM pledges on Independence Day not to 'rest' until economy is 'back on track'

Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], August 15 (ANI) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday pledged not to "rest" until the economy of the state is "back on track".
During his Independence Day speech earlier today, Singh announced some welfare measures for people, which include providing six lakh jobs for youth over the next two years, of which one lakh will be in the government sector.
"My government has already helped 13.60 lakh youth to get employment/self-employment under the flagship 'Ghar Ghar Rozgar' scheme," said Punjab CM, while announcing virtual 'job mela' in September with the target of placing fifty thousand youth in the private sector.
"50,000 government jobs will be provided to the youth in Financial Year 2021 and another 50,000 in FY 2022.
While reiterating his government's commitment to incentives for the industry to attract more investment in Punjab, the CM said that investment of Rs 63,000 crores had already been realised on the ground with the potential of two lakh jobs in the state.
An amount of Rs 4,700 crore had already been disbursed to 5.62 lakh farmers under the debt waiver scheme, as per Singh, and over the next few months, the state government will also give debt relief to the tune of Rs 520 crores to landless farmers and workers.
"The state government will soon enact a new land leasing law, to secure the land ownership of the farmers and the rights of tenants on agriculture land," he added.
Meanwhile, on the infrastructure front, 1,300 km of state and national highways would be constructed amounting to an investment of over Rs 12,000 crore in the next two years. While 28,830 km of rural link roads had already been repaired over the last three years with an expenditure of Rs 3,278 crores, the next two years are expected to witness the repair work of another 6,162 km of link roads with an investment of Rs 834 crores, as per the Punjab CM.
The CM announced the construction of 750 rural sports stadiums across the state in the next two years.
He went on to announce Rs 2,500 crore investment in the next two years, in Phase II of the Smart Village Campaign (SVC), for which Phase I covering 19,132 rural works has already been completed at a cost of Rs 835 crores. "All rural households of the state will have piped potable drinking water connections in the next two years with an expenditure of Rs 1,200 crore," he said.
Another Rs 1,046 crore will be spent under the Urban Environment Improvement Programme (UIEP) in the next two years, while efforts will be made to make Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojna universal, with coverage of all rural and urban households in the state for health insurance of five lakh rupees each, the CM added. (ANI)