Chandigarh Mar 24 PTI Punjab minister Bram Shanker Jimpa on Thursday said his government is committed to the welfare of all sections of society and a new era of development will start in the state now He said corruption will be rooted out to provide transparent responsible accountable and easy accessible governance to the common people A new era of development will start in the state now he said after assuming the charge in his office here The Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party AAP government is committed to the welfare of all sections of society he added Giving details about future plans the minister said his primary objective is to increase the efficiency of government offices so that people could have easy access to the desired services Good governance will be ensured at tehsil-level offices of the Revenue Department and the revenue records will be translated for the convenience of people he added Expressing gratitude to the AAP high command and the chief minister of Punjab for giving him the opportunity to serve people as a cabinet minister Jimpa said he will try his best to fulfil aspirations of people The functioning and efficiency of all departments with me will be improved so that the common man does not face any problem in government offices he said Jimpa is the Minister for Revenue Rehabilitation and Disaster Management Water Resources and Water Supply Sanitation Concerted efforts will be made for the conservation of ground water and the government will push for rainwater harvesting projects on a larger level he said He said the Punjab government will also look into the possibilities of converting ordinary power pumps of water supply schemes into solar powered pumps to reduce the burden of power bills PTI SUN RDK RDK

Chandigarh Mar 21 PTI Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday allocated portfolios to his cabinet members keeping the Home Department with himself while giving Finance to Harpal Singh Cheema Ten ministers were inducted into the Mann-led cabinet on Saturday Mann retained Departments of Home Vigilance and Personnel according to party sources Two-time MLA from Dirba Harpal Singh Cheema has been given the Finance and Revenue Departments while Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer MLA from Barnala has been allocated the Education portfolio Dr Baljit Kaur the lone woman minister in the Mann-led cabinet has been given Women Welfare Child Development and Social Security portfolio while Dr Vijay Singla is the new health Harbhajan Singh has been allocated the Power Department while Lal Chand has been given the charge of the Food and Civil Supplies Department Kuldip Singh Dhaliwal will be the states Rural Development and Panchayat minister and Laljit Singh Bhullar has been allocated the Transport Department Harjot Bains has been given Law and Tourism Departments while Bram Shanker Jimpa has been given the charge of the Water and Disaster Management Departments AAP had stormed to power winning 92 of the 117 seats in the Punjab Assembly polls decimating the Congress the SAD-BSP and the BJP-led alliance PTI CHS VSD RDK RDK

New Delhi Mar 21 PTI Seven of the 11 newly sworn-in ministers in Punjab have declared criminal cases against themselves with four of them facing serious charges poll rights group Association for Democratic Reforms said on Monday The 11 ministers include Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann Punjab Election Watch and the Association for Democratic Reforms analysed the affidavits of all 11 ministers including the CM The ADR said seven ministers 64 per cent have declared criminal cases against themselves Four of them 36 per cent have declared serious criminal cases against themselves Of the 11 ministers nine are crorepatis and the average of their assets is Rs 287 crore The minister with the highest declared total assets is Bram Shanker Jimpa from Hoshiarpur He has assets worth Rs 856 crore Lal Chand from Bhoa Sc constituency has the lowest declared total assets worth Rs 619 lakh Nine ministers have declared liabilities The minister with the highest liabilities is Bram Shanker He has liabilities worth Rs 108 crore The ADR said five ministers 45 per cent have declared their educational qualification to be between Class 10 and 12 while the rest are graduate or above Six ministers 55 per cent have declared their age to be between 31 and 50 years while five 45 per cent are aged 51 and 60 the ADR said Ten AAP MLAs were sworn in as Punjab ministers on Saturday They are Harpal Singh Cheema Harbhajan Singh Dr Vijay Singla Lal Chand Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal Laljit Singh Bhullar Bram Shanker Jimpa Harjot Singh Bains and Dr Baljit KaurEarlier Bhagwant Mann had taken oath at a programme in Khatkar Kalan the ancestral village of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh PTI UZM UZM RDK RDK