‘People have voted for development; confident about victory’: Pawan Kumar Bansal

Chandigarh, April, 2014:

As the fate of all contesting candidates was sealed in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) here today, the Congress candidate, Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal said he had trust in the electorate and was confident about his victory with a huge margin of votes. Mr. Bansal soon after casting his vote in Sector 28 Government Model Senior Secondary School said people had voted for development and not outsiders, terming ‘Modi Wave’ a farce.

Mr. Bansal’s along with his close family members started their day by visiting the Sai temple in Sector 29 here. There was activity at his Sector 28 residence since early morning as Mr. Bansal was expected to vote around 9 am.

Media had turned up in large numbers both at his residence and the Sector 28 government school as Mr. Bansal was the only candidate among the prominent candidates who has his vote in Chandigarh while the closes rivals BJP and AAP candidates are both outsiders.

He along with his wife, Madhu Bansal, sons Amit and Manish Bansal besides Mr. Pawan Bansal’s elder sister and brother-in-law reached the polling station at around 930 am where the electronic and print media had an interaction with him.

Mr. Bansal when asked how he felt, he said he was confident about his victory and was aware of the sentiment of people who voted for development. When asked how he felt about him contesting against two actresses, he said voters want their representative to be aware of which are areas and issues of city are not willing to vote for someone who doesn’t belong to the city and is unaware of what are the problems.

“Everything is in front of their eyes and no one can deny the progress made in the last 15 years”, he added. Mr. Bansal said there was no ‘Modi Wave’ as was being claimed by BJP, which had nothing else to talk about and had hence spent crores on just branding and making him a hero through campaigns while the people of this country had full faith in the leadership of Sonia Gandhi.

‘Chandigarh votes secured for performer Pawan Kumar Bansal’: Congress

Chandigarh, April, 2014:

A day before the city goes for Lok Sabha polls, local unit of Congress is confident that its candidate Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal will win with a huge margin. A press statement issued by Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee (CTCC) president Mr. B.B. Bahl and party spokesperson, Pardeep Chhabra said Chandigarh people are aware of what Mr. Bansal has done for the city adding that candidates fielded by BJP and AAP were outsiders and in no way would even come close to the number of votes Mr. Bansal would fetch.

In a statement the leaders said while Mr. Bansal has performed in the field of education he would bring IIM and IIT to Chandigarh and would establish multi-institutional EduCity at Sarangpur institutional area. Mr. Bansal has also assured coming up with a planetarium in city.

It is during Mr. Bansal’s tenure that Panjab University got a sanction of Rs 750 crore in the last 5 years for institutes in science and technology, renovation of university houses, and construction of houses of teaching and non-teaching employees, besides moot court, department of laws, renovation of AC Joshi Library and hockey astroturf besides partial financing of indoor shooting range, four new hostels and technical approval of Rs 70 crore by Ministry of Science and Technology.Rs 1 crore was sanctioned under MPLADs for setting up Chandigarh Innovation Cluster (CRIKC).

In health sector several new projects got through like new blocks at GMCH 32, 50-bed hospital in sector 45, four new dispensaries in southern sectors, upgrading of polyclinic in sector 22, 300-bed trauma centre in sector 53, expansion of sector 16 GMSH besides several other projects. Funds amounting to Rs 835 crores were sanctioned in 10th and 11th Five Year Plans for modernization of operation theatres at PGI. Mr. Bansal has assured to bring pay parity between employees of PGI and All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

The city was adjudged as the first in sanitation by Ministry of Urban Development during Mr. Bansal’s tenure said the leaders. Mr. Bansal has assured he would take up issue of increase in FAR for SCO’s and SCF’s to permit three complete storeys.

As regards industrial area, Mr. Bansal has said he would ensure to take up all enterprises to operate in industrial area and greater covered area in industrial plots besides cutting down penalty for misuse. The Congress leaders said 10 new trains were introduced in just one year and 30 trains now connect to city linking it to over 100 cities including important business, tourist and pilgrimage cities. Upgradation of railway station is already underway to make it one of the world class stations.

Mr. Bansal would also work towards setting up an international convention centre, while keeping in mind community services, he would take up the issue of concessional land rates for social and religious societies. He would also work towards several plans for the ex-servicemen community and senior citizens, by opening new old age homes and 24 hour helpline for them. He would also work on permitting planned construction in periphery on the lines of Punjab and Haryana.

The leaders said if elected to power he would resolve the issue of making daily wagers permanent, which has been a long pending demand of the employees. They also said he would ensure regularization of need-based changes in the houses constructed by the Chandigarh Housing Board.

Mr. Bansal would take up an important demand for providing shelters to the homeless employees of Chandigarh administration once elected. Mr. Bansal would facilitate a project to have a big market in place of the Colony 5 which was removed some months back. He said when voted to power he would ensure such a project comes as it would encourage self-employment.

Pawan Kumar Bansal promises to take up issues pertaining to employees.

Chandigarh, April:

"Any organisation, may be government, cannot survive if it is not profitable and I will take all efforts to ensure that steps are taken to make the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) profitable."

This was stated by congress candidate Pawan Kumar Bansal while addressing the members of Chandigarh Government Transport Workers Union.

Bansal said that he would try to get more buses inducted in CTU so that more and more long routes buses may be started and resultantly profitability is increased. He also assured the employees to take up their issues with the administration for an early resolution of those issues, particularly pertaining to appointment on compassionate grounds.

Pawan Kumar Bansal also said if elected to power he would resolve the issue of making daily wagers permanent, which has been a long pending demand of the employees.

He also said he would ensure regularisation of need-based changes in the houses constructed by the Chandigarh Housing Board. In almost 90 per cent of the 50,000 units in CHB colonies, additional construction has been made by the occupants. Thousands of notices have been issued by the CHB. The residents have been demanding that the changes be regularised as these were required in order to cater to their needs.

Bansal said UT employees had been protesting against Chandigarh administration for not considering their important demand for providing shelters to the homeless employees of Chandigarh administration under this scheme as per their commitments, and that he would take that up once he is elected.

Bansal said with the introduction of new trains to several cities of business interest, it would help the traders community. He said all penalties being faced by the community would be withdrawn when voted to power.

Speaking on the occasion, Pishora Singh, a retired CTU employee, said that presently the administration was taking steps to promote private buses entering Chandigarh. The interest of Chandigarh government employees needed to be safeguarded. In interest of the local employees, it was necessary to re-introduce the system of Chief Administrator of Chandigarh.

Senior congress leader Rampal Sharma, former Mayor, Ravinder Pal Singh, Chandigarh Government Transport Workers Union president, Mohar Singh and Raj Kumar also addressed the gathering.

During the day, a large number of residents of Bapu Dham colony took out a padyatra in the area to express their support to Bansal. Hundreds of residents of the area participating in the padyatra said that Bansal was a leader, easily accessible and always helped them, whereas tow other prominent candidates, Kirron Kher and Gul Panag were outsiders and were not able to win faith of the public.

Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal while addressing the general public said he would facilitate a project to have a big market in place of the Colony 5 which was removed some months back. He said when voted to power he would ensure such a project comes as it would encourage self-employment.

Youth Congress padyatra shows party strength.

Chandigarh, April

Chandigarh Territorial Youth Congress today held a massive padyatra from Sector 17 plaza to Gandhi Samarak Bhawan. It was organised to show strength in the youth members supporting Congress candidate Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal.

The party workers had gathered at the plaza attired in special T-shirts having the photograph of Mr. Bansal on one side and a slogan in his support on the other side. The workers had started gathering in the sector since morning while the rally took off around 1 pm. Manish Bansal and Harmel Kesari led the rally which saw Bansal's supporters holding Congress flags.

There has been a lot of activity  in the youth wing of the Congress. Two days back in a function organised by NSUI a lot of workers from other parties had joined the Congress trusting the ideology of the party.

During Mr. Bansal's tenure, a lot has been happening for the welfare of the youth in city. Mr. Bansal through MPLAD Funds have been consistently allocating for the upradation of sports activities and other facilities in schools and colleges.

The coming up of the Rajiv Gandhi Chandigarh Technology Park (RGCTP) as the name suggests is a project initiated by the Congress, which created hundreds of job opportunities in Chandigarh.

Other leaders present at the padyatra were Anand Singh Kajheri, Deep Singh Behlana and Amit, besides others.

Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal during a public meeting in Sector 52 furniture market expressed concern over the need for a permanent market for those selling furniture, which could also house similar goods. He said Chandigarh needs such markets where people can go an buy their household goods. He even blamed the Chandigarh Administration officers for not thinking about the needs of the people, advocating the need for a permanent market. He added that administration wanted to remove them but because of his intervention it was stalled. Mr. Bansal expressed concern that there have been fires earlier in the market which further necessitated the need for having permanent shops.

'No property tax for ex-servicemen': Pawan Kumar Bansal

Chandigarh, April, 2014

Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal while addressing a public meeting in Sector 35 while speaking about the contribution made by ex-servicemen in the security of the country said a lot needs to be done for those who had spent their lives serving the nation. He said the municipal corporation of Chandigarh had already mulled the proposal to exempt ex-servicemen from property tax, which would be a major relief to them brought by the Congress regime.

Mr. Bansal also referred to the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme approved by the central government, which he said had been a long pending demand of those in defence services. OROP basically implies payment of uniform pension to personnel retiring in the same rank with the same length of service irrespective of their date of retirement. Consequently, any further hike in pension rates is automatically passed on to past pensioners.

He said city has seen development all these years and has been connected to several religious places and those of business interest through trains. He said tourism potential of city will also be explored since it was becoming an important destination having been connected to several cities and with international flights soon taking off from here, it will soon be directly connected to cities abroad.

Mr. Bansal said ex-servicemen need to be taken care of and also stressed on the need for having a strong social security network for the senior citizens. He recalled the Congress manifesto highlights of Right to Health and Right to Home, which he said was a landmark decision of the government, which had also introduced the revolutionary Right to Information and Right to Education.

Among others present on the occasion were Madhu Bansal, Maj. D.S. Sandhu (retd.), Amarjeet Sethi and Principal Gurbachan Singh.

Addressing a rally in Manimajra Housing Complex, Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal said city has seen a lot of development and took on the BJP for blaming him for not bringing any project to city. He added this city doesn't need projects but development of the existing infrastructure.

Mr. Bansal also spoke about the Manimajra hospital upgradation and on the overall health services in Chandigarh.

Amrit Dhingra, president of Residents Welfare Association said Mr. Bansal works with and for all sections of the community.

Members of Pipliwala Town Residents Welfare Association, Modern Housing Complex, Senior Citizens Association, Mariwala Town and Shanti Nagar residents were there in support of Mr Bansal. Among those present were Ramesh Kumar Goyal of Pipliwala Town Residents Welfare Association, former mayor Surinder Singh,block president of Congress Mahipal Sharma, Satbir Aggarwal. Satbir Garg, Balkrishan Bansal, Urvashi Sharma, S.K. Kaushik and Ramesh Goyal.

Congress campaign at a new high; cycle rally lists achievements Agarwal Samaj announces support to Pawan Kumar Bansal.

Chandigarh, April, 2014

A cycle rally by the Congress Sewa Dal was a big hit as the workers of the Dal moved around the city to campaign for the party candidate Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal. The campaign also picked up momentum as the Agarwal Samaj extended full support to theCongress candidate.

The rally was flagged off from Congress Bhawan in Sector 35 and passed from different sectors including sectors 36, 37, 40, 41, 42, 56, 24, 23, and 22 besides other sectors.

The workers were appealing to the people to vote for Congress and also distributed campaign material listing achievements in favour of the party. Among those who were a part of the rally included Achhe Lal Gaur, Naresh Pal Gaur, Mehraj Bano, Avshesh, Altaf Ali, Latafaz Khan, M.P. Chauhan, Om Parkash, Mahesh Pasand among others.

A Padyatra was carried out in the morning in Dadumajra where Mr. Bansal also visited an eye operation camp. Eye operation camp had been organised by Guru Gobind Singh Sports Club.

In an interaction in Teachers Colony in sector 33, Mr Bansal got full support from the teachers for his development works and overall performance in city.  Radha Swami Satsang has extended support, informed Sanjeev Aggarwal and Davinder Babla as Mr. Bansal visited Radha Swami Satsang in sector 27 this morning.

Mr. Bansal also visited Sector 48 Universal Enclave and heard the issues of the society. The residents expressed full support to Mr. Bansal. Among prominent there included Harmel Kesari, Gurbax Rawat, Subhash Chawla, Devinder Babla, Arun, Meenakshi Chaudhary, B.S. Cheema, and Sunil Chopra among others.

A door to door campaign was also carried out in Burail by Mr. Bansal who got tremendous support there.

Among those present there were Jatinder Bhatia. Vijay Rana, Balwinder Singh and others. In sector 7 a campaign was carried out by Mr. Bansal in car bazaar.

The members of Agarwal Samaj have announced their support to congress candidate and sitting MP, Pawan Kumar Bansal in a function organized here on Sunday.

Various speakers of the organization during the address said that Bansal had worked for the city. The development taken place in city during his tenure was visible. The speakers said that Bansal was accessible and he or any member of his family could be easily contacted at their sector 28 residence. Whereas the residents would find it difficult to approach BJP candidate Kirron Kher or Aam Admi Party candidate Gul Panag.

Anand Singla, president of youth wing of Akhil Bhartiya Agarwal Samelan said that the infrastructure had improved and the connectivity through rail and air had improved in the city.

Balkrishan Bansal, President of Maharaja Agarsen Welfare Trust said that health facilities in government hospitals in city were best in the country. The city had ot PGI, best after All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences, dispensaries in many sectors, GMCH, sector 32, GMSH, sector 16. Now the facilities in government hospital in Manimajra had been upgraded, Bansal said.

Addressing the gathering, Pawan Kumar Bansal assured that city would soon have international flights. Further, the educational facilities in the city would further improve, Bansal said. His wife, Madhu Bansal was also present on the occasion.

Prominent among those who were present included, Madhu Bansal, Gopal Saran Garg, General Secretary of All India Akhil Bhartiya Agarwal Samelan, Satpal Aggarwal, Kulbhushan Goel, Bal Krishan Aggarwal, Jagmohan Garg, Sajjan Jindal, Satpal Gupta, D.D.Jindal and president of Jain Samaj, Jaipal Jain, Tarsem Mittal, Chander Bhan Garg,

Prabhu Dyal Bagdi, Chairman of the SC Morcha of BSP joined the Congress party. He joined the party with hundreds of his supporters. Congress has the advantage over other parties as most of the senior leaders are joining the party as they have full faith in the party leadership and ideology.

‘Only MP Pawan Bansal can take city to international level’

Chandigarh, April, 2014:

Haryana Chief Minister Mr. Bhupinder Singh Hooda today said only Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal can take city to international level. Addressing a massive rally here in Sector 56 he also attacked the opposition parties saying their candidates were parachute candidates who don’t even know about the sectors, how would they know about the issues.

“Chandigarh’s name is associated with Pawan Bansal and today we have the best connectivity as far as trains are concerned and airport is also being upgraded and getting better connectivity. I would say this is the first smart city of India”, he said.

The chief minister said UPA government has given several rights to the people through its policies, most important of which were Right to Health and Home.

Mr. Hooda said he has a special bonding with Chandigarh as he has studied here, adding that it was only Pawan Bansal who knows about progress. He appealed to the people to vote for Mr. Bansal keeping in mind their future. Mr. Hooda was also presented a Saropa on the occasion. He also addressed a rally in Maloya.

Mr. Pawan Bansal while speaking on the occasion said Chandigarh has set an example as far as development is concerned and also slum rehabilitation, which promises homes to 60,000 people. He said the outsiders will not be able to meet any promises when most of the time they will be in Mumbai not concerned about the problems of people here.

Mr. B.B. Bahl while speaking on the occasion said Mr. Bansal had done what no one can do for the city and people can see the development and that is the reason why he has been elected four times as MP.

Poonam Sharma, Congress leader said Mr. Bansal is one person who has always thought about bringing in policies for the benefit of women. She appealed to the people to vote for Mr. Bansal if they want to see the city growing.

Darshan Garg, while speaking on the occasion said Mr. Bansal had worked for the welfare of people in colonies and slum rehabilitation was one example which is being considered as a landmark project.

Others who were present on the occasion included, Madhu Bansal, Rampal Sharma, Pardeep Chhabra, Devinder Babla, Harmel Kesari, H.S. Lucky, Gurbax Rawat, Bhupinder Badheri, Jeet Behlana, Kamlesh Chaudhary, Mohammad Sadiq Sheikh, Pardeep Bhardwaj, Nachattar Singh, Naved, Gurmeet Singh, Principal Gurbachan Singh, Ahmed Ali.

Anupam Kher son-in-law of BJP not city: Congress leaders.

Chandigarh, April, 2014:

Several senior leaders of Chandigarh Congress today took strong exception to the statement made by Anupam Kher wherein he called people of Chandigarh to serve him as he is the "Son-in-law of Chandigarh". The statement was issued by leaders including Subhash Chawla, Devinder Babla, H.S Lucky, Harmail Kesri, Sunil Chopra, Maninder Dhillon, Meenakshi Choudary, Acche Lal Gaur, Ajay Sharma, Chintan Bajaj, Vijay Rana.

The leaders said that he may be the son-in-law of BJP but not of the city. Even BJP leaders who now claim party candidate Kirron Kher to be their sister threw eggs on her and showed black flags to  her.  The leaders reminded him that his wife is contesting elections on BJP ticket and they should  contest elections on issues rather than emotional statements. They further advised him to desist from making emotional melodrama as citizens of Chandigarh are enlightened people and know everything.

They advised the BJP to stop from muddling otherwise they also have a lot to say about the personal life of BJP candidate which if revealed will pinch them hard.

BJP favours what it opposed once: Congress

Chandigarh, April

The local unit of Congress has taken a strong note of BJP which is now favouring a nuclear project, which it had opposed before.

CTCC president, Mr. B.B. Bahl in a statement said, "Does the election time permit our leaders to say anything that may be senseless but spoken just to befool the voters? This is what happened when the BJP leaders, earlier accusing sitting MP and congress candidate Pawan Kumar Bansal for lacking of development and not being able to bring not even a single big project to city, suddenly attacked him by stating the city could have a nuclear power plant but Bansal did not take initiative in this regard."

He said the statement was issued by none other than two-time MP, a designated senior advocate and National Legal Working Group of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Satya Pal Jain.

This was stated, not realizing that the same BJP had, in 2008 brought in a no confidence vote against congress led UPA government, opposing the nuclear energy.

Mr. Bansal in a public meeting said that the candidates had accused him for not taking up nuclear power project, the concept that was opposed by BJP in parliament. Further, these candidates had no idea that for a nuclear project what was the area requirement. It was not possible in Chandigarh, being a small city, Bansal said. The stand might have changed now but there are other factors, because of which such power plant is not viable in the city.

The nuclear power plant needs huge chunk of land, several hundred acres, away from populated area, which the city does not have.

The distance from the population is not only required to avoid and damage in case of accident, when it can cause damage for a long distance. Studies have shown that even in case of no accident, nuclear power reactors release radioactivity to the air and the water on an ongoing basis. Such releases contribute to radiation exposure to both near and far from the site. Every radiation exposure increases the risk of cancer. That is the reason that the nuclear power plants are set up at places that are far away and even then after compliance of very strict norms.

The BJP leaders need to understand that opposing the opponents on such weak issues, which they themselves are not acquainted with, puts them also in a disgraceful situation before the literate residents of the city.

Congress candidate Bansal launches mobile app for safety of women.

Chandigarh, April

The candidates of different parties have been using various means for campaigning, like door to door canvassing, holding rallies to attract voters and so is doing congress candidate Pawan Kumar Bansal. But on Wednesday, what Bansal did was a gesture to express his concern for safety of women.

Bansal today launched a mobile application, which will be used not only for canvassing but also later providing help to women, in some emergency situation. The app, I’M4 Pawan Bansal, which will be available in both Android and iOS allows one to feed up to five mobile numbers of people those could be useful in emergency. One, in case of any problem, can simply open the app and press a button, ‘click me’. The app will send the SoS message to the contacts, alongwith the exact location of the user. The other feature of the app is however, informing the user about the latest in congress and Bansal, the campaign and also inviting the user, if one wanted to be a volunteer.

Bansal launched the app in a special Women’s meet organized in sector 28. Speaking on the occasion, he said that he wanted the city to be safe for women and there should be zero tolerance for any crime against women.

The meet was attended by large number of women, including prominent professionals, housewives and different ages, mostly non political.

Reeta Jain, an associate professor in DAV College talked about various achievements of Bansal in the field of education, health and other infrastructure. The city has now over 30 trains and has got a proper airport, which was few years back just like a local bus stand.

Prominent theatre person from city, Rani Balbir Kaur not only talked about the development that had taken place in city during the past but also expressed surprise that Kirron Kher, an alumni of Panjab University, had chosen to be a candidate of a party that had Modi like leader. She said that she was amazed that other parties had not agenda than to criticize opponents.  The parties like BJP did not had any issue-based campaigning, Rani Balbir Kaur said.

Principal of MCM DAV College for Women, Puneet Bedi said that Bansal had been interacting with the students of the college, who always found him a very transparent and honest politician.

President of North Zone Deaf and Mute Society, Salochana Ahuja, Principal of Delhi Public School, Reema Diwan, Principal of DAV School, sector 15, Rakesh Sachdeva, Mandeep Kaur and several other prominent women were present on the occasion. A short film on Bansal’s achievements was also shown on the occasion.

Pawan Kumar Bansal assures licenses for all eligible vendors.

Chandigarh, April, 2014:

Congress candidate from city got a tremendous support at the vegetable market in Sector 26 who assured to vote for Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal because of his performance in the last 15years. Mr. Bansal assured all the vendors of being rehabilitated on merits under a central government scheme for footpath workers which had already been announced earlier.

While addressing a large public gathering in Sector 26 which had been organised by Small Vegetable Sellers Welfare Association, Mr. Bansal said it was now for the voters to decide their fate in the coming election by choosing the right candidate.

He said the city has grown a lot and has the best infrastructure now. “Since last 10 years the Congress has worked for the poor and the aam aadmi (common man) which was originally a Congress slogan and has been stolen by another party now.” He said the Congress will continue to work on that ideology.”

Mr. Bansal said Congress had taken some important steps like Right to Education (RTE) which is to ensure education for all. He said footpath workers who are above 18 years of age can apply under a new scheme of the party which allows them rehabilitation and the Congress manifesto last week had also announced two major policies which would ensure Right to Home and Right to Health for all.

Giving example of rehabilitation scheme in Chandigarh he said 45,000 had already been rehabilitated while in all 60,000 would be covered. He also stressed on taking advantage of skill development centres which can help in self-employment.

Mr. Bansal while coming down heavily on BJP said the party mastered one art of misleading people by repeating lies to make it look like truth. He said the so called Modi wave was only restricted to spending crores in branding him and not admitting the harsh realities of his own state which was in bad shape and only favouring the big corporates.

Among prominent people present were Digvijay Kapoor, president of the market association, Dinesh Mahajan, market committee chairman, Bhupinder Singh Badheri, former chairman, Bhim Sain, Subhash, Mohammad Sadiq, Naresh Aggarwal, Satparkash, D.D. Jindal, Ranjeet Singh Chauhan and former chairman Devinder Babla.

Mr. Bansal also carried out door to door campaign in sector 40 and 41 market. There he was welcomed by several Congress leaders and supporters. Among prominent present were councilor Gurbax Rawat, Rampal Sharma and others.

Bansal while addressing the members of PGI Contractual Employees Union said the BJP party is such a party, which has bundles of lies and their leaders keep on speaking the lies despite being pointed out on it.

Coming down heavily on BJP leaders, Bansal dared them to have a debate on the issue of development in the city. Bansal said that the development in PGI, Panjab University, railway station, airport and other infrastructure was not visible to these leaders.

Referring to the BJP prime minister candidate Narinder Modi, Bansal said he is the same Modi about whom, some time back, Uma Bharti had stated that instead of development, she had seen destruction in Gujrat. It was ironical that the party, whose poll management was being handled by an American firm and Modi’s designer attire, costing lakhs, was being designed by designers, talks about welfare of poor people, Bansal said.

Earlier speaking on the occasion, Chandigarh Mayor Harphool Kalyan said that BJP had only opposed the developmental agendas and that was witnessed during the meeting of municipal corporation and also parliament, where BJP did not allow running the house smoothly.

Bansal while addressing the members of PGI Contractual Employees Union said that he was not in favour of contractual employees being paid less wages than other employees. He said that he would take up the issue with the administration and ensure that contractual employees get basic and DA at par with the regular employees at the earliest. Bansal said this in response to a demand raised by Ashwani Munjal, the union president.

Congress gets strength with joining of BJP, BSP leaders.

Chandigarh, April, 2014:

Congress has got a boost with the joining of several BJP and BSP leaders, not only strengthening the election campaign but also the party, which would go a long way in winning the Lok Sabha elections with thumping majority.

In a public meeting held at Sector 37, former BJP Yuva Morcha general secretary Damy Grover and former BJP District Secretary Suparna Sharma along with hundreds of supporters joined the Congress.

In a major setback to the BSP, its party senior vice president, Ram Sumer Maurya, a former councillor and also the covering candidate of Jannat Jahan the BSP Lok Sabha candidate had yesterday joined the Congress. Other BSP leaders who joined the Congress along with Maurya were Mohan Lal, Prem Pal Chauhan, Jaswant and Avinash. It was only three days back prominent BSP leader Kunnu alias Jatinder Yadav along with his supporters had joined the Congress.

'Probe role of BJP leaders in MC Scam': Congress

Chandigarh, April, 2014

Chandigarh Congress today demanded probing the role of BJP leaders in the allotment of tender to a private firm for operation of public toilets. Senior party leaders have said the names of those involved in the scam should be revealed. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a preliminary inquiry into the allotment of 4.5 crore tender to a private firm for operation and maintenance of 86 public toilets in 2007.

Senior officials with the then municipal corporation, including former MC Chief engineer's name, has reportedly cropped up in the case. Some officials with the company allotted the tender Selvel Media Service Private Limited are also under scanner.

The statement was issued by senior partyleaders including Rampal Sharma, Subhash Chawla, DD Jindal, HC Kalyan, Pardeep Chhabra, Pawan Sharma, Ravinder Pali, Davinder Babla, Bhupinder Badheri,HS Lucky, Shashi Shankar Tiwari, Om Parkash Saini, Poonam Sharma, Davinder Lubana, Lalit Joshi, Meenakshi Chaudhary, Raj Bala Malik, and Kamlesh.

The leaders said the incident is of the time when it was the BJP led Municipal Corporation. They said it should be a thorough probe and names of all those involved should be disclosed and appropriate action should be taken against the guilty.

MP Pawan Kumar Bansal slams BJP leaders Tandon & Jain; threatens legal action.

Chandigarh, March , 2014:

Sitting Memberof Parliament and Congress candidate for the city Lok Sabha seat, Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal today slammed BJP leaders, former MP Satya Pal Jain and party president Sanjay Tandon saying  in their frustration the balance of mind of the two leaders who had been trying for party ticket seems to have taken a hit.

Reacting to baseless allegations made by BJP president in a press conference today, in which the party had released a ‘chargesheet’ against Bansal and the Congress party, Mr. Bansal also threatened legal action against the BJP leaders.

Referring to Jain and Tandon, Mr. Bansal said, “This is the result of ravings and rantings of frustrated people, particularly these two leaders who had been denied party ticket leading them to make wild, baseless, malicious and slanderous allegations for which I reserve a right for appropriate legal action.”

Mr. Bansal said, “I challenge these two BJP leaders that if they have a modicum of moral courage, they should move the court against me. In case any judicial court finds me guilty of corruption the punishment that may be meted to me should not be what is prescribed but stoning me to death in Sector 17 plaza.”

The Congress candidate warning the two leaders said, “I can’t let them play with my reputation so lightly and in ludicrous manner. This makes it clear that they can bring political discourse to shatters.”

Senior BJP leader among 40 other party leaders join Congress.

Chandigarh, March, 2014:

The local unit of BJP got a major setback today as its senior leader Maulana Mohammad Kasim former chairman of Minority Cell of BJP along with his 40 BJP workers joined the Congress. The leader has been with the BJP since last 15 years.

In a ceremony held at Rajiv Gandhi Congress Bhawan Sector 35 here this morning, the leader along with his supporters was welcomed by Congress candidate Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal and CTCC president, Mr. B.B. Bahl.

Soon after joining the party, Kasim said he was fed up of the BJP which has lost its earlier sheen and he had lost faith in BJP leadership. He said the Congress has worked for the city development and was proud to be a part of it today.

It was only yesterday that Local unit of BSP had got a jolt when its prominent leader Kunnu alias Jatinder Yadav along with his supporters joined the Congress. In a function at Sector 35 Rajiv Gandhi Congress Bhawan he joined the party along with hundreds of his supporters. Two BJP leaders Salememut and Ramlingam along with their supporters had also joined the Congress.

Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal while welcoming the leader said it was a moment of pride for the Congress to welcome such a senior leader and his joining would further strengthen the party.

Meanwhile in the morning a Padyatra was taken out in Palsora colony where Mr. Bansal was welcomed by residents. The Congress supporters listed the achievements of the UPA government and said the city has emerged as an important destination internationally only because of efforts made by Mr. Bansal. Among prominent leaders present with him were Surinder Singh, Harmel Kesari, Om Parkash Saini and Chitranjan Chanchal.

BJP has tried to stall development: Pawan Kumar Bansal

Chandigarh, March 26, 2014:

Congress candidate Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal today lambasted the BJP for stalling development.

While speaking at a public meeting in Sector 43 here this evening, Mr. Bansal said BJP never played a positive role of an opposition and instead tried to stall development by only indulging in allegations and stalling the work in parliament.

Mr. Bansal who got a tremendous welcome at the Sector 43 Motor Market also took note of the Congress manifesto released today, stating that people will now also get the Right to Health and Right to House, which happens to be a landmark development.

Thanking the president of Sector 43 Auto Market Association, Mr. Basant Singh, Mr. Bansal said he was overwhelmed with the support shown to him. He said today Chandigarh was growing and the number of vehicles was also increasing, and he felt there was a need to give space to private service stations in industrial area.

He said city today boasts of good infrastructure, good connectivity through trains and good hospitals and upgraded schools. He appealed to the people to spread the message of development which Congress had promised and performed.

City mayor H.C. Kalyan was also present besides Mohinder Singh Chaudhary former president of the market.

Meanwhile, Mr. Bansal also visited sector 33 where traders and residents of the sector had jointly kept a get-together. They extended full support to him and thanked him for bringing progress in city.

Sitting Chandigarh MP and former union minister, Pawan Kumar Bansal was given a warm welcome during his ‘Jagrukta Yatra’ a door to door election campaign in sectors 14, 15 and 16 here today.

As cavalcade of Pawan Kumar Bansal reached the area, the residents and shopkeepers came out in large number and offered him garlands and assured their support. It was heartening to see the shopkeepers and residents reached out to meet Bansal, while some old aged persons gave him their blessings and wished him a grand success.

The shopkeepers, instead of continuing their business and attending to the customers, preferred to walk with Bansal to express their support to him.

As Bansal reached the market of sector 14 in Panjab University, a large number of students came out to welcome him.

Prominent among those who accompanied Bansal included, Ram Lal Sharma, Pardeep Chhabra, Anu Chatrath, Jatinder Bhatia, Surinder Jagota, Ajay Joshi, Sunil Chopra, Ajay Sharma, Harmel Kesri, Bunty Narang, Tripat Vohra and Jitender Dhami.

Later Bansal visited the premises of Central Administrative Tribunal where he addressed the members of CAT Bar Association.

Addressing the members of CAT Bar Association  Bansal said “ for the past few years, city has seen tremendous growth of vehicular traffic and therefore my major concern is to ensure better road and public transport infrastructure in the city”, Bansal said that he was not in favour of flyovers as these could change the character of the city. Therefore, he had got eight underpasses approved to be constructed at important junctions, to ensure the free flow of traffic. The work on two was likely to start soon, Bansal told.

Bansal also talked about various developmental projects undertaken by him during his two stints as MP.

Sanjeev Pandit, the president, Deepak Agnihotri, senior members and Pankaj Mohan Kansal, secretary of the CAT Bar Association, welcomed Bansal in the bar and wished him a win during the elections.

Land Acquisition legislation of Congress has helped villagers:MP Pawan Kumar Bansal

Chandigarh, March, 2014:

Sitting MP and Congress candidate for Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal took on the BJP, saying that the opposition had played a negative role by criticizing the efforts made by him and the party to save the lands of villagers.

Speaking at village Makhan Majra at a public meeting here, Mr. Bansal said, “We along with villagers fought against the Chandigarh Administration policies on the issue of land acquisition but BJP leaders at that time said Congress was not in good terms with officials. On the other hand BJP also blamed us saying we were not taking issues with the administration, which was only a move to put hurdles in our struggle for a cause.”

The four-time MP, who is getting a tremendous support from the electorates in city, colonies and villages, added that the The Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation, Resettlement Act 2013 of the Congress was revolutionary which protects the land of landowners and does not leave the UTs with any power to carry out fresh land acquisition. According to the provisions of the new law, a series of checks have been introduced to prevent exploitation of those inhabiting the land proposed to be acquired, he said.

Mr. Bansal said Chandigarh is today regarded as one of the best cities of the world and has seen a lot of growth in the last 15 years. “BJP says no new projects have come up in city. We cannot have a dam or a power plant in city, but a city like Chandigarh needs good roads, hospitals and educational facilities, and that’s what Congress has given to city.” Sarpanch Dr. Kartar Singh Thakur said, “Our rival parties have fielded actors from city but we need leaders. You can see them in cinemas but not in city”

Among others who were present on the occasion were Bhupinder Singh Badheri, Devinder Lubana, Major Singh, Jasbir Singh, Ashok Bhagat, Malagar Singh, Baljit Singh, Sadhu Singh, Jit Singh, Kuldeep Singh, among others.

Mr. Bansal also attended another public meeting at village Raipur Khurd where he said Congress had taken care of the sentiments of the land owners. He also took note of the village issues like need for a cremation ground, proper link road to the village and strengthening the garbage disposal system.

“I have been associated with this village since ages and over the years it has changed a lot. We will continue to serve all the villagers, which has always been the ideology of the party as well”, he added. Mr. Bansal said BJP leader Satya Pal Jain has earlier got a chance to represent Chandigarh but failed to do anything.

Among others who spoke on the occasion include Jatinder Bhatia, Digvijay Kapoor, Tarlochan Singh, Lachman Singh, Jai Singh, Nachatar Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Mehmood Khan, Dharam Singh and Jagdish.

MP Pawan Bansal gets support from Attawa & Buterla villagers.

Chandigarh, March, 2014:

Congress ideology and policies are always focused on development and we believe in going beyond promises made to the people, said Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal, Congress candidate for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections while addressing the Attawa villagers here.

Mr. Bansal said in Chandigarh there has been development in every sphere and one can see the pace of progress which has been tremendous. He said the credit goes to the Congress party and the voter before exercising his right to vote will keep that in mind.

He also spoke about the several schemes launched by the government for the welfare of villages across the country. While referring to the BJP candidate Kirron Kher he said the party has fielded a candidate who doesn’t even know about Chandigarh and its issues. He also apprised the villagers about the various development works in the last 15 years, when people had full faith in him and re-elected him for the same reason.

Village Sarpanch Gurdeep Singh while speaking on the occasion said all villagers were with Mr. Bansal and appealed to them to make other villagers aware about the Congress achievements.

Addressing another public meeting in village Buterla village, Mr. Bansal got a rousing welcome with the beating of drums and garlands. Village Sarpanch Gurmukh Singh lauded the works done in villages by Mr. Bansal and appealed to the villagers to vote for the Congress.

Mr. Bansal while addressing the villagers said he has always made it sure that along with city there should be development of villages and everyone can now see the changed face of villages. He also said that the UPA government had always worked for development of villages across country appealed to the people to cast their vote in the name of development.

Among prominent villagers present were Bhupinder Singh, Devinder Lubana, Jasbir Sinhg Bunty, Gurdeep Attawa, Kesar Singh Hallomajra, Jai Chand, Harbhajan Singh, Anand Singh Kajheri, Pawan Sharma, Jeet Singh, and Manmohan Singh among others.

‘Despite being a lawyer, Jain unaware about legalities’: Congress

Chandigarh, March, 2014

Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee (CTCC) on Tuesday said BJP leader Mr. Satya Pal Jain was unaware of legalities even when he was himself a lawyer.

Referring to the BJP complaint alleging anomalies in the nomination filed by Congress candidate Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal, the Congress said Jain has shown his ignorance of the law by filing such a misleading complaint which was over-ruled by the Returning Officer.

Senior BJP leader and former MP Satya Pal Jain, who is a proposer of BJP nominee from the seat Kirron Kher had told the the RO that "the form A and B field by Bansal along with his nomination form is not in the "Prescribed Form". In a statement, Congress Spokespersons, Mr. Pardeep Chhabra, Mr. Ravinder Palli, Mrs. Lalit Joshi, Mr. Amarjit Sethi and Davinder Lubana said, “He is a lawyer and should know about all the legalities. “It was not the first time Mr. Bansal had filed his nomination papers. He has so far filed nominations seven times and Mr. Jain should not forget that of these 7 nominations, Jain had himself lost thrice.” They said the nature of the objection raised by BJP was frivolous and only an attempt to gain cheap publicity by the party. The Congress leaders added, BJP cannot talk about issues and development in city and hence was depending on negativity and falsehood.

They even added that when Mr Bansal reached there, Mr Jain was mum on the issue and later submitted the complaint which only proves his lack of knowledge, his attitude and political vendetta.

‘Kirron Kher has been exposed”: Mahila Congress

Chandigarh, March, 2014:

Chandigarh unit of the Mahila Congress today came down heavily against BJP candidate Kirron Kher. A statement issued by the party said, “The party candidate has been exposed through this complaint. If Kirron is fighting against her widowed sister-in-law then what would she do for the women in city.” Kirron Kher, her widowed sister-in-law Gurindesh Sandhu on Monday had filed a complaint accusing the actor of filing wrong information in her nomination papers.

Gurindesh Sandhu had in her affidavit filed before the returning officer under part A of form 26 Kher declared that she is a resident of house number 65, Sector 8-A, Chandigarh and that she owns 25 percent of SCO 18, Sector 17-E Chandigarh. The affidavit signed by Kirron Kher is wrong as this is an HUF (Hindu Undivided Family) property and there is no partition till date.

The complaint had further stated that the said properties have been challenged in the court and Kher cannot mention/declare the same property which is sub judice before the trial court and the court has kept the mutation of the said properties in abeyance.

In a joint statement issued by Mrs. Lalit Joshi, Vice President, All India MahilaCongress, Mrs. Minakshi Chowdhary, President Mahila Congress Chandigarh, Mrs. Poonam Sharma, Mrs. Gurbax Rawat and Mrs. Rana Kashmiri Devi, they said this shows what will be her attitude towards the electorate. “We do not want her candidature to be cancelled but want to make the electorate aware of what kind of a person she is”, they said.

Bansal says development will decide outcome of elections, not allegations

Chandigarh, March-

 “The administration and Municipal Corporation should take care of common services inside the group housing societies like common roads, electricity and others. This has been a demand of the residents of the society members and I will make efforts to ensure this”.

This assurance was given by sitting congress MP and former union minister, Pawan Kumar Bansal, the congress candidate from Chandigarh. Mr. Bansal was addressing the residents of PUSHPAC Society in sector 49 here.

He said that the residents wanted that the sale of flats be considered as sale as in case of other properties, instead of transfer of membership as was happening presently.

Bansal talked about various developmental works undertaken during past 10 years. Bansal said that union government had given huge grants for developing infrastructure for Panjab University and now this university had got a place among top 100 universities of the world. President of the PUSHPAC Society, Anil Lamdharia while speaking said that during past few years, the city had seen major development and in a recent survey it had been adjudged as one of the best cities in the country.

Retired Wg. Cdr. G.S. Multani, vice president, S.K. Arora, Secretary and Anand Bakshi, treasurer of PUSHPAC Society were also present on the occasion.

Later addressing the residents of CPWD colony in sector 7, Bansal assured that he would take up issues concerning depleted condition of flats in center government quota.

Bansal informed the gathering that besides road and rail infrastructure, the air connectivity had also been on his top agenda. The hurdle of no permission for night flying had been removed and soon the international flights and late evening flights to Chandigarh airport would start soon.

Addressing a public meeting in village Khuda Lahora and Khuda Jassu, Mr. Bansal said, “I have always got tremendous support from villagers and I am back with you seeking your support. While I have sincerely worked for providing modern facilities in villages, I will continue to strive for better facilities”.

He assured not a single house would be demolished outside Lal Dora till a policy in this regard is made. He added that keeping in mind the need to provide sports facilities, a stadium had come up in Dadumajra, with a contribution of Rs 50 lakh from the MPLAD funds.

Mr. Bansal said he was reaching out to people with issues and those who have voted for him in previous elections have done so seeing the developmental works of the last 15 years, adding he had full faith in the electorate that would decide on their choice seeing the work done.

Mr. B.B. Bahl, President, Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee (CTCC) while speaking on the occasion said, “BJP is talking about Modi wave, but see the outcome of elections. They talk about him becoming the next PM but he won’t even remain the Gujarat CM.”

Among prominent villagers present there were Rakesh Sharma, Sarpanch, Manmohan Singh, former Sarpanch,  Panches including Babbu Narad, Sanjiv Attri, Anita Sharma, Charanjit Kaur, Vipin Narad, while those of Khuda Jassu included Jagdish Singh, Sarpanch, Panches including Harbans Singh, Gurprit Singh, Santokh Singh, Subhash Chand, Gurdev Singh, Ram Pal Saini and Surinder Singh.

Mr. Bansal also addressed a rally at village Khuda Ali Sher where he interacted with villagers and assured them of more facilities. He said unlike BJP, Congress agenda has always been development. “You indulge in allegations when you have nothing else to talk about, but we have development which will play a key role deciding the outcome of the forthcoming elections”.

Congress files complaint against BJP with election dept.

Chandigarh, March, 2014:

Taking a serious note of the slanderous and malicious ‘Mama-Bhanja’ campaign by the BJP, Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee (CTCC) has submitted a complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) UT. The party has sought immediate action against the party and requested the Chief Electoral Officer to restrain BJP to indulge in such frivolous campaign.

CTCC president, Mr. B.B. Bahl in a letter to the CEO has while quoting the Model Code of Conduct issued by the Election Commission of India for guidance to political parties and candidates, stated that every political party, contesting candidate and party workers are bound to follow the said Model Code of Conduct.

He has stated that he was shocked to read in newspapers wherein the BJP has declared a launch the said campaign in the city. Quoting a media report he has stated that it is absolutely false allegation against the candidate put up by Indian National Congress Party for Chandigarh seat.

“CBI after thorough investigation had found that Sh. Pawan Kumar Bansal had no connection with the alleged transaction. Not only this even the CBI Court in New Delhi, the Court which has taken cognizance of the case has vide order dated March 10 dismissed an application filed by an NGO for directing CBI to investigate the matter against Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal”, the complaint states.

Mr. Bahl has also pointed out that it has been reported by media that though CBI Court have given a clean chit to former Railway Minister and sitting MP, Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal in the alleged Rail Gate, the BJP city unit is still raising the issue.

He has added that this campaign of calumny being planned to be launched by BJP in complete violation of the Model Code of Conduct and is being planned to misguide the electorate, besides being outrightly mendacious. The complaint further states that the Congress reserved the right to launch civil as well as criminal proceedings in the court of proper jurisdiction against those who have launched the campaign.

Sonia Gandhi to address rally on March 27

Chandigarh, March, 2014:

Congress President Mrs. Sonia Gandhi will be visiting city on March 27 to campaign for party candidate Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal. She would be addressing a massive rally in support of party candidate in Sector 25 rally ground here. Mr. Bansal has been campaigning aggressively in the city much before he was officially declared as the party candidate for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat. The elections are due on April 10. Four time MP Mr. Bansal has got tremendous support from the city, villages and its colonies because of his contribution towards development. He has won last three Lok Sabha elections with a huge margin of votes.

‘We will shake hands only with Cong Hand’: Sector 25 colony residents.

Chandigarh, March , 2014:

Congress candidate for the city Lok Sabha seat, Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal today got tremendous support from the residents of Sector 25 colony as the residents assured they would only vote for him. The Padyatra was carried out early in the morning, but had hundreds of party supporters joining the Padyatra which saw them campaigning for the party amidst the beating of drums and slogans in favour of Mr. Bansal.

Congress supporters could be seen waving party flags shouting, “Congress ke hum saath hain, Kyon ki Congress shahar ke saath hai” (We are with Congress because Congress is with us) and “Pawan Bansal ko vote do, Badle mein Vikas Lo” (If you vote for Pawan Bansal, you get in return development). The party supporters could also be seen making sure that colony residents get to know about the achievements of the Congress led government in the centre. They also informed the residents about development works carried out in the city in the last five years.

Mr. Bansal told the colony residents that Chandigarh had set an example when it comes to slum rehabilitation. He said under the scheme 60,000 families would get houses, of which 50000 have already been rehabilitated. He also assured them better facilities.

The colony residents gave full support to Mr. Bansal and lauded his contribution in development of colonies. They added they would support Mr. Bansal and would encourage others as well to vote for him as it was only if they vote for Mr. Bansal that development can take place.

MP Pawan Kumar Bansal supports industrialists demands.

Chandigarh, March, 2014:

In a open debate for Lok Sabha candidates, Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal, Congress candidate supported the demands raised by industrialists and residents.

The debate had been organised by Joint Action Committee of Industrial Commercial and Residential Association of Chandigarh. The participants included Congress candidate Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal, BJP candidate Kirron Kher, BSP candidate Jannat Jahan and AAP candidate Gul Panag.

Different candidates gave their views separately as 20 minutes were allowed to each one of them. The industrialists demanded their issues be included in the manifesto.

The open debate had been organised by Chandigarh Industrial Association President MPS Chawla. Among prominent industrialists and businessmen present were Jagdish Arora, Chander Verma, Kamaljit Singh Panchhi and other members of the association. Pawan Bansal while speaking on the occasion supported their demands which included to make Chandigarh leasehold to freehold, internal changes in buildings and abolishing of penalty. As far as the demand that MP should be made member of master plan approval committee, Mr. Bansal said decision in this regard can be taken by Chandigarh Administration.

Congress candidate Pawan Kumar Bansal files nominations.

Chandigarh, March, 2014:

Amidst shouting of slogans in favour of Congress candidate Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal, he filed his nomination papers for the city Lok Sabha seat here today. 65 year old Mr. Bansal is a four-time MP from the city who has a strong support from within the party and city, having undertaken several developmental projects in city.

Hundreds of Congress workers had gathered in the morning outside the DC office here, which happens to be the office of returning officer for the polling which is to be held on April 10. Mr. Bansal’s  name was proposed by Mr. Maninder Singh Dhillon, Khalil Ahmed, Lalit Joshi, H.C. Kalyan, for different nomination papers and Mr. B.B. Bahl was the covering the candidate whose proposer was Mr. H.S. Lucky.

Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal has given exemplary performance when it comes to development of city, having retained the position of city MP since last 15 years. With Mr. Bansal as the MP, Chandigarh has set an example in slum rehabilitation.

In the last one year around 15 new trains have been introduced, of which nine have been introduced in the last six months because of the initiative taken by Mr. Bansal when he was the union railway minister. In the last five years while government schools were upgraded and new smart schools came up for the first time, as far as health services are concerned the government hospitals got better infrastructure and Manimajra's Civil Hospital was upgraded and now boasts of 100 beds and 24-hour emergency service and an obstetrics unit. Mr Bansal was accompanied by his wife Madhu, son Manish, City Mayor H C Kalyan, some Congress councillors and a few supporters when he reached the office of Deputy Commissioner-cum-Returning Officer in Chandigarh.

Early in the morning Mr. Bansal went to Mansa Devi temple and Nada Sahib Gurudwara. Mr. Bansal after filing his nominations was welcomed by anxious supporters waiting outside.

He thanked Congress President Sonia Gandhi, party vice president Rahul Gandhi and members of the party's central election committee for reposing faith in him and re-nominating him from Chandigarh. He also thanked the residents of Chandigarh for their continued support and added he will not betray their faith.

Congress intensifies campaign in city.

Chandigarh, March, 2014:

Local unit of Congress today intensified its election campaign with several events across the city as party candidate Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal reached city from New Delhi.

While first of its kind Live Video Chat was organized in the morning in sector 35 Rajiv Gandhi Congress Bhawan which was attended by all party workers, a Padyatra was organized in Hallomajra, in which several Congress leaders participated.

The Congress workers who participated in the Padyatra informed the villagers about the achievements of Congress led government in the centre. The Hallomajra residents while extending their support said they would only vote for Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal as he had contributed a lot for the development.

Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal in the morning visited Defence Services Officers Institute (DSOI) in Sector 36 here and met the ex-servicemen there who extended their support to Mr. Bansal.

Uttarakhand Yuva Manch today held its annual function at Tagore Theatre where Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal was the chief guest. Mr. Bansal congratulated the Uttarakhand community for their contribution in the city and also for keeping alive the culture of the state by holding such cultural events.

In Sector 40 in a meeting under the chairmanship of State President, Arun Kumar Gupta, Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), Muneesh Nanda was announced as the new State Youth President. INTUC workers said they would support Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal and talked about his achievements and would be spreading awareness about the achievements of Congress led government and also those of Mr. Bansal in working for the betterment of city.

INTUC extends support;Pawan Bansal meets ex-servicemen

Chandigarh, March 2014:

Local unit of Congress today intensified its election campaign with several events across the city as party candidate Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal reached city from New Delhi.

While first of its kind Live Video Chat was organized in the morning in sector 35 Rajiv Gandhi Congress  Bhawan which was attended by all party workers, a Padyatra was organized in Hallomajra, in which several Congress leaders participated.

The Congress workers who participated in the Padyatra informed the villagers about the achievements of  Congress led government in the centre. The Hallomajra residents while extending their support said they would only vote for Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal as he had contributed a lot for the development.

Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal in the morning visited Defence Services Officers Institute (DSOI) in Sector 36 here and met the ex-servicemen there who extended their support to Mr. Bansal.

Uttarakhand Yuva Manch today held its annual function at Tagore Theatre where Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal was the chief guest. Mr. Bansal congratulated the Uttarakhand community for their contribution in the city and also for keeping alive the culture of the state by holding such cultural events.

In Sector 40 in a meeting under the chairmanship of State President, Arun Kumar Gupta, Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), Muneesh Nanda was announced as the new State Youth President. INTUC workers said they would support Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal and talked about his achievements and would be spreading awareness about the achievements of Congress led government and also those of Mr. Bansal in working for the betterment of city.

BJP, AAP candidates unaware about city’: Pawan Kumar Bansal

Chandigarh, March, 2014:

Congress candidate Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal today took on BJP and AAP, stating that both parties had fielded such candidates who didn’t hail from the city and were unaware of the issues and problems.

He was addressing a meeting of the SC Cell of the Congress at Rajiv Gandhi Congress Bhawan here today which was held under the chairmanship of Rajinder Makwana who is the president of SC Cell of the Chandigarh Congress. It was a shot in the arm for Congress as BSP SC Cell Chairman Kalu Ram Sood  announced his joining the Congress.

Youth Congress local unit in a massive rally at Sector 20 Ramlila ground today extended full support to party candidate Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal for the forthcoming elections.

The rally held under the chairmanship of local unit youth congress president Maninder Dhillon saw hundreds of party workers and supporters who had gathered there.

Mr. Bansal who was the chief guest on the occasion while addressing the rally said Congress has been a party which has won the hearts of the people through its performance. He spoke about the various development works in the city and also steps taken in the field of education which helped the young population.

Mr. Bansal also visited Sector 40 where a Holi Milan Samaroh had been organized. Those present there celebrated the festival with flowers. Mr. Bansal while extending Holi greetings said we should remember that the festival brings alive the spirit of brotherhood and we should celebrate the occasion in its right spirit.

'Our votes are with Pawan Bansal', say Dadumajra residents.

Chandigarh, March:

A day after the name of Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal was officially announced as the Congress candidate for the Lok Sabha elections next month, the party stepped up its election campaign. The padyatra of the party which has been on since last 12 days now wore a different look with Congress leaders and supporters in jubilant mood to celebrate the candidature of Mr. Bansal.

The Padyatra was led by Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee (CTCC) president B.B. Bahl. The colony residents welcomed the Padyatra by shouting slogans in favour of Pawan Kumar Bansal and assured that they would vote for him as he had taken up several initiatives for their betterment. The residents said it was because of the efforts of Mr Bansal only that three storeys were allowed in colonies with use of ground floor for commercial use.

Several party leaders and supporters were present during the Padyatra who made the colony people aware of the achievements of Congress led government in the centre and also the contribution of Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal.

Residents who came out in large numbers in support of Mr Bansal said they had no other candidate who could do so much for the colonies. "We can't even think of voting for any other candidate when we have seen the work of Mr Bansal in the last 15 years", said a colony resident.

Colony leaders also said they would also work towards spreading awareness about his contribution to encourage people to vote for Congress in the Lok Sabha polls next month. They said they were sure about Mr Bansal getting the ticket again and that they were sure his constituency will make him victorious yet again after having represented in Lok Sabha for four terms since 1991 and for 15 years continuously since 1999.

Colony 4 Residents welcome Congress Padyatra.

Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee (CTCC) today carried out Padyatra in Colony 4 which was led by party president B.B. Bahl. The colony residents welcome the Padyatra by shouting slogans in favour of Pawan Kumar Bansal, Chandigarh MP.

Several party leaders and supporters were present during the Padyatra who made the colony people aware of the achievements of Congress led government in the centre and also the contribution of Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal.

While interacting with the colony residents, Congress leaders assured they would be further improving the amenities in the colony. They further said Chandigarh has set an example in slum rehabilitation. It happens to be the only city in the entire country for having undertaken this project in its true spirit. Under the rehab scheme 60,000 families would get houses, of which around 50,000 have already been rehabilitation.

Colony residents while extending their support to Mr. Bansal said he has contributed a lot for the development of colonies. They said they would fully support Mr. Bansal and would also work towards spreading awareness about his contribution to encourage people to rightfully vote for Congress in the Lok Sabha polls next month.

MP Pawan Bansal wins smiles from Indira Colony residents.

Chandigarh, March 2014:

Amidst the beating of Dhols, and Congress flags all over the Indira Colony, Chandigarh MP, Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal carried out Padyatra going from house to house meeting colony residents, who came out in large numbers to show their support.

Several senior party leaders were present there and the colony residents joined Mr. Bansal as he walked around meeting them and greeting them, winning smiles and assuring the best amenities to the jubilant party supporters there.

Padyatra’s are a part of Congress reach out programme ahead of general elections due next month. The party is also distributing one-page flyers listing the UPA government’s achievements. Today was the ninth Padyatra of the party in the city. Yesterday it was taken out in Mauli Jagran.

People had come out to get a glimpse of the leader who had met his promises made five years back. While there were hundreds in narrow yet well carpeted roads of the colony, many had come out on their rooftops waving hands in the support of the Congress ‘hand’.

The beating of dhols went well with slogans in support of the party like, “Congress ka haath humare saath’’ and “Pawan Bansal zindabaad, Congress party zindabaad”.

Shashi Shankar Tiwari, Colonies Cell President of the party, besides other senior leaders like Pawan Sharma, Rampal Sharma, H.S. Lucky, and Chitaranjan Chanchal, among others were also present during the Padyatra.

MP Pawan Kumar Bansal pays obeisance at Tamil temple.

Chandigarh, March, 2014:

Chandigarh MP, Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal visited the Kali Mata temple in Dhanas where he was invited as the chief guest at South Fair. He participated in a religious function organized at the temple every year.

Bansal paid obeisance at the temple and later served langar to the devotees. Bansal said that he has been visiting this about 40 year’s old shrine for the past many years on this occasion. The temple is managed by Tamil community ever since the temple came in existence.

Meanwhile a Holi Milan programme was organized by Purvanchal Welfare Association in Sector 46 Government College. On the occasion, those hailing from the community from the tricity gathered there and a cultural programme was also held.

Cong holds Pad Yatra in Bapu Dham: MP Pawan Bansal

Chandigarh, March

The local unit of Congress today took out a massive door to door Pad Yatra in Bapu Dham, Sector 26 which saw hundreds of party supporters besides the prominent leaders present there. The local MP, Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal led the same and the residents of the colony turned up in large numbers and extended their full support to the MP.

Mr. Bansal while interacting with residents of Bapu Dham assured that they will continue to get best facilities as before. He said city has set an example in slum rehabilitation and other cities are following the same pattern as was being followed by city.

The residents there while extending their support to Mr Bansal said with just a month left for the polls, seeing the contribution of Mr Bansal in developing colonies, it was clear no other party candidate can get the vote bank which Mr Bansal would get.

Among other prominent Congress leaders present were Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee (CTCC) president B.B. Bahl, Sohan Lal Vaid, former mayor Subhash Chawla, D.D. Jindal, Pawan Sharma, Principal Gurbachan Singh, Khalil Ahmed, Ravinder Palli, Poonam Sharma, Davinder Lubana, H.S.lucky, Davinder Babla, Krishan Lal, Vijay Rana, Darshan Garg, Satish Kainth, Gurbax Rawat, Sheela Devi, Achey Lal, Shashi Shanker Tiwari,Vinod Sharma, Lalit Joshi, Meenakshi Choudhary, Dr. O.P.Verma, Hakam Sarhadi, Harmail Kesri, Maninder Dhillon, Rajiv Moudgil and Sumit Chawla.

Congress holds Pad Yatra in Maloya: MP Pawan Bansal

Chandigarh, March 2014:

Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee (CTCC) president Mr. B.B. Bahl today led the party Pad Yatra in Maloya here.A large number of Congress workers and supporters took part in it.

The pad yatra is being organised on instructions given by AICC to highlight the achievements of UPA government and achievements of Mr Pawan Bansal in addition to the works done by MC in the last five years.

Pad Yatra had taken off from Dhanas rehabilitation colony here yesterday. Today's Pad Yatra was also attended by former mayor, Mr. Pardeep Chhabra besides all CTCC office bearers, Presidents of frontal organisations, convenors of all cells, all congress councillors, block presidents.

They were distributed handbills containing achievements of UPA government and work done by Mr. Bansal at local level.

On Tuesday, March 4, third day of the Pad Yatra would be at Kishangarh roundabout IT Park road at 4.30 pm.Other areas to be covered include Mauli Jagran, Bapu dham, Bahlana, Raipur Khurd and timings will be same at 4.30 pm daily.

MP Pawan Kumar Bansal assures Dalit community of redressal of their demands.

Chandigarh,

Member of Parliament (MP) Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal today stressed on the need to transfer some important departments to the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation. He said this will not only ensure transparency, but also lead to speedy completion of projects and further streamline functioning, thus negating procedural delays.

While addressing a felicitation function at Sector 37 Law Bhawan he assured the Dalit community of his full support and that he would ensure their long pending demands are soon met. Rashtriya Safai Mazdoor Congress Chandigarh, which is a wing of Chandigarh Dalit Samaj had organised the function to honour the newly elected mayor Mr. H.C Kalyan and MP, Mr. Bansal.

Mr. Bansal further said Chandigarh has set an example in slum rehabilitation. It happens to be the only city in the entire country for having undertaken this project in its true spirit. Under the rehab scheme 60,000 families would get houses, of which around 50,000 have already been rehabilitation."

Former mayor Mr. Pardeep Chhabra and Mr. Bansal's son, Mr. Manish Bansal were also honoured on the occasion for their contribution towards development of Dalit community.

Virottam Chander Pal Anarya, Abhi Mehta, Keshu Ram Parcha, Ashwani Bhagania, CTCC Labour Cell convener Om Parkash Saini, District Congress Committee General Secretary Kanwar Pal Singh, were also present on the occasion.

CTCC Labour Cell convener Om Parkash Saini while speaking on the occasion said the Dalit community has extended full support to candidature of Mr Bansal for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections and would also take part in the Pad Yatras of the Congress.

CTCC to hold Pad Yatras: MP Pawan Kumar Bansal.

Chandigarh, February,

Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee (CTCC) today held a meeting at Congress Bhawan which was attended by MP Pawan Bansal, CTCC President B.B.Bahl, among others. It was decided to have pad yatras in the city.

On the first day it would be Dhanas rehabilitation colony on  2nd march at 4.30pm. It will be held on March 3 at Maloya bus stand at 4.30pm, and third day on March 4 at Kishangarh roundabout IT Park road at 4.30pm.

Among others present were Harphool Kalyan mayor, all CTCC office bearers,Presidents of frontal organisations, convenor of all cells, all congress councillors, block presidents who discussed the detailed programme.

The pad yatra is being started on instructions given by AICC to highligth the achievements of UPA government and achievements of Mr Pawan Bansal and works done by MC in the last five years.

Other areas to be covered include Mauli jagran, Bapu dham, Bahlana, Raipur Khurd and timings will be same at 4.30pm daily.

MP Pawan Bansal inaugurates PNB branch in Dadumajra.

Chandigarh, February,

Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal, Member of Parliament inaugurated new branch of PNB at Dadumajra Colony here today. Speaking on the occasion, Pawan Kumar Bansal informed that to open bank branch in the area was a long pending demand of public which has been fulfilled with the opening of PNB.

The branch is equipped with CBS and has all the facilities like ATM, RTGS, NEFT, Debit card, Credit card etc and is linked to over 6100 branches of PNB across the country. The customer of this branch can operate their accounts on any PNB branch all over India.

D.K. Singla, Director Punjab National Bank told that the bank enjoys strong fundamentals, large franchise value and good brand image. To meet the growing aspirations of the people and compete in these tough conditions, the Bank offers wide range of products and services.

Mr. J.K. Gupta, Field General Manager Chandigarh informed that this is 74th branch of Chandigarh Circle along with 133rd ATM installed in the Circle. The occasion was graced by Mr. Sat Prakash Aggarwal, Councillor of the area. Ashok Kumar Gupta, Circle Head PNB-Chandigarh, Mr. Kuldeep Gupta, Lead District Manager, large number of staff members and other local dignitaries were also presenton the inaugural function of the new branch opening.

MP Pawan Kumar Bansal assures redressal of Sector 52 colony problems.

Chandigarh, February,

Local MP, Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal today said the Congress has been working for the betterment of the poor and will continue to do so. He said the slum rehabilitation scheme had ensured that all the eligible beneficiaries would not be left homeless.

Mr. Bansal was speaking at a public meeting in Sector 52 here this morning. Among others present included city mayor H.C Kalyan.

The residents of the rehabilitation colony told about their grievances to Mr. Bansal. The MP said the problem of ration depots has been resolved adding that number of depots has been increased from 60 to 100. He also assured that the pending demand of a dispensary in the area would be soon redressed.

Villages will be treated at par with city:MP Pawan Kumar Bansal

Chandigarh, February,

Local Member of Parliament, Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal today inaugurated a computer lab in the village Darua. Soon after inaugurating the lab the MP addressed a public rally and assured all villagers of best facilities at par with the city.

He said his concern was houses outside Lal Dora which would get all facilities, adding that during his tenure as MP he has never allowed any demolitions. He added that UT villages will get the best infrastructure facilities.

Village Sarpanch Mr. Gurpreet Singh said Mr Bansal has done a lot for the welfare of villages. A lot of problems have been resolved during the tenure of Mr. Bansal he said.

Pawan Sharma, CTCC General Secretary and Shashi Shankar Tiwari, President of the Colony Cell were also present on the occasion.

Congress workers come in support of MP Bansal Bansal.

Chandigarh, February,
Chandigarh MP, Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal today said Congress is a democratic party which works on the ideology of serving the people. Hewas speaking at a party function organized in Sector 20 here which was attended by Congress workers.

Different wings of the party today got together in his support. Mr. Bansal’s candidature for Lok Sabha elections was also supported. District Congress Committee (Urban) president H.S. Lucky while addressing the party workers came out in support of Mr. Bansal and said he had contributed a lot for the development of the city. He appealed to the workers to support Mr. Bansal, adding that it was during the tenure of Bansal that city is now connected to several cities across the country through recently introduced trains.

‘Make optimal use of nature’s energy resources: MP Pawan Bansal

Chandigarh, February

Local MP, Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal today inaugurated the 15 KWp Solar Cycle Stand and Green House at Government Middle School, Sector 46-D here. The Solar Cycle Stand has been commissioned  at a cost of Rs.18.58 lakhs from MPLAD Scheme  and executed  by  CREST(Chandigarh Renewal Science & Technology Promotion Society), a Society under Department of Science & Technology, UT Chandigarh, through M/s Exicom Tele System Ltd., Gurgaon.

Among others present included Mr. Harphool  Chandar Kalyan, Mayor, Chandigarh & Mr. Santosh Kumar, IFS, Director (Science & Technology) .

Later on while interacting with media, Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal appreciated the efforts taken by Science & Technology Department in developing Chandigarh as Model Solar City and promoting Renewable Energy options like Solar Energy and informed that in future more emphasis shall be given to promote its use by Private individual on their rooftop.

Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal emphasised that  Solar Cycle Stand is a new concept where we can generate green power besides parking of cycles under the shaded area and also harvest the rain water for charging the ground water. He informed that more such Solar cycle stands shall be constructed from MPLAD Scheme. This school based cycle stand is the first solar cycle stand in the Northern region. The capacity of the SPV power plant is 15KWp. The covered area of this cycle stand is 1050 Sq. feet where more than 100 cycles can be accommodated. This Solar power plant will generate more than 20,000 units of electricity per annum.

The function was also attended by, Mr. Chanchal Kumar, Dy Director, School Education, Mr. Ravinder Singh, Project Director (CREST), Mr. Ram Singh Sandhu, Headmaster, Govt. Middle School, Sec.46-D, Chandigarh, Mr. Pramod Sharma, Coordinator, Yuvsatta  and other public leaders.

MP Pawan Kumar Bansal seeks more powers for MC.

Chandigarh, February

Chandigarh MP Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal has advocated for transfer of more powers and departments from Chandigarh administration to Municipal Corporation.

The elected representatives of public are answerable to them, therefore the Municipal Corporation, institution of elected representatives of people, should be strengthened and given more powers particularly of executive nature, which were presently with Chandigarh administration, said Mr. Bansal while addressing the delegates of 4th conference of Coordination Committee of Government and MC employees& Workers, UT Chandigarh.

Bansal stressed on the need of introducing the system of Mayor-in-council. He said that necessary amendment should be made to introduce this system and administration should have only very few departments. Bansal said that he had seen the functioning of all union territories of the country and had found similar problems. The elected representatives were more responsive as compared to the officials, who are posted in UT on temporary basis.

Bansal said that he was of the view that all employees working on jobs of permanent nature should be employed on regular basis instead of being employed on contractual basis. He added that further the employees of UT cadre, despite working for two or three decades, were not able to get promotion to the top posts, which were designated to be filled from other states. This further enhances the resentment among the UT cadre employees.

Referring to the service or recruitment rules in UT, Bansal said that the officials generally interpreted these rules very conservatively.  He further added that the officials took different stands and sometimes attempt to pass on the buck by referring the issues to center. He gave example of employment of 134 sanitary employees who were deployed on sanctioned posts.  Bansal said that he had been taking up various issues of UT employees at the center. But now it was time to havebetter governance at UT level itself.

Bansal said that the associations of employees were also not clear whether to follow the Punjab rules of center rules.    

Later a delegation of All India Bind Employees Association also called on Pawan Kumar Bansal at his residence. The delegation, led by its president Harpal Saini informed the MP that lot of posts under one percent blind quota for blinds had not been filled for the past many years.

Presently, these posts were vacant in Education, health, Tourism and CTU, they said.They further told that the blind students were getting fee concessions in schools and colleges in Punjab and Haryana but in Chandigarh, they were made to pay normal fee.

There were about 400 blind students in Chandigarh colleges, they told. Bansal assured them to take up the issues with the administration for necessary and immediate action.

MP Pawan Kumar Bansal blames BJP for instigating people against the Congress.

Chandigarh, February 23,

"Chandigarh has set an example in slum rehabilitation. It happens to be the only city in the entire country for having undertaken this project in its true spirit. Under the rehab scheme 60,000 families would get houses, of which around 50,000 have already been rehabilitated", said MP Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal while addressing a massive rally in sector 25 rehabilitation colony.

Mr. Bansal today lashed out at the BJP for instigating people. He appealed to thepeople not to be misled by the BJP and assured them of all amenities in their vicinity.

Mr Bansal was accompanied by former city mayor, Mr. Pardeep Chhabra, and party Colonies Cell president Mr. Shashi Shankar Tiwari.

Assuring a slum free Chandigarh, he said the residents who had got a place to live should feel fortunate as they had been provided the best amenities in a city where land cost is touching a new high, adding that construction of each house had cost the Chandigarh Administration over Rs 2.5 lakh.

He also said soon licenses would be given to the roadside vendors, and elaborated on the new scheme of providing food grains to the poor.

Mr Bansal said the BJP was trying to stall developmental works which was evident from its activities by stalling the parliament in the national capital and MC house here.

Former Mayor, Pardeep Chhabra while addressing the people said, The promises made by the Congress have been met adding that BJP is doing politics in the name of the religion and appealed to the people not to be misled by the people. He also added that city has been connected with so many cities across nation because of introduction of new trains.

Meeting was organised by Gurpreet Gabi ex youth congress president. Pawan Athwal, Irfan Khan, Yadwinder Mehta, Rajiv Moudgil, Omparkash saini. Daljit gill. Neelam Gill. Ankush Jolly.  Anil Manchanda, Love Kumar,  Naveen Sehgal. Shiv Kumar Kanwar Bhan.

Nukkar natak on drugs and female foeticide was also organised. SD college students union extended their support to Pawan Bansal. Pawan Athwal president Bhatiya Balmiki Samaj Morcha joined congress. Irfan khan joined congress with 150 from Muslim community. Chanchal Chitranjan and Darshan Garg and Kishan Chadha were also present.

MP Pawan Kumar Bansal Says skill development is the need of the hour.

Chandigarh, February, 2014

Local Member of Parliament, Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal today while stressing on need for skill development, said if you have talent even challenge can become an opportunity.He was speaking at Prajapati Bhawan in sector 38 here at a joint function of the municipal corporation and Jan Shikshan Sansthan, the National Literacy Mission Authority here.

Mr. Bansal also distributed training kits to the passouts of different courses and assured a grant of Rs 8 lakh out of the MPLAD fund for their development.

He said it was heartening to see the training programmes being offered under the aegis of JSS. “Getting jobs is not very easy these days, hence skill development is need of the hour. The number of applicants for any kind of jobs is more than the vacancies and we must respect whatever work is done with hands. We must ensure dignity of labour”, he added.

The MP stressed on creating groups along with the training sessions of those undergoing skill development courses so that their phone numbers can be shared with people who wish to avail their services. He also suggested need for capacity building exercise which should help form linkages for giving work to such skilled passouts.

MP Pawan Kumar Bansal greets on Guru Ravi Dass Jayanti Appeals to maintain brotherhood and remove differences.

Chandigarh, February, 2014

On the occasion of Shri Guru Ravidass Parkash Utsav, Chandigarh MP, Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal appealed to the city residents to maintain brotherhood and communal harmony. He said there was also a need to treat everyone equal.

He was speaking at a function to mark the occasion at Punjab Engineering College (PEC) community centre here in sector 12. The function was organized by the association of PEC employees where Mr. Bansal was the chief guest.

Among other prominent present there included former mayor Anu Chatrath, President of the PEC Employees Association Hari Mohan, senior vice president Jaswinder Singh, and vice president Harpreet Singh among others.

Mr. Bansal said we should work together setting aside all barriers of caste or religion. He was honoured with a saropa by the association members. The celebrations will conclude on February 17 with a Langar and Akhand Path.

MP Pawan Kumar Bansal says Health Security Bill on anvil.

Chandigarh, February

On the lines of Right to Education and right to food in form of Food Security Bill, soon right to health facilities may also be a reality, this was hinted by Chandigarh MP and former union minister Pawan Kumar Bansal while addressing the residents of colony number 4 in Industrial Area phase I here today.

Bansal said this while addressing the gathering in an awareness camp, organized by Social Welfare Board, to spread awareness about various government schemes. Bansal said that union government had already started National Health Insurance Scheme for the poor people by providing them insurance of Rs. 30,000 per year. The party president Sonia Gandhi had been stressing that residents should also be ensured good health facilities as has been done by ensuring good education for each child underRTE and ensuring food for every family under food security bill.

Bansal also deliberated upon the misconception about the subsidies on LPG and use of adhar carda. He said that earlier the LPG cylinders were being black marketed and general public was facing problems in getting these cylinders. Similarly government had launched MNREGA scheme for 100 days employment to labour. But there were complaints that money was not reaching the beneficiaries for whom the scheme had been made. Looking into the complaints, it was decided to provide the benefit to the actual beneficiaries. Therefore, the subsidies on LPG or payment of wages, underMNREGA, was started through the bank, linked with adhar cards.

Referring to food security bill, Bansal said that smart ration cards were being made and this would also ensure that depot holders will have to give ration to the card holder. No other person would be able to get ration on other smart ration card holder. Bansal asked the general public to take benefits of various government schemes. He said that many schemes were being formulated for the public but later it was found that the number of beneficiaries was less than the number expected, for whom the scheme was formulated. This was because of low awareness about the schemes. He asked the volunteers and other stakeholders to play important role in making the people aware about the scheme.

Addressing the gathering, chairperson of social Welfare Board, Chandigarh, Kamlesh Kumari referred to various schemes and loans facilities in all the fields.Former Deputy Mayor and area councilor Satish Kainth welcomed the move of social welfare board of organizing awareness camps for the public.Salochna Ahuja and Kanwaljit Kaur, both members of Social Welfare Board were also present on the occasion. The officials of various departments like labour, khadi board and social welfare department talked about various welfare and loan schemes for the people.  

Chandigarh MP Pawan Kumar Bansal informed that UT nod to regularisation of daily wagers.

Chandigarh, February

Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal, Member Parliament today released the logo of 4th Delegates Conference of Coordination Committee of Govt. & MC Employees & Workers U.T., Chandigarh at his residence. On this occasion Mr.Bansal informed that the Chandigarh Administration has approved the policy regarding the regularization of Daily wage employees. It has been a long pending demand of the employees.

4th Delegate Conference of Coordination Committee of Govt. & MC Employees & Workers U.T., Chandigarh is going to be held on February 22 in which Convenor and working committee will elected and next course of action on the demands of U.T. employees will also be decided.

Pawan Kumar Bansal while addressing the members of Coordination Committee informed that the policy of regularization of daily wagers was approved by the Administrator. About 1700 daily wagers would be covered under this policy.

All the members of the Coordination Committee led by its Convener Mr. Rakesh Kumar thanked Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal for his sincere efforts to regularize the daily wage employees.

It is pertinent to mentioned here that the Chandigarh Administration had constituted a three members committee, headed by D K Tiwari, then Secretary Forest to frame a policy regarding the regularization of Daily wage employees. Prerna Puri, Additional Home Secretary and S.K Chadha, Chief Engineer U.T. were members of the committee.After detailed discussions with the representatives of the Coordination Committee of Govt. & MC Employees & Workers U.T., Chandigarh, and committee submitted its recommendations to the Chandigarh Administration on April 5, 2013.

MP Pawan Kumar Bansal says CA’s have an important role in the city.

Chandigarh, February 4, 2014: Chandigarh Member of Parliament, Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal today said with city becoming a corporate hub, chartered accountants have an important role to play.

The MP said there was no denying in the fact that tax as a subject has its own importance in the economy today, adding that deliberations on the subject in the conference will bring out important conclusions.

He was speaking at TaxCon 2014, a conference at Hotel Mountview organized by Chandigarh Branch of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. “Chandigarh is already a financial, health and educational hub, and is fast becoming an IT hub of the region. While we don’t have a supportive industrial policy, but all industrial houses around city have their corporate offices in city. Hence CA’s have a very significant role”, said Mr. Bansal.

He said there are 2 lakh chartered accountants in the country and over 10 lakh students pursuing this profession, which itself explains their growing demand keeping in mind growing economies across the world.

Mr. Bansal said some crucial laws are not simple and complexities are on the rise and professionals are required in the financial sector. Seeing the presence of CA students in the audience, the MP said they should work hard to attain success and should not be afraid of facing failure.

“The way you manage things when you have nothing and the way you behave when you have everything” is the mantra of success, he said, stressing on the need to accept ups and downs and how you manage your failures, which defines life. The MP said CA’s have a major challenge to redress financial matters with their expertise. The Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Mr. Swatantra Kumar, Additional Commissioner Income Tax Garima Singh, and ICAI Chairman Krishan Joshi were also present on the occasion among others.