Amidst criticism for going ahead with his Israel tour days after Amritsar rail tragedy, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Sunday made it clear that the decision was taken “after feeling completely satisfied with the relief and rehabilitation measures being carried out for the victims of the Amritsar train tragedy and following assurances by his ministerial colleagues that everything will be taken due care of”
Earlier, Capt Amarinder was scheduled to visit Israel on Friday evening, but had cancelled it at the last moment, following the train accident in Amritsar around the same time. Chief Minister, who will be on five-day visit to Israel, is scheduled to hold meetings from Monday.
While the Chief Minister spent complete day in Amritsar on Saturday, he remained busy on Sunday and closeted with his ministerial colleagues and senior officers to take stock of the situation.
He also issued instructions to the officials and ministerial crisis management group to take all the measures required for relief to the victims.
While the Chief Minister had earlier decided to postpone the visit indefinitely following the Amritsar tragedy, he was, however, advised to go ahead as he was supposed to sign three important memoranda of understanding (MoUs) in Israel on Agriculture, preserving of water resources and dairy development.
“All these proposals hold lot of significance for Punjab, particularly in terms of agricultural diversification and saving the depleting water resources in the state,” said the Chief Minister’s spokesperson, while adding that Israel recycles 90 percent of its water using modern technology, which Punjab can also adopt.
Moreover, the Chief Minister is also scheduled to meet the Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on October 23. Besides, he has separate meetings scheduled with the Israeli Minister for Agriculture Uri Ariel, and the Minister for Energy and Water Resources Dr Yuval Steinitz for signing the Memoranda of Understanding on agriculture and water resources.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister will be in regular touch with the crisis management group of the ministers headed by the Heath Minister Brahm Mohindra as also senior functionaries in the government and the district administration at Amritsar.
He has been directly and regularly communicating with the officials of the district administration since Friday evening to take feedback from the ground and issue necessary instructions.
The Chief Minister on Sunday asked the Amritsar Deputy Commissioner and the Police Commissioner to ensure that “emergency relief” is provided to each and every needy family.
A special team has been constituted for the purpose, which has been asked to visit every affected families to inquire about their urgent needs, which will be provided for instantly on the spot.
