End illegal mining, ‘goonda tax’, CM tells DCs, SSPs

CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh has ordered deputy commissioners and SSPs crack down in full force to put an end to all illegal mining and the “so-called goonda tax”, which he said must be stopped with ‘full firmness.’

Addressing a meeting here, he issued strict instructions to officials not to entertain any intervention or recommendation (sifarish) while taking action against illegal mining or goonda tax, but to stringently follow the rules.

Before the CM took the meeting of officials, he met Ashok Bansal, the contractor at the Guru Gobind Singh Refinery situated in Phulokhari of Bathinda district.

Bansal had written a letter to the chief justice of Punjab and Haryana high court against the “goonda tax” charged from the contractors in the refinery.

At the meeting, Amarinder told officials that the time to procrastinate was over.

He directed the officials to pursue the big fish more aggressively. He urged the officials to make extensive use of IT for monitoring of works/applications received.

He directed them to undertake regular checking and inspection of subordinate offices.

He also underlined the importance of concerted efforts to wipe out drugs from the state.

He also stressed the importance of regular interaction between government officials and MLAs and party workers to ensure implementation of all government programmes.