NRI’s help to be sought for projects in rural segments of Punjab, says Punjab NRI Affairs Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal

JALANDHAR/NEW YORK (TIP): Rural Development and Panchayats and NRI Affairs Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal , on March 30,  held a meeting with the Block Development and Panchayat officials and asked them to create a database of the NRIs so that the department could get in touch with them to seek their support for projects in their native villages, according to a Tribune News report.  He said they would be asked to adopt village schools, hospitals and dispensaries. “We will ask them to contribute whatever amount they can like Rs 5 lakh or so on. We can even put up a stone in memory of their parents or family members along with the work they have sponsored,” he said. The minister said the state government would establish four special courts in Amritsar, Ludhiana, Patiala and Bathinda for the cases pertaining to the NRIs. Dhaliwal asked the officials to start the exercise to get back the encroached panchayat land.