DW BUREAU / chandigarh Punjab NRI Affairs Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal on Wednesday gave an open invite to the Punjabi diaspora settled across the globe to come forward for making their state of origin 'Vibrant' (Rangla Punjab). Chairing a meeting with the senior officials of the NRI department here today in his office Dhaliwal said that the NRIs should take a lead for the betterment of their motherland for which the Punjab Government under the stewardship of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann would extend full support to realize their dreams. NRI Affairs Minister directed the officials to share a draft of NRI Policy within two weeks which would be thoroughly discussed with the Chief Minister for approval. The minister asked the officials to bring a transparent and rational NRI friendly policy for their welfare so as to ensure prompt redressal of their grievances. He also said that the NRI Policy would provide easy and one stop clearances for investment. The Minister further said that most of the Punjabis settled abroad want to serve and contribute for the betterment and development of their native villages. Welcoming the NRIs for their support and contribution in the health, sports, education and rejuvenation of village ponds, the minister said that the new policy would strive to remove all the bottlenecks which prevented them from contributing for the development of the state. Kuldeep Dhaliwal also said that several NRIs were interested in establishing libraries in the villages for which he directed the officials to support and guide all the NRIs for this noble cause. The Minister also welcomed the NRIs for preserving the heritage and culture of Punjab for which they should come up with concrete proposals. Prominent amongst present in the meeting included Special Chief Secretary NRI Affairs Kirpa Shanker Saroj, Member NRI Commission MP Singh, Principal Secretary NRI Affairs Krishan Kumar besides Deputy Secretary Surinder Kaur and AIG NRI Affairs Rajinder Singh. Pb Power Minister meets Union Coal and Power Minister New Delhi Power Minister of Punjab Harbhajan Singh met Union Minister for Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi at Parliament House in national capital and also called upon R.K.Singh, Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy to discuss the concerns of the State of Punjab over ongoing coal crisis and power related issues on Wednesday. During the meeting, the Punjab Power Minister stated that the State witnesses maximum power demand during paddy season and they have to run all the units of thermal power stations under state sector to meet the increased power demand. He further stated that the maximum demand is likely to exceed 15000 MW in ensuing paddy season. He also raised the concerns over issue of supply of less coal rakes in comparison to the allocations He requested the Union Coal Minister to allocate 20 lakh MT additional coal for State Sector Plants and 30 Lakh MT of coal to be transferred from PSPCL to IPPs namely Nabha Power Ltd. (NPL) and Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd. (TSPL) under 'Flexibility Policy' during the paddy season-2022. Harbhajan Singh also met R.K.Singh, to discuss the power related issues of Punjab. He informed the Union Power Minister that due to ongoing country-wide coal crisis, the power plants in the State of Punjab will face acute shortage of coal during the forthcoming Paddy Season-2022. He requested the Union Power Minister to allocate 1500 MW power to the State of Punjab on urgent basis from the Central Sector Generating Stations in order to provide uninterrupted 8 hours power supply to Agriculture Sector and uninterrupted power supply to other consumers in Punjab. The Union Power Minister assured that he would look into the matter and provide sufficient quantity of un-allocated power to Punjab. (editor@dailyworld.in)