Corruption will be rooted out, says Punjab cabinet minister Harpal Cheema

Chandigarh, Mar 19 (PTI) Soon after being sworn in as a Punjab cabinet minister on Saturday, Harpal Singh Cheema said the Bhagwant Mann-led government will root out corruption from the state and all pre-poll promises will be honoured.

Ten AAP MLAs, including a woman, were inducted in Chief Minister Mann's Cabinet on Saturday.

Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit administered the oath of office and secrecy to the 10 ministers at a simple ceremony at the Guru Nanak Dev auditorium in the Punjab Raj Bhawan here.

"We will wipe out corruption from the state. There will be zero tolerance towards corruption," said Cheema while talking to reporters after being administered the oath of office and secrecy.

To a query on the anti-corruption helpline, Cheema said, "When we receive a complaint on this number, immediate action will follow." Mann on Thursday had announced that his government would launch an anti-corruption helpline number on March 23 that will allow people to upload videos of officials asking for bribe or indulging in other malpractices.

On priorities of the AAP-led government in the state, Cheema said Punjab will be made drug-free and corruption-free, adding that steps will also be taken to address the issue of unemployment in the state.

"We have to bring industry and big projects in the state," said Cheema, who is a two-time legislator from Dirba and the party's Dalit face. Cheema, 47, had been the Leader of the Opposition in the previous assembly.

"We will fulfil all our guarantees," he asserted.

Two-time MLA from Barnala, Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, also spoke about eliminating corruption from the state.

"When corruption is controlled, revenue of the state government will also grow," he said while pointing out that after corruption was controlled in Delhi by the AAP government, the revenue went up sharply.

"After Delhi, Punjab will be the first state where there will be no corruption," Hayer said, adding that "we will work with full honesty and will eradicate mafia raj from Punjab".

To a question, Hayer said he never thought that he would be inducted as the cabinet minister.  Hayer thanked AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, who is also the chief minister of Delhi, Punjab Chief Minister Mann and other leaders for reposing faith in him.

Dr Baljit Kaur, the only woman in the cabinet, said that women should be given maximum opportunities for moving forward in their lives.

"Being a woman, I think our daughters should be provided education at higher levels, their safety should be ensured and they should also excel in all fields," Kaur told reporters. She said that she would try to devote as much time as she could to her patients.

Kaur, 46, who won from Malout, is an eye surgeon.

The daughter of former AAP MP Sadhu Singh had joined the party after resigning from her job at the Muktsar Civil Hospital.

During poll meetings, she had examined patients. She completed her MS in ophthalmology from the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences in 2010. PTI CHS VSD ANB ANB