Chandigarh, June 5
Punjab Finance, Excise and Taxation Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Friday directed all concerned departments to ensure that traders’ grievances are resolved within seven days, while announcing that Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann and AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal will personally interact with traders from next week to strengthen the state’s grievance redressal mechanism.
Chairing a high-level review meeting of the Punjab State Traders Commission (PSTC) at Punjab Bhawan, Cheema emphasized the government’s commitment to creating a trader-friendly business environment and ensuring prompt resolution of issues faced by the trading community. The meeting began with a detailed presentation on the timelines of previous PSTC meetings and the status of grievances received and disposed of through the commission’s platform.
As Chairman of the PSTC, Cheema instructed all departments to regularly monitor the designated grievance portal and ensure that every complaint is addressed within one week. To streamline coordination and eliminate bureaucratic delays, he directed commission members to establish WhatsApp groups with secretary-level officers and ordered all departments to appoint dedicated nodal officers at their respective headquarters for swift grievance resolution.
In a significant move aimed at addressing security and law-and-order concerns affecting traders, the Finance Minister directed the Special DGP (Law and Order) to establish a dedicated state-level grievance cell. The proposed cell will function under the Special DGP’s office and facilitate immediate intervention in matters requiring urgent administrative attention.
“The objective is to ensure that issues impacting the business community receive timely attention and are resolved at the highest level without unnecessary delays,” Cheema said. The Finance Minister also stressed the need for better communication and greater participation of traders in district-level meetings. He directed the PSTC to issue meeting notices well in advance and ensure extensive publicity of such events. He further instructed that invitation letters from the Chief Minister should reach traders at least one week before the scheduled meetings to encourage maximum participation. During the meeting, PSTC Vice Chairman Anil Thakur and other commission members shared feedback from traders and highlighted several ground-level issues requiring government intervention.
The meeting was attended by Financial Commissioner Taxation Ajit Balaji Joshi, Special DGP (Law and Order) P.K. Sinha, Director Food and Civil Supplies B. Srinivasan, Taxation Commissioner Jatindera Jorwal, PSTC Secretary Puneet Goel, Director Local Bodies A.S. Brar, Special Secretary Labour Ravinder Singh, and senior officials from various state departments. The decisions taken during the meeting are expected to strengthen the state’s trader grievance redressal framework and improve coordination between the government and the business community.
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