Punjab Assembly pays tributes to authors Dalip Kaur Tiwana, Jaswant Singh Kanwal

The Punjab Assembly on Thursday paid tributes to Punjabi writers Dalip Kaur Tiwana and Jaswant Singh Kanwal and other prominent personalities who have died since the last House session. On the first day of the Budget session, obituary references were made to eight eminent personalities and the four children who died in the Longowal school van fire incident.

A resolution for conveying the condolences of the House to their respective families. The Assembly paid tributes to novelists and writers Tiwana and Kanwal. The House paid its respect former MLAs Chaudhary Khurshid Ahmed and Raj Kumar Gupta and freedom fighters Gurdev Singh and Darbara Singh.

The House also remembered senior journalist and Editor-in-Chief of Punjab Kesari Publications of Delhi Ashwini Kumar Chopra. The House paid rich tribute to legendary Punjabi folk Singer Lachi Bawa. Extending condolences to the bereaved families, the House also paid tributes to the four children - Simranjit Singh, Sukhjit Kaur, Navjot Kaur and Arudhya Kumari -- who lost their lives in the tragic school van fire incident at Longowal.

A two-minute silence was observed in the memory of departed souls as a mark of respect during the obituary references. The Speaker also proposed that homage be paid to Journalist Aman Brar, who passed away on Tuesday. On the request of Cooperation Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, the names of two children killed in Tarn Taran trolley cracker blast were also added to the obituary list.

On the request of MLA Kultar Singh Sandhwan, the Speaker also consented to include the name of veteran journalist Dalbir Singh to the obituary references. Meanwhile, the budget session was extended till March 4 from February 28 and now the budget for 2020-21 will be presented on February 28. This decision was taken by the Business Advisory Committee of the House.