Punjab leads the nation in infrastructure. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) infrastructure index gives Punjab a rating of 191 – highest in the country. Even the most industrially developed State of Maharashtra figures at a low level of 111 only, against the national average of 100.
Power:
Highest per capita generation in the country, which is 2.5 times the national average. Quality power without power cuts is available at cheaper rates. Future planned projects ensure easy availability. Concessional tariff for night loads has been introduced in the state. Punjab has surplus electricity and industry gets electric connections without any delay subject to system constraints. The quality of power is also far better than any state in the Northern India and the tariff is one of the lowest. The generation of power continues to get priority treatment from the state. All 12,484 villages in Punjab have been electrified since 1974.
Communications:
Telephone and Allied facilities are available to all cities and small towns. It is possible to directly dial for International calls from a large number of villages also.
Banks:
There are 2,478 branches of scheduled commercial banks in Punjab. The state is also served by a network of 635 branches of the Punjab State Cooperative Bank. On an average, each branch services a population of 9,414, an area of 24 square kilometers or a cluster of five villages.
Health Services
There are 230 allopathic (western medical system) and six ayurvedic (Indian medical system) hospitals (one 105 bed hospital at Patiala and five 10 bed hospital at jalandhar, Bathinda, Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur and Amritsar) and one Homeopathic hospital in the state. They range from 50-bed hospitals in smaller towns to larger hospitals attached with the five medical colleges - one each at Patiala, Faridkot and Amritsar and two at Ludhiana having facilities for
dealing with complicated cases and acting as referral hospitals and teaching colleges. The Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research at Chandigarh has facilities equal to the best available in any metropolis. Private medical facilities are also reliable and are available even in the semi-urban and rural areas of the state. At the level below the district one finds smaller hospitals: there are 1,450 allopathic, 473 Ayurvedic,Dispensaries, 17 ayurvedic Swasth Kendras and 34 Unani (Arab/Persian medical system) and 105 homeopathic dispensaries. In addition the state has 446 Primary Health Centers and 105Community Health Centres. There is one doctor for every 1,589 of the population and one hospital bed for every 864 people - ratios which are probably the best in the country.
About 76 per cent of the villages have protected drinking water supply.
Life expectancy for men and women is 66.6 years which is second highest in the country. All these factors add up to a healthy hardworking population.
Clubs:
Almost all the district headquarters have excellent clubs; Chandigarh, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Patiala have outstanding clubs offering all standard facilities of a club in any metropolis such as tennis and squash courts, libraries, card rooms, entertainment, billiards and bar. Many of them have reciprocal membership arrangements with well known clubs in other towns of the country.
Sports Facilities:
Almost every district town offers facilities for tennis but a few like Patiala, Amritsar, Jalandhar and Chandigarh have resources for track/field, squash, horse-riding, indoor sports and swimming pools. There are golf courses at Chandigarh, Patiala, Jalandhar and Amritsar.
Trekking:
Being close to the hills, Punjab is an ideal base for treks in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. For the less adventurous, the hill stations of Shimla and Dalhousie are within driving distance from any part of Punjab.
TV & Cinema:
The entire Punjab is on the TV map of the country. The southern districts near Kasauli receive telecasts from New Delhi. The central, northern and south-western districts are serviced by the Jalandhar Doordarshan Kendra and the relay stations at Amritsar and Bhatinda. All India Radio stations at Chandigarh and Jalandhar, apart from organising programmes, like the TV station at Jalandhar, also relay the National Programme. Cable television has also reached to the farthest corners of the state. The state has over 200 cinema houses and, like the rest of the country has been touched by the video revolution.
Access:
Punjab is easy to reach by road, rail or air. From Delhi, Chandigarh, the state capital is 246 km and Amritsar, the northernmost city of the state is 446 Kms.
By road:
The total road mileage in Punjab is 35,501 Kms of state roads and rural link roads. In addition, the length of national highways is 964 Kms. All the 12,342 villages in the state are linked by all-weather roads and major towns of all adjoining states are connected by national highways. One can drive from one extreme end of the state to the other in six hours. Road travel time from Delhi is about four hours
All districts and sub-divisional towns have direct bus services to the state capital, Chandigarh. All villages have bus services linking them with the sub-division and district headquarters towns. In addition, there are excellent deluxe bus services between New Delhi and Patiala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Chandigarh. Air conditioned luxury buses ply at almost hourly intervals between New Delhi and Chandigarh. Taxi services between various towns and Chandigarh and to New Delhi are dependable and comfortable.
By Rail:
All major towns and district headquarters have excellent rail links for both passenger and goods traffic. Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Ferozepur and Jalandhar are on the main line and have excellent daily train services to New Delhi including convenient overnight trains. Super fast Shatabdi Express trains connect Delhi to Chandigarh (a comfortable three-hour trip) and Delhi to Amritsar via Ludhiana (equally comfortable and just a little less than six hours). The Shan-e-Punjab train links Amritsar and New Delhi, the Himalayan Queen links Chandigarh and New Delhi and there are numerous trains from Jammu / Amritsar, linking these towns as well as Ludhiana and Jalandhar with New Delhi For more information of various trains and availability schedules, click through the Indian Railway WebSite
By Air:
There is an international airport at Amritsar located in Rajasansi which is about 11 kilometers from the main city. Outside the aiport, you would find cabs that are not necessarily painted yellow and black. The word ‘Taxi’ would be written on each cab.
There is also a car rental facility available in front of the International Arrival Hall.
Other domestic airports are located at Chandigarh (12 kilometers from the city), Ludhiana, Pathankot. For more information on flight schedules, availability and book tickets online, go through websites of
Air India Site, Jet Airways or Air Sahara.
|
