Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann declares public holiday on March 23 on occasion of Shaheed Diwas

Days after taking oath at the ancestral village of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh in Nawanshahr district, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday declared a public holiday on March 23, which is celebrated as 'Shaheed Diwas'.

'Shaheed Diwas' or the Martyr's Day is the anniversary of the deaths of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar and Shivaram Rajguru.

The Punjab State Assembly also passed a resolution to install statues of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and Babasaheb Ambedkar in the Assembly.

After the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) decimated the Congress and the SAD-BSP combine and won 92 of the 117 Assembly seats on March 10, Mann had said that no government office will display photographs of the chief minister and instead, photos of Bhagat Singh and BR Ambedkar will be put on walls in government offices.

Earlier on March 19, Mann had held his first Cabinet meet and had approved filling up 25,000 vacant posts in various state departments, including 10,000 in the police force.

Mann announced the decision in a video message and said that the process of advertisement and notification for these jobs would be initiated within a month. He said the jobs will be given on merit.

The chief minister said 10,000 jobs will be given in the Punjab Police and the rest in various other departments, boards and corporations.

There will be no discrimination, no "sifarish" (recommendation) and no bribe, Mann added.