Chandigarh, June 20
The Shiromani Akali Dal( SAD) the main opposition party in the Punjab Assembly today demanded probe by an independent agency into the recently held elections, which it descried as a fraud on democracy, panchayati raj institutions and four Municipal Corporations.

Initiating the discussion on a special motion moved under rule 77 by 14 MLAs of the SAD, Akali legislator, Balwinder Singh Bhunder equated these elections with that of recently held in Pakistan. In Pakistan the referendum was conducted recently under the shadow of army guns, in Punjab the elections were held under the fear of the police. For casting votes for the compress candidates at certain places, it extended all help to them, he added.

It is interesting, led by Mr Parkash Singh Badal, Akali legislators disrupted proceedings of the House on May 12 that resulted into special discussion on the issue today. But many of senior Akali legislators, including Mr Badal were not present in the House today.

Pleading that Pakistan pattern, should not be followed in Punjab, Mr Bhunder rejected results of the elections and urged for fresh elections. Quoting from several newspapers and drawing the attention to a packet of other documents, Mr Bhunder said these were not elections but a fraud. He said that an inquiry was not held and injustice, undone consequences for the state would be very dangerous.

He also alleged that certain places terrorists were used by the Congress party to help its candidates. Among the specific charges levelled by him were that the voters were enlisted even when the polling was on, there was no provision for the identification of the voter, voters’ lists were not given to candidates till June 3 and there were irregularities in voters’ lists with regard to deletion and inclusion of names of voters. Even residents of Haryana were listed voters in Punjab.

Mr Avinash Khanna, a BJP legislator, also supported what Mr Bhunder stated and urged for the setting up of a committee of the house to hold a probe into the matter. He also cited several instances of foul play and use of force to defeat the Opposition candidates.

Mr Hari Singh Zira, an Akali MLA, said these were not elections but murder of the democracy. He repeatedly named a senior officer of the police in the House for interfering with the elections in Zira and Makhu belt. Police officials had been instructed to support the present ruling party candidates. If the senior police officer was interested in electoral politics, he should resign and contest the elections. He said that inquiry into the irregularities in the elections should be conducted by a Judge of the high court. He said that cases against Akali supporters have been registered.

Mr Sucha Singh Chhottepur, leader of Independent MLAs in the House, reminded the Akali legislators of the misdeeds of the previous SAD-BJP Government during its tenure regarding the elections to panchayats.

However, Mrs Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Punjab Minister for Panchayats, rejected the demand of the SAD legislators for a probe and said that the elections were held in a free and fair manner. No wrong was committed. People voted in a big way for the ruling party candidates and rejected the Akali candidates. There was no substance in what had been said by Mr Balwinder Singh in the House.

Defending his party and the conduct of elections, Mrs Bhattal said that Akalis should not forget what they did to the Congress men when they were in power. She gave the instance how Wassan Singh Zaffarwal’s appeals were used by akalis to win the Majitha byelection. She gave many other such examples. “I did not receive a single complaint from any quarter regarding any mischief in the holding of elections of Zila Parishads and block samitis from any where”, she said.

Kharar, June 20
Mrs Harinder Sidhu, local Judicial Magistrate, today ordered that Ravinder Pal Singh Sidhu, former Chairman of the Punjab Public Service Commission, should be produced before the Special Judge, Ropar, on June 21. Sidhu was produced before this court on a production warrant issued by the court yesterday.

Mr Jatinder Jit Singh Punn and Mr M.P. Shahi, both public prosecutors, appeared in the court and said that Sidhu was arrested by the Vigilance Bureau in connection with an FIR No. 7 dated March 25, 2002, registered at SAS Nagar under the Prevention of Corruption Act. They said now a few more sections of the IPC, that is 467, 468 and 471 had been added to the FIR and Sidhu was to be arrested under these sections. They pleaded for permission of court to arrest him again.

Ropar, June 20
The interim bail application filed by Jagman Singh, an accused in the PPSC recruitment scam, on June 13, was dismissed by Mr Maghar Khan, Sessions Judge, here today.

Jagman Singh, through his counsel, had filed the application for grant of interim bail on the ground that his wife was in an advanced stage of pregnancy and there was nobody to look after her. His earlier bail application, filed on April 22, was dismissed by the Sessions Judge on May 29.

Ludhiana, June 20
The era of village Shylocks usurping land of the farmers in debt may have faded from memory, but it is a harsh reality that even after the British enacted the Punjab Debtors Protection Act, 1936, to guarantee inalienability of half the farmer’s land and the security of his assets, more than 3 per cent of land in rural Punjab passes into the hands of the moneylenders even today.

The British, unlike the present-day governments, had realised the genesis and plight of the farmers and had — under the doctrine of dam — dupat — decreed that no recovery for any sum larger than twice the advanced amount could be effected. For this, they had set up the Debt Reconciliation Boards in 1934. At that time the total debt of united Punjab stood at Rs 135 crore.

Today, the condition is just as critical. Moneylenders often arhtiyas, charge exorbitant rates of interest which the farmer is unable to pay. Thus, starts a vicious circle which ultimately ends by his becoming landless or in his death.

A cross-section of commission agents and moneylenders, on condition of anonymity, told TNS that they were unaware of the 1943 Act but had been resorting to taking over the land mortgaged to them in lieu of money through legal documents or even on the basis of entries in their ‘bahis’ — ledgers. Most of them were non-committal on the sums advanced by them to the farmers, its source or whether the interest charged thereof was intimated to the farmers at regular intervals. A majority of them agreed that if any legislation makes it mandatory for them to declare loans forwarded in excess of a certain amount, it would affect their business. But at the same time added that it would be in the lenders interest since there would be no possibility of the debtor concealing the extent of his indebtedness. The government would also be the gainer since a lot of black money would be unearthed as a majority of the loans would be declared null and void on account of being usurious, they opined.

Non-institutional debt today comprises between 60 per cent and 80 per cent of total rural debt of Rs 10, 000 crore. Investigations by the Movement Against State Repression (MASR) into rising incidents of suicides by farmers are an eye opener of the magnitude of the problem. According to the report, the interest rate charged by the money lenders varied from 24 per cent to 60 per cent — depending on the urgency of the loanee. Since, banks covered a “mere 20 per cent of the cost of agricultural production” and the need of the farmer was pressing, he had no option but to knock on the door of the moneylender.

If certain measures, both legislative and legal, were initiated by the government, the problem could be solved to a large extent. First, waiving interest of the marginal and small farmer and if not possible, a three-year moratorium on the recovery of the principal amount should be imposed. Kisan cards should be issued to farmers to enable them to avail of loans without delays.

In the case of non-institutional finance, the government should strictly enforce existing legislations outlawing usurious debts. It should be made mandatory for the commission agents to make declaration of loan money over a certain amount within a month. The government could establish Debt Reconciliation Boards on the pattern of the 1934 Act. If other Acts could be a carryover from the colonial era, why not re-enact a good piece of legislation, the study reasoned.

(To be concluded)

Amritsar, June 20
Even as the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) has issued fresh instructions to its staff to withhold delivery of electricity bills to consumers who migrated from the Indo-Pakistan border to safer places after the Army build-up, flying squads slapped a penalty to the tune of Rs 1.5 crore on 5,703 consumers who were found indulging in power theft.

Giving details, Mr C.J. Rai, Chief Engineer (Border Zone), said the premises of 15,872 consumers, especially in posh colonies, were raided by the flying squads as part of a special drive launched last month which detected that 5,703 consumers were indulging in power theft. Of the total penalty of Rs 1.5 crore, the PSEB had already recovered Rs 1.19 crore.

Mr Rai said there were more than 3000 consumers who had migrated from zero line after the heightened tension in the region. They would not be delivered electricity bills as directed by the Chief Minister. He said the consumers who had already received the bills and had not paid these should not fear disconnection. He said subdivisional officials had been asked to meticulously follow the instructions of the state government and the board in this regard.

In yet another development, the PSEB has chalked out a plan to provide an alternative source of power supply to the owners of 945 tubewells which fell in the mine areas on the Indo-Pakistan border (in both Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts).

Meanwhile, the Chief Engineer has issued instructions to Superintending Engineers/Executive Engineers to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the villages of the border belt.

The board has introduced “energy accounting”. It has also opened consumer-care centres which would help consumers in getting their grievances redressed on a priority basis.

Amritsar, June 20
Taking cognizance of a report published in The Tribune (May 12) about the Rs 23-crore old-age pension scam, the Punjab State Human Rights Commission has directed the Principal Secretary (Home) and IGP (Litigation) to submit a report to the commission before August 29.

The order of the commission reads, “Mr Charanjit Singh Bakshi, a social activist, had filed this complaint borrowing facts from a news report in The Tribune which pertains to the old-age pension scam.

The news report states that Mr Satya Pal Dang, a CPI leader, in his statement had stated that about 10 agents, including the kingpin of the whole scam, Surinder Kumar, a panch, who used to get pensions sanctioned to bogus and ineligible persons, had still not been arrested. The news report went on to state that a case was registered against Surinder Kumar on the orders of the then SSP, Mr Parmpal Singh Sidhu. However, he managed to get bail from the high court. Subsequently, another case was registered by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau at Chandigarh against him recently. Mr Dang further stated in his press statement that the high court had rejected the application of Surinder Kumar following registration of a new case but he had managed to evade arrest till then.

The news item of The Tribune further stated that the money involved in the pension scam was to the tune of Rs 23 crore.”

Kharar, June 20
Ms Harinder Sidhu, Duty Magistrate, Kharar, today remanded Mr Tota Singh, former Education Minister, Punjab, in police remand till June 23.

The public prosecutors demanded police remand of 10 days for the accused. They pleaded that information was yet to be collected from the accused about ETT admissions and two plots purchased by him in SAS Nagar. They said record regarding misuse of telephone and car of the Punjab School Education Board had been recovered by the Vigilance Bureau. They said information was required from the accused about six acres purchased by him near Moga and Mr Kehar Singh, Chairman of the Punjab School Education Board.

The defence counsel, on the other hand, opposed the demand of police remand. They said vague allegations had been levelled against the accused. They sought exact dates on which property had been purchased by him during his tenure as minister.

Meanwhile, Mr Kirpal Singh Badungar, President, SGPC, met Mr Tota Singh for about 20 minutes. A large number of his supporters also met Mr Tota Singh as he was taken out of the judicial complex.

Bathinda, June 20
Ms Gurcharan Kaur, an MP and senior BJP leader, said yesterday that the BJP’s support to Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam for the President’s post showed that the party did not have ill-will against any particular community.

Ms Gurcharan Kaur, while addressing a meeting of party workers here, said the allegations of other parties that the BJP was communal party had been proved baseless with the party supporting Dr Kalan only on merit.

She praised the decision of the Congress to support Dr Kalam as a good gesture and criticised the Left parties for opposing his candidature.

She alleged that the anti-corruption campaign launched by the Punjab Government was politically motivated. If the Congress government was serious about taking action against corrupt politicians, it should indict those Congress leaders against whom charges had been levelled in Lok Pal, she said.

Ropar, June 20
Experts have expressed concern over the unprecedented rise in suspected AIDS cases in the district. At a seminar organised here today, the Primary Medical Officer of the BBMB Canal Hospital said though the number of full-blown AIDS cases in Punjab was just 203, as per the latest data released by the National AIDS Control Organisation, the number of HIV-positive cases was much higher.

Patients coming to the hospital were being tested for AIDS through TRIDOT method, which had 70 per cent reliability. Such patients were being advised to go to the PGI in Chandigarh for confirmatory tests. However, most of them were not going for the tests due to the social stigma attached with it. They acted as carriers of the AIDS virus to other persons, he said.

Dr V.K. Jaswal, a private practitioner, said the number of suspected AIDS cases in the area had been increasing at such a pace that the disease might take the form of an epidemic in the near future. In the preliminary tests conducted for testing AIDS at his clinic, almost one to two patients had tested positive a month on an average. The most dangerous trend was that most private clinics were not keeping kits to check patients for AIDS. By doing this, they were exposing the healthy patients to the danger of getting infected with AIDS.

The government should make it mandatory for all private clinics to keep AIDS detection kits. The doctors should also take up the social responsibility to assure that they did not accidentally infect healthy patients with AIDS virus.

The seminar, organised by a local NGO ARPAN, was attended by about 200 truck drivers and owners associated with the Nangal Truck Union. The ADC (General), Ropar, Mr Vikas Garg, presided over the seminar.

Mr D.P. Singh, while addressing the seminar, stressed the need to involve religious institutions in spreading AIDS awareness. Mr R.C. Roy, Principal of the Shivalik College of Pharmacy, told about the latest research in the field of medicine regarding AIDS.

Research in the field of ayurveda had provided effective treatment for AIDS, he said.

Mr Kuldeep Chand, Director of Arpan, said in Punjab, truck drivers were the main carriers of the disease. The government had now launched a campaign to make them aware about the dangers the disease posed to life and family.

Bathinda, June 20
The local unit of the Punjab State Ministerial Services Union has flayed the provisions announced by the Punjab Government in the 2002-03 Budget. In a statement issued here today, the President of the union, Mr G.S. Grewal, said the government had failed to keep the promises made earlier.

Instead of striving for greater welfare of the employees, the government had cut down on the existing facilities and welfare measures, the statement said. From the government’s action, it was evident that no political leader could be trusted, the statement added. The statement added that the union would launch a stir against the provisions in the Budget. A meeting of representatives of various employees’ union in Punjab was scheduled to be held in Ludhiana on June 22 to discuss the issue and chalk out further strategy.

The union also urged the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, and the Finance Minister Mr Lal Singh, to review the decisions announced in the Budget so that the welfare of the employees was not hampered and any showdown between the government and employees was averted.

In an other statement, members of the Council of Trade Unions (CTU), Bathinda, said the Budget was anti-employees and harsh on the masses. The CTU also expressed apprehensions that as a fallout of the Budget provisions, thousands of government employees might be rendered unemployed.

Further, imposition of toll tax on newly constructed roads and bridges would hit the lower class who had to commute daily to earn their livelihood. The CTU also flayed the increase in rates of drinking water and sewerage in the state.

FARIDKOT: The Punjab Beopar Mandal on Thursday expressed concern over the government proposals to withdraw various concessions to the trading community in the Budget. Mr Madan Lal Kapoor and Mr Bimal Gupta, President and Patron of the body, respectively, said enforcing modified value-added tax to eradicate theft of sales tax in the state would create more complications for the businessmen who were under stress due to a harassment at the hands of the Excise and Taxation Department.

Introduction of exim forms, besides imposition of sales tax on 206 different items would also create problems for the traders. They regretted that withdrawal of sales tax exemption for five to seven years to start new industrial units would give a setback to the state industry which was facing a financial crisis. This policy would also cause harm to the economic conditions of the state.

Bhucho mandi (Bathinda), June 20
Mr Anurag Verma, Deputy Commissioner, yesterday ordered an inquiry to be conducted by the Deputy Director, Department of Local Bodies, into the alleged use of substandard material for building roads in the town.

Mr Verma along with the SSP, Mr Ishwar Singh, was here to listen to the grievances of panchayats, councillors and other people at a sangat darshan. Some of the councillors of the local municipal council alleged that some officials and the president of the council were biased while undertaking development works in the town.

Councillors Budh Ram, Raj Kumar and Ashok Kumar alleged that the development works in the ward of the president of the council were undertaken vigorously while some other wards were totally ignored. They said some of the roads laid a few months ago were in bad shape because substandard material was used.

On hearing the complaints Mr Verma asked the SDM, Mr Upjeet Singh Brar, to inspect the roads, and give report immediately.

Some of the councillors even said that they would resign from the council if an investigation into the matter was not undertaken. They alleged that officials and councillors belonging to the majority group did not listen to their problems.

Ms Santosh Devi, president of the council, said as she did not attend the sangat darshan she did not know what transpired there. However, she said that no discrimination was made while undertaking development works.

Moga, June 20
Two ultras, Amandeep Singh and Mahavir Singh, arrested by the local police yesterday have been remanded in police custody till June 26.

Mr Varinder Kumar, SSP, Moga, told TNS that they were produced before the judicial court of Mr K.K. Bansal here this morning. On the request of the local police, they were remanded for six days.

Meanwhile, interrogations have revealed that the two militants got the pistols from Mastan Singh, a weapons’ supply agent of militants, to kill Baba Piara Singh Bhaniara, who was charged of sacrilege to Guru Granth Sahib.

Ropar, June 20
Mr Maghar Khan, Sessions Judge, adjourned for July 9 hearing on the anticipatory bail application of Ms Kiran Dhawan, Deputy Director, Social Security, Women and Child Development, Punjab, here today. Ms Dhawan was an accused in the junior engineers’ recruitment scam in the Department of Rural Development and Panchayats, Punjab. The public prosecutor stated in the court that he had not received the record related to the case and sought adjournment.

Under these circumstances, the court adjourned hearing on the anticipatory bail application for July 9 for consideration.

In his order, the Sessions Judge mentioned as the record had not been produced by the prosecution, the arrest of the applicant be stayed till the next date of hearing.

Ropar, June 20
Mr Maghar Khan, Sessions Judge, extended till July 9 the judicial remand of Amrik Singh Mohali, Gurcharan Singh Channi, Pradeep Bhateja and Kamaljit Singh, alias Neetu alleged touts of former Punjab PWD Minister Sucha Singh Langah, here today.

The Sessions Judge remanded them in judicial custody till July 9 as the challan in the case had not been presented and the investigation was pending. They were produced in the court after the expiry of their earlier judicial remand today.

Phillaur, June 20
More than 200 men and women of nearby Rurrka Kalan village held a demonstration and staged a dharna in front of the SDM office, and civil hospital, here for more than three hours to protest against the corrupt practice of a Medical Officer of the Civil Hospital, Phillaur, Dr (Mrs) Sidhu, today.

The demonstrators were led by Mela Singh Gill, sarpanch Rurrka Kalan, Sarabjit Singh Gill, cashier, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Naujwan Sabha, district Jalandhar, Ram Saroop Saroya, sarpanch Sarkandi.

Demonstrators alleged that Dr (Mrs) Usha Sidhu, Medical Officer, Civil Hospital, Phillaur, had demanded money to conduct the medical examination of an eight-year-old girl who was allegedly raped by Maghar Singh on June 12. The suspect had been arrested by the police. They alleged that the doctor had refused to conduct the medical examination without getting the money.

The doctor, however, denied these allegations.

Gurdaspur, June 20
Wih the arrest of Arun Kumar and Sukhdev Singh of Tibber village, the police here claims to have solved murder cases of Surjit Singh of Ladhupur village whose body was found from UBDC canal at Dhariwal on June 9 and Vishal Kumar of Tibber whose body was found from Ladhupur in March last year.

Mr B.K. Uppal, SSP, talking to newsmen here, yesterday said, the accused with a view to snatching the motor cycle of Surjeet Singh gave sleeping pills to him and after killing him on June 8 threw his body in UBDC canal near Dhariwal.

Bathinda, June 20
While the state government has proposed a change in the award of generation allowance to the employees of the various thermal plants of the state, the more than 25-year-old Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant (GNDTP), which has crossed its expiry date, has won a cash award of Rs 12.88 lakh for the 10th year in row.

Chandigarh, June 20
The Punjab Government ordered following 34 transfers and fresh postings of IAS and PCS officers today:

Jalandhar, June 20
The district police has busted a gang of criminals by arresting four of its members, who used to sell stolen cars by using fake documents. Five vehicles have been recovered from them.

Mr Opinderjit Singh Ghumman, DSP, said here today that on a tip-off that some persons were involved in the sale of stolen cars by using fake documents, the police yesterday laid nakas at different points in Nakodar and arrested the four. They are Jang Bahadur Singh, Gurvinder Singh, Shingara Singh and Onkar Singh. Later, the police recovered one Toyota, one Bolero, two Maruti Zen and one Maruti 800 from their possession.

Bathinda, June 20
The police today claimed to have solved the murder case of Darshan Kumar, brother of a municipal councillor, Surinder Pal Kaur Mangat, by arresting the brother-in-law of the deceased and another person.

Mr Ishwar Singh, SSP, said in a press note issued here today that David Kumar Chopra, alias Babu, husband of Ms Surinder Pal Kaur, had allegedly murdered Darshan Kumar with the help of his brother Goga on June 11. A case in this connection was registered under Sections 302 and 34 of the IPC and Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act.

Jalandhar, June 20
Punjab Technical University (PTU) has detected cases regarding use of unfair means involving a Director-cum-Controller of the J.D. Institute of Management and Technology and National College of Information Technology, Muktsar. He allegedly used to allow a few chosen students to attempt their papers again after these had been sealed and entrusted in his custody.

The alleged involvement of Mr Sham Lal Goyal, Director-cum-Controller of the institute, in the case came to light when a special team dispatched by the PTU Vice-Chancellor, Dr H.S. Gurm, laid a trap and seized a packet containing some papers of BCA first semester from his official almirah just after completion of the examination. Papers of three students had been found missing from the packet, the seal of which had also been found to have been broken.

Talking to The Tribune, Dr Gurm said the trap had been laid after a number of complaints had been received that the said official had been favouring some students by allowing them to attempt their papers again. He said Mr Goyal had allowed some students to take the papers to their homes so that they could attempt their half-done papers again properly.

Bathinda, June 20
Priya Goyal, a BDS student, is still waiting for the refund of fee and other charges paid to a dental college at Dera Bassi, although she migrated to another institution in February.

A first-year BDS student at Guru Nanak Dev Dental College and Research Institute, Sunam (Sangrur), she spends half of her time communicating with the authorities of National Dental College and Hospital, Dera Bassi, for getting the fee refunded. She says she cannot concentrate on studies as her attention is being diverted.

She is not the only student who is suffering at the hands of private dental colleges. The authorities of private dental colleges make excuses to delay the refund of fee to those students who migrated from there to some other institutes.

She was allotted a seat under the free category at the Dera Bassi dental college on the basis of the PMET conducted by the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot, in 2001. She had got admission at the institute and had paid Rs 24,250. According to a notification of the Punjab Government issued on June 1, 2001, private dental colleges can charge Rs 11,000 from each student who gets admission under the free category. The college authorities had asked her to deposit administration fee, internship and eligibility fee and the tuition fee.

She said on the second counselling by the university in February this year, she had got a seat at a dental college at Sunam. She added that as the college was near her hometown, she had preferred to migrate there. She said she had paid the whole fee again at the Sunam dental college.

Priya Goyal alleged that when she requested the authorities of the Dera Bassi college to refund the fee, they did not entertain her request in a suitable manner. She added that they did not give any satisfactory reply to her repeated queries.

When she failed to get any positive response, she had sent a legal notice to the college authorities. Even the legal notice had not been taken seriously and no ‘responsible’ reply had been given.

She said she had thought of taking further legal recourse, but as the same could take time and money would be spent for hiring some lawyer, she had abandoned the idea. She added that it was up to the college authorities to return the fees charged.

Mr Gurbir Singh Sandhu, Chairman of National Dental College and Hospital, Dera Bassi, when contacted, at his residence in Chandigarh on telephone, confirmed that the institution had to refund the fee to Priya Goyal as she had migrated to another college. He said due to paucity of funds, the fee could not be refunded immediately after migration. He added that arrangements would soon be made for the same.

Mr Sandhu said they had not overcharged the students. He said Rs 11,000, as prescribed in the government notification, was tuition fee. He added that private colleges could ask for other funds as security. He said Ms Goyal had been given concession as she belonged to a poor family and others had paid an amount to the tune of Rs one lakh. He said the amount was refundable after the students completed the course.

Mr Sandhu said as the economic condition of the college was not good, they could not arrange for the refund. He said after migration at least 15 seats in the institution remained vacant. He added that the institution would refund fee to all those who had migrated to other institutions.

Amritsar, June 20
Guru Nanak Dev University has decided to start a five-year integrated MCA course on the university campus here from the current session. An entrance test for the course will be held on July 4. The last date for the submission of application forms is July 2. The entrance tests for admission in MA (Hons and pass course) and BA (Hons) in Punjabi courses being run at the School of Punjabi Studies at the university will be held on June 24 and 25, respectively. The roll numbers for these tests have been despatched. Candidates who do not receive their roll numbers could contact Prof R.S. Bawa, Head of School of Punjabi Studies, on June 21 or 24.

Another press note from the university stated that admission to the one-year certificate and diploma courses in Urdu and Persian at the university was open till June 30. Candidates with minimum qualification of plus two or equivalent were eligible for the courses. They could submit their application forms in the office of the Department of Urdu and Persian in the university.

Amritsar, June 20
Confusion prevails among students applying for medical seats in the Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research here over the college being denied permission by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, for making admissions.

As many as 76 medical and dental institutes throughout India, including this institute, have been denied permission to make admissions following regulations of the Medical Council of India (MCI) and the Dental Council of India. (DCI).

The institute has reportedly received more than 700 applications for 50 medical seats for the academic year 2002-2003.

This would be the second batch to be admitted o the college despite being debarred, as the institute’s case is “under the consideration of the Government of India”, according to the website of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (http://mohfw.nic.in).