Bathinda, May 3
The four pro-Captain Amarinder Singh MLAs of Bathinda district, Gurpreet Kangar, Ajaib Singh Bhatti, Makhan Singh and Jeet Mohinder Sidhu, were conspicuously absent during the visit of the PPCC chief Rajinder Kaur Bhattal here today.

Harminder Singh Jassi, her only loyal MLA here, accompanied her. The MLAs belonging to the Amarinder Singh faction also did not accompany Bhattal to the villages where three persons were burnt alive in a devastating fire in the fields earlier this week.

She told mediapersons that now there were no differences between her and Amrinder Singh.

She sought imposition of President’s rule in Punjab where, she alleged, the law and order has collapsed and the state had plunged into financial crisis. She accused the SAD government of having imposed political emergency where under activists of the Congress were being booked in “fake” cases by police.

She alleged that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has plunged the state into bankruptcy because of their incompetence and the common people were facing miseries.

She said that visualising defeat in the elections for rural bodies, the SAD-BJP combine government had started harassing Congress activists. Five Congress candidates for these elections were framed in false cases at Faridkot and not allowed to file their nomination papers.

Bhattal warned that the Congress party would not remain a mute spectator and would gherao the officers who were dancing to the tunes of the Badal family and victimising the opposition.

She criticised Vedanti’s statement on “Khalistan” and described it as an attempt to again mislead the people.

She lashed out at Badal and said that instead of interfering in the affairs of the Congress, he should first try to save his alliance with the BJP that has reached a breaking point.

She criticised Badal for delaying compensation to the victims of the fire in the fields and sought that the state government should introduce crop insurance scheme without further delay.

Bathinda, May 3
Religious fervour gripped Bathinda town as ‘Guru Manyo Granth Jagriti Yatra’ entered the town amidst recital of ‘shabad kirtan’ while chants of ‘Jo Bole So Nihal’ rent the air.

The Jagriti Yatra, taken out to commemorate 300 years of the installation of Guru Granth Sahib and “Parlokgaman” of Guru Gobind Singh, started its journey from Takht Sachkhand Hazoor Sahib in Maharashtra on November 15, 2007 and has covered more than 100 cities to reach Bathinda.

Thousands of devotees from different parts of the city and surrounding areas converged to receive the yatra and pay obeisance by showering flower petals on the vehicle carrying the weapons of the Guru and the handwritten ‘Bir’.

SGPC member Sukhdev Singh Bahiya and Bibi Devinder Kaur led thousands of devotees in welcoming the flower bedecked vehicle carrying the holy Granth Sahib, weapons of Guru Gobind Singh and Bir and motorcyclists acted as pilots while a Kirtan Jatha added fragrance to the religiously surcharged atmosphere as the Yatra moved across the city.

Shabad kirtan and recital of religious verses from the Granth sahib continued throughout the day in the Diwan Hall at the Hazi Rattan Gurdwara.

Sprinkling water to wash the entire route, the devotees laid a carpet of flower petals while a group of women devotees swept the roads ahead of the vehicle paving the way for the Yatra.

“It is for the first time in Sikh history that the weapons of Guru Gobind Singh and other Sikh martyrs have been brought out of the sanctum sanctorum at Hazoor Sahib and taken across the country for a ‘darshan’, said a devotee accompanying the Yatra.

A unique feature was the candle march in the evening. “The Yatra aims at spreading the message of peaceful coexistence, equality of mankind and secularism received an overwhelming response and attracted people from all faiths, strengthening national integration,” he added. The Yatra halted at the famous Gurdwara in Thermal Colony and would resume its onward journey.

Midhu Khera/Tharajwala (Muktsar), May 3
To comfort families of victims of the fire which engulfed fields in the Malwa belt on Thursday, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, today visited the villages in Muktsar district.

The CM was tight-fisted, mostly giving assurances to bereaved families, citing the election code of conduct in force due to the rural bodies’ polls.

The Chief Minister visited Midhu Khera village where he met Soma (18), a Plus II student, who due to smoke, has suffered respiratory problems. He asked the family to shift her to Ludhiana for treatment and assured that the cost of treatment would taken care of by the government.

After that, he met the family of the deceased Bimla (32) and her daughter Mamta (14), a student of class VII, and assured her husband Om Parkash of a fixed income in the name of his three children (aged 10, four and two years). He also handed over a cheque of Rs 10,000 on the spot. It has been reported that Badal has assured him of a compensation worth Rs 2 lakh, but after the elections.

He then moved to Tharaj Wala village, where he met the family members of the deceased Agwan Kaur (65), belonging to the Dalit community, who was burnt alive and assured support to the family members

The CM said, “Investigation has been initiated and the loss assessment report has reached the Finance Department, which will decide on the compensation”.

Meanwhile, Bhattal too visited the affected villages. After a halt at Bathinda and Badal villages, she too, in a cavalcade, visited Midhu Khera, Tharaj Wala and Bhullar villages and assured the families of her support. She even sought the photographs of members of the victim families, with the promise of putting up their case before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and AICC chief Sonia Gandhi.

As the Leader of the Opposition, she assured support to the ruling party in passing a Bill or enacting a law banning the burning of straw in the wheat fields.

Abohar, May 3
All the roads that connect the new grain market here to the national highway (NH) number 10 are blocked with heaps of wheat while the purchasing agencies and the contractors for stitching jute bags and lifting the filled ones allegedly failed in expediting the work. Purchase remained suspended till this afternoon.

Arrivals this year were a little more than the previous year. However, poor management by the purchasing agencies and the contractors has left nearly 75 per cent of the purchased grains unpicked.

Thousands of bags were yet to be stitched and are stacked in open. The buyers had not even made sufficient arrangements to save the stacked grains from rain or other weather hazards.

Till last evening, wheat arrival was recorded at 10.25 lakh quintal.

The Arhtiya Association, headed by Pramil Kalani, regretted that the PUNSUP had not made payments for the purchases made after April 25.

The PUNSUP was allocated nine rural purchase centres also. The agency was unable to provide even the jute bags, he added.

The district manager of the agency said the bags were to be received from Kolkata.

Jute bags were not available at the rural centre of Kundal village for the past four days.

Many complained that the Markfed, Punjab Agro and Punjab State Warehousing Corporation were also not performing well. The Markfed has not released payments against the purchases made after April 27.

Interestingly, the state government had assured that purchase would be expedited on the day of arrival, payments be made within 48 hours and lifting within 72 hours.

But the workers and commission agents today confirmed that the wheat purchased during the past week was yet to be filled in bags and a huge stock still awaited lifting.

They added that the farmers had no choice but to store the harvested crop in the villages only since space was not available in over two dozen purchasing centres besides the local grain market.

All centres lack basic amenities, including potable drinking water, they rued.

Abohar, May 3
Handicapped employees and women with six-month-old babies were found struggling to find their names in the duty register during the first rehearsal for the Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad polls, under the tents erected outside the DAV auditorium here on Saturday. Some women employees confirmed they were on maternity leave for the last few weeks but were directed to report for the rehearsal outside their sub-division.

 Most of them had to hire cars, as buses were not available for reaching this distant town. Their husbands or close relatives had to escort most of the women employees. One of them was trying hard under the projection of the auditorium to console her baby.

It was around 11:30 am and the heat was unbearable. The weather monitor confirmed that mercury had crossed the 41 degree Celsius mark.   

Some of them told this correspondent that they had arrived sharp at 10 am but there was utter mismanagement and they were yet to locate their names in the election duty lists to mark the attendance.

And most of those sitting inside the auditorium got up even when the presiding officer Arvinder Verma was yet to conclude his lecture at 11:30 am.

The authorities were to hold separate rehearsal for Abohar and Khuyiansarwar Panchayat Samitis but they preferred to combine it at DAV auditorium today.

However, the crowd was told that on May 7, there would be separate sittings for the second rehearsal in the auditorium and meeting hall of DAV College of Education.

The authorities had parked a water tanker of the local market committee near the tents and placed a few glasses to serve drinking water.

Many employees could not attend the rehearsal, as they were busy in searching their names in the list.

Barnala, May 3
Resentment prevails among teachers particularly among women employees for being deployed on election duties in the area. As earlier, the women were deployed only as supervisors, but this time they have been given the charge of presiding officer, which is quite a difficult task and demands much responsibility.

The teachers’ union alleged that despite being the orders issued by the Supreme Court that the teachers would not be deployed for any non-educational work, the state government was bent upon to defy the orders.

The Adayapak Dal, Punjab, demanded from the state government to take back the decision of deploying women teachers on election duties for Zila Parishad and Block Samiti elections.

In a press communiqué issued here today, Adhayapak Dal’s Barnala president Avtar Singh Tallewal said that the teachers should not be deployed on election duties, as it would harm studies.

Many days were wasted on rehearsals and women teachers, whose duties were deployed at far off places from their homes, faced a lot of difficulties.

In case both husband and wife were teachers and were on election duty, it would become difficult for them to look after their family.

So keeping in view the students’ losses and the difficulties of teachers, the Adhayapak Dal appealed to the state government to look into the matter.

Abohar: Poll duties came in for criticism at the crowded sub-divisional complex on Friday, as some of those assigned poll duties informed that the district authorities had directed at least four women teachers, who were on maternity leave, to report for the polling rehearsal in the Fazilka and Jalalabad West sub-divisional towns on Saturday. They included Rajwant Kaur of Ramsara village, Harinderpal Kaur and Sonika Rani of Kikkarkhera village.

The block primary education officers and heads of the schools had been directed to remain present in their respective office on Saturday and Sunday. But today, they received orders to report for rehearsal on Saturday and afterwards, as they have been appointed polling officers in other sub-divisions.

Interestingly, an under-Matric woman peon of a private girls' school here has been assigned the duty of a polling officer.

Worst, a physically-impaired teacher, Asha Bajaj, who has to use wheel-chair to perform her duty in a government primary school at Pucca Seed Farm village here, has received orders for poll duty in Jalalabad West, over 60 km away from her place of posting.

Mansa, May 3
The Congress has blamed the state government for the rejection of nomination of its candidate, who had thrown his hat in poll ring for the Zila Parisad seat. The district administration has rejected the nomination papers of Gurwinder Singh Pammi, who had filed papers against Dilraj Singh Bhundar, son of Balwinder Singh Bhundar, general secretary of SAD.

The district Congress president and MLA Sardulgarh Ajit Inder Singh Moffer, termed it as a murder of democracy and said that nomination papers of the Congress candidate were rejected under pressure from the government.

Notably, the nomination papers of covering candidate Palojit Singh Bajewala, has also been rejected.

Moffer said the matter would be brought to the court.

On the other hand, SAD leader Balwinder Singh Bhundar said the Punjab government had no relation with the rejection of nomination papers. Meanwhile, the district president of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has criticised the Akali government for the rejection of nomination papers of the BSP candidate.

The nomination papers of four candidates for Zila Parishad of Mansa and nine candidates for Jhunir Panchayat Samiti, four candidates for Sardulgarh Panchayat Samiti and three candidates of Bhikhi Panchayat Samiti were rejected.

The nomination papers of the candidates for the Budhlada Panchayat Samiti were, however, found to be in order.

Bathinda, May 3
It would not be wrong to say that “history repeats itself’ in the case of Guru Hargobind Thermal Plant Lehra Mohabbat whose unit II once again tripped today.

Highly-placed sources in the thermal station disclosed that due to interruption in the coal supply, the Unit II tripped at around 8.30 am today. Even after repair, the unit could not be run on full load.

Despite repeated attempts, the chief engineer-cum-general manager (operation and maintenance) could not be contacted for his version. When the public relations officer of the thermal plant was asked to confirm the facts, he refuted them, saying it was a minor problem.

It may be mentioned that a couple of days back, the unit had tripped and the newly raised Unit III is yet to stabilise.

When Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, during his recent visit to Rampura Phul, was asked about the acute shortage of power and non-stabilisation of the Unit III, which he inaugurated on Baisakhi, he said accepting the facts, “Work is going on to sort out the problems and the unit will gradually be in order.”

Ironically, the officers concerned were not ready to disclose the reason.

Bathinda, May 3
Maur police arrested 19 persons for cruelty against animals and rescued around 116 bulls that were brutally loaded on nine tippers without any permit on Friday evening at Maur Mandi.

Police sources said that last evening, Krishan Kumar, a social worker, complained to the police about the cruel act.

Acting on the tip-off, police nabbed the accused along with the animals and the “tippers.”

A case under section 289 of the IPC and also under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and Cow Slaughter Act was registered against them.

The accused were presented before a court where 10 persons from a particular community were found guilty of allegedly trading in animals and were sent to judicial custody. The rest of the nine persons belonging to transport companies were bailed out. The trucks are in police custody and the bulls were sent to Gau Seva Samiti, Maur.

Ferozepur, May 3
For the first time in this border town, a two-day All India Astrologers Conference began today. Sukhpal Singh Nannu, chief parliamentary secretary (revenue), inaugurated the conference at Hotel Kaysons. The conference, presided over by Dr Subhash Sharma from Mumbai, saw the participation of a large number of astrologers from across the country.

Earlier, Ravinder Sharma, president, Punjab Astrologers Conference, welcomed all the leading astrologers for their participation.

Speaking on the occasion, Nannu said that astrology was a science, which could really help in predicting the future. At the conference, participants shared their experiences and views about the subject.

Pandit Jai Parkash Lal from Mumbai also addressed the conference besides several others including Rajinder Sharma, A.K. Shastri, Prem Chand Chuahan, DIG BSF, Dr R.K. Asthana from Allahabad, Sandeep Soni, T.S. Bhargav, Milakh Raj, P.K. Sharma, Pandit Hanuman Parsad from Delhi, Dr Chander Shekhar, Gautam Rishi from Jalandhar, B.K. Miglani from Amritsar and Vijay Sood. Various organisations including, Future Point (Delhi), Indian Astrological Research Institute, Indian Spiritual and Vastu Research Institute, Geeta Prachar Sabha, Brahamin Sabha, Sanathan Dharma Mahavir Dal are also participating in the conference. — OC

Bathinda, May 3
Gurjant Singh Aulakh Nambardar, father of public relations officer of the Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant (GNDTP), Bathinda, Satwant Singh Aulakh, has passed away.

He was 77 and had been suffering from a heart ailment. He had been undergoing treatment at a hospital for some time. He is survived by his wife, a daughter and a son. — TNS