Bathinda, May 6
The authorities today dispatched ballot boxes to various destinations for being used in polling stations in the district for the zila parishad and block committee elections on May 12.

Ballot boxes were loaded in trucks at the mini-secretariat and sent to respective destinations.

According to deputy commissioner Rahul Tiwari, about 3,750 employees will be deployed for the polling duty. As many as 750 polling booths manned by a team of 5 employees each will be set up.

He said that the grievance of the teachers, who had earlier announced to boycott poll duty, has been settled and they will now perform the duty.

Their main demands that have been met include that pregnant women and those carrying babies in arms would not be deployed on election duty. Handicapped teachers would also be exempted. An assurance has also been given that in case ample male staff was available, female teachers would be relieved of election duty.

As many as 1,617 ballot boxes were dispatched today. The highest number of 340 boxes would be used in Bathinda town. The number of ballot boxes sent to other places was, Bhagta (170), Nathana (210), Sangat 200, Mour 140, Talwandi Sabo (225), Rampura (190) and Phul (140).

Bathinda, May 6
The ongoing tussle between the two factions in the Congress has apparently started casting its shadow over the workers.

Feeling stranded following the political rift between Harminder Singh Jassi and the rest of the four Congress MLAs of the district, who are torn between the former chief minister Amarinder Singh and PPCC chief Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, party workers, it seems, have started looking for greener pastures.

A number of Congress workers belonging to Multania village today joined the SAD (B) in the presence of junior vice-president of the SAD, Sarup Chand Singla.

The district press secretary of SAD, Om Parkash Sharma said, “The Congress workers were a harried lot and befooled by the party, which made them take this step.

The workers who left the Congress said that party leaders have been mulling fighting with each other for their vested interests and are not bothered about the workers’ welfare.

Speaking further, they said there was resentment amongst them as one of their leader, Major Singh, was assured a ticket for the Zila Parishad elections, but at the last minute, he was ditched and the ticket was given to someone else.

Narender Singh Bhaleria, president, district Congress (rural), when asked about the loss to the party, passed on the buck to MLA Bathinda Harminder Singh Jassi.

When contacted, Jassi said, “There were two factions in the village. One group has left the party but there was no role of ticket allotment in it as the person they are naming was never assured a ticket.”

When asked about the ongoing tussle between the Congress MLAs in the district, he parried the query.

Abohar, May 6
Candidates for the Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad elections have started their door-to-door campaign to muster support from voters. But they face a lukewarm response as most of the farmers were yet to harvest wheat crop or were not free due to delay in sale of the yield at purchasing centres. Some were told that the state government had achieved its target, so the agencies had reportedly been advised to go slow.

The campaigning is to conclude by May 10 as per election commission’s directions.

On Monday, 50 persons had withdrawn from the contest for Panchayat Samiti, Abohar, leaving behind 56 candidates for 25 zones. Five of the left out candidates are independents. The CPI has fielded only one candidate, while the Congress has put up 25, BJP 3 and SAD (B) 22.

In Khuyiansarwar block, there were 99 candidates for 25 zones of the Panchayat Samiti. After withdrawals, the number has come down to 62. Of them, there are 13 independents.

The Congress has fielded 24, BJP 21and SAD (B) just 4. All were allotted election symbols this evening.

The SAD (B) candidate for the Daulatpura zone, Rajinder Pal Singh Brar along with the husband of Suman Delu, BJP candidate for the Zila Parishad from Panjkosi zone, claimed in Gidderanwali that the Atta Dal scheme would tilt the balance in their favour.

Cars carrying flex sheet banners to publicise in favour of different candidates were also found on national highway. Since the SAD (B)–BJP candidate had lost the Assembly seat with a heavy margin, the local leadership was warning their workers against lending underhand support to the Congress candidates. 

Bathinda, May 6
After the city witnessed two deaths due to hot weather on Monday, a 22-year-old boy was also found lying unconscious near Mehna Chowk here last night. The city has been reeling under the grip of hot weather for almost the last 15 days, with the mercury touching a maximum of 44 degrees Celsius on May 3 and 4.

Today, the maximum temperature was 41.5 ° C and minimum 23 ° C.

According to a press release issued by Sahara Jana Sewa, an NGO, a person named Rajinder Kumar of Dhobiana Basti was found unconscious near Power House Road and has been admitted to the emergency ward of the civil hospital.

According to the Punjab Agricultural University Regional Research Station (PAURRS), Bathinda, the city temperature crossed 40 ° C mark on April 21, when the maximum temperature of the day was 40 ° C. Then it rose to 40.5 ° C on April 25 and 41 ° C the very next day.

Gurmit Singh Buttar, director, PAURRS, said, “On April 30, the maximum temperature was 43 ° C and the minimum being 19.5 ° C. On May 1, the maximum was 43 ° C and minimum 20.5 ° C, on May 2, 43 ° C maximum and 20.5 ° C minimum, on May 3, maximum 44 ° C and minimum 20.5 ° C, on May 4, maximum 44 ° C and minimum 21.5 ° C.

On May 5, the temperature cooled down a little bit and the maximum was recorded at 40 ° C and the minimum being 23.5 ° C. Today, the maximum was recorded at 41.5 ° C and the minimum of 23 ° C.”

According to meteorological experts, in the coming days, the temperature is expected to reach around 50 ° C in this part of the state. “Usually, such temperature is quite normal for the city residents as during summers, the maximum temperature reaches around 47 ° C or 48 ° C in Bathinda every year.”

Barnala, May 6
Several teachers’ unions today staged a sit-in in front of the office of the deputy commissioner here today to protest against the deployment of women teachers on poll duties.

About two hundred teachers, including women, participated in the about two-hour long dharna. The teachers were criticising the deployment of teachers for non-educational work. They also submitted a memorandum to the deputy commissioner, Barnala, in this regard. Their main demands are that women teachers should not be deployed at far off places. If it is unavoidable, than they should be exempted from staying at the polling station at night and the deployment of pregnant teachers must be cancelled.

A senior teacher, Rajmohinder Sharma, alleged that by deploying teachers for non-educational work, the state government and the State Election Commission were flouting the directives of the Supreme Court. He alleged that due to this sort of work, performance of students in government schools were declining with each passing year. If teachers are deployed in activities like survey of BPL families, census or elections, then how could one expect them to give better results as teachers were not provided with sufficient time to complete the syllabus, he questioned. 

Moga, May 6
Last rites, antim ardas, of Bibi Daljit Kaur, mother of former union minister and president of the Lok Bhalai Party Balwant Singh Ramuwalia were performed at their native village Ramuwala near here, this afternoon. The octogenarian woman breathed her last, a few days back. She was ill for a long time.

The chief minister of Punjab Prakash Singh Badal visited the native residence of Ramuwalia early in the morning and expressed grief with him over his mother’s demise.  The CM could not attend the bhog ceremony due to busy schedule. However, Sukhbir Badal, chief of SAD, made it a point to attend the bhog ceremony. Apart from the Badals, member of the Congress Working Committee Jagmit Singh Brar, state general secretary of the Congress Vijay Sathi, senior vice president of the SAD Jathedar Tota Singh and many other state-level leaders of various parties attended the bhog ceremony. 

Bathinda, May 6
Increased transportation cost of raw material and finished goods to distant states in the country is hitting the industry in the region.

The Supreme Court’s directions to truck owners not to load beyond the usual carrying capacity of 9 tonne for safety reasons and the recent hike in diesel prices have contributed to the increase in freight costs.

The court ban has also led to an increase in the demand for trucks.This has put pressure on the availability of trucks, contributing further to the rise in the freight costs.

The hike in diesel prices has had a cascading effect, leading to around 10 per cent increase in the costs.

Sudesh Goyal, an industrialist, said, “Before the Supreme Court ban, trucks were carrying up to 16 tonnes. Not any more. The reduced load led to a hike in freight costs by around 30 per cent, as the running cost of the transportation was the same.”

“About six months ago, a truck plying on the Bathinda-Mumbai route was charging Rs 1,600 per tonne. The freight cost has risen to around 40 to 50 per cent,” he added.

Jitender Mittal, dealing in agro-based implements, agrees too. “The industry margins are getting thinner, as new freight costs are affecting us. This cannot be reimbursed through a hike in production prices. It’s directly affecting our margins,” he said.

Bathinda, May 6
Resentment prevailed among farmers against the Punjab government’s decision to continue giving all payments for agricultural produce to farmers through arhtiyas (commission agents). The Consortium of Indian Farmers’ Association had filed a general writ petition in this regard in the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the state government’s recent move and the court had asked the state government to submit its reply by May 22.

Addressing a press conference here today, Satnam Singh Behru, president, Punjab Farmers’ Association, accused the arhtiyas of delaying the full payment for their produce despite the agriculture department’s notification No. 11/8/2006/M-3/7001 to make payment to the seller through account payee cheque immediately after the weighing of the produce is over.

Behru disclosed that several arhtiyas had expressed their inability in making the full payment as they, too, were awaiting the procurement price from certain government agencies. He added that the administration could not overlook the difficulties of the commission agents and efforts were being made to speed up the payment by government procurement agencies to resolve the stalemate.

He alleged that the state government was creating an atmosphere of confrontation between farmers and arhtiyas and warned that if any of the debt-ridden farmers committed suicide, they would resort to a state-wide agitation.

If the system of giving cheques to farmers has been introduced by the government itself, it would have created hurdles in the credit recovery system for the arhtiyas, added Behru. At present, the arhtiyas are issued cheques by the grain procuring agencies, which are encashed, and the farmers get money from the arhtiyas after the latter have deducted their share.

Abohar, May 6
The Bharatiya Kisan Union Ekta (Ugrahan) has decided to launch an indefinite sit-in at the sub-divisional complex here from May 7 to express resentment over the action taken by the sub-divisional authorities under section 145-46 CrPC against some farmers in village Sukhchain.

The decision was taken during a meeting of the union held in the Gurdwara at village Bazidpur Bhoma today. Block president Sukhmander Singh presided over the meeting. He and other speakers including Resham Singh, Baksheesh Singh, Gurcharan Singh, Mohar Singh, Mehal Singh, Joginder Singh, Harmander Singh, Banwari Lal and Nachhattar Singh alleged that the authorities had initiated “illegal” action against genuine farmers identified as Banwari Lal, Anil Kumar and Ashwani Kumar in a framed land dispute.

The members of the union had last week foiled an attempt by the revenue department to take possession of the land and warned that indefinite agitation would be launched if the authorities continue playing in to the hands of some “vested” interests.  

Barnala, May 6
The Bhartiya Kisan Union Ekta (Ugrahan) has decided to stage a state-level protest rally at Tehsil Complex, Barnala, on May 10 to get the payments of Rs 23 crore pending against the original land price acquired by the Trident group. They have also decided to stage an indefinite rail blockade at Barnala after the rally. BKU state secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokri Kalan said a decision to this effect was taken at a meting held at Machike. All the state executive committee members and district presidents of the union participated in the meeting. It may be mentioned that the court of additional sessions judge Vivek Puri had fixed May 10 for announcing the decision regarding disbursement of cheques to the farmers.

Kokri alleged that the district administration made unnecessary delay in depositing the challan in the court on April 27 and that resulted in delaying of the payment. It caused a lot of harassment to the farmers. On the other hand, deputy commissioner, Barnala R.L Mehta said that the Trident company had already deposited the money with the state treasury. Now this money was being deposited in court head. The district administration or the state government now had no role to play. It is only the court hat will decide when to disburse the cheques to the farmers. So all the allegations levelled by the BKU against state government were misleading, he added. 

Abohar, May 6
A man today allegedly assaulted his wife, child and mother-in-law by throwing acid on them and fled after perpetrating the crime.

Sources said that Saroj Rani of Seetogunno road had been married to one Sat Pal of village Kala Tibba in 1998. But for the last few months, she was residing along with her five-year-old son at her parental house here due to strained relations with her husband. When Saroj was on her way to the town market with her son and mother Guddi, her husband suddenly turned up and allegedly threw a bottle of acid on them.

Saroj sustained serious burn injuries on her face but her eyes had a marginal escape. Her son and mother also suffered injuries. The victims were admitted to the civil hospital. The police has recorded Saroj’s statement and started investigation, sources said. 

Bathinda, May 6
Nehianawala police arrested two youths in possession of 10 kg opium at village Jeeda on the Bathinda-Kotkapura road, this morning. Police sources said receiving a tip-off; a special check-post was set up at the village.

At the naka, two youths Mukesh and Deepak, in an Esteem car bearing number DL 8C 3571 were intercepted and during the investigation police found 10 kg of opium packed in polythene bags.

Both youths were arrested and a case under sections 18, 61, 85 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act has been registered against them. Police is probing them to inquire about their links.

Bathinda, May 6
Wheat stubble in the Budhlada sub-division of Mansa district caught fire late in the evening today. Initial estimates said that around 40-50 villages had been affected. Sources said that the wheat stubble was set on fire in the neighbouring villages of Haryana, and from there, due to the storm, it spread into Punjab.

DC Surjit Singh Dhillion confirmed that there was no loss of life and property. Fire tenders from as far as Bathinda were called in, but now the situation is under control.— TNS