Bathinda, May 11
Following complaints of the officialdom of various districts meddling in the election process to improve prospects of the Shiromani Akali Dal (B) candidates in tomorrow’s Zila Parishad and Block Samiti polls, Manoranjan Das Kalia, a senior minister of the BJP, has urged Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to ensure free and fair elections.

Kalia told mediapersons here today that he talked to Badal and the director-general of police on the issue and they ensured that action would be taken against those indulging in such activities.

The minister said that the government officers should impartially discharge their election duty.

He said in some segments, there was a direct contest between the two coalition partners, SAD and BJP.

The BJP was contesting 56 seats of zila parishads and 380 seats of block samitis in the state. Kalia ruled out the possibility of relations between BJP and SAD getting strained due to these elections.

Bathinda, May 11
The BJP is trying hard to benefit from the alleged rift between three factions of the district SAD as the divide between the SAD (B) and BJP in Bathinda district is getting wider day-by-day.

In a recent statement, BJP leaders levelled a number of allegations against the SAD leaders related to “misuse of power” and warned SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal of facing resentment from the BJP, if he plans to contest from the Bathinda parliamentary seat.

Taking a serious note of SAD leaders who claimed that the BJP had no base in rural area, BJP leaders D.P. Chandan, Mohit Gupta, Narender Mittal, Gulzar Singh and Naveen Singla lashed out at SAD for using the BJP’s name and symbol in the posters and stickers of SAD candidates.

The BJP leaders today came out with cases where police officers, under pressure from the ruling party, allegedly attempted to negotiate with the other candidates and even offered money for the withdrawal of nominations.

Citing the “support” they offered to Dera Sacha Sauda followers, the leaders claimed their votes in the PRI polls.

Refuting the statement of Sikander Singh Maluka, the SAD district president, about the pre-decided (60:40) ratio of the SAD-BJP seats in the impending Bathinda Municipal Corporation elections, they said, “The party is not bound by Maluka and the allocation of seats would be decided keeping keeping in view the overall scenario.”

Party sources said on the condition of anonymity that the BJP leaders, to cash in on the reported tussle of former minister Chiranji Lal Garg with Sarup Chand Singla and Sikander Singh Maluka, have been trying to approach him for his support in polls.

On the other hand, CM Parkash Singh Badal has deputed him for the bypoll to pre-
empt his involvement in Zila Parishad and Block Samiti elections in Bathinda district.

Chiranji Lal Garg, while speaking on phone from Amritsar, said, “The chief minister himself deputed me here and I am supposed to follow the orders of my “boss”. Moreover, I consider these rural polls as a petty issue, so I am giving my best in the Amritsar poll.”

Bathinda, May 11
Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu, MLA from Talwandi Sabo, has alleged that the Zila Parishad constituency of Kuttiwal Kalan is sensitive and all candidates, except the one from the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal), are under constant fear of violence there.

“We have already written to the election commission regarding this issue. The SAD candidate from Kuttiwal Kalan, Jaspal Singh Dhan Singh Khana, is the SAD Talwandi Sabo area in-charge, Amarjit Singh Sidhu’s cousin and state DGP NPS Aulakh is Sidhu’s nephew. So not only the government officials, but even the police will help Jaspal Singh,” Jeet Mohinder alleged.

Under the Talwandi Sabo area, there are three Zila Parishad constituencies namely, Bhagi Bandar, Singo and Kuttiwal Kalan.

Jeet Mohinder further alleged, “I have already defeated Sidhu in the Assembly elections and I am sure that he will try his best to sabotage this election. His people can even try to capture the polling booths. Still, our party will win the election by a big margin. The most sensitive polling stations in these constituencies are Ghumman Kalan, Ram Nagar, Maisarkhana, Dhan Singh Khana, besides others.”

Hopeful that his candidates would register wins by a big margin, Jeet Mohinder said, “The kind of response we have got during the campaigning cannot be expressed in words. Be it children, women, men or the elderly, all have come out in our party’s support. People are supporting our party because the present state government has failed on all fronts.”

“The main issue in this area is that of potable drinking water. Some time back, there was no water in the canal for two months at a stretch. In villages like Giana, Phulokhari and Kanakwal, people are forced to bring potable water from Haryana. When the canals in our area get dried up, people are forced to drink underground water, which is not fit for human consumption. That is why, the number of cancer deaths in Talwandi Sabo area is the maximum,” he said.

“In one of the villages called Natheha, 20 persons have already died due to cancer and an equal number are affected by this deadly disease. But the SAD-led government has done nothing for this area. Even the RO water scheme was launched in Manpreet Badal’s constituency, Gidderbaha alone, whereas it should have been launched in all cancer affected areas. Manpreet Badal should know that he is the FM of Punjab and not of Gidderbaha alone,” Jeet Mohinder rued.

Bathinda, May 11
After suffering huge losses to the tune of several crore rupees due to Mealy Bug attack and spurious seeds from Gujarat, the cotton farmers of this cotton belt are once again at the receiving end.

Due to untimely rainfall and hailstorm in some parts of this cotton belt three days back, the already sown cotton crop has been severely affected.

Rainfall has led to crust formation on the top of already sown crop. The extent of damage in some areas is such that the farmers will have to re-sow the crop, increasing their cost of cultivation, due to costly Bt cotton seeds.

Gurmeet Singh is a farmer in his mid 30’s from village Ghudda on Bathinda-Badal highway. He owns nine acres of agricultural land, all of which is under cotton crop.

“I have completed the sowing just a week ago. But due to rainfall, I am now re-sowing the entire crop. Now I will have to shell out another Rs 20,000 for the Bt cotton seeds. Even the seed beds will have to prepared once again. Extra fuel will also be used by tractors for ploughing the fields.”

This season, the sowing of cotton has already been delayed because of late maturity of wheat crop. Even, the canals in this area were also closed for more than 15 days.

Ashok Kapoor, ex president, Northern India Cotton Association, said, “Due to this recent rain, crust formation has led to damage of the crop. Untimely rain has rubbed salt on the wounds of farmers. Now the cost of cultivation has doubled up. New seed will be used, labour will be involved once again, fuel for tractor will be used and so the cost of cultivation doubles up.”

“A bumper cotton crop and after that, good MSP is required in order to compensate high cost of cultivation,” Kapoor added.

Gurmit Singh Buttar, director, Punjab Agricultural University Regional Research Station, Bathinda, said, “Now, the farmers are on the mercy of god because in the cotton belt, the cotton crop is dependent on rain and canal water. It is so because in the cotton belt, underground water is not fit for cotton cultivation. Cotton is a very sensitive crop and its germination will be affected if poor quality water is used at the initial stages.”

Chief Agriculture Officer Paramjit Singh Sandhu said, “We have reports from Talwandi Sabo area that the cotton crop has been affected due to untimely rainfall.”

Bathinda, May 11
While the upper middle class celebrated Mother’s Day with flowers and chocolates in Western style, the abandoned mothers, wiping the tears rolling down their cheeks, craved for a smile, with nostalgic memories of the past.

Some of the old women now spending the autumn of their lives in an ‘old age home’ here were unaware of ‘Mother’s Day’ and waiting for their children to come and take them back home.

“The day my son takes me out from here would be the real Mother’s Day for me,” said Kirti (name changed), with a flicker of hope in her eyes.

She had two daughters and was living with one of them. After her death last year, her son-in-law married another woman and left her at the old age home to fend for herself. She was left with no other option, as the second daughter never cared to meet her.

Another woman, Kalawanti, who was widowed about 30 years ago and had no children, said she grappled with all sorts of problems and earned her livelihood.

“Now, I am too old to look after myself and my failing health has forced me to come here voluntarily for a stable life,” she said.

Shanti Devi (name changed), another inmate of the old age home, was brought here by her son who never came back to enquire about her. She was upset and sad that she was forced to stay there by her own son.

Expressing annoyance, she said, “As you sow, so shall you reap and they will also be paid back in the same coin.” She refused to reveal her name and said, “I am still hopeful that one day, my son will undergo a change of heart and will come here to take me along. But if you give my name, he will be offended and my last hope will also get dashed.”

All the inmates were candid but did not utter even a word against their “ungrateful” children. “If we say anything, it will tarnish their image in society and we do not want them to feel ashamed,” they said.

“Mothers are always mothers and their affection and love for children never fades. This relationship is not reciprocal and bonds of love are always stronger than knots of hatred,” they said without any trace of malice.

Elsewhere in the town, there was no trace of Mother’s Day celebrations and Swami Vivekananda Girls College was the only institution where a slogan writing competition was organised. Raj Gupta, principal of the school, said it was due to the erosion of moral values that the children are abandoning their parents in old age.

“I strongly feel that the parents themselves are to be blamed for not inculcating moral values in their children,” she said.

Abohar, May 11
Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Vijender Jain, laid the foundation stone of the new judicial court complex close to the administrative complex, here today.

Justice Jain was joined by Justice Rajesh Bindal of the HC and the district and sessions judge, Jaspal Singh, at the inaugural function.

Justice Jain said with the promotion of a judge, only one court was functional at Abohar, which had about 9000 case files in hand. About six lakh cases were pending with the district and sub-divisional judicial courts in Punjab.

The state, in 2006, had only 300 judges, which had increased to 400 but it would take another eight months to see the results, as the new appointees had to have a mandatory one-year training.

The CJ was of the firm belief that the theory of true, easy and early justice couldn’t be converted into a reality if the litigants had to traverse hundreds of miles to get justice. People were not ready to digest any explanation.

If they got their e-mail delivered in the US within 10 minutes, why they had to wait for 10 years to get a judgment, he asked.

Regarding the long-pending demand for having the court of the additional district judge (ADJ) at Abohar and Fazilka, the Chief Justice said he was convinced of the problems faced by the people but there was a shortage of judicial officers at present. The ADJ, when appointed, could have three working days at the sub-division.

Informing that the new judicial court complex was being designed to meet the needs of the area for the next 50 years, he said the project at the initial stage would cost Rs 1.65 crore.

In the first phase, the ground floor and first floor would have three courtrooms each. The second phase would be developed using a pilot area measuring 12.3 acre. There would also be six houses for the judicial magistrates.

Expressing satisfaction over the response to his campaign against female child foeticide, dowry and drugs Justice Jain said no nation can achieve prosperity if social evils were not weeded out.

The CJ awarded certificates and mementoes to the institutions that contributed in making today’s function a success. Paramedical students from the Sardar Patel Medical Institute were also among the recipients.

Abohar, May 11
MLA Sunil Jakhar today requested the Punjab and Haryana Court Chief Justice Vijender Jain to intervene in solving the problem of supply of contaminated water into the canals of this region.

Jakhar met the CJ at the BSF complex here on his arrival and brought to his notice that the HC had taken cognisance of the reports published by The Tribune in 2006 in this connection.

Presenting a file before Justice Jain, the legislator said the state government had accordingly constituted a committee to check the release of hazardous effluents by some Ludhiana-based industrial units into the Sirhind Feeder.

Discharge of sewerage from the Buddha Nalah in Ludhiana in the feeder was
also to be stopped.

The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) had issued notices to scores of units as well as the municipal corporation at Ludhiana and the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board directing them to commission treatment plants by April 30, 2008.

But the state government was apathetic to the problem, the MLA regretted. The CJ assured that he would go through the file and do something, sources said.

Abohar, May 11
Even when the state government had received a compensation of Rs 19.20 crore from the railways against the acquisition of 45-acre land in the abandoned government seed farm, its physical possession has not been transferred.

The matter was brought to the notice of Justice Vijender Jain, Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, by the Railway Passengers Association (North Zone) here today.

The NGO said the slackness on the part of the Punjab government had halted construction of the Fazilka-Abohar rail link on about 3.5 km stretch.

The joint secretary of the NGO, Hanuman Dass Goyal, requested the CJ to use his good offices to get this problem solved.

Moga, May 11
Unlike the state Assembly, Lok Sabha and also Gram Panchayat elections, the Zila Parishad and Block Samiti polls in the district seems to be a low-key affair with hardly any interest being shown by the common people in the campaign.

This correspondent visited many villages of the district to know the pulse of the people with regard to the ensuing Zila Parishad and Block Samiti elections.

Surprisingly, a majority of the rural folk was ignorant about the functions of these two Panchayati Raj institutions and said that these institutions had done nothing for them in the past.

Neither had they seen any of the members or the chairman after they got elected to these posts.

Bawa Singh, a 70-year-old resident of Matwani village, who was playing cards under a tree, said that he had not seen any of the candidates contesting the elections.

“I do not know what these people do as they have not done anything for our village”, he added.

The old man said that all he knew about the PRIs was the panchayat, which comes in contact with the common people at the village-level.

One of his friends, Amarjit Singh (50), also had similar views. However, both of them knew about the reservation of seats fixed by the government for scheduled castes and women, and were in favour of reservation to uplift women and weaker sections of society.

But they also echoed their voice for the Jat Sikhs, the marginal farmers, who, they said were becoming poorer day by day.

Land holdings had shrunk in the recent past and there were hardly any jobs for the upper caste youth, said Bawa Singh.

Baldev Singh Bhatti, a former MLA and resident of Dharamkot, was of the view that the three-tier system of the PRIs had not been fully successful in any part of the country because neither the Zila Parishad nor the Block Samiti enjoyed administrative and financial powers to carry out developmental works in rural areas.

Even the NREGA scheme launched by the union government to give 100 days of assured job to the unemployed rural folk was out of the jurisdiction of these two panchayati raj institutions, he remarked.

Ranjit Singh, a resident of Baghapurana, was of the view that the panchayats, which comes at the lowest level of democracy, should be strengthened more by giving additional powers and departments under their control.

In reply to a question, he said that the Zila Parishad and the Block Samiti hardly did any work at the ground level.

“These are the institutions created by politicians to adjust their supporters in the politics,” he commented.

On the other hand, those affiliated to political parties like Jaswinder Singh, a resident of Takhtuwala village, was of the view that all these institutions were created with the purpose of bringing democracy at the ground level but powers to control and frame policies of various departments at the local level had not been granted so far due to which the interest of the common masses could not be developed in the true sense.

Muktsar, May 11
Polling staff, including women, alleged that they had been deprived of food and basic amenities at election camps in the home district of the Chief Minister.

They alleged that the administration had “put” them in trucks and did not even bother to provide food to them till the evening.

Sources in Muktsar and Gidderbaha blocks said that the district administration arranged a number of trucks for the transportation of polling staff.

But the administration did not bother to anticipate the problems, which the aged staff, including women, faced while boarding the trucks.

“In the scorching heat, the condition of women, on trucks was sufficient to understand the “respect and comfort” given to them in the home district of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal,” said a female teacher posted at the government girls school, located at Bathinda-Muktsar, road from where the duties were allotted.

Talking over phone from his place of duty at village Seerwali, a member of the polling staff said, “We were assured food and basic amenities, but till 8.30 pm, no one has come to look for us. It was said that the panchayat secretaries would be deputed for providing food.”

When contacted, Muktsar deputy commissioner Vikas Garg said, “There was no instruction for hiring buses for the deployment of polling staff. Moreover, we are not concerned with any other district as we can use only our own resources.”

About food and lodging, he said that everything was in process and all would be comfortably settled soon.

Ferozepur, May 11
Hundreds of Congress workers blocked the Mumbai-bound Punjab Mail near the railway crossing on the Ferozpur-Moga road in protest against the alleged police high-handedness.

Leading the blockade, former MLA Ravinder Singh Sandhu alleged that the police has picked up some Congress leaders including Meher Singh Sandhu, ex-chairman, market committee, Ferozpur, who is the father-in-law of Congress candidate Sandeep Kaur, who is cont1esting the elections from Ghal Kurd block samiti.

Sandhu alleged that the police has also rounded up Sarwan Singh, who is the manager of Manjit Singh Dhillon, candidate from Machi Bujra zone.

Congress leaders resented that the police was threatening their candidates in order to prevent them from contesting the Block Samiti and Zila Parishad elections.

Meanwhile, hundreds of passengers travelling on the Punjab Mail had to bear the brunt of the Congress workers’ ire as they did not allow the train to move further. Congress workers have parked their vehicles on the railway track.

GRP authorities were seen trying to pacify the Congress workers but they did not relent. The rail traffic was still blocked till the time of the filing of the report.

It may be mentioned that the Punjab Mail originates from Ferozepur and reaches Mumbai via New Delhi.

Mansa, May 11
The district administration has made adequate arrangements to ensure free and fair elections for the Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti seats to be held on Monday.

Nearly 129 polling booths have been declared as sensitive. Altogether 3,81, 000 voters would exercise their franchise.

Additional district electoral officer Baljit Singh Sandhu said that 583 polling booths had been set up. It may be mentioned here that there are 11 Zila Parishad and 87 Panchayat Samiti seats.

It may be recalled that three candidates for Panchayat Samiti have been elected unopposed as the nomination papers of the candidates of the opposition parties were rejected.

Altogether 42 candidates are in the fray for Zila Parishsad seats and 192 for the Panchayat Samiti seats. Candidates of SAD and Congress are in a straight contest for most of the seats.

Moga, May 11
A Non-Resident Indian (NRI), settled in the UK for the past many decades, committed suicide by jumping into a canal along with his scooter near Channuwala village yesterday.

Preliminary investigations by the police on the basis of the statements of his family members revealed that the NRI, identified as Prithi Singh, hailing from Marhi Mustafa village, was mentally upset for the past few months.

A case of ‘Kabootarbazi’ was registered against him at the Kotkapura police station which the deceased had always claimed as false, stated his father Pala Singh before the police.

On February 15 this year, Prithi was abducted by some persons from Moga following a row over money, the FIR of which was registered at the city police station.

According to Pala Singh, his son was not in touch with them for past few days. Yesterday, they got a message from the Baghapurana police station that Prithi had been found dead in a canal.

The police, after recovering the body of the NRI, got a post-mortem conducted and then handed over the body to the family members.

The police had initiated inquest proceedings under relevant sections of the CrPC into the incident.

Barnala, May 11
To protest against the registration of cases against three students who protested in front of the Trident Complex, Dhaula a few days ago, as many as six students unions and one employee union have decided to oppose this move tooth and nail.

The ITI Bachao Front, Punjab has decided to hold demonstrations in front of the offices deputy commissioner and of SDM throughout the state on May 14 and 15.

The unions have also decided to hold a protest rally on May 22 during the by-election in Amritsar.

Talking to The Tribune, Gurmukh Singh Mann, state president of Punjab Student Union (PSU) said that the decision to this effect was taken at a meeting held today.

Mann alleged that the case had been registered against Avtar Singh, Sanjeev Mintoo and Bachittar Singh while 400 others students, including 150 girls, had also been booked. However, police is denying that 400 students have been booked.

Representatives of six students unions and one employee union, including the Punjab Student Union (PSU), Punjab Radical Student Union (PRSU), All India Students Association (AISA), Punjab Students Federation (PSF), All India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO), Students Federation of India (SFI) and ITI Employees Front registered Punjab, participated in the meeting.

Gurmukh Singh Mann alleged that Trident group was trying to curb the student’s voices who are protesting the transfer of ITI s  in democratic way.

Secondly, it wanted to pressurize the student movement by getting the cases registered against the students.

Officiating SSP, Barnala, Surinder Pal Singh Parmar when contacted confirmed the registration of cases against the three students.

He, however, said that the FIR has mentioned that there was a crowd of about 400 students and others who indulged in stone pelting might be nominated later on.

Bathinda, May 11
The alleged indifferent attitude of the state government towards the requests of the Deputy Commissioner, Bathinda, for sanctioning funds to the private transporters, whose vehicles were used by the administration last year during the Dera-Sikh controversy, has put the DC in an awkward situation.

The district administration had hired private buses and canters for the transportation of police and para-military forces.

Sources said that instead of heeding to the several requests made by the DC, authorities concerned have allegedly stopped correspondence with him.

A letter, procured from the DC office, said, “The owners whose vehicles were requisitioned for maintenance of law and order in the district are regularly visiting this office and even during Sangat Darshan for inquiring about the payment. It becomes very difficult for me to satisfy them at the Sangat Darshan in the presence of 50 to 60 district level officers. Therefore, your good self is requested to kindly allocate Rs 15 lakh for this purpose at the earliest.”

It may be mentioned that the district administration had hired two Tata Sumos, four buses, one mini-bus, five mini trucks and two Tata 407. These vehicles were by the administration during May to July 19, 2007.

The operators informed that the district administration hired the vehicles by Rs 3000 as the fare for the bus and Rs 2500 for the mini bus.

“The total due is in lakhs but no one is ready to break the silence,” said the operator of a bus.

When contacted, Rahul Tewari, said, “I have requested the department of home and the DGP Punjab to sanction the dues. Despite repeated requests, my plea has gone unheeded.”

Bathinda, May 11
An acquaintance of mine, who happened to visit a newly inhabited colony on the Bathinda-Barnala road last week, was astounded when a young boy, not into the teens even, came running to him and made an indecent proposal.

However, it did not take long for the man to realise that he was dealing with a child pimp anxious to make a fast buck.

The boy obviously belonged to a migrant family living in the colony. Although the man did not accept the offer made by the little pimp, he was told that he could amuse for as little as Rs 100.

Prostitution is assuming the alarming proportions in the town with the introduction of child pimps and more areas on the outskirts of the town catering to the needs of “pleasure-seekers”.

Reliable sources in the police confided that prostitution was no longer limited to areas like Jogi Nagar, SAS Nagar and in some other parts of the town.

Several colonies, which have come up in the recent past on both sides of the Bathinda-Barnala road, were earning notoriety as new hubs of prostitution.

The increase in the business can be gauged from the increase in the number of pimps who are always on the lookout to hook clients.

These pimps, instead of working clandestinely, are now making open approaches to advertise their services.

They hang on to villages along the Bathinda-Barnala highway and accost prospective customers with their proposals. A majority of their targets are truck drivers who ply their vehicles at late hours.

Police sources confide that prostitution was being carried out in and around the town by influential ladies under the guise of running a paying guest accommodation for working girls and women in their homes.

For example, a trader of Bathinda, who uses to shuttle between Bathinda and Sangrur in connection with his business, told The Tribune that drivers of trucks and tempos halt their vehicles for half an hour near the villages on the Bathinda-Barnala national highway on the pretext of picking up vegetables brought by villagers on the road head, are a hub of prostitutes.

Investigations by The Tribune revealed that the trade was also being practised at a number of other such paying guest accommodations and roadside hotels and in other posh and not-so-posh localities.

The trade is flourishing leaps and bounds due to the nexus in certain cases between prostitutes and policemen concerned.

Rackets are also being run in which unsuspecting victims are relieved of all the money on their person at the time of the raid.

Fazilka, May 11
A BSF constable sustained bullet injuries on his neck in an alleged suicide attempt at the Muradwala check-post in the Fazilka sector today in the morning.

It is stated that constable V.K.Pandey (36), a resident of Uttarakhand, of the 99 battalion of Border Security Force, was on duty at Muradwala BOP.

It is believed that the constable allegedly tried to commit suicide with his service rifle. The constable was immediately rushed to the local civil hospital in a serious condition from where he was shifted to the DMC, Ludhiana.

It is stated that the constable had also attempted suicide some years back and had sustained injuries.

DIG BSF V.K.Sharma, when contacted, maintained that their primary concern was to try and save the life of the injured. An inquiry into the cause of incident would be conducted to establish the facts.

Abohar, May 11
Two former soldiers of the Indian National Army (INA) – Budh Singh and Ranjeet Singh were honoured during the Sankalp Mahotsav organised by the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Shatabdi Samiti at the Nehru Park here on Saturday night to celebrate 151st years of the 1857 freedom struggle.

Congress MLA Sunil Jakhar shared the dais with former BJP MLA Ram Kumar Goyal as the chief guests.

Pramil Kalani president of Shree Sanatan Dharam Sabha, B.L. Sikka former SDM and Vidya Chaudhary president of the Mahila Suraksha Samiti were the guests of honour.

Prem Kumar Goyal, a senior member of the national executive of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh was the key speaker.

Hundreds of women and children joined the VIPs in observing 150 seconds silence to pay tributes to those who had sacrificed lives in the 1857 freedom struggle.

Sita Ram Sharma state secretary of the Rashtriya Suraksha Samiti and Faquir Chand Goyal president of the Aggarwal Sabha conducted the function.

Students and artists of Natrang theatre group presented a cultural programme which carried the fragrance of patriotism. The MLA led a torch procession in which about 150 youths participated.