Bathinda, August 29
The Congress is making all efforts to ensure proper arrangements for the Lambi rally scheduled for September 1. Captain Amarinder Singh would address the rally to kickstart the poll campaign from the home turf of chief minister Parkash Singh Badal for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections in the state.

The rally which is to be addressed by Captain Amarinder Singh, election campaign committee chairman, Mohinder Singh Kaypee, PPCC chief, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, CLP leader, and the AICC member Jagmeet Brar, is slated to be a significant event also because it would be inevitably compared with the much-awaited rally being held under the aegis of the father-son duo of Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal on September 2.

During a visit to the rally site, workers and supporters of Rajinder Kaur Bhattal were even seen working shoulder to shoulder with other party activists to “teach” the Akalis a lesson. The youth wing activists rued that the local administration had allotted a sports stadium for the rally, which was no less than a pond.

They were seen busy unloading the sand from tractor-trolleys to level the land surface in the stadium.

Balraj Singh, district treasurer, Malout, told The Tribune that a tent (pandal) measuring 400x250 feet has been erected for the rally and about 1,000 chairs have also been arranged only for VIPs. The contract for the tents has been given to Bharat Tent House, Malout, he said. The remaining supporters—around 40,000— would be accommodated on the mats for which 1,000 pedestal fans have been arranged, he informed.

About providing eatables to its supporters, the spokesman for the Congress said that six water tankers were being arranged and a langar would also be served to them.

The activists rued that none of the officials of the local administration had ever visited the site and the security arrangements were being looked after by the party’s youth brigade, they added.

Sporadic statements have also started appearing from the side of SAD (B)-BJP combine apparatchiks to decry the challenge thrown by the Congress.

Bathinda, August 29
The District Congress Committee (Rural) is all set to make Lambi rally a great success. District president Narinder Singh Bhaleria disclosed this at a meeting here.

He said that the Lambi rally, to be held on September 1 is very significant, as former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh would address the gathering.

He further said that people are enthusiastic and are looking forward to the rally as they are fed up with the malpractices of the SAD-BJP government, especially during the Zila Parishad and municipal polls.

Bhaleria also informed that the Congress workers are leaving no stone unturned to create awareness about the rally and the responsibility of displaying the banners have already been given to them. A large number of Congress workers including Bhagat Singh Dhaliwal, Inder Singh Sahni, K. K. Sharma, Gagroop Gill and Vikramjeet Singh participated in the meeting. — TNS

Moga, August 29
Lack of a proper sewerage system, inadequate water supply, poor condition of streets, improper functioning of street lights, heaps of garbage lying here and there and growing illegal colonies reflect the poor functioning of the local municipal council.

Though the town got the status of a district headquarter 13 years back but it is still far from sufficient for a growing city.

Successive parties, who ruled the local body in the past two decades, had promised to provide more water to the residents but it is still not enough. The supply of adequate and potable water is only one of the many issues that residents are likely to raise before the candidates before they decide their candidates to the 31-ward local body.

The elections are slated for September 14 and the SAD-BJP and the Congress, two main political parties, have already begun preparations.

The Congress, which ruled the local body in the last tenure, has to overcome infighting, the main issue that is likely to upset its local MLA Joginder Pal Jain, who has allegedly given a unilateral nod for party tickets to some of his close confidants, which has irked some other party stalwarts.

Jain was earlier the MC president and has a lot of interest in the local politics.

Sources in the Congress revealed that another senior Congress leader Darshan Singh Brar, MLA from Baghapurana, has also begun evincing interest in the politics of this town. Besides, former MLA Vijay Sathi, former minister Malti Thapar and few others are also trying to make their presence felt.

In such a situation, the SAD-BJP alliance under the leadership of its senior leader Jathedar Tota Singh may sweep the polls.

Locals say that the mess in Moga is the result of a corrupt and inefficient municipal administration.

In the past, municipal elections barely interested people but for the first time, it seems that peoples’ groups are going to rate candidates for the elections.

So, for the hard-pressed residents of this town, who work out life with too little water and poor sanitation, have only just begun to see the importance of getting involved in the civic matters and are demanding accountability from their elected representatives.

Lundewala (Muktsar), August 29
“The problem of waterlogging has not emerged overnight. It is a reflection of the shoddy work done by the bureaucracy and the various governments in state,” alleged Ajmer Singh Lakhowal, chairman, Punjab Mandi Board, who is also president of the Bharti Kisan Union (Lakhowal).

Lakhowal was here to address the farmers’ Maha Panchayat at village Lundewala, which was reportedly organised to highlight the problem of waterlogging in the region.

Terming waterlogging as a natural calamity, he sought compensation at the rate of Rs 15,000 per acre to farmers, affected by the problem.

Presenting figures of the affected area, he said that 2,101square kilometre area of the Muktsar district was affected by waterlogging and to rid the farmers of the problem, 520 kilometres of drain lines were spread, which could not meet the purpose just due to the lack of co-ordination between the various departments.

Giving assurances to the farmers, he said he would talk to the chief minister and senior officials in thie regard.

With the unanimous approval of farmers, a number of demands were also penned down, including the speedy implementation of the waterlogging removal project, compensation, free allocation of pesticides to tackle mealy bug, price parity between Haryana and Punjab after reduction of taxes, sending the data of farmers’ debt to the government, among others.

The Maha Panchayat was attended by various leaders of the organisation including Puran Singh Shahkot, Bhupinder Singh Maheshwari, Ajaib Singh Khaira, Mahender Singh Lakhewali, Jagjeet Singh, Binder Singh, Gurmeet Singh, Iqbal Singh and others.

Bathinda, August 29
Maddening! The word sums up the unregulated traffic movement and haphazard parking on the roads of the city. And this holds true, for not just the narrow lanes of the city because traffic bottlenecks have become a common sight on the once spacious outer roads as well.

The peak-hour theory from 9 am and 5 pm does not seem to apply on the roads of Bathinda. A visit to the railway station area at any time of the day could be a test of your driving skills and finding parking space on the busy roads is next to impossible. Rickshaw-pullers hardly spare any space even for pedestrians on front of the railway station.

Haphazard parking of rickshaws in railway station area leads to frequent traffic blockades and commuters stranded on both sides of the road could do little but honk their horns. Same goes for the Amrik Singh Road where most of the main road has been encroached upon by fruit and vegetable vendors and vehicular traffic is always snail-paced in the area.

With private bus operators alighting passengers on the Bibiwala road itself, most commuters prefer not taking the road. Rickshaw pullers could be seen putting hurdles in traffic all over the road.

The malls and commercial complexes are adding their bit to the problem by piling up construction material on the roadside. The commuters have to not only negotiate their way through the 'malba', which turns into mud and slush after a brief shower, they also have to deal with flying sand and dust.

With the traffic police having no strategy to manage the flow of traffic at the key crossings, driving even on the Mall Road can also be a hassle.

The Bathinda Municipal Corporation (BMC) has chalked out a detailed strategy to ease traffic congestion on the city roads. K.K. Yadav, commissioner of the corporation, said the issue was discussed in detail with the police department at a meeting held recently and a concerted effort would soon be made to ensure smooth flow of traffic on city roads.

As part of the plan, the BMC would hold meetings with Resident Welfare Associations to spread awareness about the benefits of using the parking lots. The commissioner assured action against builders of shopping malls and commercial complexes if they store construction material on the roadside.

On the other hand, SP (City) Narinder Kaushal, said a set of new parking lots would come up over the next six months, which would check haphazard parking, especially in the narrow lanes of the city.

He added that the police department had also decided to take stringent action against the private bus operators who pick up or alight passengers at traffic light points in the city, which lead to complete obstruction of traffic during the peak hours in the morning and evening. 

Bathinda, August 29
The mean and merit scholarship scheme of the Centre government for giving scholarships to low income group families of minority communities has received an overwhelming response in the remote backward districts of Malwa region.

The district education officer is flooded with applications from children of minority community and the number was many times more as compared to last year.

Under the scheme, students of the minority community are entitled the scholarship subjected to the condition that annual income did not exceed Rs 1,00,000, said District Education officer, Gidderbaha, Harbans Lal Goel.

Further, the scholarship is limited only to the students who have passed class VII with more than 55 per cent marks for the general category and 50 per cent for the reserved category and are studying in class VIII.

DEO Bathinda, Barjinder Singh Mann said that since the number of scholarship at all India level was limited, the competition was very tough. To maintain complete transparency in selection of genuine beneficiaries entire process has been computerised. He informed that the process would be complete by mid-October and final list of beneficiaries is likely to be released by October 16.

As many as 1000 students from the minority communities received scholarships under the scheme in Punjab last year out of which 50 were in Bathinda alone.

Though the scheme has not been given desired publicity there was enough awareness about the scheme among the people which was reflected in large number of candidates applying for the scholarships.

Balwinder Singh, son of Lal Singh of Deoda village, who applied for the scholarship today said that it would be a great support if his application was accepted.

Bathinda, August 29
G.S. Sra, member, generation, Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) has said that all the three units of the Guru Hargobind Thermal Plant (GHTP), Lehra Mohabbat, were working properly and making substantial contribution in meeting the demand for power in Punjab.

The operations at the plant were disrupted by the illegal lightening strike by the workers of the contractors of Coal Handling Plant on August 26 resulting in stoppage of Unit-1 and 2. The Unit-3 of the plant had been shut on previous night because of leakage from the boiler drum manhole.

Coal feeding operation was resumed at 4.30 pm. All the three units resumed power generation on August 27. The Lehra Mohabbat Thermal Power Station is now operating at its full capacity, Sra claimed. 

Bathinda, August 29
Harnek Singh, the Nathana Station House Officer (SHO), wanted in connection with a case related to blackmail, today surrendered in a local court. He has been sent to judicial custody till September 1.

Giving the information, ASP Harsh Kumar Bansal, who is also heading the inquiry, said his acomplice, Randhir Singh Dhira, has already been arrested. However, the two women involved in the case are still absconding. The desire to earn easy money through blackmail had landed the cop and his aides in trouble.— TNS

Mansa, August 29
From this session, the annual exams for Government Primary Schools would not be conducted by the Punjab School Education Board. This was decided by the state government in the larger interests of students, informed Krishan Kumar, Director General ,School Education.

He further informed that from this session, annual exams of class V students in 13,000 government primary schools of the state would be conducted by the staff of 1300 government senior secondary schools, adding that now, the class V would not be that of board.

Kumar also informed that Punjab was the only state where class V exams were conducted by its education board.

Meanwhile, Sikandar Dhaliwal, leader of the Democratic Teachers’ Front, Darshan Singh Dhillon, convener of the Save Education Committee, and Ranjit Singh Dhaliwal, a teacher, welcomed the decision saying that the decision would help in decreasing the extra financial and mental burden on the children. They demanded the similar policy for class VIII examinations too.

Moga, August 29
A mother of five children along with her paramour committed suicide by consuming poison at Kokri Phoola Singh village of this district today.

Their bodies were recovered by the police from the fields in this village, which were later brought to the civil hospital here for a post-mortem examination.

The deceased were residents of Bhindran village of this district and were identified as Paramjit Kaur (40) and Gurmeet Singh Meeta (20).

During the preliminary investigations, it was revealed that Paramjit allegedly had extra-marital relations with Gurmeet for past few months and wanted to live with him but social complications prevented her from doing so.

Distressed, both of them consumed ‘sulphos’ tablets and ended their lives.

It may be mentioned here that two young lovers of the Bhindran village had committed suicide in a hotel at Shimla last week.

Barnala, August 29
Apprehending the storage of sub-standard rice in godowns of Barnala and surrounding areas by the Barnala unit of the FCI, a raid was conducted at warehouse godowns situated in Pharwahi village about 7 km from here.

Deputy Commissioner R.L. Mehta told The Tribune that he had received an anonymous call day before yesterday about sub-standard rice being stored at some places.

Acting on the basis of the complaint, DC Mehta directed the district food and supply controller K.K. Kohli and assistant manager, FCI  Barnala, K.K. Kapila to fill the samples of the rice stored at warehouse godowns in Pharwahi.

The DC’s office also sent a written press communiqué in this regard today.

One sample was with the district food supply controller Kohli while the second one was sent to the FCI laboratory in Sangrur yesterday for testing.

The DC said that he had asked the FCI staff to give the sample report as early as possible and was hoping to get it by Monday.

Mehta added that the physical specification of the samples collected was not up to the mark.

The rice had discoloration up to 30 per cent as compared to the permissible level of 5 per cent.

The rice also had breakage, the DC said, and warned of action in case the reports turned out to be negative.

Abohar, August 29
More than 100 students and about 15 teachers, who traversed 125 km to participate in the district-level hockey matches, had to return from Ferozepur after they learnt that the events had been postponed to September 1.

“Is this the way to organise the much-hyped sports for schools,” a player asked. Some of the schools had even rescheduled the first terminal tests to take part in the event.

As per the available information, neither the district education officer nor his assistant was available when the in-charge of the teams approached the district office.

The DEO, when contacted, allegedly shrugged off the responsibility, the teachers said. The players informed that the zonal convener feigned ignorance about the postponed matches.

The teachers informed this correspondent that every year, the teams faced a similar situation. “They don’t learn lessons from the mistakes.” Despite repeated efforts, district officials could not be contacted for their comments. — OC

Mansa, August 29
“Directly or indirectly, the youth of this area would get employment with the setting up of the thermal plant at Talwandi Sabo,” said Sukhbir Badal, the SAD chief, after inspecting the arrangements for the inaugural function to be held on September 2.

He said the SAD-BJP government was committed to development of the state.

Meanwhile, DGP NPS Aulakh inspected the security arrangements for the function where the CM would lay the foundation stone for the project. — OC