Bathinda, October 11
"I have no hesitation in disclosing that during my recent tour of the state, carried out to interact with weaker sections of society, I found that there is a need to revive schemes launched by the government to support them," said Gulzar Singh Ranike, minister for welfare of SCs/BCs, sports and youth services, here today.

While entering the Sports Stadium here to inaugurate the three-day Punjab sports meet for women, Ranike was "gheraoed" by a group of computer teachers, who staged a protest demanding permanent jobs.

To pacify the agitators, who were raising anti-government slogans, the minister assured them of arranging a dialogue with the CM in this regard.

Later, talking to TNS, Ranike said schemes like pensions, atta dal, shagun, housing etc, which were launched to help the poor people belonging to the SC/BC communities, were actually benefiting those who were not in need of it. "I have surveyed and analysed that a number of ration cards were being allotted to "influential people". I have complained to the chief minister and the party chief in this regard and they have assured of action," he added.

When questioned about the controversy between the SAD-BJP relating to distribution of parliamentary seats, he said, "Both the parties should go for the previous ratio of 10:3. Those who are raising the issue should first work to ensure the victory of the alliance rather than raise such demands."

Regarding the scope of fish farming, he said, "We have drafted a proposal according to which low-lying and waterlogged areas would be utilised for fish farming. For this, both private and public sectors would be encouraged alike."

Taking a serious note of the low turnout of spectators at the state-level sports event, he said, "People in the state are losing interest in sports. The government has been trying its best to revive popular interest in sports but it is for people themselves to show respect and love for the games. Parents must also encourage their kids to take part in sporting activities."

Bathinda, October 11
In the wake of the alleged threat by terrorist organisations to blow up railway stations during the festival season, the duty hours of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel have been increased and security personnel in plainclothes have also been deployed at the stations coming under the Ambala railway division.

M.K. Sharma, Post Commander, RPF, Bathinda railway station, disclosed that duty hours of security personnel have been increased from the existing 8 hours to 12 hours.

He further said that keeping in mind the shortage of RPF personnel, a demand for 150 Home Guards has been sent to the higher railway authorities in Delhi, which, he said, was likely to be met by Monday.

RPF sources said that 40 Home Guards would be deployed at Bathinda, Patiala, Rajpura and Sirhind railway stations, 45 in Ambala, 30 in Chandigarh, 15 in Kalka and 20 Home Guards at the Saharanpur railway stations.

Stepping up security arrangements at the Bathinda railway station, which comes under the A-category, the RPF and the GRP have started taking appropriate measures to avoid any untoward incident. Sharma said security had been beefed up at the local station.

The district police administration has also decided to provide an anti-sabotage team with a dog squad.

The Railway police control room at Ambala has intimated all the railway stations to be on high alert. 

Barnala, October 11
The state government has made all the necessary arrangements for the smooth procurement of paddy in the state. The main thrust would be on timely payment as well as timely lifting. Revealing this the principal secretary to the chief minister, Darbar Singh Guru, said that the chief minister had issued instructions to all the mandi board officials and five state food agencies to complete the arrangements.

For the purpose, altogether 13 principal secretaries of various department had been instructed to tour the 20 district of the state. These officials would co-ordinate the food officials and supervise the procurement process.

Guru said that he would himself visit the eight district within next three days. He would visit Barnala, Fardikot, Ferozepur, Mansa, Bathinda, Muktsar, Ludhiana and Ropar.

On being asked about the moisture content in the paddy, which is quite high against the permissible limit of 17 per cent, Guru said that the food purchase agencies had been directed to have positive approach. He signalled that slightly higher moisture content would be overlooked.

Guru hoped that the government was expecting good paddy crop this year. So far, it had procured more than 30 lakh MT paddy till date. The farmers would have no problem this time in selling their produce, he added.

Guru inspected the local grain market. He was accompanied by the deputy commissioner R.L. Mehta, SDM P.S. Kehlay, Mandi board officials and other staff of purchasing agencies.

After the visit he expressed satisfaction over the arrangement made by local administration for procurement. 

Bathinda, October 11
Despite the claims of the government that lifting of paddy from the mandis has accelerated, the problem is still far from over.

SAD chief Sukhbir Badal, during his recent visit, had asked the local administration to remove the heaps of paddy within 24 hours. But in reality, the paddy glut is still visible at the grain markets of Bathinda district.

During a random visit to Goniana, Har Raipur, Janda Wala and some other villages in the district, it was found that huge piles of paddy were waiting to be packed in jute bags. Moreover, the mandis were cluttered with jute bags, which had not been taken to the shellers.

An elderly farmer, Gurnam Singh, of village Har Rai Pur, who was sitting on a heap of paddy said, "It has been eight days that I have been sitting here. But till date, neither have I got a place to clean the crop nor has it been purchased."

"It is all due to the poor state of lifting as the mandi is full of paddy and my turn will come only when the bags of others are removed," he rued.

Pawan Kumar and Gopal Ram, arhtiyas present there, alleged that sheller owners were behaving in an indifferent way.

"They have been rejecting the bags of paddy which had been purchased by government agencies. It is just to harass the farmers as they know that this time there has been a bumper crop."

At village Jandawala, farmers said this menace was just due to the callous attitude of the contractors supposed to lift the paddy. "Contractors have been using less number of vehicles and the number of labourers deployed for the job is also less than required due to which we all will have to wait for some days."

Talking over the phone, Ajaib Singh Bhatti, Congress MLA from Nathana, said, "I have visited a number of grain markets in the constituency today and found that the tall claims made by Sukhbir Singh Badal have fallen flat. In the absence of any other option, farmers are still waiting for the lifting of paddy."

RPS Pawar, principal secretary to the government, who was in Bathinda to attend a sports event, said, "I agree that the problem is there but it has its reasons. First, we had not expected such a bumper crop. Secondly, the ban imposed on exports and private firms refraining from purchase has also added to the problem."

"Shellers too lack the capacity to store. Shortage of labour and carriage vehicles have also added to the problem. But now to resolve the problem, the state machinery has geared up and within coming weeks, the results would be for every one to see," he added

Meanwhile, Darbara Singh Guru, principal secretary to CM, who was also in Bathinda today, said that orders had been issued to ensure early lifting of paddy and payment within 48 hours.

Ferozepur, October 11
Deputy Commissioner Megh Raj has slapped a penalty of around Rs 4 lakh against two rice shellers for illegally storing large amount of paddy without any sanction and the same was recovered on the spot. DC said that no irregularity or corrupt practices during the purchase of paddy would be tolerated.

DC today inspected various grain markets and held meeting with representatives of procurement agencies, commission agents and truck operators. DC said that M/s M S Foods was imposed fine of Rs 3,37,845 whereas New Tech Rice Mill was fined Rs 18,357 on account of alleged irregularities and evasion of market fees.

Abohar, October 11
Irate farmers shut the gate of the new cotton yard today ruing that remunerative price was not being offered by the private traders and the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) was finding it difficult to handle the bumper crop.

The farmers prevented movement of vehicles that were loaded with cotton and shouted slogans against the government.

Legislator Sunil Jakhar visited the yard and pacified the cotton growers while justifying their resentment. He observed that previously the state government had also been procuring cotton through the Spinfed and Markfed but now the Spinfed had been bundled out and the Markfed had not been asked by the state government to enter the markets the farmers were feeling uneasy.

SDM N.S. Brar and Harpal Singh secretary of the Market Committee also interacted with the agitating farmers and representatives of the traders and CCI. The traders explained that it was not viable for them to offer higher rates as the processed cotton was being sold at Rs 2,400 per quintal only in the national market. The major player in the market CCI staff said delay in weighing the previous stock was due to shortage of labour. Temperature being rising in the day hours the output of the manual work was going slow day by day.

The traders told the officials that the farmers were getting Rs 3,000 for each quintal of desi variety of cotton whereas it was Rs 2,000 last year. Narma cotton rate had not increased from Rs 2,100 per quintal last year whereas this time the private buyers were offering above Rs 2,500.

As the CCI resumed purchase later the agency purchased 3700 out of total arrival 8000 quintal today.

CCI Punjab zone in-charge V.P. Nagpal visited different markets to study the situation and sort out current problems. He informed that during four days, the CCI had purchased one lakh quintal of Narma cotton leaving about 25000 quintal for the private traders. 

Mansa, October 11
The Bharatiya Kisan Union held a demonstration in favour of their demands in Mansa yesterday.

Hundreds of farmers marched in the city and held a rally. State president of union Joginder Singh Ugrahan said that in the absence of government agencies, private firms have been exploiting the farmers by purchasing the cotton at low rates.

He demanded the early purchase of cotton through government agencies. Kisan leaders also raised the issue of loss that farmers had incurred due to hailstorm during last days and demanded compensation for the farmers after conducting a special girdawari of crops. District president of Kisan Union Ram Singh Bhaini Bagha said at the rally that farmers have been facing difficulties due to the shortage of D.A.P. fertiliser at the time of wheat growing.

He demanded that fertilisers be made available to farmers at genuine rates. Kisan leaders wanted agricultural items to be given to farmers through co-operative societies and necessary action taken against the dealers who sell fertilisers in black. 

Bathinda, October 11
An exotic assortment of rich colours would welcome you, contemporary style, merged with the Punjabi folklore called phulkari, to add a punch at an exhibition-cum-sale organised by Dupinder Kaur, who claims to be the first in Punjab to have introduced phulkari done using a machine. Dupinder has attempted to introduce the art of phulkari to the international market and Bathinda has given her a convivial start.

Dupinder comes from Lehra Mohabbat and has attained an M.Sc in fashion technology because she feels that having full knowledge of your subject gives you an edge in your chosen field and no one can question your potential.

"I planned to do fashion designing because I had keen interest in this field but I saw that people do not accept your talent till you have skilled and qualified knowledge of whatever you intend to do. So, I took a professional degree before making my interest commercial," said Dupinder.

Immaculately done suits, sarees, dupattas, shawls, kurtis and shirts are displayed by her at an exhibition organised at a city hotel on the Mall Road.

"I have introduced my art to the Delhi and Chandigarh crowd and got an eager response there. It gave me the confidence that today's generation is not only after a Jimmy Choo or an Armani product but if prepared properly with appropriate skills and technique, then ethnic art too can create waves on the international fashion scene," said an excited Dupinder.

Government organisations have made phulkari so expensive that a common buyer thinks twice before shelling out the money needed and this is a prime reason why the art is diminishing fast.

But Dupinder's intention is to introduce this art at an affordable price so that she can promote the rich ethnicity of Punjab.

Abohar, October 11
“The Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had announced during his birth day celebrations a gift of Rs 3400 crore for the farming community by way of allocation on strengthening the canal irrigation system but not even a rupee has been spent during the last ten months,” said Congress legislator Sunil Jakhar.

Criticising the Badals at a press conference here on Saturday, Jakhar quoting official reports said that Rs 85 lakh was required for cleansing the canals in Abohar, Gidderbaha and Muktsar areas to ensure supply of water at the tail-end villages. The state government had earmarked Rs 42.35 lakh for Abohar, 25.24 lakh for Gidderbaha and 17.70 lakh for Muktsar sub-divisions. Since formation of the Badal-led government, only Rs 135 lakh was allocated for the canal system in these areas. Contrary to this, the Congress government led by Captain Amrinder Singh had released Rs 9.78 crore for the same purpose. —OC

Abohar, October 11
The Hanumangarh DC Mugdha Sinha after reviewing the functioning of the mid-day meal scheme in the district has asked the chief executive officer of the Zila Parishad to issue notices to the education officers in Hanumangarh, Nohar and Bhadra blocks for not submitting the monthly progress report in software feed, sources confirmed today.

The deputy commissioner has further directed that kitchen sheds should be erected immediately in 538 schools besides preparing list of the institutions which were facing shortage of utensils for preparing the meals. Priority list needs to be prepared for this purpose. All heads of schools should be asked to submit applications for LPG connections. — OC

Bathinda, October 11
The inaugural ceremony of the Inter DPS Boys Football Tournament of north zone took place here today. Pramod Grover, vice-chairman of DPS Society and chairman of DPS Bathinda, Brig. Gurdip Singh (SM, VSM), and pro vice-chairman of DPS Bathinda Ramesh Talwar graced the occasion. The flag hoisting was followed by a cultural programme presented by children.

Two pre-quarter matches were played. One was between DPS Jammu and DPS Chandigarh and the other between DPS Pinjore and DPS Amritsar. The Chandigarh and Pinjore teams won their matches, respectively. — TNS

Bathinda, October 11
Kuldip Singh, District and Sessions Judge, Bathinda, yesterday convicted Jaswinder Singh of Bhagta Bhai village on the charges of abduction and rape and sentenced him to seven years' imprisonment.

He was also fined Rs 5,000. In case of default in payment of the fine, he would have to further undergo imprisonment for six months.

According to the prosecution, the accused had abducted the victim from her parents' house in a Zen car (DL 2CN-4040) at Bhagta Bhai on November 5, 2006 and took her to Amritsar and raped her. Surjit Singh, father of the girl, had lodged a complaint at Dayalpura police station in this regard. The police had filed an FIR against Jaswinder Singh on November 9, 2006. The police had arrested the accused on November 10, 2006 from Aklia Jalal village and booked him on the charges of abduction and rape.

On the basis of the statement given by the victim, the court sentenced Jaswinder Singh to imprisonment.

Faridkot, October 11
A woman was allegedly raped by a youth in village Bhana near here, yesterday. She was admitted to the Guru Gobind Singh Medical College Hospital, here. The police had registered a criminal case against the accused and started investigations.

Police sources revealed that the victim (35) had lodged a complaint with the police that while her husband had gone out of the house to attend a religious function, Puran Singh and Kewal Singh forcibly entered into her house.

She alleged that Puran with the help of his friend Kewal raped her. She, however, said that Kewal did not rape her but helped his friend in the crime.

She further stated that while they were still in the house, her husband came back and tried to catch them but they managed to escape. Before running away, Puran assaulted her, she added.