Bathinda, October 23
The key wings of the government, police, public health, hospitals and municipal committees are among the major defaulters for the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) in Malwa.

The west zone of the PSEB, which caters to Bathinda, Faridkot, Ferozepur and Muktsar circles, has prepared a list of 24,5357 net defaulters who owe Rs 8429.25 lakhs to the PSEB.

According to the list available, till September 30, 2008, the Bathinda circle, which covers Bathinda and Mansa districts, has 76,457 defaulters with a pending amount of Rs 2,621 lakh. In the same way, the Faridkot circle, catering to Faridkot and Moga districts, has a net recoverable outstanding of Rs 2,035 lakh. Ferozepur circle has a pending amount of Rs 1,664 lakh. The home district of the chief minister, Muktsar, has an outstanding of Rs 2,108 lakh.

The domestic sector of the west zone has an outstanding of Rs 4,458 lakh. Meanwhile, the industrial sector has Rs 318 lakh as outstanding, non residential subscribers have Rs 1,273 lakh and agricultural sector Rs 2,381 lakh as pending amount.

In total, government departments have a big share to pay. A total of Rs 2,220 lakh is to be recovered from them. Out of this, the major defaulters are the Punjab Police (Rs 308 lakh), municipal committee water works (Rs 793 lakh), public health (Rs 672 lakh), hospital and dispensaries (Rs 101 lakh), irrigation department (Rs 83 lakh), municipal committee local bodies (Rs 188 lakh). Ironically, the deputy commissioner's offices of the circles have an outstanding amount of Rs 4.84 lakh.

Excluding the above cases, the Board has issued permanent disconnection orders against 73,706 defaulters which amounts to Rs 34 crore as outstanding. Meanwhile, 2744 cases with an outstanding of Rs 1071 lakh are in the courts and cases for an outstanding of Rs 240 lakh is in the disputed category.

Chief engineer of the Punjab State Electricity Board, west zone, Ravinder Singh said, "We try our level best to recover the pending amount but people create a number of hurdles in the process. They even file civil suits just to drag the case. The government departments too are indifferent towards paying off their dues. We continuously urge everyone to cooperate but only in vain."

Bathinda, October 23
Muktsar, the home district of the chief minister, that was in the news some time back for power theft cases is again in the news, this time for the huge amount that remains to be paid to the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB).

Government offices, domestic connections, NRS and industries included, the district has a net pending recoverable amount of Rs 21 crore towards the PSEB. The number of defaulters including all sectors is 59,480 excluding the 232 court cases and 58 disputed ones.

The government departments have an outstanding of Rs 620.94 lakh towards the PSEB.

If we talk about the deputy commissioner's offices, Muktsar is on top in the list of defaulters in the west zone of the PSEB which caters to Bathinda, Muktsar, Mansa, Moga, Ferozepur and Faridkot districts, with an outstanding of Rs 3.52 lakh.

In the same way, the public health department is also on top of the list in Malwa as it owes a sum of Rs 336.10 lakh. Bathinda circle including Mansa has an outstanding of Rs 112 lakh, Faridkot including Moga Rs 176.82 lakh and Ferozepur Rs 47.31 lakh.

The irrigation department also owes a sum of Rs 52.72 lakh to the PSEB while Faridkot circle's dues are nil and Ferozepur circle has only a balance of Rs 2.39 lakh.

The police department of Muktsar district has a pending amount by way of electricity bills to the tune of Rs 59.40 lakh. Forest department in Muktsar has a due of Rs 21,000, whereas Bathinda and Mansa have no amount as pending.

Government schools and industrial training institutions of the district also make it to the top with an outstanding of Rs 1.67 lakh.

On the other hand, there are a number of departments with no dues outstanding like civil defence, agriculture, revenue department, Zila Parishad and civil courts, among others.

It may be mentioned that in these departments, none of the districts of the west zone is a defaulter towards the PSEB.

Bathinda, October 23
It has been almost four months now and around 2200 teachers, promoted as lecturers from masters, have not been paid their salary. These teachers were promoted in July this year but are working without pay as there is no sanction for funds to pay them salaries.

Karamjeet Singh, one such lecturer who teaches English at the Government Senior Secondary School in Muktsar, said, "We were promoted in July and were getting regular salary in the masters cadre but we are now being denied our pay for the lecturer cadre. We spoke to the DEO in Muktsar and he told us that pay would be given in December because the government created posts but there was no financial sanction for it. The whole country would be celebrating Diwali except for us because we are penniless."

A similar case came to light in Bathinda where around 16 ETT teachers, five in Sangat, three in Maur, four in Rampura and four in Goniana, have not received their salaries for July, August, September and October and their CPF (contributory provident fund) accounts have not been opened. Ramniwas Singh, a local teacher, said, "Our pay is sanctioned by the government. The superintendent in Ferozepur who used to get our salaries sanctioned got transferred and the superintendent in Bathinda is turning a deaf ear to our pleas. Last year also, we were given salaries in two instalments.”

The office of the deputy director (local bodies), when contacted, said, "Our superintendent in Ferozepur got transferred. Ferozepur authorities have the charge of sanctioning salaries for teachers. This time, we have got our separate deputy director who will be looking into the matter. The sanctions were made but were made for Ferozepur division. Because of the transfer of the superintendent, the formalities could not be completed. The cheques were to be received by today evening and I promise you that the salaries of teachers would be credited by tomorrow morning."

Bathinda, October 23
Former minister Charanji Lal Garg today said that after listening to the grievances of the nearly 124 residents of the city, whom the Bathinda Municipal Corporation (BMC) had issued notices for demolition, the chief minister Parkash Singh Badal had instructed the authorities concerned not to start the demolition drive.

Garg added that he took the representatives of the aggrieved persons to the CM, who was in Muktsar district for Sangat Darshan. He said that out of the 124, special orders had been issued for 44 buildings and the authorities had requested the deputy commissioner for police help also.

Garg said that the previous demolition drive launched by the BMC in a slum area had caused a big loss to the ruling SAD, which he brought to the notice of the CM.

Bathinda, October 23
One person was killed while two sustained injuries in a head-on collision between a car and an oil tanker on the Bathinda-Barnala road today.

According to sources, the car bearing number PB 32-0303 hit an oil tanker coming from the opposite direction. The car was badly damaged and the driver, Nirmal Kumar was killed on the spot. The injured were identified as Deepak Gandhi and Dr Varinder Kumar, who is son of Surinder Singh, civil surgeon, Barnala.

Body has been handed over to the kin of deceased after the postmortem.

Fazilka, October 23
The border town of Fazilka, which shot to limelight after it was elected by Czech Republic magazine “Carbuster” as the first Asian town for adopting energy saving practices to fight global warming, is all set to emerge as the energy hub of the state.

According to the facts compiled by Graduate Welfare Association (GWAF) here, the Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA), in collaboration with a German company, the Moser Baer Photovoltaic Limited, would install 5-MW solar energy plant in Fazilka. The energy so produced would be environment friendly. The project, likely to be completed within two years, would meet the power requirements of about one lakh residents of this town and that too at cheaper rates.

The PEDA has also taken up an initiative of generating power from residue of sugar mills. Meanwhile, it has floated tenders for generating power from waste of Fazilka Cooperative Sugar Mills.

The construction of the US $ 3.5 billion Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) is likely to start in near future. Fazilka is expected to be established as a distribution point of the TAPI project, which would give further impetus to make it the energy hub.

The town has also emerged on the world map by adopting a unique system of making available cycle-rickshaws (ECOCABS) on call. Four telephone centres have been set up for the purpose. The system is running successfully. Moreover, for security reasons, the Indian defence forces stationed at Fazilka have recently planted more than 10,000 saplings, including 3,000 Sheesham saplings given by the progressive farmers of Fazilka.

While emerging on the energy front, the farmers of this area are also availing services of the Agricultural Equipment Bank set up by Vikram Ahuja, a young entrepreneur of this town.

The Malwa Water Management System developed by Ahuja is also likely to save 7.5 billion litres of water annually in Fazilka and its surrounding areas.

The farmers are also being apprised of the latest techniques to conserve water. Besides, drip irrigation system is also being promoted in the region.

Bathinda, October 23
With the harvesting of paddy at its peak, the burning of stubble in the villages across the state is unabated leading to the further degradation of the atmosphere. Thanks to the practice, the residents of the villages and the nearby areas are facing respiratory problems and eye infections. Those suffering from asthma are the worst hit. Significantly, soil loses the natural nutrients and other friendly organisms present in the soil when the stubble is burnt. The farmers plead that burning the stubble was more convenient and does not burn a hole in their pockets as well.

In the past, several fire accidents have been reported throughout the state for the burning of stubble but it failed to serve any lesson.

It is happening year after year for lack of official will towards creating awareness among the farmers about how they were contributing to the pollution. In addition, stringent laws are missing to stop the practice.

Why do farmers burn the leftover? If they don’t, then they would have to plough the land repeatedly until they get rid of the paddy residue. They know that they had to use almost double the urea or fertiliser for the next crop but still they resort to burning so as to avoid labour and the additional cost of inputs, including diesel and use of machines.

Randhir Singh, vice-president, Panchayat Union, Bathinda, said the farmers in order to save time and labour burn the leftover straw.

While they are busy selling their paddy crop in the markets, at the same time they also have to prepare the land so that wheat, the next crop, could be sown on time. “No one has ever visited us to stop us from continuing the practice,” he disclosed.

“What to talk about farmers, it appears, even the officials at higher levels have not pondered over the issue,” said Jagsir Singh, general secretary of the BKU (Sidhupur).

G.S. Buttar, director, PAU, Regional Station, Bathinda, said, “If the stubble is not burnt it would improve the health of the soil besides humans. Burning of stubble gives further rise to the greenhouse effect.” However, he added that in comparison to the previous year, burning of stubble had reduced.

G.S. Romana, in-charge of the PAU Farm Advisory Service, Bathinda, said, “There are at least three machines that could help farmers get rid of the stubble, namely zero tillage machine, happy seeder machine and rotavators.” But farmers find burning more convenient in absence of any strict law. Moreover, official will, too seems to be absent, he added.

The government should come out with some mechanism where the farmers are educated about the harmful effects of the stubble burning, said Randhir.

Chief agriculture officer Paramjit Singh Sandhu, when contacted on phone, said, “The government has embarked upon a district-level scheme, where 33 per cent subsidy on tractor and the machines would be given to a cooperative society and a private buyer of each block in the district. They would rent out the equipment to the farmers in the area.” He added that the efforts were on to sensitise the farmers about the problem.

Barnala, October 23
A farmer of nearby Pharwahi village has demanded security from the SSP Barnala, alleging that he received a threat to his life from the chairman of the Block Samiti, Barnala, and the SHO, Dhanaula. He also sought disciplinary action against the SHO.

In his complaint to Shiv Kumar Verma, SSP Barnala, Gurdarshan Singh, son of Udhay Singh and a resident of Pharwahi, said he purchased a piece of land measuring 18 kanal and 13 marla from Lal Singh, Bachittar Singh and Jaggar Singh of Pandher village on February 5, 2007. However, in June 2008, Bachittar and others tried to take possession of the land. He objected to it and complained before the then SSP Barnala. But his application was referred to the SHO, Dahnaula, he added.

Gurdarshan alleged that Harpal Singh Pandher, chairman of the Block Samiti, Barnala, and the SHO called him to the police station where the SHO threatened him to remain quiet or face dire consequences. And on July 19, the trio destroyed the standing paddy crop on his land, causing financial loss to him and harassment.

Gurdarshan requested the police to take action on his application and protect him from the SHO.

Meanwhile, Pandher said the allegations levelled against him were false. Gurdarshan had some land dispute with the trio and he had nothing to do with it, he added.

Gurdrashan said that the SSP, Barnala, has assured him of looking into the matter.

Hanumangarh/Abohar, October 23
Hundreds of people thronged the Hanumangarh railway station to greet the Red Ribbon Express.

The train comprises seven coaches, equipped with educational material, primarily on HIV/AIDS, interactive touch screens and 3-D models, PPTCT services in the context of RCH II, HIV-TB co-infection, an LCD projector and platform for folk performances, counseling cabins and two doctors’ cabins for providing counseling and syndrome treatment for STI and RTI cases, an office, dining area and pantry. Over its year-long journey, the train has to traversed over 27,000 km covering 180 stations and hold programmes and activities in over 50,000 villages.

DC Mugdha Sinha inaugurated the exhibition that was later visited by over 4,000 persons. A majority of the visitors was from the fair sex.

Chief executive of the National Aids Control Society Mohan Singh Rana informed that so far 11.5 lakh persons had gone through the exhibition.

Six Kala Jathas, who travel by the train, later left for 24 villages to enact plays to spread awareness about the fatal disease. District coordinator of the Nehru Yuva Kendra M.K. Sharma said Hanumangarh was the 162nd halt of the train.

Moga, October 23
The Moga district has excelled in the annual regional livestock show held at Ludhiana recently. As many as 70 animals won prizes in the show organised by the state government. P.C. Mittal, deputy director of the animal husbandry department, informed TNS that over 300 animals from the district had participated in the show.

The ‘Murrah’ breed of buffalo, owned by Nirmal Singh of Jhandeana village, bagged the first prize in milching maximum milk of 18.9 litres on the spot. Similarly, the ‘Holstein Friesian’ breed of cow, owned by Harpreet Singh of Nurpur Hakima village, bagged the first prize in the cows’ category by milching 35 litres of milk. The ‘Nili Ravi’ breed of buffalo bull, owned by Randhir Singh of Rode village, was adjudged the best bull. Besides, couple of Randhir’s buffaloes also bagged prizes in the show.

In the goats’ category, the female goat, owned by Rafi Mohammad of Kishanpura Kalan village, bagged the first prize by milching 2.75 litres of milk.

Many milch animals of various breeds and horses from this district had also bagged prizes, Mittal said, adding that the best animals would be taken to participate in the state-level animal show to be held from January 11 to January 13 at Muktsar.

He announced that the department would provide all possible technical know-how to the farming community and animal lovers in order to improve the breeds of their animals so that they get maximum financial benefits.

Mansa, October 23
The level of sports activities in the district is very low due to lack of the sports infrastructure. There is no stadium in the district and in the absence of the facility, sports has remained neglected. The only ground where sports tournaments are conducted is at Nehru Memorial Government College.

Leader of the Radical People’s Forum Jaspal Khokhar and woman activist Rekha Sharma expressed concern over the lack of sports infrastructure in the district.

They said that even 16 years after Mansa became a district, it was lacking in facilities for sports.

District sports officer Avdesh Sharma also admitted the lack of stadiums and staff. He informed that five coaches had been deputed in Mansa a few days ago.

Gulzar Singh Ranike, sports minister, Punjab, when contacted, assured that necessary infrastructure would be provided in the district soon.

Abohar, October 23
Lord Krishna Polytechnic College, Kapurthala, defeated Ramgarhia Polytechnic, Phagwara, on the second day of the Annual Zonal Kabaddi tournament being hosted by the Abohar Polytechnic College at the village Kala Tibba here on Thursday.

In the second match, the hosts lost to Sukhjindra College, Gurdaspur despite good performance.

In the third match, the players from the SBS College, Patti, defeated their rivals from Sai Badni College, Pathankot.

On the occasion, Sanjiv Midha, chairman of the host college, along with principal Jatinderpal Singh introduced the players to chief guest Madan Lal Midha, who is chairman of the Satya Sai B.Ed College, Karaiwala.

Abohar, October 23
Assumption Convent School today honoured its students Sushant Makkar and Mukul for obtaining the second and the third position respectively at national-level in the ITI entrance test. Chief guest Gurtej Singh Ghuriana, MLA (Balluana) and Sr. Lucy, principal of the institution, awarded them.

Ghuriana hoisted the school flag to declare the meet open. Spectacular march- past and PT show by students of Delia, Jasmine, Lily and Rose Houses enthralled the gathering. The legislator was highly impressed by the performance of the well-disciplined students and announced money for distributing sweets among the participants. He gave away prizes to the winners in different events also.