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Docs threaten agitation over pay anomalies
De-addiction centre inmates HIV+
Inequality high in rural Punjab
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Sukhbir may contest from Jalalabad
BJP may blame Akalis
Panchayat dept told to dispose of pending cases
Finland gurdwara faces Takht action for changes in ardas
Gunfight in
Austrian gurdwara leaves 11 hurt
Govt allots free land to poor
Harsimrat to launch Nanhi Chhaan at national level
Punjab violates grid discipline, loses power
PSEB paints rosy picture for paddy season
Students attend UN conference in Finland
HC stays proceedings against Moga MLA
24 bodies recovered in 24 days
2 killed in road mishap
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Docs threaten agitation over pay anomalies
Chandigarh, May 24 PCMS Association president Hardeep Singh has alleged bias in the Punjab Pay Commission report which, he said, had failed to record recommendations for many sections of the PCMS cadre. Terming the report as discriminatory, the association has threatened agitation “if justice is denied”. Doctors in Punjab have a grouse that the first Assured Career Progression (ACP) to Central government doctors comes after two years, while in Punjab it comes after four years. Besides, the difference in the basic pay of Rs 1,200 translates to about pay difference of Rs 8,000 to 10,000. Similarly, the second ACP in Punjab comes after nine years as compared to six years at the Centre. The Central government has also given doctors a Senior Administrative Grade after 20 years, while there is no such provision in Punjab. Besides, the disparity in pay scale translates into huge financial loss when dearness allowance, house rent, annual increment etc are taken into account. The only saving grace is that Punjab has given a 3rd ACP after 14 years, which has not been provided to Central government doctors. Dr Ajay Bagga, press secretary, and Dr PL Garg, ex-general secretary, PCMS Association, said the pay panel had totally ignored many sections of PCMS cadre eg doctors with 20 years service, specialist doctors and senior doctors with promotional posts. While all employees had been recommended better than their Central counterparts, discriminatory attitude of the Punjab Pay Commission had kept PCMS doctors much lower than their Central counterparts. Functional SMOs, civil surgeons and additional directors in the PCMS cadre have been practically in the same scale of medical officer with 14 years service, while at Central health services, seniors doctors with promotion are getting another four scales in the Senior Administrative Grade (SAG). The Punjab pay panel has not recorded any scale structure for this senior PCMS cadre, Dr Hardip Singh said. The PCMS has also complained that despite admitting the need for a separate pay structure for specialists (as a doctor who possesses MD or MS degree would certainly perform better than a doctor who has MBBS degree), this too has remained an observation. The doctors are seeking removal of these anomalies in the pay structure, failing which they “we will be compelled to adopt the path of agitation”.
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De-addiction centre inmates HIV+
Chandigarh, May 24 Two are from the camp area of Batala and another from Bangowani village in Kalanour. All were procuring drugs from the camp area in Batala. The HIV positive inmates said they took injectible drugs along with at least five friends in the area. “The others are still there. We all used the same needles and syringes,” they said. While one of the inmates came to the centre a week ago, the other two came in the past few days, but the number of HIV positive drug addicts in the area is said to be more. “We get HIV tests done of the inmates who have been taking injectible drugs. Once found positive, we send them to the civil hospital here from where they are sent to Amritsar for treatment,” said Romesh Mahajan, project director of the de-addiction centre. Mahajan said a majority of the inmates in the centre named two women of Batala most active in supplying drugs. “Their names have been sent more than once to the SSP, but no action has been taken against them,” said Mahajan. While the Batala police stepped up action against a handful drug peddlers early this month, no action has been taken against these two peddlers. “A cop of Batala police came to record statements of the inmates, but he did not do anything. He took a round of the centre and went back without talking to any inmate,” said Mahajan. “While Batala cops are shielding the two ‘high-profile’ peddlers, local politicians too seem to be in the know of things, but choose to keep silent. We have been naming the peddlers for two years, but who is listening?” asked Mahajan.
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Inequality high in rural Punjab
Jalandhar, May 24 Stating that existing initiatives under a public policy have not yet yielded results in terms of reducing inequalities at various levels in society, Satjeet has sought taking land redistribution measures, besides initiating structural transformation of Punjab’s economy. Without ensuring an upward movement of rural population, inequality among various sections of society at the level of income, assets, education and health can not be dealt with, he states in the study: “Human Capital, Household Inequality and Public Policy”. Satjeet, who conducted the study under the guidance of Dr Lakhwinder Singh Gill, an eminent economist, has found that there is a huge gap in various regions of the state as far as human development is concerned. “Not even a single district of Punjab can be ranked in the category of high human development,” he asserts. That means the economic prosperity of Punjab has not translated into increasing welfare of people. Rural Punjab has a high degree of inequality in terms of income, productive assets and household assets. The richest class (20 per cent) has a five times more share in the total income than the bottom class (40 per cent) in rural areas. Middle class (40 per cent) has approximately three times higher share in the total income than the lowest class in rural areas. His findings are based on the sample survey he did in Ludhiana, Amritsar and Mansa districts selected on the basis of their ranking in the human development index. Ludhiana is number one, Amritsar figures at the medium level and Mansa at the lowest level in the index of 2001. The richest 20 per cent rural population has 67.7 share in the total productive assets, the middle level (40 per cent) 30.3 per cent share and the bottom level (40 per cent) population only 2 per cent share in these assets. The magnitude of inequality is more pronounced in Mansa and Amritsar compared to Ludhiana, which has better human development index level. Similar is the situation in the holding of household assets. Ludhiana has Rs 6,714 average expenditure per student on education compared to Amritsar and Mansa where the expenditure recorded is Rs 5,459 and Rs 4,472, respectively. There is discrimination against girls as far as expenditure on education is concerned. In Ludhiana, per capita expenditure on men is Rs 7,052 and on women Rs 6,355. In Amritsar, it is Rs 5,913 on men and Rs 4,470 on women and in Mansa Rs 5,423 on men and Rs 3,026 on women. That proves that gender bias and level human development are co-related. The study has found that more the educational qualification of a farmer, the more the income from agriculture. High School pass farmers earn 10.97 per cent more than illiterate farmers. Graduated and above earn 9.44 per cent more than the High School pass ones. The study highlights more chronic energy deficiency among women compared to men and also there is a high percentage of overweight among women compared to men. Severe malnutrition among children (1 to 5 years of age) has been highest at 27 per cent in Mansa, 17 per cent in Amritsar and 20 per cent in Ludhiana. Severe malnutrition is about 8 per cent more among female children compared to male children.
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Sukhbir may contest from Jalalabad
Chandigarh, May 24 While the Banur seat has been declared vacant officially, the Jalalabad and Kahnuwan seats are likely to be declared vacant soon. This is because their legislators Sher Singh Ghubaya (Jalalabad) and Partap Singh Bajwa (Kahnuwan) have emerged victorious from the Ferozepur and Gurdaspur parliamentary constituencies, respectively. The future of top political families of the state is likely to be decided in the three bypolls. While in Banur Kanwaljit’s son is in line for the party ticket, Sukhbir may contest from Jalalabad. Bajwa’s brother Fatehjang Singh Bajwa may emerge a candidate from Kahnuwan. While political atmosphere with regard to Jalalabad and Kahnuwan is still to charge up, intense politicking has started for the Banur assembly seat among the Akalis while from the Congress camp there is only one likely candidate in former PSIDC vice-chairman and former Advocate-General Deepinder Singh Dhillon. While Kanwaljit’s son Jasjit Singh Bunny would have otherwise been a natural choice to take on his father’s legacy in Banur, the manner in which he revolted against the party before coming back into the partyfold has spoilt his chances. In the meantime, Kanwaljit’s friend-turned-foe NK Sharma has emerged as a strong candidate. According to sources, if Sukhbir has his way, then the ticket may go to Sharma. However, it could be the other way round with Bunny being chosen if Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal takes the call. Meanwhile, sources said as far as the Congress was concerned Dhillon had emerged as the sole claimant to the Banur party ticket. Deepinder functioned like a one-man army for Patiala Congress candidate Preneet Kaur during the parliamentary elections. Also what goes in Deepinder’s favour is that the SAD led by only 9,000 odd votes from Banur. Capt Kanwaljit had won the last assembly elections by a margin of 40,000 votes by defeating Rakesh Sharma of the Congress who is no longer a contender from the seat.
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BJP may blame Akalis
Jalandhar, May 24 Party sources said three meetings of the BJP leaders would be held tomorrow at its office in Chandigarh to discuss why voters showed such contempt towards it in the state. First meeting would be of office-bearers, another of the core committee and the third would be of the party MLAs. Kiran Ghai, BJP high command representative, was expected to attend the meetings. BJP insiders said the party was of the view that the SAD leadership-driven state government paid more attention towards rural areas and ignored urban areas. Owing to this reason, urban voters, who had overwhelmingly cast their votes in favour of the SAD-BJP combine during the last assembly elections in cities like Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Hoshiarpur, voted for the Congress in the LS elections. However, such an alibi on the part of the BJP top brass may be countered at the meeting by some of the senior leaders, who remained sidelined during the past two years in the party. Important departments, such as Local Bodies and Industries, which cater to the interests of urban voters, are held by the BJP. Besides, the Department of Health, Social Security, Medical Education, Technical Education and Transport are also with the BJP. A poor performance in the urban areas despite having those departments is something that would be difficult to explain by the BJP leaders enjoying power in the government. The question why the SAD-BJP government was unable to declare its new industrial policy even after two years of its coming to power would figure prominently at the meeting. Sources said there would be pressure on the BJP leadership to ask certain ministers to make way for Surjit Jiyani and Arunesh Thakur, the only two BJP MLAs from whose segments the party won in the LS elections. Jiyani and Thakur are as senior MLAs in the party as the other BJP MLAs, who are ministers in the Badal government.
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Panchayat dept told to dispose of pending cases
Chandigarh, May 24 Rural Development and Panchayats Minister Ranjit Singh Brahmpura stated this while presiding over a meeting with senior officers of the department, including DDPOs of all districts here yesterday. While reviewing the various ongoing development plans of the department, Brahmpura said he wanted to complete development works at the earliest at the grassroots level, so that the beneficiaries could avail the benefits of the various development schemes launched by the state government. For the achievement of the targets, he asked the officers to personally visit the rural areas to oversee and ensure the completion and supervision of the development works relating to the villages so that the aspirations of the rural population could be fulfilled. Reviewing the turnover of annual auctions of the various shamlaut lands pertaining to the village panchayats, the minister directed the DDPOs and BDPOs to enhance the rate of the annual auctions of such common lands at least near to the prevailing market rates so that the panchayats could utilise this money for their development works. He expressed concern at the low auction rates of these lands and advised them to increase the rates every year. The minister further said village ponds must be remodelled in such a manner so that the water could be surcharged with the underground water. He emphasised to fully utilise the NAREGA funds at the village level so that the job-card holders under this scheme could get the remuneration at least for 100 days in a year.
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Finland gurdwara faces Takht action for changes in ardas
Amritsar, May 24 The gurdwara of Finland kicked off a row by taking a unanimous decision to replace the first line of the ardas from “Pritham Bhaugauti simar ke….” to “Akal Purakh simar ke….” Moreover, the gurdwara added to the ardas the mention of the 35 Bhagtas whose holy verses are included in Guru Granth Sahib. As approved by the SGPC and Akal Takht, the Sikh prayer begins with “Pritham Bhaugauti simar ke… (first remembering sword). The ardas mainly comprises three parts. It begins with holy verses by describing the role of the first nine Gurus in relation to God, then about Guru Gobind Singh, followed by the important milestones in the Sikh history. Thereafter, it includes a plea to God for grace on the whole of the humanity and the Khalsa and ends with the purpose of the gathering. Although on most of the occasions the whole of the ardas is recited, at certain occasions a shorter version of it is recited. Meanwhile, Sikhs in Finland have objected to the change in the first stanza of the ardas. One of them said: “I don’t mind the 35 Bhagtas in the ardas, but the first part is from Guru Gobind Singh’s Dasam Bani, Chandi Di Vaar and hence could not be changed”. Akal Takht has received a number of petitions from across the world describing the act of the Finland gurdwara as “a gross violation of the Sikh maryada”. They have said the “self-styled Sikh scholars” did not know that “Bhaugauti” is not the name of any god or goddess but means “kirpan” (sword worn by a baptised Sikh). The Jathedar has appealed to the Sikh sangat not to get carried away by the violation of the Sikh code by the Finland gurdwara.
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Gunfight in Austrian gurdwara leaves 11 hurt Amritsar, May 24 The armed youths entered the Gurdwara premises and pulled knives and revolvers, thereby leaving 11 persons injured. All assailants have been overpowered by the Vienna police. Talking to The Tribune from Austria, a Sikh scholar Ravi Kiran Singh said the clash was the result of the rivalry between two warring groups. However, Prof HS Bolina, a Sikh scholar, said the headquarter of the Guru Ravi Dass Gurdwara (Austria) was in Ballan village, Raipur, Jalandhar district of Punjab. Dera head Niranjan Dass who sustained injuries is said to be the close confident of Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti, a former Jathedar Akal Takht. Eyewitnesses said the fight erupted after a dispute over the sermon, given by a religious person which was strongly objected by the rival group. The police said at least six men, one wielding a gun and the others with knives, attacked the preacher. Others rushed to his aid, resulting in the melee. The Gurdwara is situated in Vienna-Rudolfsheim, the capital’s 15th district. The police cordoned off the area. It may be mentioned here that the Akal Takht had already directed the Sikh Sangat not to establish more than one Gurdwaas at one place.
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SAD stands by ally: Badal
Amritsar, May 24 He stated this on his visit to the residence of Sidhu here yesterday. Patting Sidhu on his back, Badal said Sidhu had proved his popularity among people by retaining the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat for the third consecutive term. Subsequently, Badal, accompanied by Sidhu, paid obeisance at the Golden Temple. Talking to mediapersons, he said the reasons for defeat in the recent LS elections would be probed. Meanwhile, the CM maintained that the SAD-BJP alliance had improved its performance compared to the last Assembly elections. When asked about the SAD’s relation with the BJP after drubbing of the NDA in the recent election, Badal stressed that the SAD was firmly standing by its trusted ally BJP.
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Govt allots free land to poor
Chandigarh, May 24 Disclosing this here today, an official spokesman said out of these, 8,000 beneficiaries had been bestowed ownership rights and even constructed houses over this land before August 15 here. The government initiated a scheme to provide 5-marla plots free-of-cost on the village panchayat land in 2001, and so far 19,992 families had been benefited. The spokesman further said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was committed to provide the facility of low-cost housing to the economically disadvantaged. He said on the lines of the Department of Rural development and Panchayats, the Department of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes Welfare had also devised another scheme to provide 10-marla plots free-of-cost to homeless SC families. Out of the 10-marla plot, the beneficiary was required to construct only over 5 marlas and the remaining area would be used as open space. Besides this, every eligible SC family would be given a grant of Rs 30, 000 for the construction of the house. A grant of Rs 15 crore had already been released during 2008-2009 financial year.
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Harsimrat to launch Nanhi Chhaan at national level
Maur (Bathinda), May 24 For the purpose, Harsimrat has decided to hold a seminar in Delhi where all women MPs of the country will be invited. Though the date for the seminar is not finalised yet, she is in a hurry to inform women MPs about the concept. Harsimrat was here on her thanksgiving tour and disclosed her plan while talking to the media. “After observing the success of the Nanhi Chhaan campaign in the state, now I am going to launch it at the national level to motivate all to show concern for the environment and take a stand against female foeticide. For this, all women MPs will be invited to Delhi where a national-level seminar on the evils of female foeticide, drug abuse and deteriorating state of environment will be discussed at length,” she said. “I am sure of getting a positive response from them and that they will introduce the campaign in their states,” she added. Harsimrat said, “After observing their response, I will make an effort that we collectively take up the matter with the Prime Minister to evolve a social awareness policy”. It may be mentioned that the Impact Group, an associate company of the Ranbaxy Group, had introduced the campaign, with Harsimrat as its brand ambassador.
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Punjab violates grid discipline, loses power
Chandigarh, May 24 According to the energy accounts of grid unscheduled interchange (UI) of the northern regional power committee, for the week May 4-10, the state surrendered 16.17 lakh units (LU) and also had to pay total UI charge of Rs 1.9 crore, thereby losing both on energy as well as on the financial front. Normally, a state that overdraws has to pay a corresponding UI charge, but during this week, the state surrendered about 91 LU, and overdrew 75 LU with net UI being 16.17 LU. This was because the surrendered energy was at high frequency with low UI rate and the overdrawn energy was at low frequency with high UI rate. For economy in grid operation, the line of action is to overdraw at high frequency and under draw at low frequency, according to former PSEB chief engineer and power management expert Padamjit Singh. For Punjab, the reverse happened, leading to a position whereby Punjab lost energy as well as money. The energy accounts of grid UI indicate that all northern states have overdrawn power from the grid at frequency below 49.2 hertz, thereby violating the gird code. The grid code prescribes an operating range of 49.2 Hz to 50.3 Hz and over drawl below 49.2 Hz attracts a surcharge of 40 per cent. In effect, over drawls below 49.2 Hz are priced at Rs 10.19 per unit (7.35 plus 40 per cent surcharge which took the per unit price to Rs 11.82). The rate of Rs 10.19 per unit for over drawl below 49.2 Hz frequency does not appear to have acted as a deterrent as the surcharge component levied on various states for such over drawls for the first week of May was Rs 65.9 lakh (Punjab), Rs 69.7 lakh (Rajasthan) Rs 3.54 crore (U.P) Rs 96.3 lakh (Uttarakhand) Rs 76.8 lakh (H.P), Rs 39.7 lakh (Haryana), Rs 9.4 lakh (Delhi), Rs 15.9 lakh (J&K).
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Gill's relentless fight for war heroes
Chandigarh, May 24 Bhupinder, from the Hodson’s Horse, performed remarkably well in the 1965 Indo-Pak war. In 1979, when Dr Gill was the Principal Secretary to the then Punjab Chief Minister, he decided to have statues of state heroes - Kartar Singh Saraba and Bhagat Singh - put up in Ludhiana. He also felt that Major Bhupinder and Param Vir Chakra winner Lt Nirmal Jeet Singh Sekhon also deserved to be commemorated. A bronze statue of Maj Bhupinder, whose family hailed from Ludhiana, was made in Delhi by an outstanding sculpturist. He wrote to the then Army Chief for a de-commissioned tank to be placed alongside the statue, but was “strangely” refused. Determined, Dr Gill wrote to his friend, Joginder Singh, the commissioner at Ferozepur who had excellent relations with the local Army Division, seeking his help. Joginder, somehow, not only managed to get a tank, but also had it delivered to Ludhiana on time. The inauguration of the function was a grand function, the Bharat Chowk was closed and 5,000 soldiers, along with the Corps Commander from Jalandhar, attended. The Chief Minister, who was not aware about the ongoing happenings, was invited for the function, but was inclined to go elsewhere on a village tour. Dr Gill managed to bring him to the function and he got a surprise as he had a grand function to preside over which was good for his image. Major Bhupinder’s family was honoured on the occasion. Later, Dr Gill said he had the Punjab Cabinet revise the grants to soldiers and also provide for the aged parents of dead heroes. A similar ceremony was also held for Sekhon’s statue, for which the then Air Chief, Air Chief Marshal Dilbagh Singh gave a de-commissioned Gnat fighter for installation alongside. This was followed by the statue of Subedar Karam Singh, Victoria Cross and Maha Vir Chakra winner, in Bathinda. Pointing out that sadly nobody else had followed his example, Dr Gil said in 1995, when he was the Election Comissioner, he found to his horror that to widen the road they were taking away Bhupinder’s statue. Worse, the Punjab govertment had a “foolish” idea of putting all statues in village Bhattiyan where nobody would ever go or see them. Immediately his father, Pratap Singh Gill, former Lieutenant General of Goa and General Himmat Singh Gill, also from Hodson’s Horse, protested strongly and publicly as statues were put up to honour great sacrifices and should be in the heart of the city. The Punjab government then pulled back.
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PSEB paints rosy picture for paddy season
Patiala, May 24 Similarly in Uttar Pradesh, big cities are facing four hours, smaller cities eight hours and rural areas are facing 12 hours of power cut daily. This means that areas falling under the jurisdiction of PSEB are well off as compared to the neighbouring states of Rajasthan and Haryana. The availability of power has been 132 lakh units from own Hydro power plants which was 102 lakh unit last year. Similarly, there has been an increase of power supply from 392 lakh units to 493 lakh units from own thermal units. BBMB's share increased from 118 lakh units on this day last year to 138 lakh units this year and NRSE sources provided 12 lakh units as compared to six lakh units last year. Now the PSEB is gearing itself up to provide reliable and uninterrupted power to farmers during Paddy season. For that, Board is repairing and doing routine maintenance of sub-stations and transmission lines and distribution lines. In doing so, the power Board has to take routine shutdowns of transmission lines and grid substations which results in disruption of power supply in that area for few hours. Board officials hoped that its esteemed consumers would understand the importance of providing uninterrupted power supply to farmers in the paddy season and bear with shutdowns for maintenance so that reliable power supply could be provided.
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Students attend UN conference in Finland
Ropar, May 24 The students who attended the conference were Ranjit Singh, Gurtej Singh, Harmandeep Singh Gurkirat Singh, Ranjodh Singh and Gurveer Singh. Along with sharing their views on global warming with selected students from 30 countries, they conducted workshops on future town planning, keeping in view the problem of global warming. Students visited the Finnish forest and Carelicum at JOENSUU. At Helsinki, the capital of Finland, they visited Kindergarten Museum, Kiasma museum of contemporary art, Ateneum Sinebrychoff museum of foreign art, Cygnaeus Gallery, Seurasaari open air museum and Urho Kekkonen museum. They were also arranged to visit Stockholm, capital of Sweden, by ship and they visited Gamla Stan, Kungliga Slottet, Helgeandsholmen, National Museum, Historiska Museet, Djurgarden and Nobelmuseet- a place full of information on Alfred Nobel - the father of Nobel Prizes.
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HC stays proceedings against Moga MLA
Moga, May 24 Local resident Jugraj Singh had complained to the police that Jain had beaten him and used caste-based abusive language. Meanwhile, it is learnt that complainant Jugraj Singh had reached a compromise with the MLA, which has diluted the case registered against him, allegedly due to political vendetta. Justice Pritam Pal of the high court, while hearing the petition filed by Jain, had on Friday issued notices to the state government and Jugraj Singh.
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24 bodies recovered in 24 days
Bathinda, May 24 Hardly a day passes when NGOs do not recover a body from the water bodies here. A large number of unidentified bodies recovered near the elections have given rise to various speculations. On May 1, volunteers of the Naujawan Welfare Society had recovered the brutally wounded body of an unidentified woman in a semi-nude condition floating on the Sirhind canal, near Madi village in the district. The body had over 30 wounds caused by a sharp-edged weapon. The very next day, the body of an unidentified man was found floating in a semi-nude condition near Raman Mandi. The hands, feet and neck of the deceased were tied and the body was wrapped in a blanket. Among others, the body of a youth had been recovered from a canal distributary on the Bathinda-Faridkot road on May 23. The youth’s hands and ears were chopped. A deep wound caused by a sharp-edged weapon was found on the skull. There were rashes on the neck as if he had been strangulated. It may be recalled that after the last rural bodies’ polls, a number of such cases were later found to be the fallout of political rivalry. It is ironical that several NGOs working here have been recovering bodies on a regular basis, but the police and the civil administration have confined themselves to just lodging the cases under Section 174, CrPC. Moreover, after the recovery of a decomposed body, investigation officers ask the NGO volunteers to take the body to the Civil Hospital for post-mortem examination. From recovery to cremation, volunteers of the NGOs perform all activities, as most of the cops find it difficult to touch decomposed bodies. Providing the date-wise details to the TNS, Sonu Maheshwari, president, Naujwan Welfare Society, said, “We recovered 16 bodies from various canals, distributary during this month. We perform our duty with a dedicated spirit, but the administration should also take an active part as it is basically their responsibility”. Meanwhile, volunteers of the Sahara Jan Seva have also recovered over half-a-dozen bodies. Rahul Tewari, Deputy Commissioner, Bathinda, and the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Faridkot Range, which includes Bathinda, Mansa and Faridkot districts, did not attend to the calls made to their phones for their versions.
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Chandigarh, May 24
