POLITICS

Cong rubbishes FM’s claim 
Chandigarh, November 11
The debate on the fiscal health of Punjab further intensified today with Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal claiming to “have saved Punjab from a financial debacle”.

Chandigarh, November 11
Surprisingly for Punjab, which boasts of being one of the top states in the country in terms of the Human Development Index, the major killer is not the burden of lifestyle diseases, but diseases from contaminated water and poor sanitation. As a result, the national programmes that address specific morbidities are inadequate to meet the state’s specific needs.

Punjab needs to have its own health policy based on its own specifications. At the moment, the state is dependent on the Central Government for social sector programmes. Thus, the state is characterised by high prevalence of water-borne and communicable diseases, low outcomes for vaccination and other basic women and child health programmes and high cost of health care.

Coming out with this finding, the Punjab Governance Reforms Commission has said that the social gap in access to health services across gender, income and social groups is large in the state, is unacceptable and this has even increased in recent years. “The morbidity patterns suggest that still a large portion of diseases are communicable in nature and are influenced by basic water and sanitation and directly related with levels of income at the household level,” the report has said.

The report has further suggested that the medical facilities available, including basic infrastructure, to run hospitals and health centres is inadequate and unsatisfactory. The report that aims at looking at what ails the system and be a background paper on “Status of Health Services and Health Outcomes in Punjab and Recommendations for the Health Sector” says that only 26 per cent of Public Health Centres (PHCs) have residential quarters for medical officers, which is much below the national average.

Only 17 per cent of the PHCs are functioning for 24 hours. However, in terms of bed availability, 75 per cent of the PHCs had at least four beds, which is above the national average. In terms of regular power supply to the PHCs, which is essential to run machines, etc, only 7.5 per cent the PHCs have a regular supply, which is a shockingly low number as compared to the national average of 36 per cent and is the worst in the country.

Further, the survey has come up with a disturbing finding that nurses were not willing to working night hours, due to security reasons. The absence of nurses, due to their sense of insecurity, contributed, as per the study, to general dissatisfaction of the communities towards the health service.

The report has recommended that fragmentation in the health sector, spreading responsibilities across departments, must be streamlined. Doctors who hold administrative positions should be trained in management and administrative skills.

Also the report before the government for implementation calls for provision for constant in- house training programmes and upgradation of skills of paramedics, nurses and other medical staff. Trauma training and counselling services are given priority in the report. Emergency services, regulation of food, diagnostic facilities, drugs and alcohol abuse are other areas in which initiatives are recommended.

And finally the paper argues that privatisation and Public Private Partnership (PPP) cannot be viewed as substitute for good governance. Rather good governance is a pre-requisite for the success of PPPs.

(Concluded)

Jalandhar, November 11
Taking on the administration of the Punjab Pollution Control Board ( PPCB), environmentalist Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal said today that the board was not serious about tackling the problem of pollution in the state. He is also a member of the board.

Talking to The Tribune at his headquarters at Sultanpur Lodhi, Sant Seechewal said the board had failed to enforce various laws related to the checking of air and water pollution in the state, adding that the board was answerable to the people of the state with regard to the deteriorating scenario on the environmental pollution front.

The board should act against those industries that were resorting to air and water pollution in spite of repeated warnings. “ I am all for industrial development in the state but it should not be at the cost of lives of the people,” said Seechewal.

“There is no use of development that adversely affects the lives of people,” he said.

“By resorting to pollution, some industries were violating human rights of the people and posing danger to their lives. The board must act against such industries,” he added. He further said after his becoming the member, the board authorities had been made to discuss some important issues related to pollution in the state.

“Earlier, board meetings used to be more about non-pollution issues”, he said. He said some of the functionaries of the board had been playing clever with him.

“The points raised by me in some of the meetings were not included in the proceedings of such meetings,” he said.

“When I came to know about it, I started recording the proceedings of the meetings at my own level and started pointing out about deficiencies in the writing of the proceedings,” he said.

He said the Board authorities were told not to confirm the proceedings of 148th meeting till the issues raised by him were not made part of it.

He said while people in many parts of the state were dying because of the high-level air and water pollution, the board should make sincere efforts to stop such a phenomenon.

He said it was constitutional responsibility of the board to check the growing menace of pollution in the state.

“I pointed out that on testing the samples of Kali Bein and Kala Sanghian drain, the water of Kali Bein was found to be of “ A” category while of Kala Sanghian drain, it was of “D” category. That means the board did not make efforts to stop the draining of filth and toxic waste into the Kala Sanghian drain.

Moonak (Sangrur), November 11
Even after four months of the announcement of compensation to farmers whose paddy crop had damaged due to the floods, they are yet to get full compensation for the same.

Ramesh Kumar Sharma, a small farmer, said it had become difficult for his family to survive as the government had failed to compensate him for heavy losses suffered by him . “On July 10, the floods had destroyed my standing paddy crop. I had taken money at exorbitant interest from a money lender to invest the same in the crop. But my whole crop got destroyed,” he rued.

He added that even girdawari was done by a team to access losses suffered by them. “We don’t know what type of parameters this team had set to recommend compensation. In a majority of the cases, the compensation decided by this team is far more less than what farmers should have got,” he added.

He further said even as his crop on 1.5 qilas was completely damaged, he got only Rs 2,000. “The government should rework the compensation and pay us full amount,” he demanded.

Another farmer, Ranjeet Singh Tiwari, who owns 23 acres at two places near Rampura and Papra villages, also rued that he had got compensation for just 20 acres instead of 23 acres.

Birkha Ram, who also didn’t get full compensation, said he got only Rs 6,000 against the expected compensation (calculated as per the government set scale) of Rs 8,500.

However, Sangrur DC Harkesh Singh Sidhu said farmers who did not get full compensation should approach the local administration.

Chandigarh, November 11
The debate on the fiscal health of Punjab further intensified today with Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal claiming to “have saved Punjab from a financial debacle”.

On the eve of Capt Amarinder Singh’s taking over as the state Congress president, the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) has come out with a statement defending its former Chief Minister saying “Finance Minister Upinderjit Kaur utterances on the state’s debt are absolutely false, incorrect and baseless”.

Supporters of former Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, who started the debate, however, do not want to join issues in the ongoing debate and leave it to the people to judge. But they said: “We are thankful to Sukhbir for at least acknowledging that Manpreet did a good job as a Finance Minister and that he saved Punjab from a financial mess. It is a separate matter that he had to pay doing a good job.”

Volunteering to join the ongoing debate on the state’s economy, Sukhbir today claimed that: “The SAD-BJP government has saved Punjab from economic bankruptcy as the previous Congress government had left us with empty coffers.”

He alleged that when the Congress demitted office, VAT collection was a mere Rs 5,000 crore, which is now set to touch Rs 11,000 crore and the excise collection was registering an average Rs 1,000 crore hike annually as against the total Rs 128 crore hike registered during the five-year Congress rule.

The Congress has, however, gone back to papers given out by Manpreet Badal in the last Budget Session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha.

Quoting “Punjab Budget at a Glance” for 2010-2011, page 11, the Congress has said that the public debt of the state is stated to be Rs 71,086 crore. Besides, the debt owed by Public Sector Undertakings and guaranteed by the state is another Rs 65,889 crore.

Countering the claims made by the government, the Congress has said the total debt owed by the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), now Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) on March 31, 2010, and guaranteed by the state is Rs 17,000 crore. “This amounts to a total of Rs 1.53 crore and all these are budgetary figures released by the state government itself and not any lies as claimed by the minister,” the Congress spokesperson has said.

Hitting out hard at the Akalis, the PPCC spokesperson said when the Akalis took over in 1997, the total debt on the state was about Rs 15,000 crore and when they left in 2002 it had more than doubled at Rs 32,496 crore. This was despite the fact that the Centre had waived Rs 2,433 crore. When the Congress took over in 2002, the total debt was Rs 32,496 crore and it went up to Rs 47,800 crore in 5 years. This is an average increase of 47 per cent against over 120 per cent increase during the previous Akali regime.

Sangrur, November 11
Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today claimed that the SAD-BJP government had saved the state from economic bankruptcy as the previous Congress government had left the present government with empty coffers.

Talking to mediapersons before addressing a public meeting at Badrukhan, the native village of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Sukhbir alleged that the Congress and certain people were using the debt trap issue to distract the public from accomplishments of the SAD-BJP government.

Claiming to return to power on the basis of rapid development in the state, he said the Congress, which was foreseeing dark future for the next 25 years, was in disarray and blaming the SAD-BJP government for every ill.

The Deputy CM further said the government had always followed in Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s footsteps, giving priority to pro-poor and pro-people policies.

He said despite “vicious propaganda” by certain individuals, the government was committed to fulfil all promises made in the manifesto. Sukhbir said this government was by the people, for the people and of the people.

Giving away a grant of Rs 20 lakh for Badrukhan village, he said a bronze statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh would soon be installed, as tenders had already been floated for the same.

Badal also dedicated to the people over 12 projects at a combined cost of Rs 50 crore which include a railway overbridge at Sunam, Police Pubic School at Sangrur, tehsil complex, PUDA colony and Government College at Amargarh.

PWD Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa and MLA Iqbal Singh Jhunda also spoke on the occasion.

Meanwhile, a delegation of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur International Foundation, an NGO fighting against drug abuse, also met Sukhbir at the residence of Dhindsa, They handed over to him a memorandum of demands, which include dress code for people working at drug stores; bill for medicines, property assessment of drug store owners and mandatory prescription from doctors for getting medicines.

Chandigarh, November 11
Competitive politics is set to make Pradesh Congress President Amarinder Singh’s formal takeover at the party headquarters here on November 12 a much bigger affair than the recent Amritsar welcome with party ticket seekers set to outdo each other to impress the new Congress chief.

The large gathering expected at the takeover ceremony has necessitated the use of technology with the party set to put up large screens outside the party office to enable party workers to witness the ceremony. Madhya Marg in front of the party office in Sector 15 from the PGI chowk to the Sector 16 chowk will be closed to traffic and is expected to accommodate party workers thronging the city for the ceremony.

Former minister Lal Singh seems to be in charge of the function as he was seen coordinating with party leaders at the party office. Talking to TNS, he said the takeover ceremony was likely to be the best attended ever. “We are expecting thousands of party workers at the event with every legislator and party office-bearer likely to attend the function along with their supporters”, he said.

Party sources said a number of prospective ticket seekers were also likely to put up a show at the function in order to impress the new party President as had happened in Amritsar where leaders vied with each other to get Amarinder’s attention. Dhuri leader and Amarinder aide Gurjeet Singh Jawanda said almost all senior party leaders, including Congress Legislature Party leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, besides party MPs Jagmeet Brar and Partap Singh Bajwa would attend the function.

Party leaders have also responded eagerly to look after the expected crowds. Lal Singh said arrangements had been made for around 30,000 packed lunches. He said Congress leaders had also volunteered to supply snacks and tea with Mohali legislator Balbir Singh Sidhu committing to supply 31 quintals of ladoos.

Barnala legislator Kewal Dhillon, who oversaw the arrangements yesterday, said according to the tentative programme, only senior leaders and VIPs will be able to get space in the compound of the party office where a stage has been erected.

Ludhiana, November 11
The US has asked for India's cooperation in providing food security to Asian and African countries.The US feels that innovations in Indian agriculture have the power to transform the agricultural sector both in India and abroad. These observations were made during a round-table conference when President Barrack Obama visited India recently.

Dr MS Kang, Vice-Chancellor, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), had the privilege to be a part of this eight-member round-table conference held at St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, on November 7.

Giving details about the conference, Dr Kang said through the President's recently launched "Feed the Future" initiative for global food security, the US was dramatically increasing its funding and attention to agriculture and food security.

"The US feels that Indo-US partnership in agriculture can develop new solutions, which will benefit other nations, especially African countries, where food security is a major problem", said Dr Kang. He added that President Obama and the Agricultural Secretary, US, took keen interest in joining hands with Indian counterparts in the agricultural sector.

Dr Kang said it was a proud moment that India, which cried for its own food security in 1960s, was now being asked to help other nations provide food security."Feed the Future" would provide global food security, he said.

Besides, the US has offered partnership with India on weather forecasting."Weather forecasting of the US has been number one in the world. With the recent Indo-US partnership, Indian predictions on the weather will be more accurate. Issues relating to climate change, development of agriculture and nuclear energy were also discussed during the conference", said Dr Kang.

The only VC from India who got the honour to discuss agriculture at length with US counterparts, Dr Kang said he felt good to meet the energetic and young President Obama. "During an exhibition at St Xavier's College, when a farm woman was operating an agricultural machine, Obama folded his sleeves, sat with the woman and asked many technology-related questions", said Dr Kang.

Prominent among others who attended the conference were M Srinivas Rao, president, Cereal System Initiatives for South Asia, Rajiv Shah, senior official from the Department of Agriculture, US, and Jeffrey Armstrong, Dean, Michigan State University.

Amritsar, November 11
Artistes, including school kids, from India and Pakistan will lay stress on setting in motion of the peace process with the opening of the seventh edition of the Saanjh Festival, a joint endeavour of the Rafi Peer Theatre Group, Lahore, Punarjyot along with Pakistani peace activists here tomorrow.

Spiritual guru and the Founder of Art of Living, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, has agreed to inaugurate the Indo-Pak festival.

Eminent Pakistan intellectual and daughter of noted poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Saleema Hashmi, expressed the hope that small initiatives like Saanjh and other similar efforts at the local level would one day become an international phenomenon. She said in spite of many hiccups and bureaucratic hurdles, a group of about 50 Pakistan artistes,including schoolchildren, would reach here to strengthen the

cultural bonds between the two nations by participating in the three-day festival.

Dr Kirat Sandhu, Director, Punarjyot, said people-to-people contacts and the sharing of experiences of various groups of artistes and intellectuals from both countries would positively help defuse the present acrimonious atmosphere.

Patiala, November 11
National conference on “Emerging Trends in Biopharmaceuticals: Relevance to Human Health” got underway at Thapar University campus here today. Prof A Mukherjee, director, Thapar University, inaugurated the conference. In the inaugural speech, Prof Mukherjee introduced history and course curriculum of Thapar University. He emphasised on quality education and inter-disciplinary research involving biotechnology with other branches of science.

In his keynote address, Dr Girish Sahni, director, Institute of Microbial technology, Chandigarh, deliberated on the emerging oppurtunities for biotechnologies in future, wherein he highlighted some of the important research findings on streptokinase that had bought laurels to India. Convenor of the conference Prof M Sudhakar Reddy highlighted the theme and objectives of this scientific meet.

During the conference, Prof Sambasiva Rao, general secretary of the Association of Biotechnology and Pharmacy (ABAP), conferred fellowship upon eminent scientists, who had contributed significantly in the field of biopharmaceuticals. Honorary fellowships were given by the ABAP society to Dr Girish Sahni, Dr Sudhakara Reddy, Dr Dinesh Goyal and other eminent researchers from reputed research organisations of the country.

“The conference attracted eminent scientists such as Dr Govinder Flora from the US and researchers from India. The conference received overwhelming response from Pharma and Biotechnology industry,” Mukherjee said. 

Chandigarh, November 11
Less than a month after Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal called for an end to the regime of vendetta politics, ousted Finance Minister Manpreet Badal’s officer on special duty Charanjit Singh yesterday expressed apprehensions of implication because of his association with the at-odds politician.

In fact, the echo of vendetta politics was heard loud and clear in the corridors of justice at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, after Charanjit Singh sought 14-day advance notice in any case likely to be registered against him in the state of Punjab by any wing of the Punjab Police, including the Vigilance Bureau. His apprehensions saw Justice MS Sullar allow his request and issue notice of motion to the state for November 18.

In his petition Charanjit Singh claimed he was associated with the former minister for the past 15 years and he continued to be his OSD till October.

Charanjit Singh added he would be implicated in criminal cases by the Punjab Police as the “Akali government in the state is trying to fasten around all the persons closely linked with Manpreet Badal”.

In an apparent attempt to substantiate his contentions, he alleged a case of abetment to suicide and common intention dated November 3 was registered under Sections 306 and 34 of the IPC at the Gidderbaha police station in Muktsar district against various persons, including him, on a “false” complaint by Suman Rani. She had accused the OSD of also being an abettor, leading to suicide by her husband Gautam Tanwar.

Chairman of the Congress OBC cell in Muktsar, Tanwar was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his house at Gidderbaha with a suicide note purportedly written by him stating he had been “forced to take the extreme step due to harassment at the hands of the former Finance Minister’s aide and a couple of cops”.

Khamano, November 11
A 28-years-old mobile thief died under mysterious circumstances at Khamano police station last evening. Police officials claimed that thief had committed suicide by hanging himself with his own trousers in the toilet of police station. His body was found hanging with his pair of jeans.

Deceased Hardeep Singh Bunty belonged to a poor family of labourers in Sarvarpur village Samrala. Village elderly of Sarvarpur and the police in Khamano police station said Bunty was addicted to various kinds of drugs, including smack. Khamano police station in charge Rajpal Singh said the accused was brought to police station at around 3 pm last evening from his village in Sarvarpur.

He was kept in the lockup during, which he complained of nausea and suffocation. Policeman on duty outside the lockup told him to sit outside for sometime. Over the pretext of attending nature’s call, Bunty entered inside the toilet and locked himself. Door was broke open and he was found hanging with the grills of ventilator.

Body was brought down in presence of Khamano SDM Rupanjali and judicial magistrate Ashish Bansal. SP (headquarter) Jaspreet Singh Sidhu said Bunty was accused of stealing around 14 cell phones from a shop in Barwali village in Khamano.

Amritpal Singh of Charri village near Khamano had lodged a complaint with the police about stolen cellphones from his shop on October 28. SP said judicial magistrate was conducting an enquiry into the suicide under Section 176 of the CrPc and the police has also initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPc.

Meanwhile, family members, including parents of deceased, refused to come out with allegation of the police torture. Few local political leaders raised slogans against the police for quite sometime in the morning alleging torturing Bunty in the police custody. The government hospital in Khamano was turned into a police camp with the presence of large number of policemen.