ADMINISTRATIVE CLUSTERS
‘Shortage’ of funds affects development
Ludhiana, December 10
Administrative clusters formed by the state government for reviewing the ongoing development works in various districts of the state have started producing results. This was stated by Darbara Singh Guru, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister.

Jalandhar, December 10
It proved to be a day of great joy for the families of Iqbal and four others, who returned from Bahrain today where they were trapped for the past four weeks.

They were brought back by senior leaders of the Lok Bhalai Party( LBP). A week ago, LBP chief Balwant Singh Ramoowalia had raised the issue of 50 youths trapped in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Senior vice-president of the LBP Avtar Singh Mullanpuri said: “Of the 17 youths trapped in Bahrain, five have been brought back and efforts are on to rescue the remaining.”

Besides Iqbal of Mahalan village, near here, others who have returned are: Rakesh Kumar of Garhi Mahan Singh village; Hardial of Chakk Rammu; Sukhwinder Singh of Garcha and Jaswinder of Mallari village.

A local agent had sent them to Bahrain. An agreement was signed with them to pay 120 dinars per month by a Bahrain-based private company. However, when they reached there, they were told that they would be given 60 dinars per month. “We felt cheated and refused to work,” said Hardial, adding that, “We all had spent Rs 60,000 to Rs 70,000 to go there.”

“We are all skilled workers. But we were engaged to operate heavy machines”, said Iqbal.

“We all went through hell there and ate unhygienic food. I am thankful to God that we are alive,” said Rakesh Kumar, cautioning others to think many a time before leaving for foreign shores under the influence of travel agents.

However, there are many other parents who are still waiting the return of their wards from Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. One of them is Gurbax Kaur, whose son Lakhvir from Santokh Pura village, near here, is trapped in Bahrain for the past three months.

Jalandhar, December 10
While Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal has announced several administrative reforms after Manpreet Badal’s expulsion from the Cabinet and the ruling Akali Dal, it has been found difficult to implement these due to an acute shortage of officials.

It is learnt that over 50 per cent (146) of a total of 296 sanctioned posts of Punjab Civil Service (PCS) officials are lying vacant for the past several years.

Instead of making regular appointments, the SAD-BJP government recruited 35 PCS officials on contract -- something unprecedented -- a few months ago.

However, contractual PCS officials could not serve much purpose as their responsibilities could not be fixed. That is why, Punjab Chief Electoral Officer Kusumjit Sidhu issued directions to the Punjab government recently to not engage the contractual PCS officials in election-related work.

Sources said though the Punjab government should start the process for the direct appointment of PCS officials, it would take several years for these officials to actually start their work even after their selection as they would require to get mandatory training for two and a half years.

Under these circumstances, the only way to minimise the shortage of PCS officials immediately would be to promote tehsildars as they may directly start work on their new posts. They did not require any training.

There was 18 per cent quota of filling the PCS cadre by elevating tehsildars but no post of PCS had been filled by promoting tehsildars for the past over a decade.

The state government decided to appoint 12 PCS officials by elevating tehsildars in 2008. Names of 26 revenue officials, including only four tehsildars, were recommended to the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) for elevating 12 of them as PCS officials. Ignoring several deserving tehsildars, the names of 22 naib tehsildars, most of them reportedly favorite of senior Akali leaders, were also recommended.

Meanwhile, several tehsildars on condition of anonymity said ad hoc promotions of tehsildars to PCS may be done to minimise shortage of administrative staff. Further, the work of elevating tehsildars should be withdrawn from the PPSC and a department promotion committee (DPC) under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary should be set up, which may elevate tehsildars to PCS considering seniority and merit, they added.

Mohali, December 10
Already running behind schedule by 20 days, the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) today declared the first semester results of Class X exams, which were conducted in September under the semester system for the first time . The detailed results can be seen on the board’s website www.pseb.ac.in from 6 am onwards tomorrow.

In an official communication issued this evening, PSEB chairman Dalbir Singh Dhillon said of the total 3, 42,213 candidates, who had appeared in the exams, 2, 21,258 had been declared successful, taking the pass percentage to 64.66.

However, the figures of the candidates having results late (RL) or in the re-appear category have not been revealed. Subject wise percentage is also yet to be revealed.

A senior board official said: “Though the board has been saying that the semester system has to be made successful, with 40 per cent of the candidates either failing or having compartment in the first semester, one can imagine the outcome of the exams in the second semester.”

Since the second semester will be conducted in February, for failed and re-appear candidates, the board has fixed December 30 as the last date (without late fee), Rs 500 with late fee (up to January 6, 2011) and Rs 1,000 with late fee (up to January 13). The list of failed/ re-appear candidiates will be available with the respective district, field offices (depots) of the board by December 16.

Ludhiana, December 10
Administrative clusters formed by the state government for reviewing the ongoing development works in various districts of the state have started producing results. This was stated by Darbara Singh Guru, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister.

Keeping in view the elections ahead, the state government had divided the 20 districts of the state in five clusters under the top bureaucrats, working with the Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal, and the Deputy Chief Minister, Sukhbir Singh Badal, so that development work in the districts could be streamlined. Guru, who is the in charge of Ludhiana, Moga, Barnala and Sangrur, called a maiden meeting of the deputy commissioners of all these districts here today to review the work. It was at the meeting that the deputy commissioners raised the matter of shortage of funds.

After the issue of stalling of work of construction of an ITI at Barnala and the construction of link roads in these districts was raised by the DCs, Guru assured the DCs that funds for the link roads would be released soon. He also reviewed the work of constructing a memorial of Vadda Ghalughara at Kup village and construction of the District Administrative Complex at Barnala.

Guru also reviewed the implementation of schemes like NREGA, atta-dal scheme, Shagun scheme and pension scheme.

Talking to newsmen later, he said the basic purpose of the meeting was to ensure better co-ordination between the state and district administration.

Patiala, December 10
Congress legislator from Ghanaur Assembly segment in Patiala Madal Lal Jalalpur claimed that the state was fed up with the SAD-BJP Government and was waiting for the Assembly elections for could change the government.

After visiting various areas falling under the Ghanaur Assembly segment, Jalajpur, accused the present government of ignoring the industrial sector and farming community. “Rampant corruption is prevalent in the sate government departments and the public is paying heavy price for electing the SAD- BJP Government,” he alleged.

Meanwhile, SAD general secretary Prem Singh Chandumajra attacked former Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal. Chandumajra accused Manpreet of adopting double standards, while referring to the matter of the marketing subsidy of Rs 19 lakh, availed by him (Manpreet) and his family, from the Punjab Agro Export Corporation on the cost incurred on freight and non-wooden packing of kinnow.

Manpreet figures among the top 10 kinnow growers in the state and exports large lorries of citrus fruit to Karnataka, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and many other states.

Taking a dig at Manpreet, Chandumajra said, “On one hand Manpreet is beating the drums against the subsidies and on other, he and his family is availing subsidy. This clearly exposes the double standards being adopted by Manpreet. Chandumajra said Manpreet should not indulge in false propaganda against the SAD-BJP Government. “Even before the start of his new political innings, Manpreet has been exposed,” he said. He added that Manpreet would not be able to fool Punjab.

Abohar, December 10
Hundreds of members of the Bishnoi community today jammed traffic on the Seeto Guno road chowk for hours together to lodge their protest against vandalising of the statue of a black buck, the symbol of the community’s protection of wildlife, situated at the same point, by unidentified persons, late last night.

A large number of villages of the subdivision are inhabited by the members of the Bishnoi community. They have also been taking care of the open black buck sanctuary, spread over a number of villages of the subdivision.

Gurtej Singh, MLA, Balluana, Sunil Jakhar, MLA, Abohar, and Parkash Singh Bhatti, former MLA, Balluana, also expressed their solidarity with the members of the community and demanded that the district administration must take steps to bring the culprits to book.

The members of the community also staged a dharna at the chowk. The protesters alleged that during the past month, the statue of the black buck was desecrated thrice.

The community members lifted the blockade when they were assured by a section of the administration that action against the culprits would be taken within a week.

Fatehgarh Sahib, December 10
The district administration is gearing up for the Shaheedi Jor Mela to be held at Fatehgarh Sahib every year in December. The Jor Mela is organised as the martyrdom day of the Sahibzadas of Guru Gobind Singh who were bricked alive in Fatehgarh Sahib.

The Deputy Commissioner Yashvir Mahajan is organising meetings of various department heads of the district to take stock of all the duties assigned during the event.Lakhs of devotees from across the country and even some from abroad throng the spot to pay obeisance at gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib and gurdwara Jyoti Swarup during the occasion. Special teams from police, health and other departments are formed to accommodate devotees. Various political parties also hold conferences during the Jor Mela. The DC said that the arrangements would be made more people-friendly but security arrangements would be more stringent as compared to the previous year.

The Deputy Commissioner has asked all the officials to get suggestions from public representatives and NGOs to chalk out a strategy to accommodate devotees. He said that it would be ensured that no liquor vends, sale of tobacco, gambling stalls, swings and joy rides should be allowed during the occasion. The officials said that earlier people had been calling it Shaheedi Jor Mela (fair) however a former deputy commissioner had ordered use of word mel (congregation) as the occasion is organised to pay tributes to the young martyrs and Mata Gujri 

Ropar, December 10
The Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan, Punjab, has changed its syllabus for teachers’ recruitment test thrice from November 25.

The office of director-general school education-cum-state project director, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Authority, Punjab, is recruiting teachers across the state. They will be recruiting 753 Hindi, 538 science, 522 Punjabi, 476 mathematics and 1,436 English teachers. They will be appointed for a period of one year on contract basis. The contracts will be renewed on the basis of work, conduct and performance every year.

The government had advertised the posts on November 20 and uploaded the syllabus on website of CDAC Mohali. CDAC will be conducting the examination on November 25.

The first amendment to the syllabus was made on November 26, second on December 6 and the latest on December 9.

“Since November 25, the Punjabi and science syllabus have changed thrice. Punjabi syllabus has had major additions and subtractions. In the science syllabus, the portions mentioned in first syllabus have been bifurcated into further sub-sections,” said a candidate, who is to appear for the post of a science teacher.

In the Punjabi section, new syllabus has been added to portions on literature. Similarly, additions have been made in English as well.

The department will conduct examinations for English and mathematics teachers on December 26, for science and Punjabi on December 27 and for Hindi on December 28. The merit list is scheduled for release by December 31.

With little time left for the preparations, candidates are in a fix. “Many candidates are from rural areas and do not have access to the internet. The syllabus is being changed online, but we don’t know till when these changes will continue,” added another candidate from Chamkaur Sahib.

Meanwhile, director general school education Krishan Kumar was not available for comments.

Assistant state project director Rajiv Sharma said he was not aware of the problem. He advised to contact the section officer of administration department, who also was not available for comments

Chandigarh, December 10
Thousands of private buses and mini buses in Punjab will be off the road on January 1 next year with the Punjab Motor Union today announcing a one-day “chakka jam” in protest against the denial of redress of their “genuine demands” by the government.

Motor union president Avtar Henry, who was accompanied by senior BJP leader and Batala legislator Jagdish Sawhney, announced at a press conference here that it had become unviable for most bus operators to run their business in the state.

Henry said diesel prices had increased by Rs 5 since the last hike in bus fares effected by the state government in January 2010. He said diesel prices were likely to increase by another Rs 2 soon making the operation of buses a losing proposition. — TNS

Chandigarh, December 10
Come December 2011 and hundreds of thousands of people living in Punjab’s hinterland will get access to a number of government-to-citizen services, besides getting access to micro finance, micro insurance, agri extension services and basic health services --- all under one roof.

With the Punjab Government today giving the go-ahead to livelihood promotion institution Basix for setting up over 800 common service centres, the rural hinterland is in for a change. Basix is among the three parties which have been roped in by the Punjab Government for starting 2,112 village common service centres. The other two parties which have signed a contract with the state government are the All-India Society for Electronics and Computer Technology and Vakrange Softwares with its consortium partner Callance Software.

Talking to TNS here, Anoop Kaul, national head (financial inclusion), Basix, said they had been given a mandate by the state government to have all infrastructure ready by December 2011 for 829 village common service centres. “These centres, being rolled out as part of the National e-governance Plan, will be a one-point contact for getting land records, road transport, utility billing, passport, excise and taxation, besides social security pensions and NREGA and NRHM. But since we are largely into micro finance and agri extension services, we will also offer our entire bouquet of financial and social security services through these kiosks,” he said.

So these CSCs by Basix will not just allow the rural masses to get these government services but also private and social sector services for a self-sustainability business model. “Our strategy is to provide a comprehensive set of livelihood promotion services which inlcude Financial Inclusion Services (FINS), Agricultural / Business Development Services (Ag/BDS) and Institutional Development Services (IDS) to rural poor households under one umbrella. Thus we will offer agri extension services, micro credit (including loans, savings and remittances), crop insurance, micro housing loans and vocational training with the help of reputed companies. These services will be charged, and will help us in revenue generation,” said Kaul. He added that within the next six months, they would also launch their health services (basic check-ups) at these CSCs, not just in Punjab but also in other states like Meghalaya, Tripura and Orissa, where they are running the CSCs.

Kaul said that initially they would be investing Rs 5.86 crore in setting up 829 CSCs. “But we hope to break even in the first two years itself,” said Kaul.

Sangrur, December 10
The local police today solved the murder case of a person who was killed by a lover of an orchestra artiste after the former tried to have illicit relations with his beloved in the Lehra area here.

According to the SSP, Harcharan Singh Bhullar, the Sangrur police succeeded in solving the murder case after Satnam Singh, DSP, Lehra, and sub-inspector Devinder Singh, SHO, police station, Lehra, during an inspection at Gagga Chowk, Lehra, arrested two motorcycle-borne youths, Jasbir Singh Jassi, son of Gulab Singh of Bakhoran Kalan in Moonak, and Chamkaur Singh, alias Kala, son of Maghar Singh of Dhadial in Dirbha, on suspicion. Bhullar added that the police party seized a ‘kamanidar’ knife from them and a case was registered.

“During investigation, the duo confessed that on October 22 they murdered Paramjit Singh, alias Pappu, son of Ajit Singh of Bhuttal Kalan, at Chungara village, attacking him with a scythe on his head, neck and arms. The motive was that Pappu allegedly tried to establish illicit relations with the the accused’s beloved, an orchestra artiste, Birpal Kaur, daughter of Sukhpal Singh of Lehra,” the SSP said.

The SSP added that the police had already registered a case under Section 302, IPC, at police station, Patran, at that time. He said during further investigations it had been revealed that Jasbir Singh Jassi had a criminal background.

Jalandhar, December 10
Notorious “serial baby killer” Darbara Singh, who is allegedly involved in 23 cases of kidnapping, rape, sodomy and murder, was today acquitted by the court of BS Sandhu, Additional Session Judge, Jalandhar, in a rape and murder case of a 10-year-old girl.

The case was registered against him under Sections 376 and 302 of the IPC in Phagwara in September 2004. The Judge pronounced the order in the open court.

Darbara Singh was booked by the Kapurthala police after the recovery of the body of a 10-year-old girl, Tajveen, in September 2004. During investigations, it was found that the girl was killed after being abused sexually. Her body was later dumped under a bridge.

Since the Jalandhar police was investigating certain other cases registered against Darbara, this case was also shifted by the Kapurthala police to the Jalandhar police for investigations.

Macchiwara, December 10
Sunil (22), a migrant labourer, who had married a girl against wishes of her family, was allegedly murdered by members of her family here yesterday.

Both were neighbours and fell in love with each other.

Three months ago, they eloped and got married. This had angered the girl’s family.

However, they came back after some days and some common members, including the MC of Ward no 2 here, Manjit Singh, asked both
families to bury the hatchet. At present, the girl was living at her parents’ home and Sunil had left her there with his consent.

However, for the past few days, Sunil had been asking her family to send her back, but they were objecting to it. Yesterday, he had heated arguments with the girl’s family. Later, they called Sunil at their home on the pretext of sending the girl with him. But they allegedly strangled him with a rope and threw his body at his house to make it appear as a case of suicide.

His family members informed the police about it, following which it arrested the girl’s brother Babli and sister Rajjo.

Anil Kohli, SHO (Macchiwara), said the role of other family members of the girl was also being examined.

A case under Section 302, 34, IPC, in this regard.