Bathinda, September 29
Following the implementation of Right to Service Act in the state recently, especially for providing farads of Jamabandi etc in a day, the applicants were seen today getting the farads of Jamabandi etc from Patwaris in the defined period even by making oral requests, at the local Patwarkhana.

It is learnt that Patwaris provide farads relating to the areas, of which land records have not been computerised yet.

Out of total 78 villages of the Bathinda area, land records of 40 villages have already been computerised while the remaining are in the process of being digitised.

The Farad Kendra here provides farads of Jamabandi etc for the areas where land records had been computerised. The centre remained closed for the third consecutive working day today due to the strike by its employees in support of their demand of regularisation of their services. Due to the protest by the staff, people faced problems in getting copies of their land records.

At Patwarkhana, the Gillpatti area (Bathinda) Patwari, Gurcharan Singh Kotfatta, today received four requests for issuance of farads of Jamabandi, which he provided well in time.

The Patwari of Patti Jhuti (Bathinda), Bhoj Raj, issued 25 farads of mutation and Jamabandi. However, even as the Patwari of Patti Mehna (Bathinda), Sukhwinder Singh, remained out of office most of the time for some official work, he issued 19 farads after his return to the office.

When contacted, the officiating district system manager of the Farad Kendra, Sandhya Birla, said in view of the strike by the employees, the Deputy Commissioner had issued instructions to Tehsildars and other revenue officials for directing Patwaris to issue manual farads even in the cases where revenue records had already been computerised.

Significantly, no notice in this regard has been pasted at the Farad Kendra here, which could have otherwise helped people in getting manual farads of Jamabandi or mutation from the Patwaris of their area concerned.

In the absence of such a notice, people who visited the Kendra today reportedly returned on finding it locked.

When this reporter spoke to some persons at the Patwarkhana here, they feigned ignorance about the implementation of the Right to Service Act. However, they demanded that the government should put up hoardings or boards at Farad Kendras and the patwarkhanas informing the people that they can now get the fards of jamabandis, mutation and girdawari in just one day.

Bathinda, September 29
There seems to be no end to the tiff between the students and the transporters who have been at loggerheads for the last few days over the issue of bus fare.

The students are demanding that they should be allowed to travel with bus pass even in private buses. Transporters, on the other hand, said they can not do so in view of an official letter by the government barring students from boarding buses without proper tickets.

While some student union leaders protested against the transporters and blocked roads near the Ghudda village, the transporters held a press conference, alleging harassment by some unscrupulous elements among the students.

The students raised slogans against the transporters for not allowing them to travel with passes and said they would intensify their stir.

The transporters, however, alleged that there are some student leaders who are not studying in any school or college and are trying to malign the image of the transporters.

"The miscreants are instigating the students to increase their union's base by misguiding other students. We urge the school and college authorities as well as the parents to ask their children not to indulge in wrongful activities," said Pirthi Singh Jalal, a local transporter.

"We have got the official letter issued by the state government wherein it is clearly stated that the students could not travel free in the private buses. They could use their passes only in government buses," said Harvinder, another transporter, while addressing the media. Transporter Baltej Singh alleged that the role of the administration and the police is also dubious.

"Despite repeated requests to solve the problem, nothing has been done either by the police or the district administration. Neither the police takes any action nor the district administration intervenes to introduce government buses for students on specific routes," said Harvinder.

He added that the students board the private buses in large numbers, without paying anything which affects the transporters economically.

"The students harass the transporters who have to pay at least Rs 1,000 as tax to the state government everyday even if their buses do not ply on the road," said Baltej Singh.

Sumeet, a student leader, who has passed out from the Government Rajindra College and representing the Punjab Students Union (Shaheed-Randhawa) said they have organised a protest against the bus conductors who demand tickets, in Ghudda village today.

"There is no government bus service on the Lambi-Bathinda road and private buses do not allow students to travel with passes. We have urged the administration to intervene or we will intensify our stir," he said.

He said the students from ten villages on the Lambi-Bathinda route have formed a Bus Pass Sangharsh Committee which is taking up the matter with the administration and transporters.

The dharna by the students continued for four and a half hours and was lifted only after an assurance by the Naib Tehsildar that a meeting with the Deputy Commissioner for them would be fixed tomorrow.

Bathinda, September 29
The guest-house of the Government Polytechnic College has been hosting unwelcome guests from the district administration for the last few years. Without informing the authorities of the institute, the officials of the district administration have been living here without paying any rent or power bills.

The recent official to join the list of occupants at the guest-house is a trainee. Instead of sending a written note to the college authorities announcing the arrival of the guests, the district administration chooses to just send the official concerned there.

Lamenting this attitude of the administration, the authorities of the institute regretted that as their guest-house remains occupied, their own guests are made to stay outside the college premises.

The guest-house was last vacated in April this year. An additional deputy commissioner had stayed here from May 2010 to April 2011. Now, a new official has moved in.

Earlier, in September 2009, an assistant commissioner was living in the guest-house with his family till February 2010. Before him, the then SDM Bathinda lived here from March 2009 to August 2009. None of the officials sought prior permission before moving in and neither paid the rent nor power bills generated from the usage of electrical appliances like AC, fridge, fans and lights.

College Principal Yadwinder Singh also wrote to the Director, Technical Education, vide letter number18669, dated December 1 2009, seeking the charging of rent from the guests using the institute's guesthouse.

"The B&R department is supposed to fix the rate of rent for public property after considering various parameters. This procedure is in the pipeline. Once it is fixed, we will start claiming the rent," he said.

The institute has just one power meter connection, which is used to supply electricity to the guesthouse. It has been allowed 5 KW load and the electricity board has given just a single point supply. As per the rules, only officials of the technical education department could stay at these guesthouses and not others.

The department has not appointed any separate staff for the maintenance of the guesthouse and hence, visiting officials hire private helpers.

The guesthouse was constructed in 1992-93 at a cost of Rs 6.44 lakhs. The guesthouse did not have any provision for installing an air-conditioner. "The AC was installed only after the officials moved in," said the institute officials.

Bathinda, September 29
A 13-year-old schoolgirl in Bir Talab was crushed under a speeding tractor near the Bir Talab zoo today in the afternoon.

The deceased has been identified as Puja Rani, a student of class VI in a government school. Daughter of Akhilesh, a migrant labourer of colony number three in Bir Talab, the girl was the eldest among four siblings including two sisters and a brother.

She was returning home after school at around 2.30 pm on a bicycle when the incident took place. The girl died on the spot.

Suresh Kumar, a resident of Bir Talab, said the girl was riding the bicycle on her side and she was following her classmates when the accident took place. A speeding tractor-trailer, without bearing any registration number, hit her bicycle from the front.

Villagers said the number of accidents have increased manifold in the area due to the narrow roads and lack of driving sense among the motorists. They said a school teacher died a few days ago. He was driving a scooter and was hit by stray cattle.

The villagers suspected that the tractor driver was in an inebriated condition and fled from the spot after the accident. Senior police functionaries including the Sadar SHO Gurjeet Singh Romana reached the spot. However, no arrests have been made so far. TNS

Bathinda, September 29
The demise of the legendary playwright Gursharan Singh, popularly known as Bhai Manna Singh or Bhaaji, has created a vacuum, not only in the world of theatre but also in the lives of the people who were deeply associated with him and his ideology.

Gursharan Singh dedicated his life to progressive theatre and always stood for the rights of the common man. He shared a strong bond with the Malwa region, especially Bathinda and its adjoining villages, where he used to visit with his powerful plays, which always presented the problems of society.

Gursharan Singh was inspired by Jagdish Fariyadi, a theatre artist from Bathinda, who founded the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) in collaboration with Balraj Sahni, Pandit Ravi Shankar and other artists. The mission of IPTA was to create awareness among the people through culture.

Gursharan Singh joined IPTA and started working for it. This is the reason why his plays always had a message and a sense of direction for the audience. His aim was not just entertainment, but to motivate society.

Tony Batish, the son of Jagdish Fariyadi, said, "Bhaaji was an emotional man and had a pure soul. He had a wonderful heart. His death has created an irreparable loss in the world of theatre."

Tony proudly shared that he had the privilege of directing Gursharan Singh in a play and it was an honour for him. "Bhaaji wrote the script of a play named 'Haani' and wanted to make a film, based on the play. Unfortunately, he could not produce the film. Then he offered that I should direct the play in which he played the character of the Subedaar."

Atarjeet Singh, a writer from Bathinda, who was close to Gursharan Singh, spoke about Bhaaji's connection with the city.

"When Gursharan Singh founded the Punjab Lok Sabyacharak Manch, the Bathinda region formed an important unit of the organization. As Bathinda remained an active centre of progressive movements and being himself inclined towards the leftist movements, he always connected with the region," Atarjeet Singh said.

"When he was honoured in village Kussa of Moga by different organizations on January 11, 2006, there were around 20,000 to 30,000 people gathered there to pay tribute to their favourite artist. Most of the people present were from the Bathinda district," he added.

Pushp Lata, the president of the Lok Morcha, Punjab, from the Bathinda region, was a member of the committee that honored Gursharan Singh in Kussa village. "He always wanted to create awareness among the people and was never afraid of speaking the truth through his plays. On the day he was honoured, he addressed a large gathering in his loud voice and asked the people to fight for their rights and come forward to bring about a change in the system," she said.

Another theatre artist from Bathinda, Balraj Sagar, who worked with Gursharan Singh, said, "His presence marked an era in Punjabi theatre. It was he who taught us how to act and for whom one should do theatre. It is difficult to fill the vacuum created by his death. But more important is to promote his ideology, which was always pro-people."

Bathinda, September 29
The first ‘Navratra’ saw organisation of a colourful dandiya in the city on Wednesday night. People from different walks of life danced to the Gujarati music and songs at the temple in the SSD Sabha building. The Gujarati Welfare Society has been organising dandiya in the city for the last 12 years. An organising member of the event, Sagar Bhatt, said, “This year, we have got a huge footfall from the Bathinda refinery, as several Gujarati families are working there. Besides, plenty of Punjabis also participate in the festivity,” said Bhatt. The dance begins at 9 pm and continues till 11 pm. The best dressed dancer, the best dancer and the best couple are honoured everyday.

This year, ‘Navratras’ are for eight days only. The organisers have decided to host the ninth night as disco dandiya. “We use Gujarati songs and bhajans for the dance rather than depending on Bollywood numbers or western songs,” he said.

Participants look forward to the event as it provides them with an opportunity to be among the members of their community. “It is a kind of family union wherein all of us meet and dance,” said a jubilant participant.

Bathinda, September 29
The 'Suwidha Centre', situated on the premises of the Mini-secretariat here, remained closed for the third consecutive working day today. The staff of the centre had started its strike on September 26 in support of its demand regarding regularisation of their services. However, otherwise it was the fourth day today to the closure of the centre as there was a government holiday on September 28.

Though the staff of the 'Suwidha Centre' started their strike on September 26 (Monday), but it also remained closed on September 24 (Saturday) and September 25 (Sunday). Thus, the people have been facing problems in getting their works done at the centre for the last few days.

Even today a large number of visitors returned to their homes after seeing the gate of the 'Suwidha Centre' locked. Some of them even flayed the staff as well as the government as they are the worst affected due to the strike.

Besides, they were also facing inconvenience and financial losses due to the visits to the centre by spending money on bus fares or losing their wages as a large number of them have been coming from different parts of the district.

Notably, the district administration has not made any alternative arrangement.

However, no one was found near the 'Suwidha centre' to tell the people that when the centre would start functioning or when they should come back to the centre to get their works done, like birth and death certificates, driving licences, vehicle registration, arms licences, copies of orders such as demarcation, partition, Shagun scheme, RTI applications, copies of Tehsil records, affidavits for property transfer etc, vehicle transfer and marriage registration.

Bathinda, September 29
The district centre of the Mahatama Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration (MGSIPA) Punjab convened a meeting about administrative research here today. In the meeting, Dr Kamaljit Singh Sidhu, Kulwant Singh Brar, Darshan Singh Bajaj, Lt Col Daya Singh (retd.), Arpana and Ramandip Singh Sidhu participated. Mandip Singh, district project coordinator, MGSIPA, informed the participants about the administrative research process.

He said the administrative research was the basis of good administration. He further said a good administrative research could help remove shortcomings in the administration.