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Majithia rolls out figures to rebut PCC chief’s charges
Salaries of Health, Forest employees up
Revenue staff block road, 125 arrested
PPCB to intensify tree plantation campaign
Prepare list of employees on strike, DEO told
Punjabi varsity firing case solved
Hondh-Chillar
HC dismisses Mann’s plea
Immigration consultants booked for fraud
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Despite the protests, project to be completed on time: Indiabulls
Gobindpura (Mansa), October 13 Aggarwal said all such projects face protest and hence authorities executing project should not bother about such public outcry. “If people are protesting, it means we are on the right track. We will complete the project within stipulated time frame with the support of the Punjab Government,” he claimed. Power subsidiary of Indiabulls, Poena Power has started construction of boundary wall at the rear end of village on Tuesday, which commuters and farmers do not use frequently as compared to entrance from the Baretta-Budhlada village side. Despite having started construction of the boundary wall, he, however, added that official work on the project was yet to begin. “We will complete project within 32 months once it begins officially,” he claimed. Project manager Pradeep Chahlia said there were still 10-12 families residing in the 882 acres of acquired land and efforts would be made to evacuate them in a ‘cordial’ manner. “The company always wanted to start project in a backward area. Since Mansa is considered to be one of the backward areas of Punjab, we decided to start from here,” he claimed. Since the thermal project would be coal-based, the railway line passing beside the site is an added advantage. He said that the Punjab Government was supporting their project and had provided adequate security cover to avert any untoward incident. “There are some villagers who are still not satisfied with our offers but we are trying to pacify them with offers like employment, construction contract labour work and other help,” he said.
If people are protesting, it means we are on the right track. We will complete the project within stipulated time frame with the support of the Punjab Government — Alok Aggarwal, Senior VP, Indiabulls
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We are being forced to accept relief: Farmers
Mansa, October 13 An elderly couple, whose 24 acres of land and house has been acquired by the Punjab Government for Indiabulls to set up a thermal power project, today alleged that the police was threatening to occupy their house forcefully. Though the land is in name of their daughter and son-in-law, the couple had been cultivating the land. “Such pressure tactics remind us of barbarian British rule. The government first took over our land and now it’s eying our house,” said a wailing Surjeet Kaur. Surjeet and her husband, Mahinder Singh, both aged above 60, said the police was now trying to vacate them from the house using unfair means. The land they are cultivating is divided between her daughter, Sukhpal Kaur and son-in-law Devinder Singh equally. “We are left with no other option but to accept cheques as the posse of policemen accompanied by the district administration officials said if we refuse to accept the cheque once, it will take four years to get the same”, said Mahinder Singh. He pointed out that to harass the elderly couple, the police and some notorious elements from nearby villages had broken the underground water pipes with tractors a few days ago. Their son-in-law, Davinder Singh said most of those who have accepted cheques are pressurised by the police or administration. “Only those people who have smaller landholdings are pleased to sell of their land but others are still opposing”, he said. District president of BKU (Ekta-Ugraha) who visited the village today expressed solidarity with the villagers and said the Punjab Government was trying to deal with the situation with an iron hand. “They have beaten up farmers, women, girls, young boys and even children. People are living in panic in view of heavy deployment of force for the past three months. The entire village, having a population of 1,900, is divided into those who got cheques and those who refused.” Mansa Deputy Commissioner Ravinder Singh has denied allegations that the government or district administration was pressurising the villagers to accept
cheques.
We are left with no other option but to accept compensation .. A posse of policemen accompanied by district administration officials tell us that if we refuse to accept the relief cheque now, it will take four years to get the same again — Mahinder Singh,
a villager
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Farmers to be paid through agents
Chandigarh, October 13 Following instructions from the Centre, the FCI has started to pay the farmers through the commission agents. Earlier, the FCI had decided on direct payment to the farmers and had roped several banks for the purpose. Opposing the system, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had reportedly approached the Prime Minister, requesting him to direct the FCI to make payment to farmers through the commission agents as was being done by other government procurement agencies. “We have information that the FCI has sent instructions to its officials in the field to make payment to farmers through the agents”, said a senior official. He said the “state government is hopeful that the FCI will now make all-out efforts to procure the “paddy share allotted to it.” The Secretary, Food and Supplies, DS Grewal, said the Centre had not yet allowed the state government to reuse gunny bags spared after the milling of paddy last year. “We are eagerly awaiting clearance from the Centre on the matter ”, he added. About 20 crores bags, which can be reused to stock paddy, are lying with the state government.
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CM: Food policy needs a relook
Kot-ise-Khan (Moga), October 13 Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said the Centre had failed to control the rising inflation. Adding that food policy of the country needs a relook, the CM alleged that the Central government was deliberately spoiling the precious foodgrains by not providing the permission to the Punjab Government to construct silos for storing them so as to minimise the losses. He said it was unfortunate that Punjabi farmers were providing grains to the country but the UPA Government was insensitive on storing it properly. He asserted that Punjab was serving the needs of the people by making the country self-sufficient in production of foodgrains, therefore, it becomes the duty of the Central Government to ensure adequate storage facilities and timely movement of the foodgrains before the next procurement season. He alleged that the Centre was, in fact, conspiring to ruin the economy of Punjab while claiming that continuous hike in the prices of agriculture inputs like diesel and fertilisers was breaking the backbone of farmers. Earlier, during a Sangat Darshan programme at Fatehgarh Panchtoor and Kot-ise-Khan, the CM accepted the long-pending demand of local people to give the status of sub-tehsil to Kot-ise-Khan, besides upgrading its status from gram panchayat to nagar panchayat. Badal gave 20 bicycles to the girl students under the Mai Bhago scheme and said his government was committed to imparting quality education to the girls. He disbursed a grant of Rs 2.82 crore to 67 village panchayats falling in Dharamkot assembly segment . He directed district magistrate to organise camps for providing tube well connections to panchayats. Jaswinder Singh Sidhu, president, ETT Teachers Union, joined the SAD in the presence of the CM violating service rules.
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Majithia rolls out figures to rebut PCC chief’s charges
The state’s excise revenue was Rs 1431.31 crore in 2002-03 during the Congress rule and it went down to Rs 1363.37 crore in its last year in office. However, under our regime it stands at Rs 2,372 crore in 2010-11. He should tell me as to who has looted the state exchequer ”. On the mining issue, he said the Congress regime had auctioned 527 quarries for a meagre Rs 7.06 crore in 2002-03 and for Rs 11.27 crore in 2003-04. On the other hand the SAD-BJP regime had auctioned 366 quarries for over Rs 34 crore on coming to power with the last auction going for Rs 64 crore, he claimed. Majithia warned Amarinder that if he did not desist from making such “ baseless” charges, the Youth Akali Dal would chalk out a programme to gherao him. To a query on Guru Nanak Dev University VC “surrendering Basti Nau campus land in Jalandhar to the land mafia,” Majithia said his name was being unnecessarily dragged into the controversy. He virtually gave a clean chit to the VC, stating that as per the law, “a rented premises could not be forcibly occupied and should be vacated once the duration of contract has expired.”
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Amargarh on the edge after 40 cancer deaths
Lakhveer Singh, who lost his father Harmail Singh in 2002 and two years later his mother Gurcharan Kaur to intestinal cancer, said it was time the government should step in to address the problem. “I spent more than Rs 15 lakh on my parent’s treatment. But what about the poor afflicted by this disease ? The government must do something about the polluted water in our area”. He said he lived in constant fear of losing his daughter and son. There are at least 40 families in this non-descript village to have lost their dear ones to cancer. Varinder Mohan, a sweet shop owner, who lost his father to lymph node cancer about 45 days ago, said: “I cannot bring my father back, but I would want you to highlight our plight so that we do not see more dying of cancer.” Dr Harjeet Kumar who runs a clinic in Amargarh’s main market, said: “There have been 40 deaths in Amargarh town alone during the recent years. And at least 40 are suffering from intestinal, uterus, lymph node, oesophagus or breast cancer.The patients belong to all age groups.” Dr Sunil Prakash, Senior Medical Officer (SMO), Amargarh, said not many cancer cases were reported at the local Community Health Centre with most residents preferring to take the patients to super speciality hospitals in cities. He said there was no problem with the water in Amargarh as was evident from the water samples tested regularly for mineral components. Contesting the SMO’s claim, a local employee of the water supply and sanitation department said water samples tested for pollution about six months ago had been found carrying high concentration of heavy minerals. Conflicting claims There is no problem with the water in Amargarh as is evident from the water samples tested regularly — Dr Sunil Prakash, SMO Water samples tested for pollution six months ago were found carrying high concentration of heavy minerals — Sanitation dept employee
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Salaries of Health, Forest employees up
Chandigarh, October 13 Junior Analytical Assistants who were earlier in the pay band of 5910-20200 with grade pay of Rs 3,000 and initial pay of Rs 11,470 w.e.f 1-1-2006 have been put in the pay band of 10300-34800+ GP 3200 with initial pay of Rs 13,500. Similarly, Senior Analytical Assistants who were in the pay band of 10300-34800 with grade pay of Rs 3,200 and initial pay of Rs 13,500 have been put in the pay scale of 10300-34800 with grade pay of Rs 3,600 with initial pay of Rs 14,430 with effect from October 1. The scale of an Analyst, which was Rs 10300- Rs 34800, has been revised to Rs 10300-Rs 34800. The pay scale of Deputy Public Analyst, which was Rs 10300- Rs 34800, has been revised to Rs 10300- Rs 34800 with initial pay of Rs 18,030. The scale of Assistant Chemical Examiner, which was Rs 10300- Rs 34800 has been revised to Rs 10300- Rs 34800. The pay scale of Deputy Chemical Examiner that was Rs 10300- Rs 34800 has been revised to Rs 15600- Rs 39,500 with initial pay of Rs 24,140. The pay scale of Government Analyst that was Rs 10300- Rs 34800 with initial pay of Rs 20,300 with effect from January 2006 has been revised to Rs 15600- Rs 39100 with initial pay of Rs 25,250. Similarly, pharmacists, who were in the pay band of Rs 5900- Rs 20200 with grade pay of Rs 3,000 and initial pay of Rs 11,470 with effect from January 2006 have been put in the pay scale of Rs 10300- Rs 34800 with grade pay of Rs 3,200 with initial pay of Rs 13,500. The government also enhanced the salaries of Punjab Forest Services (PFS) officers with effect from October 1, 2011, implementing the scale of 4-9-14 besides increasing the initial pay of Foresters. Officials will get increased salaries from October 2011 as per the revised scales. The Forest officials would get the initial scale of Rs 15600-39100, which was earlier 10300-34800 with an increased grade pay of Rs 5,400, from Rs 5,000 earlier. The spokesman said now the basic pay of officials would be Rs 21,000. He said the officials with a regular service of 4, 9 and 14 years in the department would get grade pay of Rs 6,600, Rs 7,600 and Rs 8,600, respectively. He said Foresters in the department would also get the increased grade pay of Rs 3,000 as they were getting Rs 2,400 earlier. The initial pay of the foresters has also been revised and now they would get Rs 11,470, which was Rs 9,880 earlier.
— TNS
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Revenue staff block road, 125 arrested
Bathinda, October 13 As some of them climbed on the water tank, their colleagues started raising slogans against the state government. The protest drama continued for more than three hours. Later, the protesters proceeded towards the main road and held a blockade.
Sandip Rishi, SDM, and Tehsildar Avtar Singh Makkar reached the blockade site and tried to pacify the protesters but in vain. At this juncture, the police intervened and had the blockade removed. More than 125 protesters were arrested under Sections 107 and 151 of the Criminal Penal
Code. Gurpreet Singh, media adviser,Computerised Land Records Employees Welfare
Association,Punjab, said at least 150 protesters, including 30 women, had been arrested. However, Bathinda SSP Sukhchain Singh Gill contested the claim, saying only 100 protesters had been arrested. Twenty of them had been remanded to judicial custody till October 24.
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PPCB to intensify tree plantation campaign
Patiala, October 13 Speaking to The Tribune, KS Pannu, chairman of the PPCB, said the need of the hour is to make the younger generation aware about the depleting green cover, so that they should actively contribute to the plantation drive of the board. “During my tenure as the Amritsar Deputy Commissioner, about one lakh saplings were planted in the district every year. I am sure that when the new figures about the tree plantation will be released in 2012, the number of the trees in Amritsar will be drastically up,” he said. Pannu added that being the chairman of the PPCB, he felt that Amritsar model must be replicated in other districts of the state. “In Amritsar, we used to involve the school students in the plantation drive. The saplings were provided to the students during their parent-teachers meeting periodically. Since we inculcated that tree plantation is important for everyone, the students are not only planting the saplings but are also taking care of their growth,” he said, while adding that he wanted to follow the procedure in the other districts of the state as well. He said as per the plan chalked out by the board this year, about five lakh saplings would be planted in Amritsar and Gurdaspur each. “For Patiala, we plan to plant 1 lakh saplings. The saplings will be planted with the help of NGOs,” said Pannu, adding that special focus would be to plant the saplings in the Army areas.
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Prepare list of employees on strike, DEO told
Patiala, October 13 Notably, these employees have been on the strike since October 10 in the wake of non-acceptance of their demands regarding regularisation of services. Sources said the DGSE had also ordered to deduct the salaries of employees who were on the strike. Talking to The Tribune, Rohitdeep Singh of the SSA union, Punjab, said: “Despite the fact that we have been working for almost 6 to 7 years now, the government is yet to regularise our services”. He said, “We work from 9 am to 5 pm just like regular staff members, but comparatively, our salary is less. We just get 6 per cent annual increment,” he added.
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Punjabi varsity firing case solved
Patiala, October 13 “We have recovered licensed and unlicensed weapons from some of the accused,” he added. On September 20, members of the NSUI and NSFA exchanged fire outside the main gate of the university, injuring three persons. As many as 40 rounds of fire were exchanged and a vehicle was also damaged in the firing.
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Hondh-Chillar Amritsar, October 13 The Jathedar had said: “The houses of Sikh families and the village gurdwara, lying in a shambles, will be preserved and a decision on any additions at the site taken later.” AISSF president Karnail Singh Peer Mohammed had then announced that the Sikh Sangat had donated Rs 25 lakh for the memorial. A bitterly disappointed Manvinder Singh Giaspur, who had revealed the carnage site, said: “The leaders clearly wanted to draw political mileage from the issue.” He claimed that his plea to the Akal Takht Jathedar to take the matter forward had got a cold response. Giaspur said he was now making efforts to set up a trust to raise the memorial at Hondh-Chillar. Giaspur, who hails from Ludhiana, lost his job in Gurgaon after he discovered the carnage site. Peer Mohammed claimed that the Akal Takht chief had told them he would get the work done through the SGPC. He said the SGPC had been given two months to start work on the memorial. “Now that the SGPC has not responded even after six months, we have decided to start work from November 1.” He said talks were on with the local panchayat for taking over possession of land for the memorial. The Jathedar could not be contacted for comment.
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HC dismisses Mann’s plea
Chandigarh, October 13 In the petition filed in public interest, Mann had earlier sought directions to the Union of India, the State of Punjab and the DGP to “order an independent inquiry, preferably by the CBI, regarding the fact that Khanna contested the election for the post of MLA from the Sangrur legislative assembly constituency and for Parliament from the Sangrur parliamentary constituency, being a British citizen”.
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Immigration consultants booked for fraud
Patiala, October 13 A case has been registered under Sections 420, 406, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC against Muneet Bindra, Sunil Jaggi and Prabhjot Singh. However, no arrests have been made so far. Addressing mediapersons, Patiala SSP Gurpreet Singh Gill said Bansi Lal, a Karnal resident, had approached Sunil Jaggi, director, Auscan Consultant India Limited, to send his son Paras Gera to England for education. When Lal failed to produce sufficient funds in his account, Jaggi allegedly promised to arrange Rs 7.42 lakh in his account and took a guarantee in the form of his property documents. Gill added that after Lal’s account was allegedly opened in Axis Bank, Rajpura, Jaggi took away cheque book from Lal and later made numerous “benami” transactions from his account in connivance with the bank officials after sending Paras abroad. “We are also trying to get to the bank employees who helped the consultant open the bank account in Rajpura,” the SSP said.
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Talking Big
Amritsar, October 13
Amargarh (Sangrur), October 13