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‘Unheard’ in House, Cong to seek audience with people
Govt earmarks Rs 100 cr for modernisation of
police
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High input costs threaten to sink dairy farms in state
State seeks community
role in building schools
6 booked in Namdhari case
Woman duped of Rs
13 lakh
Four booked for bid to
encroach on forestland
Youth attacked, tension in village
Spurned, 2 youths force poison down a girl’s mouth in Amritsar
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‘Unheard’ in House, Cong to seek audience with people
Chandigarh, December 22 Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Sunil Jakhar today said one of the Opposition legislators had to face expulsion when he tried to raise his voice against the "arrogant" Akalis and the deteriorating law and order situation in the state. "'Bahar vi dhakka atte andar vi dhakka' (arm-twisting both inside as well as outside the House… The humility of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has got buried under the aggression and arrogance of Sukhbir and Majithia," he said while speaking to The Tribune over the phone from Delhi. Jakhar said instead of silencing Congress legislator Rana Gurjit Singh by expelling him from the assembly, the Speaker should have issued a gag order for Majithia, who allegedly used foul language (against Gurjit) in the assembly. "Barring Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, all other Shiromani Akali Dal leaders have become arrogant after coming to power for the second consecutive term," he said. "There is a big disjoint between what the Badal Senior speaks and what his leaders do at the ground level. His humility does not correspond with what his top leaders practice." The CLP leader said they would first discuss the issue with the party high command and then reach out to the public through statewide rallies and protests. “We have video-clippings of Majithia using expletives during the Vidhan Sabha session. We will circulate them among the masses. Let the people see for themselves and decide who misbehaved with whom in the House," he said. Jakhar said the Opposition leaders had met the Speaker and submitted a memorandum demanding extending the winter session, airing the House proceedings live on television and sending them copies of the Bills to be discussed a few days in advance for consideration. "But, none of our demands were met. The copies of the Bills too were sent to us at the last moment." sukhbir blames Congress for ruckus Terming the ruckus in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha as unfortunate, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal today blamed the Congress for it. He said the opposition was listless during the debate on the law and order situation in the state.
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Govt earmarks Rs 100 cr for modernisation of
police
Amritsar, December 22 "I have asked DGP Sumedh Singh Saini to draft a proposal for the modernisation of the state police. The Punjab Government will do the needful," said Sukhbir. Addressing mediapersons after presiding over the first-ever All India Conference of Commissioners of Police, which concluded here today, he said under the modernisation programme, the Punjab police would be equipped with latest technology and the most professional weaponry. "The government has ordered to cover all the national and state highways with speed radars and CCTV cameras to capture over-speeding vehicles. The data will be transferred to a centralised server of the Transport Department and a challan will be served at the residence of the owners of the defaulting vehicles," he said, adding the project would be implemented within six months. The Deputy Chief Minister said about 20,000 policemen, including 2,902 women constables, had been recruited while 363 more Saanjh Kendras would be set up in the next two years. He said other projects included rapid rural police response system, covering of all cities with CCTV cameras, computer training to all new recruits, introduction of e-challaning and e-payment and facility of registering FIRs through internet. Sukhbir said: "By separating law and order and investigation wings of the police, we will be able to train the investigating officers in scientific techniques to improve the conviction rate". Lashing out at the Union Government, he said the Centre had earmarked just Rs 1,000 crore for the modernisation of police force of 28 states and seven union territories while it had closed its eyes towards the increasing threats of terrorism, naxalism and criminals using cyber techniques
Sukhbir Badal visits Bhaini Sahib Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, along with ministers Bikram Singh Majithia and Sikander Singh Maluka on Saturday visited Bhaini Sahib to condole the death of late Satguru Jagjit Singh. Sukhbir recalled the moments he had spent with the late Satguru. Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Union Minister Kumari Shelja also visited Bhaini Sahib and expressed grief over the death of the late
Satguru.
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High input costs threaten to sink dairy farms in state
Morinda, December 22 "At one point of time, I had 100 imported cows and used to sell 1,400 litres of milk. Now, I am left with just two cows," said Surinder Singh. "I will not be able to repay the loan even after selling my land," he said, adding the last two years proved to be worst for most of the dairy farmers in this belt. "I started with 10 cows and expanded the farm to 100 cows in 2006 after taking a loan of Rs 60 lakh from a bank," he claimed. Surinder said a steep rise in the prices of inputs like cattle feed and labour cost, besides high rate of interest on loan made dairy farming a loss-making venture. He said: "To produce 100 kg of milk, one has to give 100 kg of feed to cows. A quintal of cattle feed costs Rs 2,300 whereas 100 kg of milk fetches Rs 1,900. A dairy farmer thus suffers a loss of Rs 400 on account of cattle feed alone. His loss widens after bearing other expenses like labour, power, medicines etc." "A farmer having 50 cows is suffering a loss of Rs 18 lakh per annum excluding interest on loan," he added. Major Singh of Dhanuri, Manpreet Singh of Saheri, Ajmer Singh of Fatehpur village too have a similar story. "Due to the loss, we have been defaulting on the loan payments for the past two years," said Major Singh. He claimed about 20 dairy farms were closed in his area. Nirmal Singh of Badanpur village had set up a dairy farm with 75 cows without taking any loan. "I did not spend much money on sheds etc. Even then I suffered a loss of around Rs 6 lakh per annum. Now, I have sold almost all cows," he claimed. The failure of dairy farms at such a scale is a setback for the state government's diversification efforts. Dairy farming is considered one of the major allied jobs in the farm sector. "The government has ditched us. No one came to our help. We took bank loan at 12.75 per cent interest rate which spelled doom for our business," said Surinder Singh of Sibal Majra village. "No bank offered us loan at interest rate on a par with farm loans," he added. Parminder Singh Chalaki, Chairman of the Milk Union, Mohali, said: "It is a fact that many farmers have closed their farms after suffering huge losses. I have brought the matter to the notice of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who has convened a meeting on December 23 to discuss this issue with all concerned. I am hopeful that he will extend a helping hand to the dairy farmers". Not viable anymore To produce 100 kg of milk, one has to give 100 kg of feed to cows A quintal of cattle feed costs Rs 2,300 whereas 100 kg of milk fetches Rs 1,900 A dairy farmer thus suffers a shortfall of Rs 400 on account of cattle feed alone His loss widens after bearing other expenditure like labour, power, medicines, artificial insemination, interest on loan etc
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State seeks community
role in building schools
Amritsar, December 22 This was claimed by Director-General School Education (DGSE) KS Pannu while launching the project of constructing a 40-room school building with a heritage façade at Khadoor Sahib today. He said in a novel initiative, the government was seeking community participation in constructing school buildings. He said this had been made possible for the first time as environmentalist Baba Sewa Singh had taken up the work of constructing the building over panchayat land in Khadoor Sahib. Pannu said the construction material would be provided by the government and the labour aspect would be taken care of by Baba Sewa Singh. He said the architectural design of Khalsa College reflecting the heritage of Punjab would be emulated in the construction of all future school buildings.
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6 booked in Namdhari case
Mohali, December 22 Among those booked were panches and sarpanches of villages in Ropar district, who had verified the fake documents of Namdhari for procuring the licence and passport. A case under Sections 419, 420, 465, 467, 193, 197 and 120-B has been registered against the accused at Punjab State Crime Branch in Phase 4, Mohali. Namdhari had procured an arm licence (number 276/Kurali/DM/Ropar) from Ropar in 1995 giving fake address without mentioning any house number or name of the street.
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Woman duped of Rs
13 lakh
Rajpura, December 22 The police said the two accused contacted the girl on a matrimonial website. “Once they took the money, they did not call back or return the money,” she told the police in her complaint. — TNS
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Four booked for bid to
encroach on forestland
Ferozepur, December 22 Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Sanjeev Tiwari said the accused had been identified as Kabul Singh (nambardar of Sabuana village), Kashmir Singh, Surjeet Singh and Rajbir Singh. Tiwari said when forest officials led by Range Officer Rashpal Singh went to their village to inquire about the intrusion, they were allegedly manhandled and threatened with dire consequences. The police has registered a case against the four accused. The DFO said it was not the first instance of attack on forest officials by armed assailants owing allegiance to the land mafia. He alleged that the same gang had attempted to grab forestland eight months ago as well. Of the around 10,000 hectares of forestland in Ferozepur division, 1,000 acres is already under illegal occupation.
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Youth attacked, tension in village
Faridkot, December 22 The incident took place two days ago when a Class X girl told her parents about the alleged attempts of a Class XI boy to molest her. After a warning to the boy, the matter was settled, said Neena Kaura, school principal. Later, some youths belonging to the girl's community allegedly assaulted the boy which led to tension between two groups. Amarjit Singh Kular, SHO, said a police team had been deputed in the school as a precautionary measure. — TNS
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Spurned, 2 youths force poison down a girl’s mouth in Amritsar Amritsar, December 22 The incident occurred at a grocery store near the victim’s house. The police has arrested both the accused, Mukhram of Cheecha village and Billu of Adliwal village. A case under various sections of attempt to murder, eve-teasing and molestation has been registered. Amritsar Senior Superintendent of Police Preet Paul Singh Virk said, “As the victim is not in a condition to give a statement, a case has been registered on her father’s complaint.” The victim’s father alleged that the accused used to harass his daughter on a regular basis.
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The Congress is planning to hold a series of protests to expose the alleged arrogance of the ruling Akali leadership, particularly Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal and his brother-in-law Bikram Majithia, a Cabinet Minister.
Surinder Singh is repenting the day he decided to set up a dairy farm in 2004 at his native Kheri Gharaga village, near here. His debt burden has gone up to Rs 90
lakh. He has closed the farm and is planning to sell his land to repay the loan.
"At one point of time, I had 100 imported cows and used to sell 1,400 litres of milk. Now, I am left with just two cows," said Surinder Singh.
In an attempt to encroach upon prime forestland situated in Langeana village in the district, a few persons converged on the plot along with tractors and JCBs last night and cultivated the land after axing expensive eucalyptus and sheesham trees.
