Bathinda, January 24
To ensure that the Republic Day function at the Multipurpose Sports Stadium passes off peacefully, security has been stepped up in the city with police personnel being deployed in large numbers.

Special measures have also been taken by the police to ensure that no protester or unwanted element roams around or enters the sports stadium to disrupt the function.

Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal would unfurl the Tricolor and would also inspect a guard of honour. A cultural programme is also being organised on the occasion.

Apart from the security arrangements, the district administration and the police is also ensuring that no protests or demonstrations take place around the venue of the Republic Day function.

Senior police functionaries said there is no scope for protests of any kind around the sports stadium as security has been beefed up and extra forces have also been deployed.

The Republic Day celebrations are being made fool-proof by deploying special patrolling squads, PCR vehicles and sharp-shooters of the Punjab Police.

A multi-layered ring of policemen would be deployed in the crowded areas. Checking and frisking of the people would also be done at all the entrance and exit points in the sports stadium. Female cops are also being deployed in strength in the crowded areas of the city, including the bus stand, railway station, Dhobi Bazar and other areas.

Police officials said on such occasions, petty crime including theft and snatching get reduced to some extent due to the deployment of extra forces.

However, routine work like investigation and registration of cases gets affected as the entire force is deployed to ensure that the function is held successfully.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ravcharan Brar said special instructions have been passed to the entire force and laxity of any kind by the policemen on duty would not be tolerated. "Since important people from all walks of life would be present during the function, the entire police force will remain on its toes to ensure that the Republic Day celebrations are peaceful," Brar said.

The SSP said night patrolling has also been intensified.

Arrangements have also been made for special checking at barricades as well as at entry and exit points to the city. Highway patrolling too has been intensified in view of the function on Saturday.

Bathinda, January 24
The dress rehearsal for the Republic Day was held at the Multipurpose Sports Stadium here today.

The programme began with the hoisting of the Tricolour followed by the National Anthem.

(Left) A police contingent takes part in the march past during the dress rehearsal for the Republic Day function, at the Multi-purpose Sports Stadium on Thursday; school kids in a playful mood while rehearsing for their performance. Tribune photos: Pawan Sharma

This was followed by an elegant march past presented by the contingents of the Punjab Police, Home Guards, Police Band, NCC cadets, scouts and guides.

Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav and SSP Ravcharan Singh Brar inspect the guard of honour during the rehearsal in Bathinda on Thursday. A Tribune photograph

Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav took the salute during the march past, which was commanded by parade commander DSP Rajpal Singh.

Then, hundreds of well-dressed school students performed PT. This was followed by choreography presented by the students of the PPS School, the Adarsh School, the Millennium School, a school from Kotfatta and the Mahant Gurbanta Das School for Deaf and Dumb children. The performances by the students brought alive the sacrifices by freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev and the history of Punjab.

The event showcased India's cultural diversity bringing alive its subtler nuances as also its binding force. The dance performance by nearly 70 special students of the Mahant Gurbanta Das School for the Deaf and Dumb left the spectators awestruck.

DSP Rajpal Singh shares a point with his wife, DSP Avneet Sidhu, during the dress rehearsal for the R-Day function in Bathinda on Thursday. Rajpal has been the captain of the Indian national hockey team while Avneet is an ace shooter and winner of the Arjuna Award. Tribune photo: Pawan Sharma

Finally, the much-awaited traditional dance forms of Punjab, Giddha and Bhangra, was presented by the students of various schools and colleges.

The show ended with the singing of the National Anthem by the students of St. Xavier’s.

Also present today were SSP Ravcharan Singh Brar, Additional Deputy Commisioner (Development) Mohammad Tayyab, Additional Deputy Commissioner Rajeev Prashar, SP (Headquaters) Gurmeet Singh, SP (D) Amarjit Singh, District Development and Panchayat Officer Rajinder Bhatra, Additional Commissioner, Municipal Corporation Bathinda, Kamal Kant Goyal, Deputy DEO (Secondary) Dr Amarjit Kaur and assistant education officer Pavittar Kaur.

All eyes will now be on the function on Saturday when Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal will unfurl the national flag.

Bathinda, January 24
A controversy has erupted over the land that is under the jurisdiction of the Mandi Board in the city.

Levelling the charge, the Hath Rehri Fari Union has said the land mafia, patronised by the local politicians, is trying to wrest control over the site where the members of the union have been working for the last three decades.

At a meeting convened today, the president of the union Madal Lal Bargari said the grain market and sabzi mandi area are under the jurisdiction of the Mandi Board (market committee). As per the Market Act, the traders are supposed to pay four per cent market fees and five per cent commission, which amounts to a total of nine per cent.

"Instead of 9 per cent, the commission agents force us to pay 10 per cent. In the guise of empty gunny bags and plastic bags, we are charged Rs 2 per item. It is the duty of the traders and farmers to bring these two items along while coming to the grain market," he said.

Bargari added that the commission agents force the small-time traders to give commission.

On October 16, 1977, the Mandi Township Excise Department, Chandigarh, reserved 5260 square yards of area as the site for a cinema hall at the present grain market.

However, no cinema hall has ever been constructed at the site. As per the map, a 70 feet wide road, running parallel to Government Rajindra College towards Mansa Road, was to be left.

"In 2012, flouting the norms, illegal plots were demarcated at the site of the theatre and the construction of the building was illegally undertaken," he said, adding that according to the rules, the site for cinema cannot be sold off.

He alleged that even the Municipal Corporation Bathinda (MCB) preferred to maintain silence over the illegal constructions. According to the rules, only a cinema house can be constructed over the demarcated site.

If some other building is constructed, the owner of the land will have to seek change of land usage (CLU) and pay charges accordingly. Bargari alleged that the plan of the illegal building has not been passed.

The members of the union added that the developers of the land are now trying to evict them in connivance with some local politicians. "We are working here for the last 30 years and now the mafia wants to take over this prime land. We are being threatened to move out on our own," he said.

The union had earlier met Mayor Baljit Singh Birbehman with a request that they be either given the said portion of the land on lease or that a market be developed and shops be given on installment or rent basis.

Meanwhile, Mayor Baljit Singh Birbehman said the municipal corporation did not have any say in the matter. "The land in question is that of Mandi Board and it is the Mandi Board that is supposed to check the construction of illegal buildings," he said.

The Bathinda Municipal Corporation does not have any say in the matter. The land in question belongs to Mandi Board and it is supposed to check the construction of illegal buildings.
—Baljit Singh Birbehman, Mayor, Bathinda

Bathinda, January 24
It’s a unique confluence. One is a postgraduate from the Indian Institute of management (IIM), Ahmedabad and the other an architect. Opting out of the corporate rat race, the couple — Vinay Mahajan and Charul Bharwada — from the Loknaad group in Ahmedabad, has sung its way into the hearts of the people by raising social issues in a different manner.

A native of Gurdaspur, Vinay married Charul, a Gujarati, in 1989 when he was studying at IIM Ahmedabad and she was a final year student of architecture. Since then, the couple has traversed several terrains with their plays and songs that are imbued with messages related to social awakening.

Using a dafli (tambourine) and a set of ghungroos (pair of musical anklets), this musically untrained couple has set on a journey to express itself in a non-academic way. Their song "Janane ka haq hai (I have right to know) is based on the Right to Information (RTI) Act, while the first song penned by Vinay, "Mandir, masjid, girjaghar ne, baant liya bhagwan ko, dharti baanti, sagar baanta, mat baanto insaan ko" is well known for the impact it leaves on the people.

The couple will be performing their play "Insaan Hain Hum", based on communal violence and hatred that rocked the nation following the demolition of Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992 at the SSD Girls College tomorrow at a function organized by the Punjab Lok Cultural Manch and the NGO Sangi Sathi.

"We have done nothing new. People have been doing it for ages. Ours is a journey that started with Vinay's Mandir-Masjid song. Since I knew singing, things started taking a shape," said Charul while talking to TNS.

Charul and Vinay travel a lot and conduct researches on various issues. It is this research that gave them food for thought.

"It is very important for a human being to express himself and this is what we do with our songs. We do not seek to preach to the people. We do not create any kind of awareness. It is just sharing our thoughts with the people and our journey to understand different things. It is our way of keeping our sensitivity alive," she said.3

Bathinda, January 24
Vinay and Charul are activists, researchers and singers. They have been working among the poorest communities of Gujarat such as the maldharis (camel herders), the salt-pan workers and others. Their songs are strong tools of communication.

The couple chose social awakening as their career, instead of the five figure salaries their contemporaries started with after getting their degree from the IIM . The couple neither sings for fund raising events nor at events where tickets are charged. They also do not perform at political platforms and do not charge anything for the programmes. — TNS

Bathinda, January 24
A shopkeeper was booked by the police for selling China Dor that has been banned in the district. A case under Section 188 of the CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure) has been registered against the shopkeeper at the Canal Colony police station.

Bathinda, January 24
The Bathinda Real Estate Agent Association convened a meeting today wherein it decided to urge the state government to allow the registry of land deals in the 67 illegal colonies of the district.

The president of the association Sukhdev Singh Mahnikhera, chairman Kewal Krishan Aggarwal, vice-president Ram Babu and secretary-cum-public relations officer Sunil Singla said for the last 10 months, the real estate business had come to a standstill owing to a ban imposed by the government on registering land deals in 67 earmarked illegal colonies of the district. The association has now decided to hold a statewide campaign wherein memorandums would be submitted to all the deputy commissioners.

Members of the association would also meet Bathinda Deputy Commissioner and Chief Parliamentary Secretary and Bathinda (Urban) MLA Sarup Chand Singla.

The association would also approach the state BJP president Kamal Sharma, the Local Bodies Minister Bhagat Chunni Lal and others to press for their demand. — TNS

Bathinda, January 24
A new soil testing laboratory and farmer training centre under the NFL area office was inaugurated today. The centre has been opened with the aim of providing all the services to the farmers under one roof.

The centre will benefit the farmers from the surrounding areas by providing them with free soil testing facilities. This will help the farmers in making a balanced use of fertilizers to maintain soil fertility.

A dealer-retailer orientation programme was also organised on the occasion.

The chief guest at the function was SC Singla, general manager in-charge, Bathinda unit. Rajbir Taya, manager, marketing, proposed the vote of thanks at the function which was attended by over 50 persons from Bathinda, Mansa and Muktsar districts.