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Punjab Budget
Mount aggressive campaign to take on SAD govt, says Rahul
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Steps taken to reduce prices of cancer medicines, state tells High Court
Extension after retirement
SGPC: Will contest suit for damages during Op Bluestar
Assault on Pbi varsity student
Patiala health centres raided
Chaura’s police remand extended till March 24
Terror module busted; 3 held
Exam centre supdt attacked
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Punjab Budget
With the Budget proposals failing to offer anything substantial to the industry, businessmen and traders in the state now have set their eyes on the industrial policy, which is to be announced later this month. Industrialists are now clinging on the hope that the new industrial policy will help resurrect the falling industrial growth in the state. The government has, however, given a lot of emphasis on building infrastructure.
AGRICULTURE The Budget has failed to give any solution for the agrarian crisis afflicting the state. With water table declining at an alarming rate and farm yield stagnating, there is a need to promote diversification
education With an allocation of Rs 9,641 crore, the state government has earmarked about 12 per cent of the total Budget for school education. But, the Budget is silent on new appointments of teachers and support staff. This, despite the fact that educational institutes have been making do with skeletal staff. There are schools with no teachers throughout the year.
In its annual Budget presented yesterday, the state government has announced a grant of Rs 300 crore for fighting cancer and drug abuse, the two main fatalities bothering almost every household in Punjab. But, experts have expressed their doubts on whether the state would be able to achieve the desired result. Their main contention is that in the absence of specialist doctors, the provision of extra funds would hardly serve any purpose.
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Mount aggressive campaign to take on SAD govt, says Rahul
New Delhi, March 21 Rahul made these observations at a meeting with party MPs from Punjab who apprised him about the state of the organisation in each constituency, issues which could be raised against the Badal dispensation and about the need to put in place a strong party structure. The interaction was part of the ongoing meetings which Rahul is holding with party MPs from different states. Stating that it was unfortunate that the Congress lost the last assembly poll, Rahul said there was nothing to despair as he was confident that the party could bounce back and urged the MPs to "get going" for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections by strengthening the party at the grassroots and spending more time in their constituencies. Taking a cue from Information and Broadcasting Minister and Ludhiana MP Manish Tewari, who was the first to speak of an aggressive campaign against the SAD-led government, other MPs also said the party should go into the attack mode as it began preparations for next year's big electoral challenge. Rahul concurred with this suggestion. PPCC president Partap Singh Bajwa announced he would complete the first leg of his tour of all districts by April 13. With a new state president in place, the general mood among the MPs was to set aside all differences and make a fresh start. They, however, lamented that the Congress was at a disadvantage because of the money power used by the Akalis. The speakers said the party should make a concerted effort to woo the Scheduled Castes, its traditional support base, and reach out to religious deras that wielded immense influence over the people. Some MPs rued that Central funds sent to states for development schemes were either not used or were passed off by the states as their own projects. It was suggested that some major projects funded by the Centre should be inaugurated with fanfare by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and PM Manmohan Singh. Identifying issues for the coming elections, Minister of State for External affairs Preneet Kaur said the ongoing controversy over payment of property tax should be taken up by the Congress as the Akali government was on the defensive on the issue.
Suggestions made
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assembly in session
Chandigarh, March 21 In the absence of Congress legislators, who have boycotted the House proceedings, the House took up a resolution moved by Darshan Singh Kotfatta urging amendment in law to grant legal rights to people for land and dwellings within the ‘lal dora’ of villages. Taking up the matter, speakers stressed that the underprivileged in villages were facing problems in taking loans and mortgaging property because they did not have ownership rights of land or houses within the village boundary. Bassi Pathana MLA Justice (retd) Nirmal Singh said the government could take the help of satellite mapping to determine land and houses within the ‘lal dora’. He said amendments could be made in the village land revenue Act to grant ownership rights to those who were in occupation of such properties. He said properties which had been sub-divided could be delineated accordingly. Dera Bassi legislator NK Sharma said the demarcation of such land and houses would make distribution of grants easier and also help the administration in evicting those who had taken over government land in villages. Baghapurana legislator Maheshinder Singh drew the attention of Deputy Speaker Dinesh Singh about the abysmal presence of officers in the officer’s gallery. He said even while an important issue on giving rights to people residing within village limits was being discussed, no officer from the Revenue, Panchayat or Welfare of Scheduled Castes Departments were present. Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal issued letters to the officers in this regard. There was little interest in the debate. Even Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal were absent from the assembly for most of the time. The Deputy Speaker looked confused when he had no further speakers on the list to speak on the House resolution. He accordingly adjourned the house for an hour. Later, he told The Tribune that he wanted to seek Speaker's guidance as to what was to be done next. The resolution was passed
when the House was re-convened.
Resolution passed
Session curtailed
The Budget session has been curtailed by a day. This includes two sessions which were to take place on March 26. The House will now be adjourned sine die on March 25. This means only two more sessions will be held, tomorrow and on March 25. The session has been
curtailed in view of the Opposition boycott with one day kept for a debate on the Budget deleted from the
programme.
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Cong’s ‘critique’ blames govt for rising debt
Chandigarh, March 21 Senior leader and former Finance Minister Laal Singh today read out his "critique" at the parking area of the assembly complex amid Congress legislators seated on plastic stools brought from their homes in their SUVs. Laal Singh put a peg table upon another to place his “Budget file” and used a hand-held battery operated microphone to get his word across to the media as well as a motley of official drivers and security personnel gathered there. Laal Singh, addressing a mock assembly with senior leader Jagmohan Singh Kang acting as 'Speaker', said Punjab stood nowhere on the fiscal front when compared with its sister state Haryana. He said in 2011-12, against an Punjab's Annual Plan of 11,500 crore, Haryana had a Plan of Rs 13,200 crore. The Congress leader said while Punjab had a fiscal deficit of Rs 8,924 crore, which was 3.26 per cent of its GSDP, Haryana’s deficit stood at Rs 8,132 crore, which was only 2.3 per cent of the state deficit. In case of revenue deficit, the former Finance Minister said against Punjab’s deficit of Rs 3,123 crore (1.14 per cent of the GSDP), Haryana’s revenue deficit was only Rs 2,443 crore (.59 per cent of GSDP). Laal Singh said the state had a debt burden of Rs 15,344 crore in 1992 during the Congress rule which went up to Rs 32,496 crore during the SAD-BJP rule during 1997-2002. In the next five years of the Congress rule, the debt increased by Rs 17,844 crore. But in the last six years the debt had increased to Rs 92,804 crore, an increase of Rs 44,460 crore, during the SAD-BJP rule. Claiming that the Budget document was a photo-feature and hid the debt accumulated by Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), the Congress leader claimed that loans taken by PSUs in Punjab had risen to Rs 64,223 crore. In stark contrast, the PSUs in Haryana had taken loans of Rs 5,600 crore only. The mock assembly witnessed the passing of a resolution moved by Guruharsahai legislator Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi, urging that the Election Commission be approached to derecognise political parties who failed to honour at least 75 per cent of the poll promises made in their election manifesto. “Speaker” Kang announced that the government had failed to honour its promise to grant development funds to its legislators on the pattern of MPLAD (MP Local Area Development) funds. He said other states, including Delhi, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, had earmarked Rs 1.5 to Rs 4 crore to MLAs for this purpose.
At Mock assembly...
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Steps taken to reduce prices of cancer medicines, state tells High Court
Chandigarh, March 21 It was stated that a contract for the supply of 72 drugs had been finalised at a rate much below the maximum retail price (MRP). As such, these drugs would now be available at lower rates to the patients under the scheme with effect from April 1. Taking suo motu cognisance of a letter seeking action against renowned pharmaceutical companies for looting cancer patients by printing inflated MRP on medicines, the High Court, on February 26, had put the state of Punjab on notice. The Bench had also appointed advocate HC Arora as amicus curiae or the friend of the court to assist in deciding the PIL on merits. In its letter dated February 2, the society had informed the Chief Justice that Guru Gobind Singh Medical Hospital, Faridkot, purchased medicines directly from pharmaceutical companies at an MRP of Rs 19,800 against the original cost price of Rs 1,738. The society also enclosed bills from local chemists to show that the hospital purchased medicines at prices much higher than the rate at which these were available from the local chemists.
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Extension after retirement
Chandigarh, March 21 The worst affected are the employees who retired last month but are not being allowed to mark their attendance as there are no instructions from the department. Principal Secretary Local Bodies, Jagpal Singh Sandhu, said, “I believe the notification has been issued but please check with the Director.” However, officials in the local bodies said after getting approval from the department, the case for adopting the notification had been lying pending with Local Bodies Minister Chunni Lal Bhagat. The minister was not available for comment. A number of affected employees, who have opted for extension in service, lamented that while most of the boards and corporations, including the Improvement Trust had adopted the notification, the Local Bodies Department was taking its own sweet time in deciding upon the issue. They pointed out that the Punjab Chief Minister had cleared the proposal on February 27, 2013, to give one-year extension to employees after retirement on the condition that the extension gets approval from the Finance Department. Mandeep Singh, General Secretary of the Punjab Nagar Palika Karamchari Sangathan, said it was the duty of the department to reassure the retiring employees at the earliest. At present, the retirement age for the state government employees is 58, which can be extended by a year. A further one-year extension can be given thereafter.
painful delay
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SGPC: Will contest suit for damages during Op Bluestar Amritsar, March 21 SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar said they would withdraw the affidavit submitted in the Delhi HC and continue to fight the case. He would hold a meeting with Sikh intellectuals and legal luminaries to deliberate on the next course of action. The SGPC had recently filed an affidavit before the Delhi High Court,stating that the SGPC executive committee had decided to withdraw the suit, a decision apparently reached because of the huge amount going towards court fee. The SGPC contended that if the court fee of Rs 10 crore was paid on the amount claimed, "it will be a sheer wastage of the hard-earned money donated by devotees if the case is decided against it." — TNS
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Assault on Pbi varsity student
Patiala, March 21 He teaches in the Punjabi Department and had allegedly hurled abuses and slapped a research scholar three weeks ago. The university authorities claimed the committee formed to look into the matter had submitted the report. But the authorities have not yet revealed the findings and so the students have decided to sit on an indefinite fast. Gurjant Singh had allegedly slapped research scholar Hardeep Singh in full public view. Gurjant Singh offered to apologise for the incident before the committe was formed. — TNS
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Patiala health centres raided
Patiala, March 21
At Dudhan Sadhan health centre, the VB found five staff members, including the Senior Medical Officer, missing from duty. The final report will be submitted to Suresh Arora, DGP-cum-Chief Director,
Vigilance. — TNS
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Chaura’s police remand extended till March 24
Amritsar, March 21 Chaura was today produced before the court of Judicial Magistrate Radhika
Puri. The cell had sought a 10-day remand. The cell told the court that Chaura was to be cross-interrogated in a case as several of his accomplices were already in police
custody. Chaura's consel VPS Bhatia argued that Chaura was on police remand on earlier occasions too, but nothing concrete could be established against him. After hearing both the sides, the court extended the remand till March 24.
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Terror module busted; 3 held
Hoshiarpur, March 21 Five pistols and some ammunition were also recovered from their possession. A case under relevant sections of the Arms Act and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act has been registered at Mahilpur police station. Apart from the trio, among those booked are Balwinder Singh of Possi village, Daljit Singh of Balachaur and Ranjit Singh, alias Nita, of Simbal Camp in Jammu. The Inspector-General of Police said Nita was currently in Pakistan, Balwinder in the US and Daljit in Malaysia. The police officer claimed that Rana was currently working as a ‘granthi’ in a gurdwara in Kohar village of Jalandhar district. Preliminary investigations revealed that Balwinder Singh, a proclaimed offender, along with his associates was allegedly trying to revive terrorism in the state and his house in Possi village was being used as headquarters for the purpose. This is the second major module of terrorists that has been unearthed in Punjab in the past one month.
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Exam centre supdt attacked Amritsar, March 21 District Education Officer (Secondary) Rasal Singh said at 4.30 pm Vikas tried to sneak into the examination hall with chits to help his sister appearing in the Class XII Computer exam. “The staff on duty checked him. He entered into a verbal duel with them and then left in a huff. After some time, he returned with armed persons who attacked the Superintendent and damaged school property. The Director General School Education, KS Pannu, said copying in exams would not be tolerated. “We have taken several measures to curb copying. Anyone caught using unfair means will be dealt with sternly,” he added.
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