|
|
|
|
|
PPCC’s mass contact from today
New executive next month
Rain, falling rupee spell double trouble for gypsum traders at ICP
|
|
|
Govt takes to legal course for admissions to medical colleges
Poor upkeep of grids hits supply in Bathinda zone
Cong wants special session to discuss taxes
Use rural funds to augment storage, Nabard tells state
Three boards constituted to promote maize, cotton
Flood-hit farmers meet SDM, seek relief
Govt unable to check rampant fish poaching in Punjab
Now, people can complain against bureaucrats online
Muktsar sets bar high in crop diversification
110 classrooms in government schools unsafe
Hoshiarpur most literate district
Udham Singh memorial hanging fire for 3 years
PPP leader accuses Sekhwan of frame-up, moves court
Post-Poll Violence
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
PPCC’s mass contact from today
Four committees, one each for the Majha and Doaba regions and two for Malwa, have been constituted for the
purpose. The Majha committee, headed by Dera Baba Nanak MLA Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, comprises Harminder Singh Gill, Karanjit Singh Rintu, Joginder Singh Chinna and Yoginder Pal Dhingra. The Doaba committee is headed by Varinder Sharma. In the Malwa region, the committee for Zone I comprises Khanna legislator Gurkirat Singh Kotli, Randeep Singh Nabha, Ramesh Singla, Dhruv Aggarwal and Lakhbir Singh Lakha. Those on the panel for Zone II are Sukhwinder Singh Danny, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Aman Arora, Kushbaz Jattana, Gurpreet Vicky and Anish Sadhana. The PPCC chief will commence his tour from Bassi Pathana tomorrow (July 22). The tour will end at Chandigarh on August 31 with tributes to the late Chief Minister Beant Singh on his death anniversary. Gurkirat Singh Kotli, Beant Singh’s grandson, will be in charge of the arrangements at Chandigarh. The Patiala constituency is not on Bajwa's itinerary. However, he will be addressing a rally at Rajpura where sitting MLA Hardyal Singh Kamboj will be in charge of the proceedings. Rajpura is part of the Patiala parliamentary seat that is represented by former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s wife, Union Minister Preneet Kaur. Bajwa said that primary purpose of his tour was to highlight the achievements of the UPA rule at the Centre. “I will also highlight the misrule of the SAD-BJP alliance in Punjab. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal should come out with a white paper with names of politicians who have stakes in illegal colonies,” Bajwa said. The Akalis remain unfazed by Bajwa’s tour with Revenue Minister Bikram Majithia saying the PPCC chief should instead concentrate on his constituency of Gurdaspur. “As Gurdaspur Member of Parliament, Bajwa has proved to be a failure. Despite the Congress-led government at the Centre, Bajwa has not brought any project to his constituency,” Majithia said.
|
|
New executive next month
Chandigarh, July 21 Bajwa had submitted a list of office-bearers of the state executive to the party high command some time back. But Jakhar had objected to the same, saying he had not been consulted. Doaba zone head and party vice-president Tarlochan Sondh had raised objections to having senior Dalit leader Choudhary Jagjit Singh on the list. Sources said the new list may be submitted to the high command by August 20. They said while Jakhar who had gone abroad and was expected to return by July 26, party general secretary and Punjab affairs in charge Dr Shakeel Ahmed was going abroad on July 26. He was expected back on August 15. The new list would be discussed on his return. According to sources, the Bajwa was forced to backtrack because he did not follow the party directions that the list should be discussed with the CLP leader and the four zonal presidents. The sources said the PPCC president, at a meeting with Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi a few days ago, where Jakhar was also present, had complained that the latter had not taken him into confidence while fixing a meeting with the Prime minister and the Congress president. Denying the charge, Jakhar had offered to quit, saying already there was speculation in the media that he was likely to be replaced by senior leader Brahm Mohindra. Rahul, putting to rest all such talk, asked both the leaders to work in tandem with each other. The sources said that with the list of office-bearers likely to be discussed afresh, some district presidents could be changed. The PCC president had decided to retain most of the district presidents. The sources said for appointing new district presidents, the area legislator besides the PCC president, CLP Leader and zonal head would be consulted. Meanwhile, despite the delay in the new executive, the Punjab Congress will begin its mass contact programme in the state tomorrow. The party had earlier planned the programme assuming that the new executive would be in place by then.
|
|
Rain, falling rupee spell double trouble for gypsum traders at ICP
Amritsar, July 21 A spot visit by The Tribune team today found that the entire area allocated for unloading of gypsum at the ICP was waterlogged. Two Pakistani and an Indian truck were also stuck in a muddy area. The area in front of the sheds where cement is stored was also submerged in water. Leading gypsum importer Iqbal Singh Bedi said, "While the decline in the value of rupee against the dollar has already hit imports from Pakistan, whatever gypsum we are importing is also not safe due to lack of infrastructure at the ICP. There is no concrete floor and shed where gypsum can be safely unloaded in case it rains." Bedi said they had suffered a loss of about Rs 2.5 crore during the rainy season this year. He said those who bought this material deducted more than Rs 3 crore as impurity analysis from their invoices during the last financial year, due to which they faced a serious fund crisis. He said it was double trouble for them as declining rupee and rainfall had hit their trade hard. He alleged the government was indifferent towards their plight and was not initiating any corrective measures despite charging them Rs 3 per tonne per day as storage charges at the ICP. He said the number of gypsum trucks arriving from Pakistan had dropped significantly due to these reasons. "It is down from over 100 trucks daily earlier to a mere 35-40 trucks per day now," he said, lamenting that there is no provision to drain out water due lack of proper drainage system at the ICP. He said they were not placing fresh orders due to the prevailing conditions. A spokesman of the Confederation of International Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CICCI) said the matter had been brought to the notice of the Central Warehousing Corporation and Land Port Authority of India last month, but to no avail. He said they had requested construction of a platform or earmarked paved area for unloading gypsum. The chamber has blamed the port authorities for the lapses and urged them to compensate the traders for the losses.
Indifference alleged
Trade sluggish
The bilateral trade remains sluggish for the last one month following the devaluation of the rupee. CII Zonal Council chief Rajdeep Uppal said only 70 to 80 trucks were arriving from Pakistan daily while the number of trucks being sent across is also around 20 per day, it being a lean season for exports. A leading clearing agent, Jaspal Singh, said the exports will pick up only around mid-August when the new crop of soyabean and cotton arrives. At present, the perishables are also not being exported as vegetable prices are high in the domestic market itself. He said Indian traders were importing cement, gypsum, soda ash and dry dates from Pakistan, though no new orders had been placed.
|
|
Govt takes to legal course for admissions to medical colleges
Chandigarh, July 21 In its order dated July 18, the Supreme Court had scrapped holding of the NEET, thus paving the way for private colleges to conduct their own examination.Ever since it was implemented, the test has been dogged by controversies. Some states objected to holding of the exam only in one language and sought it be conducted in different regional languages. While a few states opted out of the all-India quota, private universities and colleges went a step ahead and approached the apex court against the test. Dr SS Gill, Vice Chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Faridkot, which is responsible for conducting admissions to various medical colleges in Punjab, said, “We are likely to go ahead with the NEET merit, as is being done by some other states. However, the final decision will be taken after a communication from the Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare.” He said the matter had been represented in the Supreme Court in a review petition against its order to quash the entrance examination notification of the Medical Council of India. “Admissions for next year’s admissions might depend on its outcome. But as of now, we need to take a call on the current year’s admissions… Scrapping the test may mean a complete freedom to private institutes and may affect merit too. The change will mean more average doctors will engage in public care,” he said. The Vice Chancellor said they would wait for an opinion from the Advocate General’s office before going ahead with the admissions. All medical colleges in the state are affiliated to Baba Farid university. There are 10 medical colleges in Punjab with approximately 940 seats while the 17 dental colleges have around 1,200 seats. Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, Vinnie Mahajan, said, “The admission procedure for the current year will be finalised only after receiving legal opinion as it could change the entire pattern (for admissions). The issue is likely to be settled in a week.”
|
|
Poor upkeep of grids hits supply in Bathinda zone
Bathinda, July 21 Sources said men and machinery in the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) were under heavy stress, which could lead to a major crisis like last month’s gird failure at Moga. As per the norms, each substation engineer (SSE), who is an SDO rank engineer, should look after four to six grids and there should be 30 to 35 grids under each senior executive engineer. But all the 205 grids of 66 KV each of Bathinda (west) zone, comprising Bathinda, Mansa, Mukatsar, Moga, Faridkot, Fazilka and Ferozepur districts, are being handled by only 10 SSEs, four senior executive engineers and one SE (P&M). Senior executive engineers at Bathinda and Muktsar are looking after as many as 67 and 50 grids, respectively. There are only 116 junior engineers against the requirement of 205. The sources said though there were two power plants in the Bathinda zone, the voltage at grids remained low mainly due to overloading and lack of capacitors at the grids. The PSPCL has been asking the agricultural power and industrial consumers to install capacitors on motors and use CFL and star-rated appliances to avoid voltage fluctuations. However, the corporation itself has failed to install adequate capacitors at most of the transformers installed at 66 KV grids. The capacitors help in regulating voltage and flow of current. Out of 275 power transformers in the zone, 162 are without capacitors. As per norms, 5 per cent variation in voltage is permitted, but it is ranging between 15 per cent and 24 per cent. Low voltage causes damage to electrical equipment and transformers, besides leading to higher transmission and distribution losses. GS Dhaliwal, Chief Engineer, west zone, said the shortage of staff was being managed by outsourcing some of the work. “We have added new grids. The process of recruiting staff is on. We do not face any voltage fluctuation or power outages. Our system is working fine,” he claimed. He said capacitors were not required at all places. “We have installed these wherever there was a need. These are technical matters and we are handling them well”. He claimed the PSPCL had made elaborate arrangements for meeting power requirements in the paddy season.
Under stress
|
|
Cong wants special session to discuss taxes
Chandigarh, July 21 In a statement here, Congress Legislature Party leader Sunil Jakhar said during the Goa chintan shivir, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal had claimed that there was a rise in the income of the state. He said in that case new taxes should not be imposed. Jakhar said the formation of a committee to frame a new policy to impose heavy taxes in the grab of regularising illegal colonies proved that this was being done only to raise revenue. Reacting to the issue, SAD spokesperson Dr Daljeet Singh Cheema said the Congress did not attend a single day of the Budget session and now it was demanding a special session without any agenda.
The Congress today claimed that 31 steel rolling mills and induction furnaces were closed down in Mandi Gobindgarh and Khanna due to the “faulty policies” of the SAD-BJP government. These units have even surrendered their power connection, said Congress spokesperson Sukhpal Khaira, adding the party had got the information through RTI. He said the situation in Mandi Gobindgarh and Khanna was grim because 90 more mills and furnaces had been lying shit although their owners had not surrendered their power connection so far. He said these mills were also likely to shut down permanently as their owners had been unable to pay minimum electricity charges being levied on them by the PSPCL. Khaira said if the government continued with its “anti-industry” attitude, all the 330 units of steel rolling mills and induction furnaces would either shut down or move to other states. He said the association of small and medium scale industry had been running from pillar to post to convince the government about their valid demands, but to no avail. He said the industry was demanding withdrawal of e-filing, reduction in the per kilowatt minimum charges of electricity and rationalising VAT and entry tax on the pattern of the neighboring states. Reacting to the charges, the SAD said the statement was politically motivated. SAD spokesperson Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said the Congress had not sought anything for industry in Mandi Gobindgarh in its memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister recently to demand excise concessions for six border districts. Protest against policy Jalandhar: Those into the real estate business may have deferred their stir after an assurance from Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. The Opposition Congress has decided to go ahead with its protest against the "hefty" charges the state government had finalised for regularising illegal colonies. Following Sukhbir's assurance that the policy to regularise the illegal colonies would be simplified, the members of the Punjab Property Dealers and Colonisers Association had deferred their state-level rally that was to be held in Jalandhar on July 22. But the Congress, in a statement, today said it would continue with its protest against the policy.
|
|
Use rural funds to augment storage, Nabard tells state
Chandigarh, July 21 This year, based on certain financial parameters, the total loan that Punjab can avail from NABARD under RIDF is Rs 495 crore. The bank has suggested that considering the major problem of storage of foodgrains faced by the state, it could use more funds to augment storage capacity. Since the groundwater in Malwa is depleting at 30 cm per annum, it suggested that the RIDF should be used to tackle the issue. Talking to The Tribune, Naresh Gupta, chief general manager, Punjab regional office of NABARD, said so far, 35 per cent of the RIDF funds had been disbursed for irrigation and agriculture and 33 per cent for construction, repair of rural roads. “These funds are also used for building infrastructure and promoting educational activities. But considering the immediate needs in rural infrastructure development, the state should use these funds to create storage godowns, it said. Also, there are established mechanisms for rain ater harvesting, which can be replicated in areas where the table is depleting fast,” he said. NABARD had sanctioned Rs 41.80 crore under RIDF for creating storage facility of 1,28,700 tonnes, with the construction of 11 rural godowns. However, no amount was reportedly disbursed till March this year. Once constructed, these new storage facilities will reduce post-harvest losses of foodgrain to 6 per cent. Gupta said since recharging of groundwater was also a part of rural infrastructure development, they would be happy to finance such projects if the Punjab Government were to send a proposal. About NABARD coming to the aid of dairy and poultry farmers, who are incurring huge losses, Gupta said though there was no focused scheme for refinancing these activities, the bank was involved in capacity building of these famers by organising them into groups and then helping them deal with cyclical fluctuations.
|
|
Three boards constituted to promote maize, cotton
Chandigarh, July 21 An official spokesperson said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had approved setting up these boards under his chairmanship with Agriculture Minister as vice-chairman. There will be 12 members of the Maize Development Board, 11 of the Cotton Development Board and eight of the Litchi Development Board. The maize and cotton boards would have 10 progressive farmers and three representatives of processing industry each to be nominated by the Financial Commissioner, Development, for a term of three years while the litchi board would have 10 progressive litchi growers as nominated members for an equal term. The boards have been mandated to examine and review the status of cultivation of these crops and suggest measures for their development. It will coordinate research and development activities.
|
|
Tribune Impact
Ropar, July 21 District Mid-Day Meal Coordinator Charanjit Singh reached the primary schools at Mandwara and Burjwala villages and replaced the bags of rotten wheat and rice. In the report, ‘No lesson learnt, insect-infested rice supplied to schools for mid-day meal’ (published on June 20), it was highlighted how food unfit for human consumption was supplied to various schools in the district under the mid-day meal scheme. Ropar Deputy Commissioner PK Agrawal said all the material supplied to the schools for mid-day meals will be re-examined.
|
|
Flood-hit farmers meet SDM, seek relief
Ropar, July 21 Yesterday, incessant rains in Himachal Pradesh resulted in the Swan, a tributary of the Sutlej, flooding Burj, Lodhipur, Ballowal, Mataur, Mehendli Kalan, Gajpur, Chandpur, Shahpur Bela, Hariwal, Bela Dhiani, Harsa Bela, Bela Ramgarh, Patti Tek Singh, Jindwari, Khanpur and Dasgrian villages. Ropar Deputy Commissioner PK Agrawal said that the report on the damage to crops and property in the area would be completed by tomorrow. The report would then be sent to the state government for subsequent compensation of the victims, he said. “For decades, our crops have been damaged by frequent floods. Though politicians and officials have always promised to deal with the issue, nothing has been done so far,” said Hardeep Singh of Lodhiwal village. The people in the area suffered heavy losses due to floods in 2010. For the last two consecutive years, our crops had been damaged in floods. The government needed to take concrete steps to tackle the problem, said Gian Singh of Burj village.
Steps to prevent bundh breach
Nawanshahr: The Sutlej waters, that damaged sensitive sites in Tajowal, Mirzapur and Burj Tehal Dass yesterday, have receded. Kirandeep Kaur, Sub-Divisional Officer, Drainage, said that sand bags were being placed at sensitive sites to avert a breach in the dhussi bandh. Deputy Commissioner Tanu Kashyap said 77 villages in the district were prone to floods.
— OC
|
|
Govt unable to check rampant fish poaching in Punjab
Jalandhar, July 21 On 13 July, officials of the Fisheries Department, Gurdaspur, raided Upper Bari Doab Canal in Kalanour and nabbed over six poachers with 25 kg of fish and five nets. Vishesh Kumar, Deputy Director, Fisheries, Gurdaspur, said nearly a dozen cases of fish poaching had been reported in Gurdaspur and Pathankot districts and over 25 persons had been challaned and penalised Rs 10,000 each this year. Sources said illegal fishing was rampant in the Sutlej and a section of the Beas starting from Talwara in Hoshiarpur district to Harike Pattan. The poachers are also active around dams and other water bodies in the night. “The Harike Wildlife Sanctuary is a safe haven for poachers where they hunt fish, wild animals and birds,” said Gurmit Singh, President, Nature Conservation Society, Punjab. Poachers also take benefit of jurisdiction ambiguity on the inter-state border with Himachal Pradesh and catch fish near Talwara. The remote areas of Sultanpur Lodhi tehsil in Kapurthala, areas surrounding Pul Pukhta village in Dasuya tehsil of Hoshiarpur districts are also frequented by poachers to catch fish in the Beas, said an official of the department on the condition of anonymity. However, officials of the department said teams had been deployed to keep a close watch on fish poaching across the state. BK Sood, Director, Fisheries Punjab, did not comment on the issue.
Where they operate
|
|
Now, people can complain against bureaucrats online
Gurdaspur, July 21 As many as 270 CSCs, also known as Gram Suvidha Kendras in local parlance, were recently set up in the district to provide various services to people. The All India Society for Electronics and Computer Technology (AISECT), a venture of the Union Government’s Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, established these CSCs. These centres provide more than 400 services, including preparation of driving licences, birth and death certificates, payment of electricity and mobile bills, phone recharge, police clearance certificates and permission to use load speakers. Each CSC will be manned by a Village Level Entrepreneur (VLE). One can also avail educational benefits such as accessing computer courses of IGNOU and AISECT and deposit and withdraw money from State Bank of India (SBI) accounts. Keen to keep tabs on the working of bureaucrats, the state government has taken this step of letting people register complaints against public servants at these centres. Officials claim that this service, which is called G2C (Government to Citizen), will help people, who normally are wary of complaining against public servants, take to task officials who do not listen to their grievances. The government has provided the portal-publicgrievancespb.gov.in-to these CSCs where people can lodge their complaints by paying a nominal fee of Rs 10 per complaint. Several nationalised banks such as Punjab National Bank, Punjab Gramin Bank, Bank of India, the State Bank of Patiala and the State Bank of India have also come forward to provide more facilities to these CSCs, which are also known as mini Suvidha centres. People, who avail direct cash subsidies, can now do so at these centres. They can also open savings accounts at these centres. Sanjeev Sarpal, state coordinator, AISECT, said all the 1,674 villages of the district had been interconnected for better facilitation of services and all the 270 CSCs had become operational. Each CSC is computerised and has a direct link to the Chandigarh-based State-Wide Area Network (SWAN) that monitors the centres. “The effective use of IT services in government and administration makes the functioning of various departments more efficient and transparent,” said Sarpal.
|
|
Muktsar sets bar high in crop diversification
It is the home district of Dr Mangal Singh Sandhu, Director, Agriculture. Earlier, the district had also led in the Direct Sowing of Rice (DSR) programme with farmers sowing rice directly on large tracts of land. Parmjit Singh, Deputy Commissioner, Muktsar, today said during 2012-13, the area under paddy cultivation was 98,117 hectares while in the current sowing season, it had reduced to 74,500 hectares. The area under basmati increased from 20,000 hectares last year to 36,000 hectares this year. Similarly, area under cotton has also increased from 88,298 hectares to 92,600 hectares in the district. The district was also performing well in the production of pulses as area under moong had increased from 4,000 hectares to 5,500 hectares, he said. The DC said area under guar cultivation had increased from 4,000 hectares last year to 7,000 hectares this year while area under sugarcane
had increased from 68 to 100 hectares. “The total area under all crops has increased from 2,14,483 hectares to 2,15,700 hectares in the district,” said Parmjit Singh. He further said the district stood third in kinnow cultivation with 5,500 hectares under its cultivation. The total area under vegetable cultivation was 7,502 hectares. Beant Singh, Chief Agriculture Officer, Muktsar, explained the reasons behind the success of the district in implementing the diversification programme. He said, “The Agriculture Department had distributed 150 quintals of moong seed and some BT cotton seeds free of cost to farmers in the district. The government had also given Rs 1.5 crore to basmati growers here. Moreover, the department has been conducting training camps for farmers to help them adopt the latest agricultural techniques.”
|
|
110 classrooms in government schools unsafe
In a written statement filed in the registration branch of the High Court, Principal Secretary of the Punjab School Education Anjali Bhawara, referring to the District Information System for School Education (DISE) report for 2013-2014, said there was a shortage of girls’ toilets. A sum of Rs 43.44 crore for common toilets and separate toilets for girls had already been released and construction was on, she said. Further, in 10 districts of Punjab, at least 110 classrooms in government schools were “unsafe”. These districts were Bathinda, Ferozepur, Fazilka, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Moga, SBS Nagar, Patiala and Ropar. A letter had been issued on July 5 to all district education officers, directing that “students should not be made to sit in unsafe buildings/rooms and before the start of the rainy season, these should be demolished with the approval of SMC...” In a petition filed in public interest, HC Arora is seeking directions to the Punjab Government to demolish and reconstruct unsafe portions of government schoolbuildings in Ludhiana. He has referred to a survey by the Punjab Education Department to say hundreds of government schools do not have toilets.
|
|
Hoshiarpur most literate district
Ludhiana, July 21 Varun Rujam, Deputy Commissioner, Hoshiarpur, expressed his satisfaction over the result. “Rich or poor, everyone here lays a lot of emphasis on educating their children,” he said. Ludhiana has the fourth highest literacy rate in the state with Mohali and Jalandhar at second and third place respectively. Mansa district has the lowest literacy rate of 61.8 per cent with just 55.7 per cent females literate. The widest gap between the literacy rate of men and women is in Ferozpur district where 75.4 per cent males are literate as compared to 61.7 per cent literate females. The gap is the smallest in Jalandhar district with 78.5 per cent males literate and 73 per cent females literate.
How others fare
|
|
Udham Singh memorial hanging fire for 3 years
Sangrur, July 21 The memorial is reportedly to be set up on five acres. The government had proposed to build a 200-seat auditorium, a museum, an interpretation centre, Shaheed Udham Singh’s statue, an open air theatre and a refreshment centre on the site. Sources said the district administration has
made several failed efforts to secure land for the memorial. In 2011, the Chief Minister had given an in-principle approval to allocate Rs 10 crore for the establishment of the memorial at Sunam. However, no concrete action was taken on the matter. Even in July 2012, the administration had written to the Principal Secretary, Cultural Affairs, Punjab, demanding that land be acquired to set up the memorial. Deputy Commissioner Kumar Rahul said the administration had finalised a piece of land for the memorial near the road over bridge at Sunam. But the Wakf Board and the Kamboj community objected and filed a case. The matter is being decided in court, he added.
|
|
PPP leader accuses Sekhwan of frame-up, moves court
Gurdaspur, July 21 Col Surjit Singh (retd) said he had moved a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court against Sekhwan’s “brazen attempts” to defame him and his wife Jatinder Kaur. He alleged: “Ahead of the 2012 assembly elections, Sekhwan had asked me to withdraw from the contest. PPCC chief Partap Singh Bajwa’s wife Charanjit Kaur was also in the fray. When I did not pay any heed, he took to pressure tactics and asked the police to get cases registered against me and my family members”. Col Surjit Singh said on October 6, 2011, he was invited by the Sikh National College, Qadian, as chief guest during a function. “Sekhwan did not like this and got an FIR registered against me the same day. I had to spend seven days in Gurdaspur jail along with my son. Later, the complainant, Surinder Singh, who is close to Sekhwan, backtracked from his statement given to the police. This clearly shows that the case was politically motivated,” he claimed. Sekhwan, however, denied the allegation. He said he would file a defamation suit against the Colonel. “I have asked the authorities concerned to inquire into the misuse of grants during his tenure as sarpanch of Phero Chechi village from 2008 to 2012. He had violated norms and siphoned of grants worth lakhs of rupees,” he alleged.
|
|
Post-Poll Violence
Jalandhar, July 21 Bittu, who sustained head injuries, is in a critical condition. He has been shifted to a private hospital from the Civil Hospital, Jalandhar. Influential farmers of Nangal Arayian village on the Bhogpur-Adampur road have reportedly boycotted the Dalits as an Adharmi Sikh has been elected the village sarpanch even though the seat is not a reserved one. Former panch Amarjit Singh said the farming community, comprising Jats and Sainis, had forbidden landless Dalits from entering their fields for gathering fodder for their cattle. They had also stopped supplying milk to them. Sarpanch Lachman Singh said the farming community, at a meeting at the village gurdwara after the panchayat elections, had decided to boycott the Dalits. Kartarpur Station House Officer Surinderpal Singh said five persons, two from one group and three from the other, had been hurt in a clash yesterday. An FIR had been registered under Section 307 of the IPC against Ajmer Singh and others. Three of the injured were not in a condition to give their statement, he said. District general secretary of the BSP Kamal Dev Jandusingha warned that if the “actual culprits” were not nabbed, BSP activists would resort to a blockade. Lachman Singh was elected sarpanch defeating Ajmer Singh with a margin of 19 votes. Three panches are also Adharmi Sikhs.
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Gurdaspur, July
21
Muktsar, July 21
Chandigarh, July 21