The... Punjab

P U N J A B

Saturday, July 18, 1998

weather n spotlight
today's calendar

Rural housing a distant dream?
PATIALA, July 17 — The rural housing scheme launched by the SAD-BJP government in the state when it assumed power, remains a distant dream...
Bundh made by villagers
to be removed
PATIALA, July 17 — The district administration has decided to remove the bundh built by villagers of Sangrur district...
Punjab Govt order on payment of pension
CHANDIGARH, July 17 — The Punjab Government today issued a six-page order regarding implementation of the...

Faulty machines hit transmission
BATHINDA, July 17 — The functioning of the local radio station has reportedly been affected due to the development of frequent faults in machines...

Five booked for youth's murder
GILLPATTI (Bathinda), July 17 — Fear has gripped this village following the daylight murder of a teenager, Kuldip Singh (15), today...
'Breakthrough' in robbery cases
PATIALA, July 17 — The district police has achieved a breakthrough in the recent armed robbery cases with the arrest of Dharambir...
False case against scribe decried
FATEHGARH SAHIB, July 17 — A public meeting held at Sirhind town condemned the registration of a false case against the Fatehgarh Sahib-based correspondent of The Tribune...
Services in 150 hospitals to be revamped
JALANDHAR, July 17 — Mr Manoranjan Kalia, Minister for Health and Family Welfare, has promised that the health services in the 150 hospitals of the state will be revamped and improved...
College teachers not paid salaries
BARNALA, July 17 — Resentment prevails among more than 5,000 teachers of government-aided colleges in Punjab as they have not been paid their salaries for the past four months...
Soch appoints new Deans
AMRITSAR, July 17 — Dr Harbhajan Singh Soch, Vice-Chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University, today appointed new Deans of various faculties for a period of two years...
24-hour power supply in Chamkaur Sahib block by December
ROPAR, July 17 — The Chamkaur Sahib block will be the first in Punjab whose all villages will be covered under the 24-hour power supply scheme by December-end...
Volunteers opt out of literacy plan
GURDASPUR, July 17 — The total literacy scheme launched in the district about a year ago has made no headway so far...
Resentment among dam oustees
GURDASPUR, July 15 — Resentment prevails among the oustees of Ranjit Sagar Dam in the district for the "step-motherly" treatment meted out to them by the Punjab Government regarding the payment of compensation...

Faulty machines hit transmission
From Chander Parkash
Tribune News Service
BATHINDA, July 17 — The functioning of the local radio station has reportedly been affected due to the development of frequent faults in machines.
Official sources said for the past one year the faults had been disturbing the airing of various programmes at the radio station.
A daily transmission report prepared on July 9 said: Due to technical fault, programmes from 7.27 pm to 7.50 pm did not go on air and some parts of programmes like "Chithi Ayee Hai", "Punjabi News", "Rozgar Samachar" and "Yuv-Vani" could not go on air.
The CTR was faulty in the emergency studio, as a result, only film songs, and not the scheduled tape, were played by the announcer.
The sources said the poor upkeep of the machines, was affecting the transmission.
Mr M.S. Bhatti, Programme Executive, he had brought to the notice of the engineering wing that the machines were not being maintained properly. He claimed that the wing did not even have a head cleaner for the machines and that it was affecting the quality of sound.
He said a few months ago, the Vividh Bharati programme that was relayed from this station had poor sound quality. Even the radio network message given by the Director-General was not audible.
The digital electronic clock installed in the studio was not functioning properly, he added.
It is said that two mikes which were being used for recording purposes had been stolen from the studio a few months ago.
Mr J.P. Singh, Station Engineer, when contacted, however, said all machines were being maintained properly.
He denied that there was no head cleaner with the engineering wing.
Regarding the theft of the mikes, he said he had informed the police but he did not know whether an FIR had been registered or not.
He said he had informed the higher authorities about the failure of transmission for 23 minutes on July 9 and that there was no seating arrangement for visiting artistes.
The sources said the shortage of staff in the transmission wing was also affecting the functioning of the radio station. At present, one post each of programme executive and announcer was lying vacant, they added.

Rural housing a distant dream?
From Jupinderjit Singh
PATIALA, July 17 — The rural housing scheme launched by the SAD-BJP government in the state when it assumed power, remains a distant dream.
Number of problems have emerged in the implementation of the scheme as well as the "failure" of the Indira Awaas Yojna, a centrally-aided housing scheme at a number of villages in this district.
The SAD-BJP housing scheme has already run into rough weather. Initially, the state government had announced that 100 houses would be constructed in each legislative constituency in the district. These houses would be constructed in selected villages where the panchayat or the Block Development Office would shortlist probable allottees and then allot the houses to them.
However, the paucity of funds has plagued the construction work at many places. Even the quota of 100 houses in each constituency has been reduced to 80. An official communication to this regard was received recently at the District Welfare Office and other offices concerned here.
According to sources, apart from the problem of funds, another hurdle is the unavailability of land. Out of the curtailed figure of 650 houses to be constructed in eight legislative constituencies, no land is available for nearly 200 houses.
A government official said as per the scheme, the village shamlat land had to be used for the construction of houses. However, work could not be started on 200 houses as the allotted site was either illegally occupied or existed merely on paper. Further, there has been stiff opposition from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the class to benefit the most from this scheme.
Villagers said houses outside the village would cut them off from the rest of the village and would encourage casteism and sectionalism.
They said instead of purchasing land and then constructing houses, the government should simply renovate their existing huts.
In fact, the construction of houses outside the village periphery had been the main reason for the failure of the Indira Awaas Yozna. The most glaring examples are of Budhmore and Jaffarpur villages in this district. At Budhmore, a flood-prone village situated near the Haryana border in this district, no one had taken possession of houses built outside the village. Villagers said the houses were constructed under the Indira Awaas Yozna after 1980 but as the site mostly remained submerged in floods and was situated outside the village, no one took possession of the houses.
Houses built in Jaffarpur village, under the same scheme, are dilapidated as no one took possession of them.
According to sources, the present SAD-BJP scheme is also facing an uphill task because the number of applicants has exceeded the number of houses. At Daunkalan village, near Bahadurgarh here, a battle is being fought between two parties over the possession of the houses.
Talking about the scheme, Mr Paramjit Singh Kainth, senior state leader, Bahujan Samaj Morcha, said like the Indira Awaas Yozna the present scheme may also be a complete failure.
He said the houses constructed under the Indira Awaas Yozna were not accepted as they were situated outside the village and there was neither any water and power supply nor any link road facility. He feared that the present scheme might not be accepted because of similar problems.

Bundh made by villagers to be removed
Tribune News Service
PATIALA, July 17 — The district administration has decided to remove the bundh built by villagers of Sangrur district at Banarsiwala to provide immediate relief to various villages flooded by the Ghaggar in Samana block of the district. This is also to ensure that the villages do not come in the grip of floods again in case of heavy rain in the catchment area of Ghaggar.
Deputy Commissioner Viswajit Khanna told TNS that a decision to this effect was taken after a technical report was submitted to Financial Commissioner (Revenue) K.S. Janjua during his visit to Khanauri today. Mr Khanna said the Financial Commissioner also held a meeting with him and Deputy Commissioner of Sangrur Anirudh Tewari.
Mr Khanna said the Deputy Commissioner of Sangrur had given his consent to remove the bundh which has been a centre of controversy, with residents of the affected villages in Patiala saying it had flooded their fields.
Residents of about 26 villages in Sangrur, who are protected from floods because of the bundh, were earlier against its removal, saying it would result in widespread destruction in all 26 villages. Part of the bundh was forcibly breached by affected residents of Patiala district.
Mr Khanna said with the removal of the bundh, it was expected that the water would be more evenly distributed, adding some of the water would also be absorbed by the 32-span bridge near Khanauri.
The Deputy Commissioner said long-term measures, including building of a drain along the 32-span bridge which would take some of the water before it reached Khanauri where it went underneath the Bhakra main line through syphons and its release into the Ghaggar when it crossed the canal, were also being planned.
He said there was also a proposal to regulate the Bhakra main line under the Ghaggar at Khanauri.
Mr Khanna said the situation in the affected villages of the district was under control with the water receding to 749 feet at Khanauri from yesterday’s 753 feet. He said the administration had kept trucks of fooder and food packets ready. He said a team of doctors had toured the affected villages. he said the situation was expected to ease in a few days.

Punjab Govt order on payment of pension
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, July 17 — The Punjab Government today issued a six-page order regarding implementation of the recommendations of the Fourth Pay Commission on pension and other retirement benefits.
The revised provisions will be effective from January 1, 1996.
The minimum rate of pension and family pension will be Rs 1310 per month.
Full pension will be calculated at the rate of 50 per cent of average emoluments and will be available on a qualifying service of 33 years. In case the qualifying service for pension is less than 33 years, the pension will first be computed at the rate of 50 per cent of the average emoluments and then it will be proportionately reduced. If the pension so computed falls short of Rs 1310, the same will be raised to Rs 1310 per month, effective January 1, 1996.
The rate of family pension in respect of employees who die in harness during the first seven years of service or till the employee would have attained the age of superannuation had he survived, whichever period is less, shall be as follows: pay in the revised pay scale (up to Rs 4,500): 60 per cent of pay; pay above Rs 4,500: 50 per cent of the pay subject to a minimum of Rs 2,700.
The rates of family pension admissible to families of deceased pensioners shall be as under: pay up to Rs 4,500: 40 per cent of the pay and pay above Rs 4,500: 30 per cent of the pay subject to a minimum of Rs 1,800.
The maximum limit of retirement-cum-death gratuity has been raised from the present Rs 2.50 lakh to Rs 3.50 lakh.
In the event of death of an employee in harness the gratuity will be admissible as follows: less than one year: two times the emoluments; one year or more but less than five years: six times the emoluments; five years and more up to 12 years: 12 times the emoluments and above 12 years: half of the emoluments for each completed six months period of qualifying service subject to a maximum of 33 times the emoluments and a ceiling of Rs 3.50 lakh.
Regarding ex-gratia payment, the family of a deceased employee will be paid Rs 50,000 on an uniform basis. Those employees who are permanently disabled and rendered unfit for further service will also be given the same ex-gratia, Rs 50,000.
The existing provisions relating to leave travel concession and grant of old age allowance will remain unchanged.

Five booked for youth's murder
Tribune News Service
GILLPATTI (Bathinda), July 17 — Fear has gripped this village following the daylight murder of a teenager, Kuldip Singh (15), today.
Police sources said Kuldip Singh was done to death by his real uncle and four other persons around 10 am. The accused used sharp-edged weapons.
The accused are Balwant Singh, an uncle of the deceased, and his three sons — Hakam Singh, Malkiat Singh and Balwinder Singh — and Natha Singh. Natha Singh was earlier involved in the ballot paper theft case in the panchayat elections.
Mr B.K. Uppal, the district police chief, said that a hunt had been launched for the suspects, against whom a case had been registered at the thermal plant police station.
Kuldip Singh and his mother, Amarjit Kaur, have been living at Bathinda after the murder of his father, Jaggar Singh, last year. The mother and son are the accused in the Jaggar Singh's murder case, which is pending in court.
Balwant Singh was in possession of Kuldip Singh's house and was also illegally cultivating four acres of land belonging to the latter. A real sister of Kuldip Singh was also with Balwant Singh. She had deposed against her brother and mother in the murder case of her father.
Today, Kuldip Singh, along with his aunt, Kapur Kaur, and her three sons — Nachhatar Singh, Gurjanta Singh and Vakil Singh — went to the village and entered the former's house.
When Balwant Singh learnt that Kuldip Singh had entered the house, he along with the four other suspects allegedly attacked Kuldip Singh. He allegedly dragged Kuldip Singh out of his house and killed him with the help of others. The aunt and cousins of the deceased were also beaten up.
Preliminary investigations had revealed that the sister of the deceased had 'forcibly' been kept in Balwant Singh's custody, the police sources added.

'Breakthrough' in robbery cases
Tribune News Service
PATIALA, July 17 — The district police has achieved a breakthrough in the recent armed robbery cases with the arrest of Dharambir.
Disclosing this here today, SP, (Detective) Kewal Kumar said Dharambir, a resident of Bathinda, was allegedly involved in two cases of robberies. Six others Kishan Kumar, Kartar Singh, Mohammad Shamsher, Bidrash, Mukhtiar Singh and Ram Sewak, who were residents of Sararhati in Haryana, had also been arrested in connection with the robberies similar to those committed in the city a fortnight ago.
The SP said Dharambir and the others were being questioned to know the whereabouts of those who had committed armed robberies in the city. Mr Kumar said they had, during interrogation, revealed that they knew certain persons responsible for the crimes.
He said the special vigilance launched in the district had also resulted in the arrest of three persons responsible for a robbery in the Radha Kishen Mandir at Model Town and recovery of a stolen truck from another. He said those who had been arrested on charges of committing a robbery at the mandir were Sukhwinder Singh, Alias Bittu, Lucky and Vijay Kumar, Alias Titu. He said few silver items were recovered from them. He said a truck (Number PB-11-A 8745) had been recovered from Jatinder Kumar, a resident of Nepal.
Meanwhile SSP Parampal Singh Sidhu said today that intensive patrolling had been undertaken in the outer colonies. He said the district police was holding public awareness meetings in a phased manner in different colonies to ensure the people did not get swayed by false rumours.
Deputy Commissioner Viswajit Khanna told TNS that the police alone would be allowed to verify the antecedents of persons caught in suspicious circumstances by thikri pehra groups.

False case against scribe decried
From Our Correspondent
FATEHGARH SAHIB, July 17 — A public meeting held at Sirhind town condemned the registration of a false case against the Fatehgarh Sahib-based correspondent of The Tribune. The meeting was organised by the Citizens Welfare Council, Sirhind, and attended by representatives of various social, political religious and trade organisations.
The meeting, which lasted three hours, was addressed, among others, by Mr Randhir Singh Cheema, a former Akali minister, Mr Avtar Singh Latour, district president of the Bahujan Samaj Morcha, Pt Naresh Sharma, president of the Sirhind Municipal Council, and Mr Varinder Rattan, general secretary, District Beopar Mandal.
Mr Mohan Singh, sarpanch of Mullan Pur Khurd village, whose brother, nephew and cousin allegedly died after consuming spurious liquor, clarified at the meeting that the women belonging to the families of the deceased were misled by one Geja Ram, who claims to be the chairman of the Balmiki Sabha Centre Committee.
The speakers deplored the "mischievous'' role played by one Geja Ram, who is a Class IV employee of the FCI at Sirhind. They demanded an inquiry into the whole affair and withdrawal of the false case against the scribe.
Meanwhile, Mr Simranjit Singh Mann, president of the Akali Dal (A), also condemned the registration of the false case. Mr Bir Devinder Singh, a Congress leader of the area, said if the case against the scribe was not withdrawn a state-level rally would be held at Sirhind.

Services in 150 hospitals to be revamped
Tribune News Service
JALANDHAR, July 17 — Mr Manoranjan Kalia, Minister for Health and Family Welfare, has promised that the health services in the 150 hospitals of the state will be revamped and improved with the installation of the latest equipment under a World Bank scheme.
Speaking at a function in the civil hospital, here today he said of late the public had lost faith in the civil hospitals. However, under a new scheme of the government health services would be improved and cheap medical care made available to the public.
Admitting an acute shortage of doctors, he said 700 more doctors were needed to fill the vacant posts. However, only 300 new doctors had been recruited by the Punjab Civil Services.
The Director, Punjab Health Systems Corporation, Mr S.S Channi, said Rs 421 crore would be spent to upgrade the existing infrastructure in the 150 hospitals in the state while 10 new hospitals would be built in the next 15 months all over the state. The demand for 60 ambulances had been cleared and 58 ambulances would be bought by the year-end. The machinery lying idle in hospitals had been made operational at a cost of Rs 45 crore.
This year, the allocation for revamping the health services in the state was Rs 126 crore, he added.

College teachers not paid salaries
From Our Correspondent
BARNALA, July 17 — Resentment prevails among more than 5,000 teachers of government-aided colleges in Punjab as they have not been paid their salaries for the past four months.
It is reported that the Punjab Government had not released the grant-in-aid to these colleges for March, April, May and June.
Prof M.L. Bansal, president of the Sangrur district unit of the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union, said the Punjab Government was giving stepmotherly treatment to private college teachers by not finding any solution to the problem of the payment of salaries. In a press note issued here he urged Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to look into the matter and implement pension and gratuity scheme by issuing a notification to this effect at the earliest.
He said 1,000 private college teachers from here would join a march to Parliament on July 21 in response to a call given by the All-India Federation of University and College Teachers Organisation in support of the revision of their pay scales.

Soch appoints new Deans
From Our Correspondent
AMRITSAR, July 17 — Dr Harbhajan Singh Soch, Vice-Chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University, today appointed new Deans of various faculties for a period of two years.
According to a notification issued by the Registrar, Dr R.S Bawa, Dr Major Singh, Professor in the Department of Applied Chemical Science and Technology, has been appointed Dean, Faculty of Applied Sciences, while Dr (Mrs) H.K Mangat, Professor in the Department of Zoology has been appointed Dean, Faculty of Life Sciences.
Dr Gurnam Singh, Professor in the Department of Political Science has been appointed Dean, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dr Satish Verma, Professor, Punjab School of Economics has been appointed Dean, Faculty of Economics and Business.
Dr Daljinder Singh, Professor of Physical Education, has been appointed Dean, Faculty of Physical Education and Professor B.R Batra of Guru Ramdas School of Planning has been appointed Dean Faculty of Physical Planning.
Dr Madanjit Kaur, Professor of Guru Nanak Studies, has been appointed Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Religious Studies and Dr I.S Hudiara, Professor, Department of Electronics and Communication and Control Engineering, appointed Dean, Faculty of Engineering and Technology.
The notification added that Dr (Mrs) Sudesh Khanna, Principal, Government Medical College, has been appointed Dean, Faculty of Medical Sciences, while Dr O Pnar, Principal, Government Dental College and Hospital, Amritsar, Dean, Faculty of Dental Sciences.
Dr Shangara Singh, Principal, Ramgarhia College of Education, Phagwara, has been appointed Dean, Faculty of Education, while Dr (Mrs) Bhagwant Kaur, Reader, Department of Music, has been appointed Dean, Faculty of Musics and Fine Arts.

24-hour power supply in Chamkaur
Sahib block by December
From Our Correspondent
ROPAR, July 17 — The Chamkaur Sahib block will be the first in Punjab whose all villages will be covered under the 24-hour power supply scheme by December-end.
This was stated by Mr Bikramjit Singh, Chairman of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), while talking to newsmen at Kherri Salabatpur village about 10 km from here, today.
Earlier, the Chairman inaugurated the 24-hour power supply scheme for Kherri Salabatpur village. He said the PSEB had prepared a pilot project for providing 24-hour power supply in the villages of five blocks namely Lambi, Phul, Dirba, Patti and Chamkaur Sahib.
Mr Singh said power supply to tuberwells would be available directly from the grid so that 24-hour power supply to the villages could be ensured.
He said the Irrigation Department had 200 acre surplus land which would be auctioned and the amount spent on canals.
He said the process had already begun and an approximate amount of Rs 7 crore had been collected by auctioning the department's land.
Mr Singh said the government had spent Rs 30 crore on flood protection works this year. Besides, Rs 60 crore had been spent on constructing drains in the Muktsar and Malaut areas for ending waterlogging, he added.

Volunteers opt out of literacy plan
From Our Correspondent
GURDASPUR, July 17 — The total literacy scheme launched in the district about a year ago has made no headway so far. A sum of Rs 18 lakh, out of a total of Rs 25 lakh received as first instalment to develop infrastructural facilities for imparting education, has been spent, reportedly without any tangible results.
The literacy scheme, which was to cost Rs 1.25 crore and was to be completed within a year, has failed to take off.
Trainers, who thought they would be paid under the scheme, opted out when they were told that it was voluntary work. Also, the district administration remained busy during the Lok Sabha, municipal and panchayat elections, for over three months, affecting the scheme. The Deputy Commissioner, Mrs Ravneet Kaur, who started the scheme, was transferred.
Mr S.K. Sandhu, the present Deputy Commissioner, when contacted, said the exercise to selecting trainers and volunteers would have to be taken afresh, for which a committee had already been constituted.
He said after the list was finalised and sent to the Centre, the balance amount earmarked for the scheme would be released.
According to a survey conducted by the district administration, 1.5 lakh persons (age group 15-35) have been identified, he added.

Resentment among dam oustees
From Our Correspondent
GURDASPUR, July 15 — Resentment prevails among the oustees of Ranjit Sagar Dam in the district for the "step-motherly" treatment meted out to them by the Punjab Government regarding the payment of compensation.
A resident of Darkula Bangla village, Mr Onkar Singh, said that the entire village would be submerged in the lake of the dam. He said the villagers had not been paid any compensation so far and neither had employment been provided to one member of the families as had been agreed upon by the government for resettling the oustees.
Residents complained that the Punjab oustees were being paid Rs 45,000 per acre which was unjust.
Mr Kalyan Singh of Teeka Guliar village said that nearly 700 dam oustees of the village were moving from pillar to post to get compensation and a job for one member of their families.