Friday, October 9, 1998
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Friday, October 9, 1998 |
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Centre
buying time, Bill
to regulate |
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 Badal checkmates detractors LUDHIANA, Oct 8 — By defusing the crisis which had been building up in the ruling Akali-BJP alliance in Punjab over the issue of inclusion of Udham Singh Nagar district in the proposed Uttaranchal state, Mr Parkash Singh Badal appears to have effectively checkmated his vocal detractors. |
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Mystery
shrouds hawala money A
centre that makes women self-sufficient 2
FCI officials suspended Varsity
teachers threaten stir Land
prices crash in Udham Singh Nagar Conference
on burns |
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Centre buying time, says
Amarinder CHANDIGARH, Oct 8 — The Punjab Congress President, Capt Amarinder Singh, today described the formation of a three-member high-powered committee to decide the fate of Udham Singh Nagar "as plain eyewash and a crude attempt to hoodwink the people." At a meeting yesterday in Delhi with the Akali leaders, the Prime Minister had announced the formation of a three-member committee with Union Defence Minister George Fernandes as Chairman and the Chief Ministers of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh as members to debate the issue of Udham Singh Nagar and make recommendations whether the district was to be kept out of the proposed hill state of Uttaranchal. Addressing a news conference here, Capt Amarinder Singh said that the BJP Government had sent a Cabinet memorandum to the President which now had been adopted in an amended form by the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. All through the BJP leadership, including the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, had chided the Akali Dal, forcing it to adopt a tough posture. Now when the issue should have been decided by keeping Udham Singh Nagar out of the proposed hill state of Uttaranchal a committee had been formed. "The only purpose is to buy time and go through the elections and take the help of the Akalis during that period. There has also been a deal, as I understand on the ministry formation at the Centre. The Akalis will fall for crumbs, we all knew that. But still their threat might work. It is cheating at its worst", Capt Amarinder Singh remarked. But at the same time, the Congress leader was hardpressed to spell out his own party's stand on the issue. The "Punjab Congress is totally opposed to the inclusion of that district in the hill state. We are trying hard to mobilise opinion in the party. The party President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, has already formed a committee to that effect. The Haryana Congress President , Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, has lent support. I will be meeting the leaders from West Bengal and Bihar whose expatriates are settled in that district", Capt Amarinder Singh said. Capt Amarinder Singh also made fun of the "Akali facade" on the issue. "All this blowing hot and cold is meant to bargain. The Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, who also heads the Akali Dal and the SGPC president, Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, had always betrayed Punjab and its interests. They will be repeating this again. Tell me what was the need to form a committee when the leaders who are to decide sat for two long hours. They could have taken a decision. We know the game very clearly", he added. The Congress leader also hoped that the party high command would react properly to this issue when the Bill finally came in Parliament. Capt Amarinder Singh, who met the Punjab Governor, Lt-Gen B.K.N. Chhibber, brought to his notice that the Lok Pal, a former Punjab and Haryana High Court Judge, Mr Harbans Singh Rai, was a partisan person and was related to the Akalis. He had been indicted by the High Court for filing a false affidavit in order to obtain a plot from the discretionary quota in Haryana. This allotment had been quashed. He said that he had urged the Governor to intervene so that his party could have faith in the institution of Lok Pal. "We will not cooperate with the Lok Pal unless someone impartial is brought forward. Mr Badal cannot be allowed to use this institution for partisan purposes", he said. Capt Amarinder Singh who did not buy the argument advanced yesterday by the CPI leader, Dr Joginder Dayal, that the state should have nothing to do with the celebration of the tercentenary of the Khalsa and raising of memorials at Anandpur Sahib, wanted that party's support for the Adampur Assembly seat. He said his party was for full participation of the state in such historic celebrations. Giani Zail Singh, the then Chief Minister, had set up Guru Gobind Singh Marg and a march too was organised. He would like to celebrate such events everywhere. He said that the Congress too would be celebrating in its own way. Capt Amarinder Singh demanded an enquiry into the misuse of funds meant for the development of Anandpur Sahib and charged the Akalis with collecting huge funds. The Congress leader also
announced that the party President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi had
postponed her visit to Punjab and Haryana which was
slated for October 9 and 10. He said she would visit the
states "very soon". He also ridiculed the
Akalis and the SGPC for saying that she would not be
honoured at the Golden Temple. "No one has
approached that siropa be offered to her or she be
welcomed there. She was going to the house of God and
there is no need for any such honour. The Akalis have the
habit of raking up non-issues." |
Bill to regulate nursing homes LUDHIANA, Oct 8 — The Punjab Government plans to enact a legislation to regulate the functioning of private nursing homes in the state. This was disclosed here today by the Health and Family Welfare Minister, Mr Manmohan Kalia, while addressing a press conference. He said the Bill to be called the Punjab Private Nursing Home Regulation Act, would be brought forward in the next session of the state assembly. He said the government would lay down certain norms, rules and regulation for the nursing homes which were at present working in a whimsical way. It would also prescribe guidelines for the employment of paramedical and other supporting staff at the nursing homes. Mr Kalia said the government had set apart Rs 20 crore for repairing and renovating old hospital buildings and for adding new wings to them. In Ludhiana, Rs 8 crore would be spent on constructing a 200-bed hospital in place of the 100-bed hospital located in a nursing hostel building. The construction work was expected to start in January. The minister inaugurated a laproscopic unit at Civil Hospital here. The high-tech unit, second of its kind in government-run hospitals, has been installed under the "second state health systems development project" being implemented by the Punjab Health Systems Corporation (PHSC). The unit would provided patient-friendly surgical interventions for such ailments as trans-urethral resection of prostate trans resection, of endometrium, laproscopic hysterctomy etc. Mr Kalia also flagged off 29 ambulances for improving transportation facilities for the patients. Uptil now, 60 new ambulances have been supplied to hospitals. Giving details of the activities being undertaken by the PHSC for providing better quality services to the patients, Mr Kalia said in the past one year, out of 150 hospitals, 146 hospitals had been given a face-lift at a cost of Rs 18 crore by renovating the buildings. This had improved the general sanitation, environment and utility of the existing buildings. Besides this, extensions work in 20 hospitals had already been started and by April '99 all construction work would be underway. Medical equipment worth Rs 1 crore has been got repaired and put to use and a present all hospitals had functional medical machinery. These hospitals had sufficient medicines, X-ray films and others laboratory chemicals for conducting various tests as medicines worth Rs 3.60 crore had been provided along with hospitals supplies worth Rs 1.50 crore. The state had 40 blood banks but only 17 were functional. The PHSC had equipped 15 blood banks which were inspected by a joint team of Government of India and the State Drug Controller and would start functioning shortly. The PHSC had undertaken to
provide in-service training to doctors, nurses and other
paramedical staff for improving their clinical and
managerial skills. As many as 580 doctors, 499 nurses and
690 para-medical had already been trained at the state
and national-level institutions. |
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Badal checkmates detractors LUDHIANA, Oct 8 — By defusing the crisis which had been building up in the ruling Akali-BJP alliance in Punjab over the issue of inclusion of Udham Singh Nagar district in the proposed Uttaranchal state, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, appears to have effectively checkmated, at least for the time being, his vocal detractors both within and without the party. Highly placed sources in the Akali Dal who are in touch with the party leadership in Delhi, said here today that by setting up a three-member committee consisting of the Defence Minister and the Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, the Prime Minister had sent out a clear signal that he had an open mind on the Udham Singh Nagar district issue which otherwise was being regarded as a settled fact. The sources said the committee was expected to take into account the views of the elected representatives of Udham Singh Nagar, including MPs, MLAs, municipal commissioners and panchayats before coming to a conclusion. This in effect was tantamount to the acceptance of the Akali demand that the wishes of the people of Udham Singh Nagar district should be taken into account before deciding the future of the district. The sources said the SGPC chief, Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, who had been advocating a hardline vis-a-vis the BJP right from the beginning had been reduced to a sullen silence by the development. As a matter of fact, Mr Tohra reportedly opposed every step of the way all attempts by the Akali Dal chief to open a dialogue with the BJP leadership over the contentious issue. Initially, Mr Tohra was even opposed to Mr Badal's visit to Delhi to discuss the matter in response to the Prime Minister's invitation. Later, he made it known at every possible opportunity that the talks with Central leaders would "make or break" the Akali-BJP alliance in Punjab as well as at the Centre. The Akali Dal would not only withdraw its ministers from the Union Council of Ministers but also withdraw support to the Vajpayee government in case the Akali demand for retention of Udham Singh Nagar district in UP was not accepted. The Delhi development has not only deprived him of an opportunity to force a showdown with the Centre but also put in the cold storage his move to have his political protege, Mr Prem Singh Chandumajra, included in the Union Council of Ministers. The inclusion of Mr Chandumajra in the Union Ministry at a time when the Akalis were threatening to withdraw support to the Vajpayee government would have sent wrong signals and laid it open to the charge that it had struck a deal with the BJP over the Udham Singh Nagar district issue. Incidentally, the UP Chief Minister, Mr Kalyan Singh, had made it clear to the Akali leaders that although he was personally, politically and ideologically opposed to the retention of Udham Singh Nagar district in UP, he would go by the verdict of the three-member committee in this matter. The sources said the
spectre of the Congress party fishing in troubled waters
in Punjab in case there was a break in ties between the
Akali Dal and the BJP over the Udham Singh Nagar district
issue also loomed large over the meeting of the Akali
leaders with the BJP leadership in Delhi. Both sides
were, therefore, keen on avoiding that possibility. |
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Mystery shrouds hawala money KAPURTHALA, Oct 8 — Mystery shrouds the hawala money seized from a Delhi resident on December 19. Though an inquiry had been ordered by the anti-smuggling cell against a Phagwara SHO, the relevant file was not moved in the SSP's office. Mr Ravi Bhalla of Shivpuri, Delhi, has alleged in an FIR lodged with the anti-smuggling cell (Amritsar) that he was stopped at a naka in Phagwara by SHO Raj Balwinder Singh, in plain clothes, and a few constables. They took him in his car, driven by the SHO, and took away Rs 27 lakh after dumping him at Defence Colony in Jalandhar. On gaining consciousness, Mr Bhalla reached Phagwara but could not locate the "naka" police. Later, he lodged a complaint with the DSP, Mr Pritam Singh, who said he would negotiate between him and the SHO. The SHO returned Rs 4 lakh to him and promised to pay back the remaining amount in instalments. According to a police statement, the SHO had given Mr Bhalla his contact number. However, when Mr Bhalla came to collect the last instalment at Kapurthala, where the SHO was on VIP duty, he was arrested and booked for dealing in hawala. Interestingly, he was accused of dealing in hawala in dollars and pounds, but the FIR does not mention the amount seized from him. After keeping him in police custody, he was sent to the anti-smuggling cell where he admitted to dealing in hawala and said he had received Rs 12 lakh from the SHO. However, there is no mention of the remaining amount. Persistent inquiries by
TNS were stalled by the local police. Later, the SSP,
said an inquiry was on. |
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A centre that makes women
self-sufficient BATHINDA: To help them to stand on their feet, the Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA) has been training wives of the JCOs and other ranks in different vocations at its Chetak Vocational Training Centre (CVTC) here. Set up by the Chetak AWWA in 1995, the centre has so far trained 546 students in six batches in dress making, embroidery, needle work, machine cutting, bag making, office practice, fabric painting and beauty culture. The duration of each course is six months and on successful completion of the course, a diploma is awarded by the community polytechnic wing of the local Government Polytechnic. The course is sponsored and approved by the Union Ministry of Human Resource and Development. Mrs Jagdeep Sandhu, who is in charge of senior officers' wives training, while talking to TNS said the aim behind the opening of such vocational centres was to arm the wives of army personnel with the skills to start their small scale enterprise on their own to raise their economic standard. She said the local polytechnic college authorities have employed teachers from the families of JCOs and other ranks and they were being paid Rs 1000 and Rs 1300 according to the hours they put in the centre. The students were being charged Rs 30 for the course. Any expenditure on the maintenance of machines was being reimbursed by the polytechnic authorities. At present 156 students being trained in different vocations at this centre, the only one of its kind in the region. Mrs Sandhu said as space in the present building was inadequate to accommodate the rush of students, an extension of CVTC had also been opened, where 40 students were being trained in dress making. With the aim of generating gainful employment for the trained students and others who are otherwise proficient in stitching, the families of such students were given raw material. Dresses made by them were sold in various army schools and Sajni AWWA shops. Only 5 per cent profit was taken on these finished goods. Mrs Sandhu, however, pointed out that finance was a problem but the Chetak AWWA was determined to overcome this. Efforts were also being made to expand the CVTC infrastructure. On the completion of six months' training, all students had to undergo a test conducted by the Government Polytechnic. Students successful in this test were then awarded a diploma in their respective disciplines. The other aim of this
centre was to ensure that wives of JCOs and other ranks
got accustomed to a set routine of leaving home for two
to three hours. This also increased their social
interaction and they get confidence. This also made them
interested in doing a second course after finishing the
first one. |
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2 FCI officials suspended DHADE (Bathinda), Oct 8 — Even as farmers are resorting to distress sale due to inadequate buying of paddy by official government procurement agencies, the Senior Regional Manager, Food Corporation of India (FCI), Mr D.P. Reddy, has suspended two officials for negligence. Mr Reddy who along with Deputy Commissioner S.R. Ladhar visited three grain markets suspended Jatinder Sharma, Inspector, FCI, for purchasing paddy of substandard quality. He also suspended the licence of a commission agent. Mr Reddy who visited six grain markets in Ferozepore and Ludhiana districts yesterday suspended quality inspector, Mr S.K. Garg who was found absent from duty at the Harihar chowk market in Ferozepore district. Apart from it, the procured paddy bags were found less in weight. On the other hand due to little purchase by the government procurement agencies, the prices being offered to the farmers by rice mill owners are quite below the minimum support price fixed by the government for different varieties. To get maximum benefit of exemption of levy till October 10 as announced by the central government, the private mills owners are making bulk purchases paddy. During a tour of different grain markets by TNS team the paddy growers alleged that officials of the government procurement agencies had connived with the private rice mill owners and that they had to sell their produce at the whims and fancies of the private traders. They also alleged that some of the "kachcha" purchase centre lacked basic facilities like light, drinking water and shelter. They said at some of the purchase centres the trucks could not enter due to slush. Mr Reddy said special attention was being paid to the quality of paddy while it was being procured. He said so far about 26 lakh tonnes of paddy had been procured in Punjab. Out of 26 lakh tonnes the FCI had procured about five lakh tonnes, other government agencies had procured 5.19 lakh tonnes and the private traders had procured paddy about 15.80 lakh tonnes. Meanwhile, a senior
official of the FCI while pleading anonymity told TNS
that the FCI and other government procurement agencies
would face space shortage in the coming days as already
25 lakh bags of old paddy were lying in this district.
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Varsity teachers threaten stir AMRITSAR, Oct 8 — The executive of the Guru Nanak Dev Teachers Association sat on a dharna in front of the office of the Vice-Chancellor in protest against the Punjab Government's decision to withhold the salaries of the teachers. The association condemned the "irresponsible" and "undemocratic" step of the Punjab Government. The executive observed that this step was not needed particularly at the time when teachers had resumed their duties and had decided to compensate the loss of studies by foregoing two weeks of vacation and taking extra classes. The act of the Punjab Government was also against the assurance given by the HRD Ministry at the time of agreement with teachers. Dr R.K. Bedi, president and Dr Davinder Singh, secretary of the association in a joint statement described the government move as highly provocative and stated that the government/university authorities would be responsible for the consequences, in case the teachers were again forced to start agitation. The association urged the university authorities to intervene in the matter. PATIALA: The Punjabi University Teachers Association (PUTA) on Thursday held a dharna in front of the office of the Vice-Chancellor in protest against the non-release of salary for the month of September to university teachers. Later in a statement PUTA
president, Dr S.S. Khaira and secretary, Dr N.S. Atri
urged the Vice-Chancellor and the state government to
resolve the issue of salary at the earliest so that
teachers were not compelled to resort to agitation. |
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Land prices crash in Udham
Singh Nagar GURDASPUR, Oct 8 — Mrs Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder, a former Union Minister and senior Congress leader, talking to newsmen at the Pathankot railway station yesterday said that parleys between the Prime Minister and SAD leaders at Delhi had been a futile attempt on the part of SAD leadership to ensure exclusion of Udham Singh Nagar from the proposed Uttaranchal State. Mrs Bhinder said that a three-member committee constituted at the instance of Prime Minister under the Presidentship of Mr George Fernandes Defence Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Batal, Chief Minister, and Mr Kalayan Singh Yadav, Chief Minister, UP, as its members will at best delay the issue. The decision of the three-member committee will be obviously against Panjabi settlers in Udham Singh Nagar. Mrs Bhinder said that Punjabi settlers in Udham Singh Nagar who have been meeting her at Delhi residence said that the prices of agricultural land in Udham Singh Nagar had crashed to Rs 1.25 lakh per acre against earlier prevailing prices of Rs 6 lakh per acre. When asked to comment on
the replacement of Mr G.S. Grewal, Advocate-General, Mrs
Bhinder said the decision was unwanted and taken in undue
haste. After all the former Advocate-General only asked
the government to project a clean image by replacing
corrupt officers in the SAD-BJP government. |
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Conference on burns LUDHIANA, Oct 8 — In spite of the latest technology, over 300 persons die of burns each day due to the non-availability of specialised care and ignorance about the latest burn management technologies. These views were expressed by Dr M.H. Keswani, Secretary, Burns Association of India, while speaking on the inauguration ceremony of the Burns Association of India conference at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital here. Dr L.S. Chawla, Vice-Chancellor of the Baba Farid University of Health Science, who was the chief guest, said medicare should be made cheaper. Dr Ashok K. Gupta,
organising chairman of the conference, said around 100
delegates from all over the country were participating in
the three-day conference. |
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