Friday, October 30, 1998
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Friday, October 30, 1998 |
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Punjab feels let down by Centre CHANDIGARH, Oct 29 — Punjab feels let down by the way the Centre has dealt with the crisis created by heavy rains and damaged paddy. The procurement muddle is still very much there, causing a lot of worry to the coalition partners. Punjab
seeks wagons for fertilisers |
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 Notices to 179 govt |
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DC,
private hospitals at loggerheads Badal
'pledging' govt property for loans Sale
of sugar mills: HC hears arguments Adampur
bypoll schedule Hollywood
film on peace in Punjab 3
conmen arrested Highway
robber, 2 accomplices held |
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| Education policy | |
Millers' charge |
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Procurement muddle CHANDIGARH, Oct 29 — Punjab feels let down by the way the Centre has dealt with the crisis created by heavy rains and damaged paddy. Procurement muddle, as food experts here call, is still very much there, causing a lot of worry to the Akali-BJP coalition partners. Mr Parkash Singh Badal lead a delegation after declaring a red alert on the paddy procurement front and met the Prime Minister for over two hours. Later, BJP Ministers who felt that they have been ignored led another delegation and met Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee. The result, lowering of specifications for the rain damaged paddy from three per cent to 8 per cent. And that is all, senior officers here said. In fact, Akali leaders are comparing the response of the then Prime Minister, Mr Inder Kumar Gujral and the present Prime Minister, and allege that their whole case seems to have been misunderstood or scuttled by the officers. Mr Badal and also and his colleague Finance Minister Capt Kanwaljit Singh had warned the Centre on the perils that the country would face in case the government failed on food front. Now only prices of vegetables and oil are bothering and the rulers would be paying the cost at the hustings, Mr Vajpayee was told. When the Akalis had urged Mr Gujral to help last year, he readily agreed on all demands. Specifications were lowered to 13 per cent, perhaps a record to meet the exigencies arising out of the rain-damaged paddy. The memorandum submitted this time highlighted this point. It said, "for broken rice of common and A grade quality, the concession was a good 30 per cent. For damaged and slightly damaged paddy it was 10 per cent and for discoloured paddy, both for raw and par-boiled, it was 13 per cent and there was 3.5 per cent relaxation on par-boiled rice." Also, the Centre was more benevolent in granting relaxation in case of rice. Present tolerance limit for broken rice is 22 per for a grade and 24 per common variety. Last year, it was relaxed to 30 per cent in call cases. For raw rice the present rate is 2 per cent against the relaxed rate of 4.5 per cent last year. Similarly, for par-boiled rice, it is 4 per cent for both the varieties and last year it was 4.5 per cent. So clearly, the Centre was showing more apathy than sympathy, a senior Punjab Minister lamented. And, what makes the situation on the ground more serious in view of no decision regarding relaxation in case of rice is that millers in Punjab and Haryana are now quitting the market. They would like to know when they mill damaged paddy, and what is the rate of recovery. They have to keep in mind the rate of relaxation. The government has already announced the rates for the procurement of rice from the millers as part of the levy scheme. But this time, the millers have one concession that a good deal of paddy is levy free. Reports from the mandis indicate that officials face this question from the millers. The relaxation for raw, par-boiled and driage raw rice is just three per cent against 13 per cent last year. Perhaps, the Centre feels that its buffer is full of foodgrain. Once badly hit, the farmers will opt out to non foodgrain crops. Punjab was expecting a bumper paddy crop this year with an expected out put of 120 lakh tonnes. Out of this, it was expecting a marketable surplus of 110 lakh tonnes as compared to 98 lakh tonnes of previous year. Because of the likely early arrivals, the paddy procurement season was advanced to September 15 and all the arrangements for smooth procurement of paddy were made by the state government. To prevent distress sale of paddy by the farmers, levy exemption was sanctioned. The procurement activity had just picked up when the unseasonal rains which were widespread and continued for 7 to 10 days commencing from September 18 and threw the paddy procurement arrangements out of gear. These rains not only damaged the paddy stocks lying in the mandis but also damaged the grain of the standing crops because most of it got lodged as rains were accompanied by high-speed winds. To overcome this situation, exemption on imposition of levy was extended till October 10. The available paddy could not be purchased by the government agencies as it was not conforming to the existing specifications laid down by the Government of India. The rice produced from this paddy would not have been accepted by the Food Corporation of India in levy also. Despite best efforts of
the state government the remaining stock of
unsold/un-procured paddy to the tune of 30 lakh MTs are
damaged to such an extent that these shall not be fully
purchased both by the government agencies as well as rice
millers despite the relaxations in specifications by the
Food Ministry. The situation has become quite alarming
because the farmers are becoming restless and if left to
the mercy of the market forces, they shall be losing
crores of rupees on their produce. |
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Development of grain market 'delayed' CHANDIGARH, Oct 29 — In the Punjab Mandi Board "political interference" has become a rule rather than an exception when it comes to either developing a grain market or when ordering postings and transfers of the staff in the field and at the headquarters here. A typical case pertains to developing a mandi in village Mallanwala in Ferozepore district. Despite the acquisition of 30 acre of land award having been announced and its mutation having been done in the name of the board, the possession is still with certain unauthorised persons, who enjoy political patronage. The Department of Colonisation is helpless in handing over the possession of the land to the board simply because some trespassers continue to plow the land, it is learnt for more than one year. When certain officials, including a Naib-Tehsildar of the Colonisation department, visited the site on October 24 it was observed that certain unauthorised persons were cultivating the land. When they were told to vacate the site there was resistance. The Naib-Tehsildar went to the police station to lodge a complaint against illegal cultivation of government land but no report was registered by the police on the pretext that there were "orders from above". Meanwhile, those who had been asked to vacate the land approached the Minister of State of Agriculture, Mr Ajit Singh Kohar. It is alleged that the Minister went to the Naib-Tehsildar and "threatened" him with dire consequences if he tried to interfere or dispossess those who were cultivating the land. In fact apprehending such a development, the Deputy Director, Colonisation, had sent wireless messages and written communications to both the Deputy Commissioner as well as the Senior Superintendent of Police, Ferozepore, requesting that the illegal occupants should be dislodged and first information report recorded against them. Neither of the two obliged. Consequently, the development of the mandi land will be further delayed. The Naib-Tehsildar alleged "political interference". The TNS cross-checked the facts with the Director, Colonisation, Mr P.S. Aujla, who confirmed that the land was free from all procedural and legal encumbrances and unauthorised persons were cultivating it. This was so despite full price having been paid and land mutated in favour of the Mandi Board. On the other hand, it is learnt, the other Minister of State, Mr Inderjit Singh Zira, in whose constituency the grain market is to be developed, is unhappy over the delay. Meanwhile, to overcome political pressures, the Mandi Board has approved a new posting and transfer policy, which is transparent and leaves little scope for political interference. As per the new policy, the Secretaries of the Market Committees will have a fixed tenure of three years. A Secretary will be shifted only on "administrative grounds". The non-state cadre employees of the Market Committees will not be posted out of their "parent" committees. In the field staff there are three categories of employees: besides secretaries, who are transferable, there are a mandi supervisors, superintendents and accountants. They will work in their "parent" committees. The third category of employees, clerks, peons and account recorders, will also not be shifted. For the head office staff,
the three wings are general administration, construction
wing of the administration and the budget branch.
According to the board's secretary, Mr Aujla, as per the
new policy approved by the board, no employee in these
three wings will remain posted at a particular seat for
more than seven years in the entire service tenure. This
will be implemented from next year. Meanwhile, nearly 50
employees in these three wings were today issued fresh
posting orders since they had completed five years in a
position. In future the tenure will be three years. |
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Punjab seeks wagons for
fertilisers Chandigarh, Oct 29 — The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, today sought the help of the certain Union Ministers, including Mr Surjit Singh Barnala, for providing rail wagons to transport DAP fertilisers from Mumbai and other dockyards to various Punjab towns on priority basis. At an unscheduled meeting here, Mr Badal today reviewed the arrangements for rabi crops. A team of senior officers led by Mr R.S. Mann, Chief Secretary, Punjab Government, had met senior officers of the Union Government in New Delhi yesterday in connection with the supply of the fertiliser to the state. Mr Mann today briefed Mr Badal about the position on the DAP front in the state. Mr R.N. Gupta, Financial Commissioner, Development, told TNS that there would be no shortage of DAP at any stage in the state as adequate arrangements had been made to ensure the smooth supply of it to farmers. Markfed officials had been sent to Mumbai and other places for efficient handling of transportation of the fertiliser to the state. He said the state government was expecting the consumption of 4.20 lakh tonnes of DAP during the rabi season. Out of it 3.80 to 4 lakh tonnes would be consumed by the end of November. On October 1 the State Government had a stock of 1.40 lakh tonnes of DAP and 1.10 lakh tonnes of DAP was received by Punjab by October 27, thus, taking the total stock of DAP in the state to 2.50 lakh tonnes. He said about 0.9 lakh tonnes of DAP would reach the state by November 15 and by the end of November the stock would be 4 lakh tonnes, enough to meet the requirement of the state. He said that all Deputy Commissioners and district agricultural officers had been instructed by the Chief Minister to deal strictly with those dealers who were forcing farmers to buy urea, insecticides and other inputs along with DAP. The Deputy Commissioners had been told to constantly review the availability of DAP in their respective areas and in case of any problem they should contact the State Government authorities. The Deputy Commissioners had also been told that they should ensure the availability of DAP at Rs 415 per 50 kg bag, the rate fixed by the government. Mr Gupta said the state
government would act swiftly against dealers spreading
rumours about DAP fertilisers. It had come to the notice
of the government that some mischief mongers were
creating "artificial" shortage of DAP. |
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Notices to 179 govt officials over
non-use PATIALA, Oct 29 — Fed up with discouraging results of the soft persuasive policy for ensuring all government work in Punjabi, the state Languages Department here has decided to harden its stand by recommending punishment for non-complying officials. A majority of 179 persons working in various government departments in the state face action under rule 5 of the Punishment and Appeal Rules if they do not satisfy the state Languages Department about their commitment to work in Punjabi. These officials were recently served with notices as to why they were not working in Punjabi. Already the Languages Department has recommended the censure of four persons working in the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Jalandhar who were found working in language other than Punjabi. The receipt of these notices has spread panic among the employees who had not taken seriously the earlier letters of the Languages Department. Another reason for panic is that ACRs (annual confidential reports) of all government employees are to be submitted and according to orders of the Chief Secretary, Punjab, of October 29 last year, it is to be mentioned in the ACRs whether the employee works in Punjabi or not. This column has been put under the category of non-expungeable remarks. A negative entry will follow adverse remarks in the ACR. More such orders will follow the suit, warned Dr Madan Lal Hasija, Director, Languages Department, in an exclusive interview with The Tribune here today. He said employees not carrying out orders of using Punjabi in official work will face action ranging from censure, withholding of increments and even denial of promotion. He informed that 19 of the 32 departments which were served with notices had sent their feedback regarding the implementation of the orders and that the Languages Department was verifying the veracity of the reports. Not satisfied with this, the Languages Department is lobbying for an amendment to the Punjab Languages Act, 1967. They are seeking the inclusion of a penal clause that would provide powers to the Languages Department for taking direct action against erring officials. Presently, the department can only refer the case to higher officials for necessary action. Dr Hasija said he had sought a meeting with the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court, Secretary, Home Affairs and Secretary Education, for a final decision regarding the date from which all court proceedings in the state would be done in Punjabi. Dr Hasija said in the past several years the Languages Department had provided books to the needy government departments and courts to facilitate work in Punjabi. He said the department had been updating books like English-Punjabi administrative dictionary, and official correspondence and work procedure which carry translation from English to Punjabi of official work. In 1967, when the Punjab Languages Act, came into force the department was assigned the duty of ensuring the use of Punjabi in official work. However, all these years, in spite of a number of presuasive notices sent to various departments stressing the need to use Punjabi, the department has received a lot of flak for the falling use of the Punjabi language. Mr Hasija said the
department was facing implementation problems as few
government officials took serious view of using Punjabi
as official language. Second, he said, most of the
officers had a non-Punjabi background making it difficult
for them to follow the orders in toto. |
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Blast damages old tehsil area AMRITSAR, Oct 29 (UNI) — A power bomb blast damaged the old tehsil complex in the Tehsilpura area near the bus stand in the city this evening. According to the police, a portion of the building was damaged in the blast. However, there was no casualty. Mayor of the Municipal Corporation Subhash Sharma, who belongs to the BJP, claimed that he had passed on the road close to the site of the blast a few minutes before the explosion took place while on his way to his residence. Police officials when
contacted said they were still investigating whether the
Mayor was the actual target. |
DC, private hospitals at
loggerheads PATIALA, Oct 29 — More than a year has passed since the district administration in compliance with a Supreme Court directive for safe blood transfusion issued orders to the private hospitals in the city to get themselves registered with government recognised blood banks and take tested blood. Yet till date only two private hospitals, out of over 200 hospitals have subscribed to the facility. While in other parts of Punjab, in compliance with the same Supreme Court order private hospitals have got themselves registered in large numbers and are taking safe blood from the government recognised blood banks, the policy is yet to take off in the city. The reason is being attributed to a dispute between the private hospitals and the Deputy Commissioner who is also president, district branch of the Red Cross Society, here over the matter of submitting a fee of Rs 10,000 by the private hospitals to the Red Cross for being registered, with Rajindra Hospital Blood Bank. And as the stand-off between the two parties continues it is the voluntary blood donor who is suffering. The danger of the supply of unsafe blood to patients at the private hospitals looms large and the blood bank at Rajindra Hospital, the only recognised blood bank in the city, daily witnesses unruly scenes. Information collected by The Tribune reveals that the Supreme Court of India taking a suo motu notice of allegations of untested blood being given in the private hospitals directed in January, 1997, that all blood banks should be registered and provide tested blood taken only from a voluntary donor or relatives of the needy person. The orders were passed to curb the spread of deadly diseases like AIDS, hepatitis, malaria etc. The court also ordered that to regulate the transfusion of safe blood a national blood transfusion council having state and district chapters should be set up. The court orders had also set January 1, 1998, as the deadline for the implementation of its orders. Subsequently, the district administration issued a letter in August, 1997, signed by Viswjeet Khanna, Deputy Commissioner, stating that as the district Red Cross Society was funding the project of safe blood transfusion, the private nursing homes should get themselves registered with the Red Cross by paying Rs 10,000 in the first year of registration and Rs 6000 every subsequent years. After registration, private hospitals could take blood from Rajindra Hospital blood bank at the rate of Rs 400 per unit as service charges. We have no objection to paying the service charges, said Dr O.P. Kande, Secretary, Indian Medical Association, speaking on behalf of the private hospitals, but we vehemently oppose the arbitrary decision of submitting Rs 10,000 as registration fee and Rs 6,000 for subsequent years. He said while the Supreme Court orders were applicable all over the country and implemented whole-heartedly in all parts of the state it was only in Patiala that the Deputy Commissioner was demanding the registration fee. At other places only service charges were taken, he alleged. Mr Kande said the Private Nursing Homes Association had taken up the matter with the state government several times that due to mandatory rule of the registration fee, the private nursing homes had not got registered. He said the registration fee should be withdrawn and there should be a uniform policy in the state. Mr Khanna when contacted defended his decision of introducing the registration fee saying the District Red Cross Society provided equipment and kits to the Rajindra Hospital blood bank. The society needed finances and to generate resources he had introduced the registration fee. He also insisted that the fee was very low and within the reach of any private hospital. The dispute had been taken
to the state government and the Ministry of Health. Even
a minister from Patiala district has written to the
Ministry of Health urging it to intervene in the matter
and make some amendment in the registration fee orders of
the Deputy Commissioner. |
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Badal 'pledging' govt property
for loans BATHINDA, Oct 29 — Mr Partap Singh Bajwa, general secretary of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC), today alleged the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, was harming the interests of the state by taking loans from commercial banks on very high rates of interest. Addressing a press conference here, he said Mr Badal and his Cabinet colleagues were taking huge loans from commercial banks for non-productive jobs by pledging the state government's immovable properties. He said the Congress would file a PIL against this step of the Punjab Government. He said Rs 1200 crore had been taken for new buses from Punjab and Sind Bank by pledging the best bus stands of Punjab, Rs 700 crore from the Oriental Bank of Commerce for roads and Rs 2100 crore for restructuring the Punjab State Electricity Board and other jobs. He said such loans were taken without any justification by Mr Badal and his Cabinet colleagues. Mr Bajwa said the indictment of three ministers of the previous Congress government by the Lok Pal was politically motivated as Mr H.S. Rai was an appointee of Mr Badal. He disclosed party workers belonging to Mansa, Faridkot, Sangrur and this district would go to assembly segments of Rajasthan bordering Punjab for the election campaign of Congress candidates there. He said these workers would camp in all border assembly segments and use their personal contacts and relations to ensure the victory of Congress candidates. Mr Bajwa demanded the resignation of the state Agriculture Minister, Mr Gurdev Singh Badal, for his failure to protect the farmers from spurious pesticides and fertilisers that were being sold in the markets openly by the traders with the connivance of officials of the Agriculture Department. He alleged the state Food and Supply Minister was misleading the people on paddy purchase by government agencies. He said as per his information the government agencies had not procured more than 5 per cent of the total paddy brought in the markets. Mr Bajwa alleged Mr Badal was misusing the police force and official machinery to make his election rallies successful. He said all organisations
which were collecting funds for celebrating the
tercentenary of the birth of the Khalsa should make their
activities transparent. |
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Sale of sugar mills: HC hears
arguments CHANDIGARH, Oct 29 — On the second consecutive day today, Mr Justice Swatantar Kumar, a Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, heard arguments on the question that the High Court should take on the investigation report submitted by the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Mr Gurdarshan Singh, into the sale of three sugar mills in Punjab. Counsel for Northland Sugar Mills dwelt on the general law. The Judge, however, told him that he needed assistance on the investigation report of the sugar mills keeping in view circumstances of the case. The Judge wanted the counsel to explain why could he not order putting up the challan in the trial court. The second question that the Judge asked was why could not he order the registration of a case against officers involved in the sale of the sugar mills. Mr Justice Swatantar Kumar, told the counsel that there were three kinds of litigation pending before him. The first related to company law. The second was a public interest litigation and the third was the report filed by the investigating officer. Mr Justice V.K. Jhanji, had taken a notice suo motu of this case. He had directed the Sessions Judge of Hoshiarpur to conduct an inquiry into the allegations levelled by the farmers of that area that they had not been made payment for the sugarcane supplied to the mill. The Judge also questioned the police officers — the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, who had conducted the investigation and other senior officers who recorded dissent on the investigation report — about the number of joint meetings they had held. He directed these officers to place on the record of the court the minutes of such meetings. The Judge adjourned the
case to November 2. |
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Adampur bypoll schedule CHANDIGARH, Oct 29 — Dr Barjendra Singh, Chief Electoral Officer, Punjab today announced the election schedule for holding the byelection in the Adampur Assembly constituency. He said that the
notification would be issued on October 30. November 6
would be the last date for filing nomination papers.
Scrutiny of papers would be held on November 7 and the
last date of withdrawal of the candidatures would be
November 9. The Executive Magistrate of Jalandhar had
been appointed returning officer of the constituency. |
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Hollywood film on peace in Punjab NEW DELHI, Oct 29 — Stevan Seagal, the well known film personality from Hollywood has sought the assistance of the Union Minister of State for Industry, Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal in the shooting of a film in Punjab. The film, "House of Thunder", which has a strong message for peace in the present strife-torn world, is a story of a group of scientists who develop a missile system which accidentally fires off and falls in a dense forest in a far-off continent. The scientists trace the missile and want to retrieve it. However when they visit
the area they realise that the people living there are
far more civilised and enlightened than their modern
counterparts. Stevan Seagal, who has a number of
Hollywood hits to his name, hopes to enlist the support
of the US-trained Sukhbir Badal to speed up shooting of
the film in Punjab. |
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3
conmen
arrested LUDHIANA, Oct 29 — The Ludhiana police today claimed to have busted a three-member gang of robbers who specialised in looting travellers after giving them drinks laced with intoxicants. The police has recovered goods worth about Rs 2 lakh from them. The three belong to Nepal. According to a press release issued here Rajinder Kumar, a resident of Salem Tabri, reported to the police on Tuesday that he had gone to the railway station to go to Delhi on Monday where he met five Nepalis who were also going to Delhi. Since the train had left, they decided to take tea at the railway station. The Nepalis gave a cup of tea. Rajinder Kumar fell unconscious after consuming the tea. The five took away his bag along with his suit case and Rs 19,000. A case FIR no u/s 379/328/148/149 of the IPC, was registered and investigations were carried out. The police arranged a special naka bandi last night near the railway station. During the naka bandi, some Nepalis moving towards the railway station were rounded up and interrogated. They identified themselves as Deepak Bahadur, Bhim Bahadur and Man Singh. During the interrogation, they confessed their involvement in the looting of Rajinder Kumar. The gang used to mix some intoxicants in tea and loot innocent rail passengers. The gang had been operating at Ludhiana railway station and in the adjoining areas for the past one year. The gang also admitted two
robberies in the city. |
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Highway robber, 2 accomplices held FATEHGARH SAHIB, Oct 29 — The district police claims to have arrested a highway robber along with his two accomplices here. The robber identified as Iqbal Singh Sheikhupuriya, resident of Ludhiana, claims to be general secretary of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee’s SCST cell. The police has seized a .315-bore pistol, four live cartridges and a Maruti Zen car (PB-10S-1116). Mr Paramraj Singh Dhaliwal, SSP, while talking to mediapersons here today said last night one Mr Bharat Singh, resident of Mandhal, in Mandi district, came to the Nogawan police naka to complain that he had been looted by three car-borne robbers at gunpoint. The robbers, he said, had gone towards Sirhind. He said he was on his way to meet one of his relatives at Mandi Gobindgarh. When he was waiting for a bus at the Morinda T-point a car stopped and driver offered him a lift, which he accepted. When the car approached the SYL canal bridge near Nogawan, he was taken out of the car and robbed of Rs 2600 and a watch. The SSP said the police party at Nogawan immediately informed all nakas on the wireless. When the car reached near Fatehgarh Sahib, the naka party signalled to the driver to stop. The three youths came out of the car and tried to fire at the police party. The police party immediately overpowered them. On interrogation they were identified as Iqbal Singh Sheikhopuriya, general secretary of the PPCC SC and ST cell, Jaspal Singh, resident of Ludhiana and Falak Sher Singh also of Ludhiana. The police seized .315 and .455-bore pistols, 17 live cartridges, a dragger, cash and other articles and Iqbal Singh’s visiting card. The SSP said the Maruti Zen belongs to Tara Singh, who is ETO at Jalandhar, and he had allegedly offered this car to the three to help them in their activities. He said the ETO would also be questioned. A case had been registered under Sections 307 and 34 of the IPC and Sections 25, 27, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act. Meanwhile, Mr Jagmeet
Singh Sahota, a senior Congress leader, has appealed to
Capt Amarinder Singh, PPCC president, to launch a drive
to identify the anti-social elements in the Congress who
bring a bad name to the party. |
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Changes in educational policy
sought ROPAR, Oct 29 — The Government School Lecturers Union, Punjab, has demanded the state government to make radical changes in the educational policy by setting up three departments — primary (nursery to Class IV), middle (Class V to VIII) and senior secondary (Class IX to XII) instead of the proposed two. According to Mr Harpritinder Singh, president of the union, the state government had drawn up a plan for setting up a middle department by disbanding the primary department. He said the union was not in favour of a middle department without making any change in the remaining set up. He said it was suggested that after excluding Class V from the primary department, the nursery class should be included in the primary department for bringing uniformity. The annual examinations of Class IV should be conducted through middle schools, he said, adding that in the new middle set-up, there should be four classes (V-VIII). The existing high schools
should be upgraded to the senior secondary level, he
added. |
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Millers' charge against Centre PHILLAUR, Oct 29 — The union government is turning a deaf ear to farmers and rice millers by extending the date of levy rice against paddy purchased by the millers up to October 31 only to benefit exporters. These allegations were made by the Punjab Rice Millers Association's Executive Committee member, Mr Joginder Paul Vij, here yesterday. He alleged that on the one hand the government was issuing statements to purchase paddy damaged due to unseasonal rain but on the other hand it was not making any official announcement in this regard. He said the delaying tactics of the government would affect the economy. He said about 14 lakh tonnes of paddy was left unmilled last year, resulting in a damage of Rs 450 crore. He demanded that
relaxation in paddy and rice should be announced in order
to speed up milling and that millers should be allowed to
deliver rice either under levy or free sale. |
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DC’s notice on
cleanliness MANSA, Oct 29 — Mr Sanjay Kumar, Deputy Commissioner, yesterday served a notice on president and executive officer of the local municipal committee under which a suitable criminal action will be taken against the two if they failed to ensure hygienic conditions in the town. The notice says that drains of Mansa are clogged, and that total unhygienic conditions prevail in the town due to the failure of the municipal committee to carry out its mandatory function of maintaining cleanliness in the town. It further says that ponds have become breeding grounds for mosquitoes and there could be a breakout of dengue among the residents of Mansa. The dirt and filth have become a nuisance and the public is being denied the right to healthy living, it adds. According to the order, Mr Pawan Kumar, president of the committee, and Mr R.K. Bansal, executive officer of the committee, should take steps within 48 hours by launching a cleanliness drive. The order states that the
efforts taken must have a visible impact and a written
report in this regard should be submitted to the District
Magistrate by November 2. Mr Kumar and Mr Bansal will be
personally liable for negligence and suitable criminal
action will be initiated against them under the law if
they disobeyed the order, states the Deputy Commissioner
in the order. |
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DA instalment for Punjab
staff CHANDIGARH, Oct 29 — The Punjab Government has decided to release one more instalment of dearness allowance to its employees w.e.f July,1998. This was announced here today by the Punjab Finance Minister, Capt Kanwaljit Singh. The Minister said that employees would now get DA at the rate of 22 per cent of the basic pay. The dearness allowance at the enhanced rate would be paid in cash w.e.f January 1,1999, and the amount accruing for the period from July 1 to December 31,1998, would be deposited in the provident fund account of the employees. He further said that this
would result in an additional liability of Rs 172 crore
on the state exchequer for the current year. These rates
would also apply to the employees of the government aided
private institutions, the Minister added. |
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Appeal to launch readers'
movement ROPAR, Oct 29 — The Kendri Punjabi Lekhak Sabha (Sekhon) has appealed to all Punjabi literary societies in the state to launch a readers' movement for making all-out efforts to increase the number of readers of Punjabi books. It has also asked the literary societies to chalk out a programme for making books in Punjabi language easily available. In letters to various Punjabi literary societies, Mr Tejwant Mann, general secretary of the sabha, has stated that the Punjabi Sahit Sabha, New Delhi, has started a new scheme for making available Punjabi books for home library at cheaper rates. The sabha has also prepared a list of books in Punjabi language for the purpose. Mr Mann has also urged the
Education and Language Ministers to review the language
policy in their respective departments for proper
implementation of the state's language policy. |
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Telecom officials told to pay
compensation PHAGWARA, Oct 29 — The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Kapurthala, has directed the Telecom District Manager and SDO to pay Rs 5,000 as compensation to Darshan Kumar Dhir for causing mental agony and harassment to him by arbitrarily disconnecting his telephone. Mr M.L. Puri, President of
the forum, directed the telecom officials to also pay Rs
1,000 to the complainant as cost of complaint and restore
his telephone connection. |
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Protest over visa rejection AMRITSAR, Oct 29 — The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee has lodged a strong protest over the rejection of visas by the Pakistan Embassy to more than 200 Sikh pilgrims who wanted to visit Pakistan in connection with the celebration of Guru Nanak Dev's birthday on November 4. According to a press note
issued by Mr Harbir Singh Bhanwer, media director, SGPC,
a 16-member advance party of the committee today left by
the Samjhauta Express for Pakistan to make arrangements
for the pilgrims' stay and community kitchen. The press
note further said 3000 pilgrims would leave for Pakistan
tomorrow in three special trains. |
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SGPC's objection to film scenes AMRITSAR, Oct 29 — The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee today took strong note of certain "objectionable" scenes in Hindi feature film "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai". A press release issued
here today sought unqualified apology from the writer,
director and actors of the film for allegedly using
derogatory language against Sikhs. |
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DM’s directives to
cinema owners LUDHIANA, Oct 29 — Mr Arun Goel, District Magistrate, Ludhiana, directed all cinema owner to ensure necessary security measures, including proper fire-fighting system and electric fittings, in the cinemas of the district. These directives were given at a meeting of the Cinema Owners Association here today under the chairmanship of the District Magistrate. Reacting to a large number
of complaints from the public regarding the sale of
cinema tickets at higher rates than displayed on windows
and accommodating more viewers than the seating capacity
of the cinema by putting up extra chairs, the District
Magistrate has deputed three Magistrates to visit each
cinema once a week to ensure the implementation of these
directives. He also gave orders for conducting surprise
checks to check the evasion of entertainment tax. He told
cinema owners to take care of seats. |
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