Monday, April 26, 1999
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P U N J A B | |
Monday, April 26, 1999 |
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Punjab to
apply no work-no pay rule |
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FCI yet
to hit procurement mark
Cotton production down over 75 pc Education policy changes hinted at Mittal's claim refuted BPEOs reject govt decision Upgradation of posts sought Railway land under 'illegal'
occupation Youth Cong plans 11-point
programme 7 robbers held
No ‘hasty’ action
against Tohra |
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Punjab to apply no work-no pay
rule AMRITSAR, April 25 — The state government in a circular issued by the Finance Department to commissioners of divisions, deputy commissioners, vice-chancellors, and heads of the departments and subdivisional magistrates in the state has directed that the principle of no work-no pay should be strictly implemented and striking employees should be paid salaries only for the days on which they were present. Employees on pen-down strike or stay-in strike will not be paid salaries for the strike period either. The department has taken strong notice of decisions of drawing and disbursing officers for releasing salaries to employees wilfully absent from duty despite the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reform directing them to implement the formula of 'no work no pay' strictly. It also took notice of disbursal of salaries to striking teachers of private/aided colleges, government colleges and universities by the authorities concerned despite clear instructions to the contrary. The drawing and disbursing officers have been directed to invariably furnish certificates that "certified that all employees whose salaries are drawn in this bill remained present on duty and there is no report of any section, category having observed a strike by absenting it self from duty or sorting to a pen-down strike". In the case of an agreement between the striking employees and authorities concerned, approval for disbursing salaries has to be taken from the council of ministers. It also directed the authorities concerned to fortify the monitoring procedure. It also directed detailed reports on action taken against striking employees. The Officer on Special Duty, Department of Finance, has directed that the above instructions be circulated to all employees for strict compliance. Reacting to the circular, Dr R K Bedi, president Guru Nanak Dev University Teachers Association, who is also vice president of the All-India Federation of Universities Teachers (North Zone) has strongly condemned the circular. He also condemned Guru
Nanak Dev University Syndicate for adopting the
'undemocratic' circular in toto. Dr Bedi said that he
would hold an emergency meeting of GNDUTA so that the
matter could be taken up at the forthcoming meeting of
the All-India Federation of University Teachers and
Punjab Federation of University Teachers. He further said
that he had already brought this matter to the notice of
Dr P P Arya, President AIFUTA for taking up the matter
with authorities concerned. |
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Tohra trying to split SAD:
Badal RAJPURA, April 25 — Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said the faction led by former SGPC President Gurcharan Singh Tohra was trying to split the party. Talking to reporters here after launching the new state transit pass system, the Chief Minister said "we do not want a split and want people to realise who is weakening the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)". Mr Badal said the split, if it ever took place, would be the responsibility of the Tohra faction. Asked about the role of Tohra loyalist and MP Prem Singh Chandumajra in the vote of confidence moved by Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee and whether action was likely against him, the Chief Minister said no action had been taken against Mr Chandumajra before the vote of confidence despite knowledge of his anti-party activities as the SAD needed his vote. However, now the party would consider taking action against him. The Chief Minister, however, refused to spell out whether action was planned against Mr G.S. Tohra. Mr Badal also urged President K R Narayanan to uphold democratic values by inviting Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee to form a government again. There was rethinking among a number of MPs who had voted against the BJP-led government and a Vajpayee-led government would be able to prove its majority on the floor of the House, he said. He ruled out the possibility of the Congress being able to form a minority government and said there would be a definite tilt in favour of the BJP in a day or two. Earlier, addressing a gathering after launching the scheme, the Chief Minister said even though the Opposition knew there was no alternative to the BJP government, it had united to ensure its fall. He said now these parties were fighting among themselves over the question of leadership of the alternative government. He also had a dig at Congress President Sonia Gandhi, saying it was tragic that a party could not find an Indian to run the country. The Chief Minister said even as a "tamasha" was being enacted at the national level, a similar "tamasha" was taking place in Punjab. Attempts were being made to disturb the peace and communal harmony. However, the government would not let such elements succeed in their designs. Speaking on the
occasion, Local Bodies Minister Balramji Dass Tandon said
a plan had been drawn up to solve the problem of garbage
disposal in major towns. Under this, a factory which
would use garbage to create manure was coming up in
Ludhiana and Jalandhar. He said the government had also
decided to introduce duck weed in water collection points
to tackle the problem of stagnant water. |
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FCI yet to hit procurement
mark JALANDHAR, April 25 — Mr Alok Sinha, Zonal Manager, Food Corporation of India (FCI), said 40.73 lakh tonne of wheat has arrived in the mandis of Punjab. Out of which the FCI has procured 10.29 lakh tonne and the rest by the state agencies. The FCI has not been able to achieve 33 per cent procurement share as the wheat arrival in the far flung mandis has not picked up. The Punjab Government has set up 1300 mandis in the state. Out of which 500 were being operated by the FCI alone. Lately, sheds have been provided by the Food and Supplies Department, making the FCI to enter into 40 additional mandis. This year as per directions of the Government of India, 50-kg bags are being used for packing grains. The labour finds handling of these bags much more convenient compared to the traditional 95 kg bags. Meanwhile, the Leader of Opposition in the Vidhan Sabha, Mr Jagjit Singh has alleged that farmers are not being paid their dues by Markfed, and other wheat procuring agencies. After touring mandis in the Jalandhar district, the Congress leader alleged, that Markfed had not paid the farmers since April 10. The government has not made sufficient arrangement for lifting the wheat from the mandis in the state. He said the 50-kg bags would cost the farmer more. AMRITSAR: Wheat brought in the district mandis during the past fortnight was 20 times more than the previous year, claimed the FCI District Manager, Mr R. N. Sharma of the 42 lakh tonnes of wheat 25 per cent has been bought by the FCI while the rest by other government agencies. The FCI Zonal Manager, Mr Alok Sinha, who visited various mandis in the district said he was satisfied with arrangements for payment and stocking of the bumper wheat harvest. FATEHABAD: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr V. Raja Shekhar has said that 2.60 lakh metric tonne of wheat had arrived in markets of the district till Tuesday. Against this only 42,000 metric tonne had arrived in the district during the corresponding period last year. The government agencies, he said, had procured most of the wheat that had arrived so far and only 485 MT wheat had been procured by private traders. Giving the details of
procurement by various government procurement agencies,
Mr Raja Shekhar said that (the Food and Supplies
Department had procured 6499 MT, Hafed 14408 MT, the FCI
71978 MT, the Haryana Warehousing Corporation 22619 MT,
the Haryana Agro Industries 31523 MT and Confed 13183 MT. |
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NRI’s wife robbed of Rs 15
lakh KAPURTHALA, April 25 — Mrs Gurbachan Kaur, wife of Mr Darshan Singh, a non-resident Indian settled in Canada, is running from pillar to post to recover Rs 15 lakh from three persons of Paudhra village under Nurmahal police station in Jalandhar district. Mrs Gurbachan Kaur alleged that despite the arrest of two culprits, the police has failed to recover the amount. The police has not arrested the third culprit. Showing representations sent to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Ambassador, Canadian Embassy New Delhi, Director-General, Punjab Police, Inspector-General, Punjab Police, (crime), Chandigarh, DIG, Jalandhar Range, and Commissioner, Jalandhar Division, Mrs Gurbachan Kaur expressed anguish at the investigation being conducted at a snail's pace. Narrating the tale of her woes she came to her village, Paudhara, from Canada about six months ago. After the sale of her landed property worth Rs 24 lakh, she deposited the money in the Oriental Bank of Commerce, Nurmahal branch. She said a conspiracy was hatched by Lakhbir Singh, a former sarpanch of Pandhra village, and a close confidant with whom she used to live. She alleged that a month ago on the persuasion of the three persons she withdrew Rs 15 lakh from the bank to deposit the money in a bank at Jalandhar. When they were coming to Jalandhar in a Maruti car along with Lakhbir Singh and Sarabjit Singh, Jaskaran Singh stopped the car at pistol point on a bridge near Jamshed and snatched the bag from her containing Rs 15 lakh. On a complaint of Mrs Gurbachan Kaur, Lakhbir Singh and Sarabjit Singh were arrested but the third accomplice Jaskaran Singh was still at large. She alleged that the police was not arresting Jaskaran Singh who was taking shelter in the house of a woman in Goraya who happens to be an SGPC member. She alleged that she
apprehended danger to her life as she received threats
from the culprits to leave country or prepare to face
consequences. |
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Squandering money Punjab style BATHINDA, April 25 — More than 15 municipal councils have spent lakhs of rupees on inserting advertisements in news papers published from Chandigarh and Jalandhar about the state transient pass scheme launched by Local-Self Government Minister, Punjab, Balramji Dass Tandon at Rajpura today. This is despite the fact that the Punjab Government had issued instructions to all administrative secretaries to take austerity measures outlined in the Punjab Budget for 1999-2000. In the economy and austerity measures enunciated in the Budget, curbing the expenditure on advertisements and publicity was one of the major areas. According to information some of the councils have inserted advertisements in more than one newspaper. Sources said the Punjab Government recently raised the rates of octroi drinking water and road-cutting charges to help the cash-strapped municipal councils. Earlier, various municipal councils had incurred a heavy expenditure on installing arches to welcome marches sponsored by the Punjab Government and the SAD-BJP combine on the occasion of the tercentenary celebrations of the birth of the Khalsa. It may be mentioned here that the Punjab government faced a financial crises in previous financial year and even stopped the leave travel concession (LTC) allowance of state government employees for one year in the current Budget. Talking to this
reporter, Mr Kewal Krishan Aggarwal, general secretary,,
DDC, Bathinda, alleged that the state government had
burdened every section of society by imposing heavy taxes
but its departments were spending lavishly on various
functions of the Chief Minister and his cabinet
colleagues. |
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Cotton production down over 75
pc BATHINDA, April 25 — Given the almost negligible arrival of cotton in various markets of the state the production of cotton is unlikely to touch five lakh bales this year. Cotton trade sources said at this time of the year various grain markets would be covered with bales of cotton but arrivals this year were down sharply. The sources said about 4,82,500 bales arrived in various markets of Punjab up to April 23, 1999, as compared to 7,03,000 bales during the corresponding period last year. Almost all cotton ginning and pressing mills had closed operations in the absence of adequate raw material. Before the start of arrivals it was expected that Punjab would produce about 22 lakh bales this year. This estimate, formed by various government agencies, was brought down to 15 lakh bales following large-scale crop damaged by pest attacks and untimely rain last year. The estimate was again brought down to seven lakh bales when government agencies found that the per acre yield of cotton was very low and to 5.5 lakh bales on the advice of the Cotton Advisory Board (CAB) after its second meeting held on February 18, 1999. Mr Ashok Kapur,
Vice-President, Northern India Cotton Association
Limited, said the large decline in cotton production had
wrecked the cotton business. He said the state and the
central government should make concerted efforts to
increase production. |
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Education policy changes hinted at JALANDHAR, April 25 (PTI) — Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today indicated the introduction of major changes in the state's education policy aimed at providing a job-oriented education to the youth. "A high-level committee of educationists has been set up to suggest changes in order to make the education policy respond to the challenges of the next generation at the turn of the millennium," Mr Badal told a large gathering after laying the foundation stone of Sri Guru Har Rai Women's College at Chabewal Hoshiarpur. He also stressed the need for setting up more home science colleges in the rural areas in order to impart a holistic education to women from the countryside. The Chief Minister announced a grant of Rs 10 lakh for the college building on the occasion. SGPC President Bibi
Jagir Kaur, who was also present, announced a grant of Rs
1 lakh for the college. |
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Mittal's claim refuted JALANDHAR, April 25 (UNI) — Punjab Legislature Congress Party (LCP) leader Choudhary Jagjit Singh today refuted Punjab Food and Supplies Minister Madan Mohan Mittal's claim that payments were being made to farmers within 72 hours of the purchase of wheat. He told UNI here that no payment had been disbursed even 10 days after the purchase of wheat in the city's New Dana Mandi and farmers and arhtiyas feared that they might meet last year's fate. The LCP leader said the Food and Supplies Department transferred New Dana Mandi to Markfed on April 14 after making purchases only for a day on April 13. But Markfed, too, after having made payments for wheat procured on April 14 had not released a single payment in the past 10 days. Choudhary Jagjit Singh claimed that Markfed owed Rs 3.50 crore to the farmers. It had also failed to lift the wheat purchased by it, he charged. The LCP leader said of the total arrivals of Rs 70000 quintals in New Dana Mandi here, Markfed had purchased 57000 quintals. He said that 50 kg gunny bags introduced by the Punjab Government this year had filled the entire space in the mandi and wheat stocks were spilling to the road. Secondly, farmers had to
pay more because such bags cost Rs 23 each against Rs 32
each they paid for a bag of 100 kg capacity. |
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BPEOs reject govt decision LUDHIANA, April 25 — During a meeting of block primary education officers, holding current duty charge, the officers unanimously rejected the government decision of getting clearance certificate from the Vigilance Department three months prior to their retirement on the ground that they were officiating BPEOs given DDO powers and that they would not exercise their DDO powers after one month if this letter was not withdrawn. Mr Pritpal Singh,
president of the Government Primary Teachers Union,
Punjab, said that the District Education Officer
(primary) had sent two letters to the DPI, informing her
that it would be difficult to run the administration as
the BPEOs were demanding the withdrawal of this letter or
that they be sent back to their original place of posting
as head teachers of primary schools. |
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Upgradation of posts sought PATIALA, April 25 — The Employees Joint Action Committee, Panchayat, and the Rural Development Department has demanded upgradation of various posts in the Panchayati Raj Department to cope with heavy load of development works assigned to the department by the Punjab Government. Mr Sohan Lal Sharma, convener of the committee, in a press statement said here yesterday that the department was finding it hard to meet the deadline of achieving targets of various development works as the workload was very much as compared to the strength of field and official staff. There is one post of Superintending Engineer where as the Public Works department has the post of Chief Engineer for such work load. Mr Sharma said the
committee has demanded the upgradation of posts of
Superintending Engineer to that of Chief Engineer and
four other Additional Superintending Engineers and more
field staff. |
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Railway land under 'illegal'
occupation GARHSHANKAR, April 25 — Mr Kharaiti Lal and Mr Joginder Devi, Sarpanches and other local leaders have urged the Railway Ministry to free the land worth crores of rupees belonging to the Railway Department from the "clutches" of illegal occupants. The three acre land near the main railway station crossing, is lying useless for the last three decades. Many vegetable and fruit vendors are allegedly occupying the land illegally and the administration is keeping mum, they said. They are of the opinion that the Railway Department could do well to raise a market and lend the shops on rent. Similarly the panchayat
samiti land on the local Banga road is also under illegal
occupation for the last 15 years. This land once housed
the local civil hospital. After the shifting of the
hospital to its new building the land is under illegal
possession. |
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Youth Cong plans 11-point
programme HOSHIARPUR, April 25 — The Punjab Youth Congress will launch an 11-point programme campaign to eradicate social evils from society. This was disclosed by Mr Devinder Singh Babbu, President, Punjab Youth Congress, while addressing a rally of Youth Congress workers after the installation of Mr Arun Dogra as president of the District Youth Congress here today. He said Mr Munish Tiwari, President, All India Youth Congress, will inaugurate this campaign on the assassination day of late Mr Rajiv Gandhi, May 21 in Jalandhar. Under this eleven-point programme Youth Congress would make arrangement for providing free education and health treatment to orphan children. It would make effort to stop child and bonded labour in the state. Special drive against dowry, corruption and display of posters carrying nude pictures of women, would be carried out under this programme. Workers would make aware people about the alleged anti-farmers, traders & labourers policies of the SAD-BJP government. He said he had visited a number of procurement centres and found that wheat was not being lifted from the mandis regularly for days together due to which farmers were facing great inconvenience. He pointed out that empty bags of 50 kg capacity were being supplied at the rate of Rs 22 each during this season instead of empty bags of 95 kg capacity which were supplied at the rate of Rs 30 each previously. Mr Arun Dogra, President of District Youth Congress said that all block presidents and office-bearers of the district units would be nominated within a fortnight. LUDHIANA: The newly appointed District Youth Congress chief, Mr Pawan Dewan, has announced an 11-point programme of District Youth Congress, during a function organised in his honour here yesterday. Mr Pawan Dewan has said
that the district unit would strive to inculcate the
spirit of brotherhood and wage a war against corruption
and nepotism. |
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7 robbers held JALANDHAR, April 25 (PTI) — The police arrested seven robbers and recovered property worth Rs 2.5 lakh including two pistols, colour televisions, VCRs, and compact discs, Senior Superintendent of Police Gaurav Yadav said here. Mr Yadav, who termed the arrests "a major breakthrough in the police’s drive against anti-social elements’’, said five cases of robbery and burglary had been solved with the busting of these gangs. While three persons,
Ashwani Kumar, Narinder Kumar and Rajesh Kumar (all from
Jalandhar) were arrested from the local Bhagat Singh
Colony, four burglars — Jyoti, Lallu, Mangal Singh
and Ashok Kumar — also residents of Jalandhar, were
arrested at Canal Bridge, the SSP said. |
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Milk prices up by Re 1 a
litre MOGA, April 25 — Milk processing units here have increased the rate of milk from the existing Rs 6.50 per half litre a pack to Rs 7 in view of the shortage of milk and increase in demand. Similarly, local halwais
have increased the price of curd and milk products by
around 25 per cent. The nearly 100 dairies here also sell
whole milk directly in the market through milk vendors at
Rs 16 a litre. |
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No ‘hasty’ action
against Tohra HOSHIARPUR, April 25 — Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said there was no alternative to the reinstallation of Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee as Prime Minister as other parties had failed in their attempts to form a government. Talking to mediapersons at Chabewal village, 12 km from here today, he said the Congress and other parties had created instability. Replying to a question, Mr Badal said no hasty action would be taken against Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra. Later, Mr Badal laid the
foundation stone of Guru Har Rai College for Women and
addressed a public gathering. |
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Direction on power generator sets LUDHIANA, April 25 — The district administration has directed all owners of power generator sets to get these sanctioned by the Punjab State Electricity Board by May 15 and to abide by the rules. The Deputy Commissioner,
Mr Arun Goel, said this decision had been taken in the
wake of a large number of complaints regarding noise and
air pollution and increase in accidents caused by loose
wiring. |
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Governor visits Anandpur Sahib ROPAR, April 25 — Lt. Gen. B.K.N. Chhibber (Retd.) Governor, Punjab paid obeisance at the Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib at Anandpur Sahib last night. The Governor visited the "White City" to glimpse the illumination, of the gurdwaras undertaken as part of the tercentenary celebrations. Giani Tarlochan Singh, Head Granthi of the Takht, presented siropas to the Governor and members of his family. The Governor also visited Qila Anandgarh Sahib where he saw a light and sound programme on the life and philosophy of Guru Gobind Singh. Meanwhile thousands of
pilgrims continue to visit Anandpur Sahib daily. |
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Demand to release DA instalment LUDHIANA, April 25 — In a resolution adopted at a meeting of the Punjab Government Pensioners Association held here today, members sought the early release of a DA instalment at the rate of 10 per cent, due from January, 1999. They pointed out that
Haryana and some other states had already sanctioned the
enhanced DA on the central government pattern. |
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Mann convenes meeting AMRITSAR, April 25 — Mr Simranjit Singh Mann, President Shiromani Akal Dal (Amritsar) has convened an emergency meeting of his party on May Day (May 1) here to discuss the present political scenario. According to Bhai Ram
Singh, general secretary of the party, the meeting would
be attended by working committee members, district
Jathedars and members of the advisory committee. |
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53 mass marriages
solemnised FAZILKA, April 25 — Fiftythree mass marriages were solemnised in Jalalabad town, 32 km from here, today. Seventeen handicapped were given tricycles and 25 sewing machines were provided to widows, destitute women and girls. The function was organised by the Jalalabad branch of Ram Sharnam. A large number of people
attended the marriages. |
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AIDS awareness week LUDHIANA, April 25 (PTI) — The Punjab Government will observe an AIDS awareness week from April 26 to May 1, the state's Health Minister Manoranjan Kalia said here today. Ludhiana, Patiala, Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts had been selected for the launch of this awareness drive, he said. "While there are more than a 100 known AIDS patients in the state, 1,550 more cases have been identified as HIV positive after tests," the minister said not ruling out the possibility of many more unregistered cases. He said the state had earmarked Rs 421.88 crore for improving the working of 150 hospitals in the financial year. To improve credibility
the government had recruited 750 new doctors, while 300
nurses and 17 ayurvedic doctors were being recruited, the
minister said. |
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Health awareness week CHANDIGARH, April 25 — A family health awareness week will be celebrated from April 26 to May 1 by the Punjab State AIDS Control Society, an offshoot of the Directorate of Health Services, Punjab. A special campaign will be launched in four districts — Amritsar, Ludhiana, Gurdaspur and Patiala — during the week. Camps will be held and printed material will be distributed. The objective of the week is to reduce the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STD), including HIV infection. A spokesman of the Health Department said a steering committee had been formed at the state-level under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary for coordination and proper organisation of the week. Those found suffering
from STDs will be given medicines free of cost, the
spokesman added. |
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NRI Sikhs ‘not properly
treated’ AMRITSAR, April 25 — Mr Fatehjit Singh, a resident of Hong Kong who had come to India to participate in the tercentenary celebrations of the foundation of the Khalsa Panth along with his family has alleged that NRI Sikhs were not properly treated by the organisers at Anandpur Sahib. In a written press
statement issued here yesterday Mr Fatehjit Singh said
the NRI Sikhs were not given proper accommodation at
Anandpur Sahib. However, he appreciated the role of
volunteers who organised ‘langars’ at various
places and made arrangements for the ‘sangat’.
He further said that he was ‘disillusioned’ as
no formal declaration was made on the occasion of
tercentenary celebrations. |
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