Saturday, January 30, 1999
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P U N J A B | |
Saturday, January 30, 1999 |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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Municipal plots 'sold for a
song' Failing
sugar recovery sends alarm bells |
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Bizarre
murder of cop’s wife Dogra
case: Punjab to abide by Centre |
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Emphasis
on fuel conservation Cong
man’s charge against DSP Missionaries’
work worries BJP MP Bhindi
Saiydan to be ‘model’ village |
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Municipal plots 'sold for a song' BARETA (Mansa), Jan 29 — Two vacant plots measuring 2790 square feet each belonging to the local municipal council have allegedly been sold to two persons at the rate much below the prevailing market price by the Executive Officer on the orders of 'higher' Local Bodies Department authorities. In a written complaint to the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, nine municipal councillors have alleged that these two plots which were in possession of the local municipal council had been sold to two persons at Rs 300 per square yard without holding any open auction. They had offered to buy these two plots at a rate of Rs 1000 per square yard. They alleged that the two plots number 11 and number 12 near DAB Public School could fetch more than Rs 1000 per square yard in the open auction. The municipal councillors pointed out that earlier a resolution passed by the local municipal council to lease out these two plots to a private educational institution had been cancelled by the Secretary, Local Bodies, Punjab on November 6, 1995. The plots had been lying vacant since then. They alleged that no resolution regarding the selling of plots was passed by the municipal councillors concerned. Mr Sanjay Kumar, Deputy Commissioner, Mansa, when contacted on the telephone said that he had cancelled the sale of these two plots to private persons as it was done without holding an open auction. He clarified that the plots were sold by the EO on the instruction of higher Local Bodies Department authorities. He added that the possession of the plots was still lying with the local municipal council. Mr Prithvi Lal, Deputy
Director, Local Bodies who had been holding a probe into
the incident told TNS that it was found that higher Local
Bodies authorities ordered the sale of these two plots to
private persons without an auction by acting on a wrong
report sent by the local municipal council on the status
of plots. He added money deposited by the two parties
would be returned. He said the auction of the plots would
be held on February 10. |
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Badal dismayed, not dejected CHANDIGARH, Jan 29 — The Akali Dal President and Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, is dismayed at the current fractured nature of Akali politics. But he is not dejected. "I am taking all this in my stride", he says and adds, "power struggle is always there and howsoever one tries, one cannot escape it". But this is not a philosophical statement per se. It only shows the mental state from which the Chief Minister is passing through after having parted company, for all intents and purposes, with his closest colleague, SGPC president Gurcharan Singh Tohra. It is now a matter of time that the formal split takes place. Both are leading their own kind of forces and using their own kind of instruments. Mr Badal during an interview said he would not tolerate indiscipline. "The Akali Dal has to be a united disciplined party. Its base is in the most modern religion, Sikhism. Its commitment is welfare for all", he said. But beyond that he would not state anything on record. Questions about the Akal Takht Jathedar, Bhai Ranjit Singh, and Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, and the current stage of the feud and what shape it would take went unanswered. Apparently, he did not want to run the risk of getting into trouble with the Akal Takht. He would also not comment on the question that religion-based political parties faced such clumsy situations and it was time for him to come out of the grove and set-up a broad-based party. But Mr Badal was vociferous in defending his government and naturally too. Mr Tohra has been critical for long. Bhai Ranjit Singh too has joined the issue and in very clear words. They both say the government is not coming up to the expectations of the people, particularly after they have passed through a virtual hell. Newspapers have carried columns of news and analysis to assert that all is not well with the government and Punjab deserves much better governance and economic development. Mr Badal asserts that all this criticism is one-sided. "The government is on the right track and development is going on. For sometime it might have looked that we are not doing anything except fighting. This is just not true. We are all attending to the work. Administration has been geared up and development activity is going apace", he said. He counts several new projects like thermal unit that will come up at Goindwal Sahib, refinery project at Bathinda and speeded up work at Ranjit Sagar Dam and his pet project at Anandpur Sahib. "We shall complete all works and make Punjab prosperous". But where is the money? His answer is that the Fifth Pay Commission has put a very big burden. "It is something like Rs 18,000 crore on all the states and the Centre is not sharing a paisa. All the Chief Ministers at the recent inter state meeting raised this issue. The Centre implemented the pay commission and the states had no choice but to follow suit. We are all ending up paying attention to the employees and their welfare. This cannot go on. The Centre must help and we must also tighten our belts", he said. In fact, right at that time, some of his colleagues had brought forward cases of transfers and recruitment and Mr Badal, usually soft and not used to saying no, asserted for a while and told them: "Let us put some end to all this and concentrate on real good work. No one will remember you for these transfers and appointments. I tell you when the late Sardar Partap Singh Kairon had relinquished charge and was staying here in a flat, he realised this truth and commented that he did not find anyone near him whom he has helped in this fashion". Those with recommendations heard the story with great attention. But the net result was one more plea. Mr Badal smiled and said, "Okay, we shall consider when the time comes". Perhaps that was his way of saying a polite no. But where will this current feud end up. Mr Badal does not answer on record. His senior colleagues do assert that Mr Tohra this time has tried many weapons, but has failed. He is now trying to make it Badal versus Akal Takht. This is the last weapon with him and he will not succeed. "We are treading carefully, taking recourse to legal methods. Nothing will be done that is not provided in the All India Gurdwara Act or in the Constitution of the Akali Dal or as per the set political norms. We could have done many things. After all we have an absolute majority or rather an overwhelming majority in the Akali Dal Legislature Party, among the rank and file and district leaders and among the members of the SGPC. We have demonstrated it. We shall not be cowed down or bullied", asserts Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, MP, and Akali Dal General Secretary. But he too would not like to say anything on the current spate of Hukamnamas from the Akal Takht. The strategy is clear: neither Bhai Manjit Singh, head priest of Kesgarh Sahib Takht, nor Mr Barjindar Singh Hamdard, Editor of Ajit and a fellow traveller nor anyone of the 130-odd supporting SGPC members would present themselves before the Akal Takht. "February 11 is very far, just wait for some days. All the mist will be clear", asserts another senior Minister. But they all admit that Mr
Tohra is no small leader. He is not a spent force and as
yet he is neither down nor out. His arsenal might have
more weapons and also once he is out of this present
phase, he could mount a sharp criticism. |
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Tohra utterances will
‘strengthen’ Cong PATRAN (Patiala), Jan 29 — Punjab Finance Minister Capt Kanwaljit Singh today said the criticism of government policies by SGPC president GS Tohra in public would only help strengthen the Congress in the state. Speaking at a press conference here before addressing party workers at a circle-level meeting held in connection with the February 12 rally at Patiala, Capt Kanwaljit Singh said since the SGPC chief was a party to all policies formulated by the government, he should not criticise the same. The minister said if Mr Tohra was unhappy with a particular scheme or government policy, he should air his grievance at the appropriate party forum instead of rushing to the press. "Mr Tohra is a member of the parliamentary affairs committee (PAC) of the party, besides being a senior leader. He can approach the Chief Minister regarding government decisions", he said. Speaking on the current crisis involving the Akal Takht Jathedar, Capt Kanwaljit Singh said. "Our only contention is that discipline in the party is the responsibility of the party president. This view must be respected if the party strength is to be maintained." He justified the representation submitted by SGPC members to Akal Takht Jathedar Bhai Ranjit Singh, urging for review of the "hukamnama" issued by the latter asking the Shiromani Akali Dal not to take disciplinary action against the SGPC chief till April 15. The minister said the SGPC members had only made a request that they be allowed to "function democratically." He also said 175 members of the SGPC had been elected on the Akali Dal ticket and they remained loyal to the party. "This is how the Akali Dal has control over the SGPC." On the coming Budget, he said an entirely new approach would be followed. "The Budget would be totally non-conventional and it would be mainly dedicated to infrastructure development. The meeting was attended
by district Akali jatha president Hari Singh Tohra,
Shatrana legislator Gurdev Singh Sidhu, Samana SGPC
member Joginder Singh Panjrath and former Patran Market
Committee chairman Baljinder Singh Hariau. |
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Takht chief clarifies stand AMRITSAR, Jan 29 — Jathedar Akal Takht Bhai Ranjit Singh today clarified his position on the allegations levelled against him by Prof Manjit Singh Jathedar Takht Kesgarh Sahib (Anandpur Sahib). He said he had shared the dais with the ex-communicated Sikhs like Mr Avtar Singh Hit and Mr Mahinder Singh Matharu of the Delhi Gurdwara Management Committee. He added that as the Jathedar of Akal Takht it was mandatory for him to be present during the annual elections of the DGMC. He also pointed out that he was there to enforce the "hukamnama" against the ex-communicated office-bearers. The Jathedar told newsmen here today that he had never defied a hukamnama as alleged by Prof Manjit Singh. He would divulge the contents of letter received from 131 members of the SGPC on February 11. Meanwhile, the Sikh clergy today held an informal meeting at the Akal Takht office to take stock of the situation. The meeting was attended by Bhai Ranjit Singh and other Sikh high priests. Bhai Ranjit Singh also held a discussion with his legal adviser amid reports that 10 out of 15 executive members of the SGPC approached the Sikh Gurdwara Commission on the hukamnama issue. Meanwhile a section of
SGPC members in separate letters have clarified that they
had urged Akal Takht on their own and "were not
pressurised by the SAD President to do so as it was not
required". |
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Pro-Badal Sant Samaj formed JALANDHAR, Jan 29 — Possibility of a truce between Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, and Mr Parkash Singh Badal eluded as a parallel sant samaj was constituted here under the leadership of a sant favourable to the Badal group. The splinter faction of the Gurbani G urmat Sidhant Pracharak Sant Samaj was formed today under the presidentship of Sant Kashmira Singh, a confidant of Mr Badal. However, Sant Mangal Singh, a Vice-President of the Gurmat Sidhant Pracharak Sant Samaj, said that he had quit his post and joined the Gurbani Gurmat Sidhant Pracharak Sant Samaj as its acting president. He alleged, that Mr Tohra was being protected and projected by the Gurmat Sant Samaj led by Sarabjot Singh Bedi. Mr Kashmira Singh alleged that Mr Tohra should tender his resignation to save the SAD (Badal). He also appealed to Akal Takht Jathedar Bhai Ranjit Singh to reconsider the December 31, hukamnama as it had been passed to protect one individual and was not in the larger interest of the Sikhs. Raising doubts on the integrity of Bhai Ranjit Singh, he alleged that 92 members of the SGPC who had come out in support of Mr Tohra had not been summoned by the Takht for defying the edict. He said that 47 names had been forged in the list released by the Tohra camp. "This is discriminatory," he alleged. Indicating that there was a precedent of removing the Akal Takht Jathedar, the president and acting president of the Gurbani Sant Samaj said that the SGPC was a mini parliament of the Sikhs. It was within its jurisdiction to remove the SGPC president and the Akal Takht Jathedar. Meanwhile, the President of the Gurmat Sidanth Parcharak Sant Samaj, Baba Sarbjot Singh Bedi, has condemned the ongoing campaign against the hukamnama. He alleged in a press note released here today, that it was most unfortunate that Bhai Manjit Singh was not willing to give account of the funds of the World Sikh Council. The President of SAD (Democratic), Mr Kuldeep Singh Wadala, blamed Mr Badal for being morally responsible for denegrating Akal Takht for retaining his political supremacy. Speaking at a function at
Guru Nanak Khalsa Girls College near Goraya, Mr Wadala
said both the leaders — Mr Tohra and Mr Badal —
had failed the Sikhs. Nobody should undermine the
authority of the Takht. He also advocated that a forum be
constituted by Bhai Ranjit Singh to end the tussle in the
Panth. |
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Punjab, second home of
‘bhaiyas’ CHANDIGARH, Jan 29 — Both agriculture and industry in Punjab depend heavily on migrant labour. If these "bhaiyas" from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar backwaters have earned a status and send remittances back home to improve their own economy, they have also made a substantial contribution to keep the wheel of development moving in Punjab. Migration of people is an age-old practice. It is integrated into the economic system. While developed regions create more demand for migrant labour, the under-developed regions become suppliers. And Punjab's agro-industrial economy has created a demand for the friendly "bhaiyas", for whom the state is their "second home". Among the several agro-industries, sugar mills have a prominent place in employing migrant labour. It is estimated that there are over 15,000 UP and Bihar labourers earning a livelihood in these mills. A recent study of socio-economic and cultural background of the migrants by Mr Krishan Chand, Mr K.C. Singhal and Mr Sanjay Modi makes an interesting profile of their lifestyle. While Krishan Chand is with the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development, Chandigarh, Mr Singhal and Mr Modi are with the Department of Business Management, Punjabi University, Patiala. Migration is a consequence of "pull" and "push" factors: "pull" allurement emanates from economically developed regions and "push" is due to poverty and unemployment in their native place. Even during the worst of conditions in Punjab, during the decade of militancy, the state's farms and factories continued to attract migrants. This has, it is observed, resulted in the mushroom growth of slums all over. The study of migrant labour from UP and Bihar working in sugar mills provides a glimpse as to why these people left their homes and hearths and how they maintain their umbilical link back home. The common places from where the migrants have come are eastern UP and north-western Bihar. The districts which provide a bulk of labour are Deoria, Padrauna, Gorakhpur, Basti, Kanpur and Balia (in UP) and Siwan, Gopalganj and Chapra (in Bihar). Working in Punjab provides the migrant labour a "status" in the community back home and remittances are a proof. For them it is like finding a "naukri", a job, which gives them an edge over others in their native place. In Punjab, these migrants find working conditions conducive and more important social acceptability, besides other options and opportunities for work. A majority have an agricultural background. They have worked in factories, some were even students or worked on daily wages. Several had experience of having worked as shopkeepers, artisans, truck drivers and clerks. Most of the migrants had left home when in the age of 10 to 30. Helped by relatives and friends they came to Punjab and started earning. The employment with the sugar industry is seasonal. While some are permanent employees quite a large number are skilled and semi-skilled working as seasonal labour. The average stay of migrant labour, in general, in Punjab is less than 10 years. Some have been here for 20-30 years. The migrants never miss an opportunity to send money home.The remittances range from Rs 3,000 to Rs 6,000 per annum for a majority of them and some send up to even Rs 12,000. Most of the money sent home goes in to day-to-day consumption needs, ceremonial purposes and purchase of farm inputs and education of children. These labourers have large families, the average size being of six members or more, including children. They meet the requirements of even other family dependents. The migrants are, by and large, illiterate, compared to the local labour. Language for them is no barrier. The Punjabis converse with them in Hindi. Thus, their symbiotic relationship enables the state take care of the economic development. In-migration is on. But
slums housing the migrants have poor hygiene sans basic
amenities. Government plan schemes ignore them. And if
one day a "bhaiya" becomes an MLA from
Ludhiana, it will not be a surprise in Punjab politics! |
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Bizarre murder of cop’s wife BATHINDA, Jan 29 — Mrs Ravinder Kaur, wife of Paramjit Singh, head constable, Punjab Police, who was poisoned to death by an unknown person in her house in the Police Colony here on January 27 evening has surprised all. According to police sources, an unknown person came to the second floor flat of Mrs Ravinder Kaur on January 27 around 5 p.m. He told Mrs Ravinder Kaur that her (Ravinder Kaur) brother Sukhjiwan Singh, who was living at Ludhiana had died. Hearing about the sudden death of her brother, Mrs Ravinder Kaur, who was sitting in her house with another brother Gurjiwan Singh and sister-in-law, started crying and had a fit. The unknown person then took out a capsule from his pocket and advised Ravinder Kaur to take it for recovering from the fit. Suspecting no foul play, Mrs Ravinder Kaur asked her brother to bring a glass of water and then took the capsule. The unknown man left with another man who was standing on the road with motorcycle. After a few minutes, Mrs Ravinder Kaur started vomiting and with the help of neighbours, she was shifted to the local civil hospital where she died within few minutes. Mr Paramjit Singh, husband of the deceased was away to Rajasthan during this incident. Mr Harnek Singh Sran, SSP, told The Tribune that Mrs Ravinder Kaur had been murdered in a very strange way. He said that SP (D) had been deputed to trace the murder. Mr Dinesh Sharma, SHO,
City Police Station, said that a case under Section 302
of the IPC had been registered in this regard. He added
that Mr Sukhjiwan Singh, brother of the deceased living
at Ludhiana was alive. |
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It serves the mentally
retarded FARIDKOT: The Faridkot district Red Cross Society with the collaboration of the Union Ministry of Social Justice has opened a school for mentally retarded children. Initially seven children under the age of 16 were admitted to the school free of cost. The day begins with morning prayer, teaching, group games and get-together to solve problems. The students are provided with various kinds of play items and teaching aids like educational toys, and electronic games to keep them busy. The handicapped are also made to undergo psychological tests to assess their mental level and behavioural problems. Mrs Ravinder Kaur Grewal, chairperson of the hospital welfare section, who looks after the institution, said vocational activities such as candle and chalk making, book binding, toys, box making and caning courses would also be introduced shortly in the school named Umang. Steps are also under way to launch parents' counselling to make them aware about the day-to-day problems besides creating a homely environment for the betterment of the needy. A parent-teacher association will be formed soon to bring transparency among them for promoting the scheme. Mrs Grewal disclosed that the children's strength would be raised to 25 in the next four months. A centre would also be set up to impart special training to the teachers so that they can run the institution efficiently. Residential facilities would also be made available to needy children by next year. Highlighting various other welfare schemes launched by the district Red Cross Society, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Gurinder Singh Grewal, who heads the Red Cross Society, said a hearing aid centre had already been functioning here. Both the school and hearing aid centres are doing yeoman service to children of the Malwa region. The Central Government has
already approved the plan to start a deaf, dumb and blind
institution at Faridkot in the near future. The society
had already spent more than Rs 25 lakh on various other
welfare schemes and projects in the district during the
past 10 months. |
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Sanitation drive wasn't launched in
Mohali SAS NAGAR, Jan 29 —The nationwide sanitation drive launched by the Prime Minister on January 30 last year notwithstanding, no such campaign was launched by the local municipal corporation in the city. The municipal corporation, however, observed the "Safai Pandarwara", which initially planned to be observed from November 1 to 15 was extended up to November 30 on the directives of the Punjab Government. According to Mr K. S. Brar, Executive Officer of the local MC, no such campaign was initiated in the city as there were no directives in this regard from the Punjab government. He, however, maintained that the MC participated in the "Safai Pandarwara" observed by the state government. During this, the MC concentrated on removal of garbage from different parts of the city. "Our main emphasis was to remove cowdung from the road adjoining Mohali village. We removed as many as 50 truck-loads of cowdung from the area," claimed Mr Brar. During a visit to the area the entire stretch of road was a nuisance for the passers-by and the residents of the city due to dumping of cowdung by villagers. "The problem is that villagers dump huge amounts of cowdung along the road berms, thus leaving little space for traffic movement. Moreover, it results in slush and pools of stagnated water on the road ," complained a resident of Phase I. While admitting that the road is virtually under the seize of the villagers, who are still dumping cowdung along the road, Mr Brar said the problem was that the villagers thought it to be their right to store cowdung on the road for the purpose of selling it later. "Whenever, we try to clear the road of garbage, residents oppose such a move vehemently." A visit to certain parts of the city revealed that the biggest problem is the non-removal of garbage from backyards of showrooms and from the open spaces adjoining these showrooms. At certain places these open spaces are dotted with wildgrowth. The problem is due to the fact that these places are used by shopkeepers to throw their garbage, which in turn, is not removed by the authorities concerned for days together. " The open space near my shop has virtually been converted into a dumping ground," said a shopkeeper of the Phase VII. The safai karamcharis were rarely seen in the area, he said and added that the public toilet in the market remained locked most of the time. Another problem is that a number of spots in the city where the MC authorities have placed garbage bins, have become eyesores. One could see heaps of garbage scattered around these bins. "The problem is created by rag-pickers, who scatter the garbage around bins to find polybags and other articles," said Mr K.S. Brar while advocating a ban on sifting of garbage in public places. "Due to the presence of garbage around a bin, people prefer to throw garbage from a distance, he added. Mr Brar further said in
order to improve sanitation in the city, the MC was going
to add one refuse collector, one dumper placer and one
tipper to its fleet of vehicles. At present, the MC has
two dumper placers, and two tractor-trailers, which are
not sufficient. "We have already purchased two
chassis for the purpose, and the vehicles will be ready
within three months" quipped Mr Brar. |
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Failing sugar recovery sends alarm
bells CHANDIGARH, Jan 29 — The declining area under sugarcane crop, its falling per acre yield, lessening sugar recovery from cane and attack of red rot disease on it in a big way have sent alarm bells ringing in the Punjab agriculture sector. Worried due to these factors, the Punjab Financial Commissioner (Development), Mr R.N. Gupta, has called a meeting of all concerned, including agriculture experts from Punjab Agriculture University, and the State Agriculture Department, managements of the sugar mills and officials of the Cane Commissioner's Officer, tomorrow at Jalandhar to discuss the issue threadbare. The situation on the cane front has turned so bad this year that at least four sugar mills, starved of the raw material, have already abandoned their cane-crushing operation and many others will do the same in the next few days. Otherwise, these mills should have continued their crushing operations till April 15 if these had got full quote of raw material. Technically the crushing season starts from October 15 and continues till April 15 if adequate supply of cane is sent to the mills. Among the mills, which have stopped crushing operations, are three cooperative sugar mills one each at Jagraon, Rakhra and Zira and one private sugar mill at Dhuri in Sangurar district. There are 22 sugar mills in the state and 15 of them are in the cooperative sector. Informed sources said only two sugar mills at Nawanshahar and Morinda had the adequate raw material available to continue the cane-crushing operation till April 15. The sugar production in the state this year will come down to three lakh tonnes which had touched a figure of 6.44 lakh tonnes in 1995-96. Earlier, the authorities were expecting about 40 tonnes of cane, but now, according to a revised estimate, only 32 lakh tonnes of cane will be available. Already 24 lakh tonnes have been crushed. When contacted in this connection, Dr Mewa Singh Sonar, Cane Commissioner, Punjab, said the Government was seized of the matter. Mr Gupta had summoned a high-level meeting tomorrow to discuss the issue. A committee to examine the issue had also been set up in which Dr B.K. Tirpathi of Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore, had been taken a member. The sugar recovery, which normally should be around 12 per cent, and not less than 11 per cent in any case, had come down to 8.47 per cent this year leading to a major fall in the sugar yield. Last year, sugar recovery was around 9 per cent while it was recorded 10.63 per cent in 1984-85. In fact, sugar recovery percentage had a direct link with the quality of the sugar cane and its handling for crushing and further processing into sugar. Dr Sonar said cane was a
full year crop and farmers would turn to it only if it
would provide a better return than what farmers got from
wheat and paddy crop in a year. In comparison with wheat
and paddy, farmers still earned Rs 1,350 less per acre
from the cane crop. This difference could be off set by
increasing the per acre yield of the cane and percentage
of recovery from it, he added. |
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Emphasis on fuel conservation CHANDIGARH, Jan 29 — The valedictory function of the Oil Conservation Fortnight in Punjab was held at an IBP retail outlet in Dhakoli village, near here, today. Highlighting the need to conserve fuel to bring down the oil import bill of the country, Mr Sanjiv Madhok, CDM, IBP, said efforts were being made by the government to ensure adequate availability of petroleum products in the state. In this context the government had set up oil terminals on the Kandla-Bathinda pipeline at Sangrur and Bathinda. The projects would add to the progress of the state. Mr H. S. Bedi, SDM, IOC, briefed the audience on the oil scenario in the country. He said while the demand for petroleum products had increased manifold, the internal production level was stagnating at 35 lakh tonnes since the past five years. We need to repeat the success of the Bombay High soon to off-load the rising oil import bill which was Rs 28,000 crore at present. Given the same production levels the bill would escalate to about Rs 45,000 crore by 2000 and it was doubtful whether the country would be able to meet it. The need of the hour was to go in for more explorations, besides conservation, he stressed. Mr A.S. Bajwa, DM, Petroleum Conservation Research Association, spoke on ways to conserve petroleum products. He said the association organised seminars, meetings and demonstrations in schools and factories in this regard. Capt. Kanwaljit Singh,
Punjab Finance Minister, was not able to attend the
function. |
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Dogra case: Punjab to abide by
Centre CHANDIGARH, Jan 29 — The Punjab Government will go by the advice of the Central Government with regard to the Punjab Police Chief, Mr PC Dogra's case. Official sources said here today that the court judgement with regard to Mr Dogra's case was being examined by legal experts. A copy of the judgement was availed today. It may be mentioned that Mr Dogra's second six-month extension in service was set aside by the Central Administrative Tribunal yesterday. The sources said the final
decision with regard to filing the petition in the Punjab
and Haryana High Court would be taken by the Central
Government as its order with regard to the extension in
service had been set aside by CAT. The Central Government
might file the petition challenging CAT's judgement on
Monday, the sources added. |
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Pro-VC to visit Pakistan AMRITSAR, Jan 29 — Dr Inderpal Singh, pro-vice-Chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University will visit Pakistan from February 8 to 15 to explore possibilities of various types of material available in various universities of Pakistan. This material will be placed in the Heritage Centre to be established by the Guru Nanak Dev university. The syndicate of the Guru Nanak Dev university which met here last evening has permitted Dr Inderpal Singh to visit Pakistan. Dr H.S. Soch, Vice-Chancellor of the university presided over the meeting. Dr R.S. Bawa, Registrar of the university, releasing proceedings of the meeting to the press said the Syndicate had approved the appointments of Mr Varinder Palk as Finance and Development Officer, Dr Harpreet Kaur, lady medical officer and Mr Pardeep Singh as information scientist (library). The permission to fill these posts had been granted by the Punjab government. The registrar said that the Syndicate had extended the date of receipt of admission forms and fee for private candidates with late fee of Rs 2000/ till February 8, 1999. Dr Bawa said the university had also allowed eight days privilege leave to the laboratory staff of the non-government colleges on the pattern of government colleges laboratory staff. The syndicate approved to award doctor of philosophy degree under language faculty to Ajay Kumar, Sukhdev Singh Sekhon, Mahesh Kumar, Darya, Gurlal Singh, Asha Sharma and Tulsi Raman. The registrar told the meeting had also decided that in a course (consisting of more than one part) where a candidate was required to appear in next examination of the lower part. But could not appear or having appeared failed, maybe given one time special chance with a special fee of Rs 5000/ in April 1999 irrespective of the year of passing the lower part of the course. Five new publications Prof
— Puran Singh — Sant Singh Sekhon — Rachna
Sansar by Dr Bikram Singh Ghuman. Guru Nanak ideals and
institutions edited by Dr H.S. Soch and Dr Madanjit Kaur,
Punjabi Birtant by Dr Satinder Aulkh and Punjabi Kissa
Bir Kav by Dr B.S. Ghuman were released. |
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Cong man’s charge against
DSP BATHINDA, Jan 29 — Mr Jasmel Singh Gill, chairman, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (SC and ST cell), in a press note issued here today alleged that Mr Kaka Singh, DSP, "misbehaved" with Mr Hakam Singh, Manager, State Bank of Patiala, Mehna Sarja, and kept him under detention for six hours on January 22. Mr Hakam Singh had made a complaint against Mr Amar Singh, special police officer (SPO), three months ago. The Congress leader said Mr Hakam Singh was freed only when bank union leaders intervened. Mr Harnek Singh Sran, SSP, when contacted, said Mr Hakam Singh was neither detained nor was he "ill-treated" by the DSP. He pointed out that Mr Gill was "defaming" the police as he had been denied a gunman under instructions from higher police authorities. Meanwhile, Mr Balwant Singh Dhillon, vice-president, Lawyers for Human Rights, Punjab, in a press note issued here said a three-member team had been constituted to probe into the incident as well as the alleged beating up of women of Kamla Nehru Colony by policemen of the Civil Lines police station. He said the team would
submit its report in 10 days which would be sent to the
Punjab Human Rights Commission. |
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Missionaries’ work worries BJP MP LUDHIANA, Jan 29 — Lala Lajpat Rai, a BJP MP from Ludhiana, today expressed concern over the activities of Christian missionaries in certain parts of Punjab and declared that his party was against forcible conversions and through allurements. He said that although activities of the missionaries in Punjab were confined to certain pockets like Batala, Dhariwal and a few other areas of Gurdaspur district bordering Pakistan. They were trying to become active in other parts of the state also. In Ludhiana, a so-called faith-healing camp organised by a Christian missionary a couple of years ago led to a big trouble. The district administration had now declined to give permission to a similar camp again some time ago. Lala Lajpat Rai complained
that missionaries targeted the poor, the uneducated, the
tribal people and the SCs for their activities because it
was easy to influence them. Activities of Christian
missionaries were being countered through organisation
like Ram Sharnam headed by Bhagat Hans Raj. On the
burning of a Christian Missionary in Orissa along with
his two sons, the BJP leader said it was an inhuman act
by the BJP's opponents at the behest of certain foreign
powers to give a bad name to the central government. He
said neither the RSS nor any other member of the Sangh
Parivar was involved in the ghastly incident. Lala Lajpat
Rai and Mr Anil Sarin, secretary of the Punjab BJP
welcomed the Union Government's decision to institute an
inquiry into the Orissa incident. They also appreciated
the decision of the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari
Vajpayee to fast tomorrow as a penance and declared that
they too would be fasting along with a group of BJP
workers at Ghantaghar Chowk here tomorrow. |
||
Protesters hurt in cane charge JALANDHAR, Jan 29 (UNI) — Several men and women protesters agitated over their "sub-human" conditions in Ram Nagar and Chotta Gandhi area of the city were injured today when the police reportedly cane-charged them to prevent "gherao" of Mayor Suresh Sehgal in the corporation complex here today. More than 50 agitators, who have been demanding improved sanitation in their localities, converged on the complex to express their anguish to the Mayor when he was in a meeting. When Mr Sehgal came down from the meeting hall and tried to leave in his official car, several men and women laid a siege and one Sharda Ram prostrated before the car. It was then the police swung into action and reportedly cane-charged them in a bid to disperse them. The Mayor, however, managed to escape unharmed in the melee, leaving several men and women protesters bruised and injured. Ram Lubaya, alias Bawa and Suraj Parkash showed marks of cane on their arms to reporters, while one Tripta showed a bleeding finger of her feet. She claimed it was crushed under a wheel of the Mayor’s car. Two other women also claimed that their feet were hit by the driveaway car of the Mayor. Some women alleged that cops hit them on their bellies. Congress group leader Raj Kumar Gupta, accompanied by party councillors Balkishan Bali, Gian Chand of ward three from where the agitators hailed, and Sardari Lal among others, later met SSP Gaurav Yadav and lodged their protest against the cane charge and demanded action against the cops responsible for it. Mr Gupta said their deputation would meet the Deputy Commissioner tomorrow and submit a memorandum demanding removal of the Mayor who, he alleged, had failed to discharge his duty as the first citizen of the city. Earlier, the agitators
raised slogans against Mr Sehgal, demanding his removal
from the office for his "failure to ameliorate the
lot of residents of the city’’. Residents of
Ram Nagar and Chotta Gandhi area alleged that their
houses and shops had been inundated by sewage slush
because of "apathy of the corporation’’,
whose Commissioner had personally seen their living
conditions last year. |
||
SGPC appeal to mediapersons AMRITSAR, Jan 29 — The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has appealed to mediapersons to give the full name of the ‘Singh Sahibaan’ while reporting Punjab or Sikh affairs in their respective write-ups. In an identical letter
circulated among editors and correspondents of almost all
important newspapers and magazines in the country, the
SGPC secretary, Mr Manjit Singh Calcutta today stated
that the head granthi of the Golden Temple and jathedars
(chiefs) of five takhts, i.e. Akal Takht (Amritsar),
Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib (Anandpur Sahib), Takht Sri
Harmandarji (Patna Sahib), Takht Sri Hazoor Sahib
(Nanded) and Takht Sri Damdama Sahib (Talwandi Sabo)
commanded deep reverence among the Sikh masses. Akal
Takht was the supreme religious-cum-temporal authority of
the Sikhs. It was observed that while reporting their
activities newspapers did not mention their full names
and prefix ‘bhai’, ‘giani’ or
‘jathedar’ before their names and add
‘singh’ to their names, which hurt the Sikh
sentiments. While reporting them in any story or write
up, they should be given proper respect. |
||
Phone subscribers face
difficulties FATEHABAD, Jan 29 — Telephone subscribers served by the local Telephone Exchange have been facing problems in paying telephone bills in time due to a lesser number of payment counters as compared to the number of subscribers. According to sources, there are 6000 telephone subscribers in the town and surrounding villages who have to pay telephone bills at Fatehabad. Till recently, the payments of the bills were accepted at only one counter in the town. There used to be a very long queue of subscribers in front of the post office situated in the local grain market. As the post office is situated on the first floor it posed a lot of problem for the subscribers as well as the farmers visiting the grain market. In fact the system was prevalant since long when there were only 500 telephone connections in the town and no rural exchange was attached with the local exchange. After much efforts by the subscribers, the Postal Department opened another payment counter at the main post office situated in the Model Town last year. But even this arrangement had failed to serve the purpose. Two counters prove insufficient to cater to the needs of the area. Though the subscribers arrive at the post office counters in the early morning and stand in the queues, they sometimes have to go back without paying the bills as the counter is closed at 12 noon every day. As a result many of the subscribers have to pay their bills after the last date for the payment of bills had elapsed and as a result have to pay a fine. Even though the last date of the payment of the bills without fine has elapsed this time on January 27, 1999, many subscribers had not been able to pay their bills. Late delivery of the bills
by the Postal Department is also one of the biggest
problem. Though the last date of the payment of bills
without fine had already elapsed, many of the subscribers
complain that they had yet not received their bills. |
||
Dharna, road blockage by
villagers ROPAR, Jan 29 — On the call of the Kandi Area Sangharsh Samiti, Punjab, a large number of villagers of Ghanaula, Beekon, Sahomajra, Thali, Saini Majra, Makkauri, Dangoli, Mansali and Alipur villages blocked the road near Ghanaula village 9 km from here on the Ropar-Nalagarh road yesterday to protest against the failure of the administration to repair badly damaged road from Ghanauli to Dherowal village. The protesters blocked traffic for six hours. Bus service and other vehicular traffic was affected from here to Nalagarh and Nalagarh to Ropar. The protesters were demanding that this 5-km-long stretch of the damaged road be repaired immediately, failing which they would be forced to observe a fast and stage a dharna in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner. According to Mr Jagjit
Singh Jagga, President of the Sangharsh Samiti here
today, the villagers of 10 villages had been requesting
the district administration to repair the road for a
couple of years, but to no avail. He further alleged that
the police snatched public address system from the
organisers of the dharna the previous day and threatened
them to end the dharna, but none succumbed to threats and
the dharna continued till the Ropar tehsildar visited the
spot to assure them of action. The tehsildar told the
protesters that the road would be repaired by February
end for which Rs 53 lakh had already been sanctioned. |
||
Protest march by brick-kiln
workers MALERKOTLA, Jan 29 — Mr Tarsem Jodhan, general secretary of the CPM Punjab, has demanded that the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, and SGPC chief Gurcharan Singh Tohra should resign their respective posts in the interest of the people of Punjab. Mr Jodhan here on Thursday charged that functioning of the state government had almost been paralysed due to the tussle between the two leaders as both were busy lowering the image of each other. He said that instead of attending to issues related to the functioning of the government, the Chief Minister spends most of his time in making plans against Mr Tohra. Mr Jodhan alleged that the SAD government was playing with the sentiments of people of the state and had turned a blind eye to their problems. Earlier, Mr Tarsem Jodhan
led a protest march by thousands of brick-kiln workers of
Sangrur district here. The workers were raising slogans
against the Assistant Labour Commissioner Sangrur for not
accepting their long pending demands which include 20 per
cent bonus, provident fund, uniforms, issue of production
cards, maintenance of daily attendance registers by the
brick-kiln owners and enrolment of every worker under the
ESI. Mr Tarsem Jodhan addressing an impressive rally of
the brick-kiln workers at Satta chowk here warned the
Assistant Labour Commissioner Sangrur against harassing
the workers otherwise all brick-kiln workers would be
forced to stop work. |
||
Changes in education system
planned ROPAR, Jan 29 — The Punjab Minister for Public Relations, Mr Sewa Singh Sekhwan, called upon the economically sound and progressive people of the society to come forward and help the state government provide quality education and infrastructural facilities to the educational institutions in the state. He was addressing an annual function of Satlej Public School at Kurali, 16 km from here, yesterday after laying the foundation stone of the new building of the school. Mr Sekhwan said, as the country had been entering in the 21st century, the need to provide education was greater. He also exhorted the managements of privately owned educational institutions, not to make education a profitable trade and urged them to make arrangements for imparting quality education for the overall development of the students. He announced that the state government had formed a plan to bring radical changes in the existing education policy to impart qualitative education and make the education job-oriented. Mr G.S. Matharoo,
Principal of the school, presented annual report of the
school. The function was also addressed by Mr Jaswinder
Singh Goldi president of Municipal Council, Kurali and Mr
Kulwant Singh Paprala, a senior Akali leader. |
||
Bhindi Saiydan to be
‘model’ village CHANDIGARH, Jan 29 — To give a practical shape to the plans of changing the rural scenario in Punjab and upgrading the economic status of people, the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, has chosen a village, Bhindi Saiydan, in Amritsar for development as a "model" village with the help of the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO). The Chief Minister held a meeting here today with the state officials and HUDCO. He reviewed the status of work under different schemes for "infrastructure development," which includes construction of over 700 pucca houses for the poor houseless, augumentation of water supply, subsidiary health centre, veterinary dispensary, renovation of the existing high school building with additional rooms, disposal of sullage water, street lights, plantation work for improving the environment and paving of streets and drains and providing a road network around the village. The total cost of the project is around Rs 204.47 lakh out of which Rs 70 lakh will be provided by HUDCO as grant and the balance would be contributed by the state. The Chief Minister wants
the work on the project to start by the third week of
February. He released the first instalment of Rs 17 lakh
as the Government's share. |
||
Citizens to honour slain missionary LUDHIANA, Jan 29 — The Ludhiana Citizens Council has decided to honour Dr Graham Steins, the Australian missionary who was burnt alive alongwith his two sons in Orissa a few days ago. In recognition of his "dedicated and selfless services to humanity, particularly the lepers." In a letter addressed to Mrs Gladys Steins, wife of the slain Christian missionary, Mr Darshan Arora and Mr Som Nath Grover, chairman and secretary general respectively of the council "while expressing their deep sorrow and pain over the death of Dr Steins and his two sons, said Dr Steins' life was a rare example of service to the poor and the needy. "Although he is not amongst us now his name and services will always be remembered. Thousands of people of Ludhiana join us in expressing their sympathies with you," the letter said. The letter said that the
date and time of the public function to honour Dr Steins
would be decided in accordance with the convenience of
Mrs Steins. |
||
Two drowned ROPAR, Jan 29 — Two persons— Darshan Singh (40) and Avtar Singh (35) drowned in the Bhakra Canal near Ahmedpur village on the Ropar-Anandpur Sahib road about 5 km from here yesterday. Their bodies, so far, have not been recovered. Both belonged to Bande Mahlan village near here. According to the police here today, Avtar Singh was mentally disturbed. He was being taken to Mangewal village for treatment in a vehicle yesterday by his relatives. When they reached near Ahmedpur village, Avtar Singh asked to make water and alighted the vehicle. Soon after, he plunged into the nearby Bhakra Canal. On this, Darshan Singh also jumped into the canal to save Avtar Singh, but both drowned. The police has lodged a
report in this regard. Further proceedings will start
after the recovery of bodies. |
||
Hike in HRA demanded PATIALA, Jan 29 — Punjab Subordinate Services Federation (Intuc) Patiala unit president D.C. Sharma today demanded immediate hike in house rent allowance for government employees in the city to 15 per cent of basic pay, failing which, he said, the federation would be forced to launch an agitation. In a statement here, Mr Sharma said assistant district and transport officers in the Transport Department should not be recruited directly and demanded reduction in the income tax slab of employees. Mr Sharma said the
district unit celebrated "sankalp divas"
yesterday. Besides Mrs Praneet Kaur, wife of the Pradesh
Congress chief, senior Congress leaders, including
district Congress president Ved Parkash Gupta and
district Congress vice-president Darshan Singh Ghuman
attended the function. |
||
'Halwais' put off stir LUDHIANA, Jan 29 — Within a day of the announcing of a phased agitation against the Punjab Government's move to impose five per cent Sales Tax on the "halwais" the Punjab Bakery and Halwai Sangharash Committee today postponed the stir. Talking to reporters here,
Mr Sudesh Vij, convener of the committee said the step
had been taken to create 'proper' atmosphere for allowing
Lala Lajpat Rai, the local BJP MP, to mediate on their
behalf with the state government. Lala Lajpat Rai said
that he would take up the issue with the Finance
Minister, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, when he would visit here
on February 2. |
||
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