Jacob sworn in as Punjab Governor
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 27 — Lieut-Gen Jack Frederick Ralph Jacob (retd) today took over as Governor of Punjab-cum-Administrator of Chandigarh. At a simple ceremony held at Punjab Raj Bhavan, he was administered the oath of office by the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Mr Justice Arun B. Sahariya.

Earlier, Lieut-Gen B.K.N. Chhibber (retd), who relinquished charge as Governor of Punjab-cum-Administrator of Chandigarh, was given a warm sendoff at Punjab Raj Bhavan.

The attendance at both the farewell to General Chhibber and the swearing-in ceremony of General Jacob was thin with a majority of MPs from Punjab and Chandigarh, legislators, bureaucrats, leaders of various political parties and others being conspicuous by their absence.

The farewell ceremony was delayed by nearly 15 minutes in expectation of more guests. Since the attendance did not approve, General Chhibber, accompanied by his wife, Rama, and members of staff of Raj Bhavan, arrived at the specially enacted pandal around 10.15 a.m.

In his brief farewell speech, General Chhibber recalled how he arrived at Amritsar as a part of a refugee caravan from Pakistan on August 22,1947 as an 11-year-old boy. After schooling, he joined the Army when he was 16 and served the defence forces for 42 years.

General Chhibber said in 1987 he was commanding a division in Amritsar before he was elevated as Corps Commander at Jalandhar during militancy days. After his elevation as Chief of Staff, Western Command, he was appointed Security Adviser to the Punjab Government and later became Governor.

He said he received excellent cooperation from political leadership, bureaucrats and all others with whom he came in contact during the past five years and had a satisfying time. He wished the present political leadership of Punjab well and hoped that they would make the state progress more.

Among those present to see him off were the Punjab Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal, Union Minister, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, members of the the Council of Ministers of Punjab, some senior functionaries of Punjab Government, besides several Judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Also present were all senior functionaries of the Chandigarh Administration, including the Adviser to the Administrator, Mrs Vineeta Rai.

Later, he took the salute and inspected a guard of honour presented to him by a contingent of the Punjab Armed Police. General Chhibber then left Raj Bhavan for Sector 9 where he has been allotted a minister's house by the Punjab Government as transit accommodation.

Almost an hour after General Chhibber had left Raj Bhavan, the new Governor arrived.

After a formal exchange of pleasantries, General Jacob was administered the oath of office by the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court after the Chief Secretary, Mr R.S. Mann, read out warrants of appointment of General Jacob.

After a brief swearing-in ceremony, General Jacob was greeted by Mr Parkash Singh Badal, members of his Council of Ministers, Speaker, Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and senior functionaries of both Punjab and the Chandigarh Administration.

He took the salute and inspected a guard of honour. There was no formal press briefing as had been the practice.

There was some commotion in the pandal when BJP MLA from Amritsar, Laxmi Kanta Chawla, objected to the new Governor taking the oath in English than in Punjabi, the official language of the state. She was seen arguing on the subject with some members of the Council of Ministers.

General Jacob is expected to visit Amritsar on Monday to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple.

Badal to induct 8 to 10 more
Cabinet expansion in 15 days
By Gobind Thukral
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 27 — The much-awaited Cabinet expansion in Punjab will take place within a fortnight, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said here today. "I would add eight to10 ministers", he told TNS.

Akali Dal sources said that Mr Badal, had been authorised to take all possible steps to enthuse and discipline the party, had worked out almost all details. There could be some reshuffle of the portfolios also. "Mr Badal has assessed the contribution of each minister and is keen on implementing his plan of having a good working ministry", sources pointed out.

Mr Badal, who denied any threat or any strong dissident activity in the Akali legislature party, however, admitted that each MLA was not be satisfied. "Some are unhappy due to local friction among leaders and some could be unhappy as their wishes have not been fulfilled. In such a large party, there is bound to be some unhappiness but this would be contained. I am working out details of helping each MLA. Some accommodation has to be there," he stated. He asserted that Mr Ravi Inder Singh was no threat at all. "Who is with him?" he asked.

Mr Badal admitted the government had to achieve something tangible on the fiscal front. "Only if the people paid taxes honestly and the officers performed efficiently. I could make Punjab a paradise," he said. He agreed the tax collection was tardy, but assured it would not remain so for long. "We would take all possible measures. A new taxation collection system is being implemented vigorously. No one would escape the tax net. You will see that," he said.

Mr Badal seemed to agree that some political leaders too encouraged tax evasion. "Some also argued that since farmers have been given free power and water, they would not pay taxes. There is no logic in this," the Chief Minister said farmers are worse off these days, under debt and poor and there was need to help those who were filling the country's buffer and helping in food security. But traders whom we have given all sorts of concessions are holding back taxes. They should pay," he asserted.

Mr Badal as usual blamed the previous Congress regime and the violence in the state for the mess-up but was candid to admit that the present coalition government had to do the job. "There is no escape. It is our duty now. Whatever we have inherited is different and we shall do it. In fact, there is some improvement already," Mr Badal said.

Contrary to reports that Mr Badal's current campaign to contain corruption was a half- hearted public relations exercise, he asserted that he and his colleagues had finalised measures and the results were encouraging. "We are keen to create fear among those who have been making merry all these years. In some departments which are responsible for development activity, there was 50 per cent seepage of funds. In some even more. First the estimates were on the higher side and then in the allotment of tenders and later in execution, there was a set system working out there. "We have to break this nexus and we have done it in irrigation and soon shall target Food and Supply and other departments," he said.

In fact, sources in the Food and Supply Department said an exercise had been completed. It is now clear that the pipeline is long and reaches higher levels. Some evidence has been collected and it is being cross-checked. Additional Deputy Commissioners have sent in their reports. A few days back, Food Inspectors met Mr Badal and explained in detail the modus operandi. They later issued a press statement. It was a part of the ongoing exercise to drum up the case and then execute a neat plan, the sources pointed out. Mr Badal, however, refused comment, saying that "all departments are under watch. The media should help us instead of being very critical by highlighting only negative points," he said.

"We have selected some key areas and are now focussing our entire attention on those projects. Some of these projects are the ones sanctioned by the Gujral government and some are otherwise important. We are updating our information network and shall involve people who would work as pressure groups to see that the projects are completed," he said. He cited the kandi development project funded by the world bank as one case.

All through, Mr Badal praised Mr Gujral and described him as the best friend of the people of Punjab. The Akalis had a special relationship with him. Asked how about the present government and Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, Mr Badal asserted that he too cared for Punjab and the Sikhs.