Sunday, October 17, 1999
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P U N J A B | |
Sunday, October 17, 1999 |
weather  spotlighttoday's calendar |
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No
decision yet on fiscal crisis |
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SGPC
chief’s election before Nov 30
Strike against doctors’
arrest Dharna by farm technocrats College teachers want revised
scales
Councillor’s election set
aside Accidents ‘claim 2,100 lives
annually’ 3-year-old raped, murdered; 1 held 2 arrested for double murder Corpn staff not paid salaries |
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No decision yet on fiscal
crisis CHANDIGARH, Oct 16 — The Punjab Government has failed to come to grips with the continuously deteriorating fiscal situation. The Cabinet Subcommittee in its third meeting here today spent three good hours, but no concrete decisions to tide over the situation were taken. It was yet another meeting. Official sources here said that more meetings would be necessary to thrash out the sensitive and ticklish issues. The core issue is to cut down subsidies that cost the state exchequer Rs 3,000 crore annually. This includes subsidies on power, irrigation, industry and education, besides social welfare. " Some of these can be reduced, but it is difficult to do so because the political cost would be very heavy. A government that has got a bashing during the elections is scared of touching any section," a senior officer who has been monitoring the fiscal situation here confided. Discussions largely centred around the report of the subcommittee of officers headed by the Chief Secretary, Mr R S Mann. According to informed sources, the committee has made a quite few concrete suggestions, including the one to end free power to the farmers, but not totally. Small farmers could still enjoy this facility which costs the already heavy loss making power board Rs 270 crore annually. The Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, who chaired the meeting agreed that this has not produced the desired political results and could be withdrawn, but he was scared of the political cost. The Akali Dal would have no face to show to the farmers its backbone who have still, by and large, stood by the Dal. This was one major reason that the subcommittee could not muster courage to take a hard decision promised by the Chief Minister and his Cabinet colleagues. In fact, Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Secretary Planning Commission, has bluntly told Mr Badal and his officers that the government must reduce its down expenditure, save each rupee and cut down subsidies drastically. Attract private sector investment and streamline the functioning of the government, he has suggested. Mr Badal after his Delhi visit where he asked the union government to provide Rs 10,000 crore fund to help beleaguered state, made agreeable noises. But then he fumbled again today. It has also been suggested that there is an urgent need to streamline several boards and corporations and the Excise and Taxation department and increase the collection of sales tax. Right now Punjab has the lowest rate of recovery and the department is held by none else than Mr Badal himself. In his busy political and administrative work schedule, he hardly finds time for this and then he has a top heavy Chief Minister's office to look after. Some Akali MLAs have suggested that the real cut should begin there and they should have their voice in major policy matters. Now they learn from newspapers what the government has decided. Sales tax increase on diesel has not gone on well among the Akali leaders. A former Speaker and a powerful Akali leader, Mr Ravi Inder Singh, and certain others feel that this would crack the back of the farmers, push up bus fares and have a cascading effect on all prices. Already the union government has increased the price by a record 35 per cent. Mr Badal at today's meeting urged his colleagues to remain united, and think of those means which could really bail out the government. If no concrete steps are taken, there will be no money to pay the salaries and pensions. Already a bunch of petitions is pending in the Punjab and Haryana High Court about non payment of salaries, pensions, dearness allowance and non clearance of bills of government contractors. Reports from the districts suggest that main departments such as Public Health that looks after the drinking water and sewerage has no fund even to provide bleaching powder. Cases of jaundice are being reported from southern Punjab. The same is true about the Public Works department looking after road and buildings. In fact all development work is nearly at a standstill. One good result of the
present crisis is that the government has put a real hold
on some wasteful expenditure in certain areas. But yet
the core problem has not been touched. This could be to
wind up loss making corporations, cut down on manpower
and subsidies, and collect taxes. |
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Minister denies son's involvement
in rape CHANDIGARH, Oct 16 — The Punjab Agriculture Minister, Mr Gurdev Singh Badal, today described as "baseless" the allegations levelled against him by Gurpreet, alias Sonu, a rape victim of Ludhiana, that she and her father, Mr Paramjit Sharma, were kept in illegal detention at his residence in Chandigarh with a view to pressurising her to renege her earlier statement. Addressing a press conference this morning, Mr Badal said his political detractors had hatched a deep conspiracy to tarnish his 40-year immaculate political career. He told mediapersons that Mr Simranjit Singh Mann, President of the Akali Dal (Mann), and Mr Harish Khanna, convener of the Punjab Janata Dal, were the real players behind the conspiracy. They exploited the situation to gain political mileage, he alleged. The minister told newsmen that the alleged incident occurred in April. It was given air only at the time of the parliamentary elections to cause as much political damage to the Akali Dal as was possible. He described the involvement of his son in the rape as a "cock and bull story". "If he were involved, why did the victim's father not name Suba Singh in the FIR registered at Halobal police station, "he asked. The minister said even the age of Gurpreet, alias Sonu, was wrongly mentioned. "She is not 16 or 17 years old. She is about to complete 19 years," the minister said. He even supplied photocopies of her matriculation certificate to scribes. Mr Badal said Baljinder Singh, who was being named as co-accused, is the brother of his son's previous wife, who had died many years ago. "Suba Singh (whose real name is Manjit Singh) is 43 years old. He has three children. His eldest daughter is studying in ninth class." Mr Badal said he was willing to face any kind of enquiry into the episode. He alleged that Sonu had
eloped with Kishan Bhaia, a tenant in their house, to UP.
They were married on April 24 in a temple. The marriage
ceremony was performed by Mr Ramesh Joshi. |
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JD (S) for sack of Gurdev
Badal LUDHIANA, Oct 16 — The state unit of the Janata Dal (Secular) has demanded the sacking of Punjab Agriculture Minister. Gurdev Singh Badal from the council of ministers and a CBI enquiry into the Gurpeet rape case, following recent developments in the case. The demand was made by the senior vice-president of Janata Dal (S), Mr Harish Khanna during a press conference here today. Mr Khanna said that chief minister. Parkash Singh Badal should expel the Agriculture Minister and ask him to stand trial for his alleged acts of omission and commission in the case. The victim and her
father. Paramjit Sharma, had filed a joint writ petition
in the High Court on October 14 demanding a CBI probe in
the episode. |
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Congress to demand fiscal
emergency CHANDIGARH, Oct 16 — The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee headed by Capt Amarinder Singh will soon submit a memorandum to the President, seeking the declaration of financial emergency in the state which is experiencing the worst-kind of financial crisis. Capt Amarinder Singh told a press conference here this afternoon that the financial crisis in the state could only be solved by a new government or by handing over the fiscal powers to the Centre. Raising sales tax on diesel, petrol and on essential commodities was not the solution. It would further aggravate the situation as the prices of essential commodities would escalate due to the cascading effect of the hike in the price of diesel, petrol, etc. He criticised the hike in sales tax on diesel and petrol. He demanded review of the security set-up in the state to curb unnecessary expenditure on the security to certain status-conscious persons without assessing the threat perception to them. The PPCC president reiterated that strict action would be taken against the party leaders who worked against the official nominees in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. Already party observers have prepared their reports and these would be submitted to the party high command and President of the All-India Congress Committee Mrs Sonia Gandhi on October 20. Capt Amarinder Singh said in the Hoshiarpur, Faridkot, Ropar, Sangrur and Bathinda constituencies certain leaders worked against the party candidates. Certain party candidates had expressed their unhappiness at the functioning of Mrs Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and Mr Harcharan Singh Brar during the elections. The PCC chief made it clear that dissidence would not be allowed at any cost. He ruled out any change in the leadership of the Youth Congress, Mahila Congress and the students wing. Capt Amarinder Singh
said Mrs Sonia Gandhi had accepted the invitation of the
elected members of the Lok Sabha and she would address a
thanks giving rally in the state. |
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SGPC chief’s election before Nov 30 JALANDHAR, Oct 16 (PTI) — SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur has said elections to the premier Sikh shrines management panel would be held before November 30 and it would not be postponed in any case, "a meeting of the general House of the SGPC would be called to elect the president and the executive committee members of the SGPC. Akali Dal president Parkash Singh Badal would nominate the candidate of his party for the presidentship of the SGPC", Jagir Kaur told reporters here yesterday. A very senior Akali leader, who did not wish to be named, told PTI today that Chief Minister Badal had made up his mind to clear the name of Ms Jagir Kaur for the presidentship of SGPC. Bibi Jagir Kaur had taken over the reins of the SGPC following the removal of her predecessor G.S. Tohra who was sacked after a bitter tussle with Mr Badal earlier this year. Mr Tohra, who formed his own the Sarb Hind Akali Dal to oppose the Badal-led ruling SAD-BJP alliance, had said earlier this week that the SGPC presidential poll may be postponed by Mr Badal. Under existing
legislation, it is mandatory to convene a general house
meeting of the SGPC members before November 30 and a
20-day advance notice has to be given to the members. |
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Strike against doctors’
arrest SAMRALA, Oct 16 — All the doctors of the local civil hospital remained on strike today in protest against the arrest of Dr J.P. Singh SMO, Samrala and three other senior doctors in Ludhiana yesterday. Due to the strike in the Civil Hospital, patients had to face considerable inconvenience. KHANNA: Work at the Civil Hospital, Khanna was paralysed when doctors went on a strike to protest against the arrest of Dr Dharam Pal, SMO, Khanna. More than 450 patients had to go back without treatment as the doctors were sitting on a dharna. Dr Dharam Pal and other senior doctors including Dr J.P. Singh, SMO Samrala , Dr K.K. Jindal, SMO Hathur, Dr Harinder Singh and pharmacist Jagdev Singh were arrested by the Chandigarh crime branch in connection with a medicine scam worth Rs 1.5 crore yesterday. The scam was discovered in October 1997 and a case registered under Sections 409 and 120-B of the IPC and under Section 7/13 of Prevention of Corruption Act. During the investigation it was found that medicine shown as issued to primary health centres had never been issued. LUDHIANA: The PCMS Association, Ludhiana has strongly condemned the ‘impulsive’ action of the crime branch. In a statement issued to the press, Dr I.S Bagga and Dr Hardeep Singh, president and general secretary of the association alleged that in order to protect the real culprits, four SMOs had been made scapegoats and arrested by the Chandigarh Crime Branch. The highly irrational arrests would hit the pulse polio campaign as the district immunisation officer was among those arrested. The campaign was to start on October 24. The association has
demanded a proper enquiry into the affair and that the
real culprits identified in the FIR be brought to book. |
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Dharna by farm technocrats PATIALA, Oct 16 — Members of the Agriculture Technocrats Action Committee (AGTAC), Punjab, along with employees of the Horticulture and Animal Husbandry departments and various farmers organisations staged a dharna in front of the Chief Agriculture Office yesterday in protest against harassment of 15 employees of the Agriculture Department "falsely" implicated in superphosphate subsidy scandal. Dr Balwinder Singh Sohal, general secretary of the committee, said the technocrats had been falsely implicated in the scandal while they were the first to complain about the scandal. Other leaders challenged the government for an open public debate on the issue in which the technocrats would put forward their defences against the allegations made by the vigilance staff. The committee also decided to start a series of district-level dharnas in the state. Hoshiarpur: Members of the local unit of the Agriculture Techocrats Action Committee led by Dr B.K. Mehta, president, Agriculture Officers Association, Hoshiarpur, staged a dharna in front of their office on Friday in protest against false cases registered against officers of the department. Addressing the rally, Dr
Chaman Lal Vashishat, president, Plant Doctors Services
Association, Hoshiarpur, said all charges framed against
the officers in the FIR by the bureau were false. |
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PUTA-VC row: director quits PATIALA, Oct 16 — The imbroglio arising over the showdown between members of the Punjabi University Teachers Association (PUTA) and Vice-Chancellor Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia has claimed its first victim with former PUTA President and Audio Visual Research Centre (AVRC) Director Surinder Singh Khaira resigning from his post. Mr Khaira, who submitted his resignation to the vice-Chancellor yesterday, told TNS today that he could not remain the director while his friends’ cases of victimisation still existed. He said besides this some misunderstanding had arisen over his attempts to bridge the gap between PUTA and the Vice-Chancellor, which ultimately led to the PUTA executive walking out of a meeting with the Vice-Chancellor. He said there was no question of having him given any assurance to the Vice-Chancellor that PUTA would not hold a demonstration in front of his office as claimed by the latter. He said he had himself addressed a dharna which he would not have done if he was party to any agreement on the issue. Disclosing that his resignation had been accepted, Mr Khaira said he had accepted the post which he "should not have done being a trade union leader" he said. He however, said the PUTA leadership should not end the dialogue with the Vice-Chancellor. PUTA Secretary Hari Singh Boparai said the association did not want Mr Khaira to resign as he had not committed any mistake in seeking an appointment with the Vice-Chancellor for PUTA as the appointment was for the PUTA executive. Dr Boparai said the executive would now write to the Vice-Chancellor on behalf of the general body, saying the latter did not expect him to behave in such a manner with elected representatives of teachers. A list of demands would again be handed over to him. Meanwhile, a university pressnote has revealed the Vice-Chancellor’s "attitude" towards the demands. Regarding the demand for arrears, it said as the arrears had accumulated from 1996 and were running in crores, the PUTA leadership should keep the financial position of the state in mind. As regards the demand for parity between merit promotees and directly recruited teachers, it said both Punjab and Haryana High Court and the Syndicate had already rejected this demand. Extension in retirement age related to all universities for which an over-view was to be taken by the state and Central governments, it said. About the cases of alleged victimisation of teachers during the tenure of Dr J.S. Puar, it said a large number had already been satisfactorily disposed of while the others were being scrutinised by a committee headed by the Pro Vice-Chancellor. The release, speaking
about the purpose of the appointment which created the
imbroglio, said the appointment had been given only to Mr
Khaira. It said there was a communication gap between Mr
Khaira and the Secretary to the Vice-Chancellor for which
the Secretary had tendered his resignation which was
however, not accepted. |
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College teachers want revised
scales TALWANDI SABO, Oct 16 — Teachers of Guru Kashi College here has alleged that Punjabi University authorities had been meeting out step-motherly treatment to them by not implementing revised pay scales so far while the same have been given to staff members of other colleges. In a press note here today. Mr Jasbir Singh, General Secretary, Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union (PCCTU) college unit, pointed out that college was taken over the Punjabi University authorities in 1995 to keep it as a university maintained college but no step had been taken in this direction. He added that after the college was taken over its sources of revenue also went to Punjabi University authorities and college came into the grip of severe financial crisis. He added that second reason of financial crises of the college was that the DPI (Colleges), Punjab had not given approval to college’s principal and no grant was coming for the principal from the Punjab government. He said that members of teaching staff were agitated as they were not getting salary under unrevised pay scales regularly. Mr Maggar Singh, Principal, when contacted, denied that college was facing any financial crisis. He added that salary to staff members was being paid after receipt of grant from the Punjab government. He pointed out that he
was selected principal by an interview committee which
included the Vice-Chancellor and the DPI (colleges) and
university authorities had given approval to his
appointment while the DPI (Colleges) would give the
approval within two months. He added that college
management had sufficient funds to meet necessary
expenses. |
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The vanishing heritage AMRITSAR: In 1947, the partition of the country affected this city badly. It resulted in riots due to which about 20 to 30 per cent area of the city was burnt. Taking into account the colossal damage, a special ordinance called "The Punjab Damaged Areas Ordinance 1919" was issued. Amritsar is the only city in Punjab where the maximum number of redevelopment projects were undertaken. But at the same time little efforts were made to conserve the traditional character of the city. Mr Balwinder Singh, Head, Guru Ramdas School of Planning, Guru Nanak Dev University, while highlighting the need to conserve the heritage of this ancient city alleged that the land-use of this holy city was changed from time to time while carrying out the redevelopment of the area. An important feature he noted while evaluating these projects was that the traditional living styles were ignored while redeveloping most of these areas. Secondly, no comprehensive redevelopment plan was prepared as the work was carried on in an ad hoc manner having no link with the surrounding areas. Thirdly, conservation and protection of buildings as traditional areas was not given due emphasis. Mr Balwinder Singh, who has been invited to present his paper on "Historic cities for the future" being organised by the National Heritage Board And ICOMOS (Sweden), to be held on September 17, has given detailed information about the heritage of Amritsar. He has given a number of reasons for the vanishing historical landmark in his paper "Experience of an Indian city Amritsar: analysis, values and structures". He says the landuse of the walled city, "Katras" forts, gardens and traditional localities are being changed without bothering about our rich heritage. Unmindful of our heritage, the concerned authorities had been causing lot of damage to the historical structures in the city. Giving details Mr Balwinder Singh said the city had seen many ups and downs in its physical growth. However, the period from 1765 to 1849 was considered as the "golden period" for Amritsar. During this period various developments which took place include Katras (markets) ‘palaces’, ‘Akharas’ (Centre of learning), ‘Bungas’ (Rest Houses), tanks, havelis (house with courtyard), city walls, gates, monuments and wells etc. However, there had been changes in the building use and physical form of the historical gardens and other structures. Many structures are decaying. In the historical garden "some ugly structures have also been added which do not conform to the aesthetics and environments of its setting. These structures are being used as residences of gardeners and sweepers. The city of Amritsar has
still some buildings and areas of heritage important
which could be exploited to give a boost to tourism in
the state. Not only the city but there are some pertinent
sites within its radius of about 30 km which are in a
neglected condition. Mr Balwinder Singh is of the view
that the monuments of Amritsar require special attention
otherwise it will be too late. He says Amritsar and its
regions need to be studied in the light of heritage
buildings and areas. For this integrated conservation
plan of the region should be prepared. |
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Councillor’s election set aside FATEHGARH SAHIB, Oct 16 — The Election Tribunal-cum-Deputy Commissioner today set aside the election of Mr Shankar Lal as Municipal Councillor Mandi Gobindgarh and declared Mr Om Parkash Gupta as Municipal Councillor elected from Ward No 8 and also quashed the order of repolling of the Punjab State Election Commission. Mr Gupta was BJP candidate from Ward No 8 in the election held on January 12, 1998. When counting started, one of the candidates ran away with ballot papers, Mr Gupta was leading at that time. Later 139 ballot papers
of Mr Gupta were collected by the public but repolling
was ordered on January 15, 1998 which declared Shankar
Lal elected. Mr Gupta challenged the repoll. |
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Accidents ‘claim 2,100 lives annually’ LUDHIANA, Oct 16 — Inspector General D.R. Bhatti today said 2,100 persons die in road accidents every year as against the average of 650 murders committed annually in the state. Speaking at a seminar on traffic management organised by the Rotary Club here, he said if speedy and adequate measures were not taken on traffic management, the situation could become chaotic with the rise in urban population leading to the rise in the number of vehicles. He said in Ludhiana alone, six lakh vehicles had been registered and in terms of vehicle-population ratio, it was nearly equal to Delhi. Mr Bhatti said urban population in the country had already risen from 10 per cent at the time of independence to 32 per cent and was projected to climb to 52 per cent in the next 25 years. He said there was one
accident every minute in the country and road accidents
accounted for one death every 8.5 minutes. |
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3-year-old raped,
murdered; 1 held JALANDHAR, Oct 16 — A three-year-old minor girl of Sangowal village falling in the Bitga police station was allegedly raped and murdered by Kashmir Singh, a close relative of the girl’s father. Mr Lal Singh and his relatives saw Kashmir Singh carrying the body of his daughter outside the village with the intention to dispose it of. On seeing Mr Lal Singh and others, Kashmir Singh ran away leaving behind the body. After registering an
FIR, the police arrested Kashmir Singh from the village. |
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2 arrested for double
murder JALANDHAR, Oct 16 — The police has arrested two persons for allegedly committing a double murder at Rehrwan village on October 14. Mr Gaurav Yadav, SSP, said here today that a case had been registered on the statement of Mr Ujagar Singh of Rehrwan village who alleged that two of his sons who were out on bail were shot dead by the suspects. The SSP said raids were conducted on the residences of Sukhdev Singh and Dhalwinder Singh who surrendered before the police. The SSP said the vehicle
and the weapons used in the crime had been taken into
possession by a special investigation team. |
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Corpn staff not paid salaries HOSHIARPUR, Oct 16 — On the call by the Tubewell Corporation Employees Joint Action Committee, employees of the local Tubewell Corporation staged a rally in front of the office of Superintending Engineer here last evening against the non-payment of their salaries for the past two months and proposed closure of the corporation by the state government. Addressing the rally, members of the joint action committee said financial crisis in Punjab was due to wrong policies of the state government, frequent foreign tours by ministers and corruption. They criticised the government for not providing salaries. The employees also
staged a demonstration and presented a memorandum to the
Deputy Commissioner in this regard. |
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Live kirtan on Net likely AMRITSAR, Oct 16 (PTI) — After online shopping and films, devotional songs may soon be on the Net and Sikhs the world over may be hear kirtan on their computers coming straight from the Golden Temple. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandkhak Committee (SGPC), the apex Sikh religious body, plans to broadcast live kirtan on its Internet website after the tremendous response to the daily ‘Hukumnamah" on the Net. A Canada-based private
radio operator ‘Sur Sagar’ has approached the
SGPC for permission to relay the kirtan from the Golden
Temple and will soon set up systems, SGPC Internet
section supervisor Gurjit Singh said. |
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Arpana’s aesthetic items on show JALANDHAR, Oct 16 — Arpana, a registered spiritual and charitable organisation from Madhuban, Karnal, will hold a Divali exhibition-cum-sale of hand embroidered products at Skylark Hotel here from October 18 to 21 (10 a.m. to 8 p.m.). This training and income generation programme has benefited over 1,600 women who turn ordinary fabrics into exquisite products. All proceeds of this sale go to charity. Arpana volunteers have
committed their expertise and experience to the service
of the less privileged in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and
Delhi. It is running wide-ranging medical and socio
economic services, including a hospital at Madhuban,
medical centres in Himachal Pradesh and mobile clinics in
villages. |
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Lawyer denies taking cops' help CHANDIGARH, Oct 16 — Ms Varinder Pal Brar, an advocate of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, today denied that Punjab cops helped her in her land dispute near Pinjore. In a signed statement the lawyer said, in fact, the truck driver and his accomplice tried to kill her by their speedy truck. Cops merely helped her in apprehending the truck driver. She also denied that the
cops had accompanied her. They were merely standing by
the wayside. |
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Rifle snatched from cop JALANDHAR, Oct 16 (UNI) — Constable Karni Singh was deprived of his self-loading rifle (SLR) along with 10 bullets by two scooter-borne youths on the Nurmahal-Pasla road in broad daylight today, police sources said here. The sources said the cop
was hauling a Nurmahal Municipal Council water tanker
towards Pasla village when the youths accosted him and
snatched his SLR and ammunition and drove away. |
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World Food Day celebrated AMRITSAR, Oct 16 — The Food Corporation of India celebrated the World Food Day here today. Essay-writing, painting
and mono acting competitions were held on the occasion
for children of the staff. An entertainment programme was
also presented and prizes were given to the winners by
the District Manager of the corporation. |
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