 |
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| Thursday, March 16, 2000, Chandigarh, India   |
Badal
comes to Ministers’ rescue Two
KCF men arrested Delay
over support price worries farmers Medical
colleges’ funds may lapse
Divide
in clergy worries Tohra Rai
defends Tandon |
|
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‘Pro-kisan’
govt deserts mela Punjab
fills DPI’s post after one year Punjab
census from May 3 Forum
to honour prominent Patialvis PUDA
to simplify issue of NOCs Spurt
in cases at consumer courts RMPs
protest police raids VHP
leader dead
Police
remand for JD leader Case
against woman for beating up cop Extortionists
injure two Women
Police Helpline
Plan
to move court in fee hike issue
|
Badal comes to Ministers’
rescue CHANDIGARH, March 15 — The Punjab Vidhan Sabha today was told by the Minister of Education, Mr Tota Singh, that there were 7,057 vacancies of the primary teacher and 1884 in the senior secondary schools run by the government in the state. There were as many as 496 primary schools which did not have any teacher and for which alternative arrangements were made. No school had been closed down due to unavailability of the primary teachers, he added. The main question was by Mr Inderjit Singh Zira and the answer ran into 47 pages. When several other members raised supplementaries, the minister assured that efforts were being made to fill all vacancies at the earliest. During the question hour the issue of ministers giving incomplete or wrong replies repeatedly came up with agitated members demanding seriousness. This happened first when the Minister of Medical Education and Research, Mr Manoranjan Kalia, was replying to a question by Mr Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal, who wanted to know the number of vacancies of professor, assistant professor and lecturer in the three medical colleges and what steps had been taken to fill the posts since these were vacant since December 31 last. Mr Kalia said as many as 16 posts of professor, 20 of assistant professor and 27 of lecturer were vacant. When he said the Public Service Commission was informed as and when the post fell vacant, Mr Grewal demanded the minister give date when requisition was sent and place the letter on the table. The minister fumbled. The Speaker asked him to provide answer on Thursday Again the Minister of Transport, Mr Raghbir Singh, and later, Minister of PWD Sucha Singh Langah were caught on the wrong foot while replying to questions with members demanding setting up a committee of the house to verify the truth since there was variance in what the Minister of PWD was saying and the member, Mr Gurdip Singh Bhullar was asking. The Chief Minister had to intervene and inform the House that work would be completed by June end. The Transport Minister listed the categories of persons eligible for free bus travel facility The government bore an expense of Rs 4252.59 lakh in 1999. The Minister could not say to the satisfaction of the House how the department kept a tab on the genuineness of the pass holders. The listed categories were police and jail personnel, blind, students up to class X (the minister could not say why not students of class XI and XII as well), thalassaemia patients, women above 60 and widows of terrorist victims. At this Mrs Lakshmi Kanta Chawla wondered why all widows of terrorist victims of Amritsar district had been ignored. There was again trouble this time for the PWD Minister when a question on roads was asked by Mr G.S. Bhullar. The Minister Sucha Singh Langah’s answer was challenged by the member and Mr Grewal who wanted the Speaker to constitute a committee of the house to look into the issue whether a particular road under discussion was repaired or in bad shape since the Minister and the member had taken opposite stands. The Chief Minister had to intervene and assure the House that repair work on roads would be completed by June-end with important roads getting priority. There was trouble for the Treasury Benches yet again on the issue of an embezzlement in the Irrigation Department in Bathinda canal circle. The issue was raised by Mr Hardev Arshi and reply given by Mr Janmeja Singh Sekhon. He could not satisfy the agitated members why the inquiry by an IAS officer was referred to a Deputy Inspector General of Police and why no departmental action initiated against the suspected officials and why no criminal case had been registered. In this case too the Leader of the House had to intervene and assure the House that no corrupt officer would be shielded by the government. Mr Parkash Singh said in reply to a point raised by Mr Grewal, that he would seek legal opinion as to what action could be taken while the case was still in the High Court. Mr Arshi said the involved persons got bail because challan was not put up within the stipulated time. He even said that there were attempts to hush up the case since it involved some politicians and a minister. In a written reply Mr
Arshi was informed by the Minister of Local Government,
Mr Balramji Das Tandon that proper criterion was used for
the sinking of tubewells. The actual number of tubewells
operating in four corporation cities were: Patiala, 39;
Amritsar, 161; Ludhiana, 207; and Jalandhar 195. The
requirement of tubewells was for all these cities, as on
February 2 last, 53, 225, 400 and 195, respectively. |
Anandgarh issue refuses to die
down CHANDIGARH, March 15 — The Punjab Vidhan Sabha today passed with voice vote the second instalment of supplementary demands in respect of 24 departments involving an additional gross expenditure of Rs 3311.15 crore for 1999-2000. There was not much discussion on these and among the speakers were the Leader of the Opposition, Chaudhary Jagjit Singh and the CPI MLA, Mr Hardev Arshi. The Finance Minister, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, who had presented the demands in the House on Tuesday in his brief remarks said he would give details as to how the Government proposed to compress non-plan and other expenditures when he would present the Budget later this month. Earlier in the day proceedings of the House were again dominated by the issue of the proposed city, Anandgarh, which has become the main rallying point for all Opposition parties in the House. Today the issue was raised by Chaudhary Jagjit Singh. It was disallowed by the Speaker, Mr Charanjit Singh Atwal. Unhappy with the decision, all Congressmen walked into the well of the House and squatted there for some time. The Leader of the House, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, stood up to say since the Opposition members were in the habit of sitting in the well, the House should provide them with mattresses. The house burst into laughter. Both Mr Ravi Inder Singh and Mr Hardev Arshi took up the same issue and wondered why a discussion was not being allowed on an important issue which involved uprooting of nearly four lakh people; and insisted that separate time be allotted. Mr Ravi Inder Singh insisted that his earlier notice of adjournment be revived. The Speaker relented and said “submit a new notice”. Thereafter the Congressmen resumed their seats. The lone BSP member, Mr Shangara Ram Shangura, reiterated his old issue of Dalits being ignored and Punjab not honouring the Supreme Court orders. He said he would continue raising the issue every day. He also staged a walkout. Some of the other issues raised during the zero hour today pertained to the jailing of a former MLA, Mr Surjan Singh Joga for non-payment of loan. The matter was raised by the Congress member, Mr Avtar Singh Brar, who wanted the Speaker to intervene and help such former members. The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Mr M.M.Mittal said there was a meeting earlier on this with the Speaker and was attended by the Finance Minister and it was left to the Speaker to decide individual cases since a general policy could not be framed. Mr Jagdish Sahni walked out in protest because the Speaker ignored him. Even Ms Lakshmi Kanta Chawla was upset for being ignored by the Speaker and the way her question on corruption was deleted. While Mr Gurtej Singh
raised the issue of the Irrigation Department pertaining
to promotions, Mr Ajaib Singh Raunta wanted pay-on time
to the Home Guards and Special police officers. Mr Ajit
Inder Singh Moffar referred to the strike by advocates
and wanted the Punjab Chief Minister to intervene. The
Speaker disallowed all issues raised by the members
during the zero hour. |
Two KCF men arrested GURDASPUR, March 15 — An attempt to revive terrorism in Punjab by the ISI has been foiled with the arrest of two hardcore terrorists belonging to the KCF outfit. These terrorists had been instructed by the ISI to trigger blasts in buses, trains and other highly crowded places. Mr Varinder Kumar, SSP, briefing newsmen here today, identified the terrorists as Iqbal Singh of Wan village in Ferozepore district and Hardev Singh, alias Sadh of Jathol village in Amritsar district. Two kg of RDX, four detonators, several fuse wires, a small battery and one foreign made .32 bore revolver has been seized from them after they were intercepted by the police while travelling on scooter without valid documents. The RDX and small arms had been delivered to them in Jammu on March 10 by a Pakistani. Both Iqbal and Hardev had already received training in Pakistan before their arrest in the early 90s, and were promised that they would be sent back for further training if they succeeded in their mission, Mr Varinder Kumar said. Iqbal and Hardev met in the Udhampur jail. Iqbal had joined the BSF in 1990 but soon turned deserter and joined the ranks of terrorists. He had crossed over to Pakistan and came into contact with the KCF faction led by Zaffarwal, while Hardev joined the Panjwar faction in 1990, the SSP added. Mr Varinder Kumar said that Iqbal had confessed to various crimes, including kidnapping and murder. During interrogation, Iqbal had said he was given training in the hilly terrain of Pakistan occupied Kashmir. The SSP said
interrogation had revealed that ISI agents were now
trying to entice erstwhile terrorists as fresh recruits
were hard to come by. |
Delay over support price
worries farmers CHANDIGARH, March 15 — Lakhs of farmers growing wheat are worried over the unprecedented delay in the announcement of the minimum support price (MSP) for this rabi procurement season. Wheat arrivals in Punjab and Haryana, two major wheat growing states begin around mid-April. The MSP should have been announced last month or even earlier to assuring farmers that remunerative procurement price would be available. But the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance Government which increased the price of fertiliser and diesel, post-haste has been lagging far behind in announcing the price of farm produce. “The farmers had their best during time of the United Front Government”, a worried Akali Minister said. He did not wish to be quoted, but said his party would press hard for a better price. The centre last year after the recommendations of the Commission for agriculture costs and prices fixed the minimum support price at Rs 550 per quintal. Punjab, which produced 140 lakh tonnes, contributed 79.32 lakh tonnes to the central pool. Haryana contributed about 38.70 lakh tonnes. These two states together ensure food security in the country. This year, there is going to be a bumper crop of wheat and farmers have high hopes. Punjab is targeting to produce 142 lakh tonnes and the procurement is fixed at 80 lakh tonnes. “We are ready to procure even 90 lakh tonnes. We have made all arrangements for an efficient procurement”, food secretary, R.P. Rana told The Tribune. He also conceded that procurement price should have been announced by now. Official sources in Delhi said that the Commission for agriculture costs and prices had suggested no change in the MSP as far as wheat was concerned. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs also approved this. But then the new Agriculture Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar intervened and pegged this price from Rs 550 per quintal at Rs 575 per quintal. This would have cost an additional Rs 375 crore as subsidy. Both Finance Minister, Yashwant Sinha and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman K.C. Pant had objected to this. While Mr Nitish Kumar left to become Bihar Chief Minister and is not likely to return to Union Cabinet, the Government through this Budget has sent a strong signal that it would not help the farmers anymore. First it raised the price of fertiliser second it reduced subsidy on foodgrains and sugar. Now income tax payees are out of favour as far as subsidised ration, like sugar is concerned. Only those below the poverty line shall have to pay more than double for wheat and rice. Pressure from the allies notwithstanding, the NDA Government is unrelenting. The new economic philosophy does permit anymore subsidisation. But farmers and agriculture states too are not going to sit idle and watch helplessly. This was also clear from a talk with leaders of the Akali Dal, the Congress, the INLD, the Haryana Vikas Party and others. The Haryana Government has made arrangements to procure 40 lakh tonnes of wheat during the current season as against 38.70 lakh tonnes purchased during the last year. The procurement agencies will utilise more than Rs 2,450 crore from different sources to procure wheat during the season. The Haryana chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, who reviewed arrangements for the procurement of wheat during this year here today, said that keeping in view the fact that in certain areas of the state like Hodal etc., wheat arrivals begin early, the procurement agencies had been directed to enter mandis in these areas immediately after Holi, whereas in the rest of the state procurement was likely to commence from the first week of April. He said that while the Government of India had been urged repeatedly to speed up movement of stored foodgrains from the State to provide adequate room for stocking wheat, all procuring agencies had also been asked to ensure smooth procurement in the mandis so that the farmers did not face any hardship in selling produce. The procuring agencies have also been directed to arrange 1,45,600 bags costing more than Rs 136 crore. Similarly, adequate quantities of polythene covers and wooden crates would be arranged by the Food and Supplies Department and other procurement agencies before the commencement of procurement. The State was expecting over 82 lakh tonnes of wheat production in the current season as a result of adequate rainfall during the past few days. As many as 339 mandis, sub-yards and procurement centres had been set up as against 337 during last year as to provide adequate marketing facilities to the farmers. The Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board was providing all needed facilities for the procurement of wheat. It was decided that among the state procuring agencies, Hafed would purchase 38 per cent of the total arrival of wheat in the mandis and 20 per cent of the wheat would be purchased by Food and Supplies Department. The Haryana State Warehousing Corporation, the Agro-Industries Corporation and Confed would purchase nine per cent each of the total arrival of wheat, whereas the Food Corporation of India would procure 15 per cent of the wheat.
|
SAD (A) memo to Jacob on MSP
freezing CHANDIGARH, March 15 — The kisan wing of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) here today submitted a memorandum to the Punjab Governor to protest against the freezing of minimum support price (MSP) of various foodgrains by the Agriculture Price Commission for two years. Mr Satnam Singh Behru, President of the kisan wing, in a statement after submitting the memorandum, said the Union Government should immediately announce the MSP of wheat which would start arriving in the markets in the last week of this month. He said the price of
various inputs, including pesticides, had gone up from 25
to 48 per cent, but no increase had been made in the
price of wheat so far. He said the BJP-led government at
the Centre was anti-farmer and it had taken anti-farmer
decisions. |
Medical colleges’ funds may
lapse PATIALA, March 15 — Revenue generated from the enhanced medical fee in the three Government Medical Colleges of Punjab, which is given back to the institutions for their development, is in danger of lapsing with around Rs 5.25 crore still to be released to the institutions before the end of this financial year. Though the government had assured that the money generated from medical fee, which was enhanced in various medical colleges and hospitals in the middle of the last year, would not be allowed to relapse and would remain with the medical institutions, a circular issued to all three institutions in January this year disclosed that the funds would relapse if not utilised by the end of this financial year. This decision had not been amended till yet putting a question mark on the various development schemes which were to be undertaken with the funds. It was not only proceeds from the enhanced revenue which had been given the label of Punjab Professional Services Savings (PPSS) which were threatened, the money generated from non-resident Indian (NRI) seats in the institutions during the current financial year was also in danger of lapsing. The danger of the funds lapsing had resulted in the institutions putting up their requirements to avert this step. The Government Medical College, Patiala, had drawn up requirements of about Rs 1 crore to spend its share of the accumulated money. It had adopted the safe way to exhaust the funds by asking for Rs 28 lakh for renovating works through the PWD besides Rs 12 lakh for an ambulance and a mini bus, Rs 18 lakh for recruiting its own security staff on a contract basis and Rs 42 lakh for replacing the cobalt source of its cancer therapy unit. Even though the requisition had been sent by the local medical college it was unlikely that all orders would be cleared by March 31. The process involving inviting tenders, placing orders and taking delivery was time consuming and could not be done in a fortnight. It was also surprising that the medical college here was using its own funds for the PWD work which could be done easily through government funding. Also the case of procuring the Rs 42 lakh cobalt source had also been taken up with the government and a proposal had now been made to get it from the PPSS funds. The case for procuring the cobalt source had been passed by the Planning Board earlier but had been struck down by the Finance Department for want of funds. Taking the source from PPSS funds would mean less money for any other development project as it could very well be brought from government funds. The local medical
college, Principal, Dr Ravinder Singh, when contacted,
said a government circular in January had warned that
PPSS funds would relapse if not utilised till March. He
was, however, hopeful that the government would carry
forward the funds as it might be difficult to utilise
them till then. He said it was important to allow these
funds to accumulate in the account of the medical college
here as huge money was required to bring in modern
diagnostic facilities like mammography, invasive
cardiology, bypass procedure and MRI. He said the medical
college here wanted to use the funds to bring in the most
significant technology in its hospital for which it was
necessary to create a corpus first. |
Divide in clergy worries Tohra NEW DELHI, March 15 — Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, MP and President, Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal (SHSAD) today said that the current divide in the Sikh clergy had saddened the community and on-going developments were an attack on the supremacy of Akal Takht. Mr Tohra, who parted ways with the SAD, charged that the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, had “attempted to stifle the ‘vichaar’ of the community.” This development, he said, was different from the earlier attacks on the structure of Akal Takht either during the raids of Ahmed Shah Abdali or during Operation Bluestar in 1984. “The Panth is in a dilemma as to why the dispute was not being resolved. If only Mr Badal can direct Bibi Jagir Kaur ... He (Mr Badal) has created a situation wherein the government can interfere in religious matters and this can be misused in future”, Mr Tohra told correspondents at his official residence here today. The SHSAD chief said
what pained him was that the supremacy of Akai Takht, the
highest temporal body of the Sikhs, was being questioned. |
Rai defends Tandon LUDHIANA, March 15 — Senior BJP leader and member of the Rajya Sabha, Lala Lajpat Rai, has criticised the local representatives of industries and trade for their allegations of graft made against the Minister of Local Bodies, Mr Balramji Dass Tandon. In a press note released
here on Monday, Mr Rai said Mr Tandon was a leader of
stature and had an excellent record in public life for 50
years. |
‘Pro-kisan’ govt deserts
mela LUDHIANA, March 15 — There seems to be no takers in the Badal ministry for the annual “kisan mela” of the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) which opened here today, even though the state government likes to pride itself as a pro-kisan government. Billed as the biggest farming event of the northern region, the two-day kisan mela hosted by the PAU every year attracts thousands of farmers from all over the region to get the latest know-how in agriculture and buy high-yielding seeds. Although the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, himself put in an appearance at the kisan mela in 1998, he had apparently handed over the task of presiding over the function to his ministerial colleagues during the past couple of years. It was the Finance Minister, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, who presided over the inaugural function last year in March. But since then, by accident or design, those invited seem to have found a reason to stay away from the mela. In September last year, the Agriculture Minister, Mr Gurdev Singh Badal, who was scheduled to preside over the inauguration of the mela, did not turn up as he got embroiled in a controversy over the alleged rape of a girl by his son. Today, it was the turn of the Finance Minister, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, to do the vanishing act. The minister, who was to inaugurate the mela this time, sent in a word last night that he would not be able to turn up because of the ongoing Budget session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha. In his absence, the mela was inaugurated by the Vice-Chancellor, Dr G.S. Kalkat. I incidentally, none from the government appeared to have thought it fit to attend the mela. Not that the governmental absence had any effect on the mela as the PAU wore a festive look with thousands of farmers from different parts of the state and Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and even Rajasthan converged on the campus to participate in the mela. Addressing a large gathering of farmers, Dr Kalkat said that they had to diversify agricultural practices in order to sustain the growth rate and at the same time they had to change cultivation practices as well which were not only depleting natural resources but were harmful to the environment. Dr Kalkat emphasised the importance of sowing only the recommended varieties at their appropriate time. Giving the example of rice variety Pusa-44 which failed miserably in Punjab, Dr Kalkat said that university recommended a variety only after thoroughly testing it at university farms and farmers’ fields. He also advised the farmers of Gurdaspur and Amritsar districts to replace IR-8 variety with other better varieties. Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Dr. K.S. Aulakh, emphasised that in future the agricultural sector was going to be very competitive when the market would be open to the world. Mr M.S. Bajwa, Director of Research, PAU, said that diversification of agricultural practices and development of infrastructure for agro-industries in the state held the key for overall development of the rural people. Involvement of women in technology transfer programmes and improvement in their socio-economic conditions needed special attention, he added. Dr Jaspinder Singh
Kolar, Director of Extension, said that in order to
compete in the international market, Punjab farmers
should strictly adhere to the international standards of
quality, absence of pesticide residue, competitive prices
and on-time delivery schedules. The biggest attraction at
the mela was the seed distribution centre, which
attracted an unprecedented rush of farmers for the
purchase of seed. |
Punjab fills DPI’s post
after one year CHANDIGARH, March 15 — The Punjab Government after a gap of almost one year has filled the post of Director of Public Instructions (Schools) besides appointing a new DPI (Primary) and a new Director of the Punjab State Educational Research and Training. Mr Jagtar Singh, Deputy Director, School Administration, has been promoted and appointed Director Public Instruction (Schools), against a vacant post. The post had been vacant since April last year. Another Deputy Director, Mrs Harmanjit Kaur, who was looking after Primary Education, has also been promoted and appointed Director Public Instructions (Primary). The post fell vacant on February 29 this year. Mrs Dalbir Kaur Kalyan, the seniormost Deputy Director of School Education, has been promoted as Director of Public Instructions and appointed Officer on Special Duty to the Chairman, Punjab School Education Board. Mr Sohan Lal, Director,
Private-Aided Schools, has been made Director, State
Council of Educational Research and Training against a
vacant post. This position had been lying vacant since
February last year. |
Punjab census from May 3 AMRITSAR, March 15 — The first phase of census work in Punjab — the “house-listing programme” — will start on May 3 and end by May 24. Mr Inderjit Singh, Director, Census Operations, Punjab, said while presiding over a meeting here yesterday. Mr Inderjit Singh said 48,000 enumerators would visit about 38 lakh houses to get information on demography, economy, social and cultural characteristics fertility, mortality, caste, tribe, language, religion, migration, health, employment, ageing, housing and household amenities etc. The Deputy Commissioners and the Commissioners, Municipal Corporations, had been designated as Principal Census Officers and Additional Deputy Commissioners respectively, while Assistant Commissioners of the Municipal Corporations had been designated as District Census Officers and City Census Officers, respectively. The SDMs would be Subdivisional Census Officers in their respective jurisdiction. All Tehsildars and
Executive Officers of the Municipal Councils, nagar
panchayats and cantonment boards would be the charge
officers within their jurisdiction. Naib Tehsildars and
BDPOs had been designated as Assistant Charge Officers.
Below the charge officers would be enumerators and
supervisors drawn mainly from the Education Department
and Local Government Department. There would be a
supervisor over every six enumerators. |
Forum to honour prominent
Patialvis PATIALA, March 15 — The Punjab Writers Forum, a non-political organisation here, will honour various personalities with Punjab and Patiala Rattan awards in the fields of journalism, poetry, literature, theatre, art, sports, business growth and statesmanship. Stating this here today,
forum convenor Ved Prakash Gupta said the forum had
decided to organise a public function on April 16 at the
Central Library auditorium in this regard. |
PUDA to simplify issue of
NOCs CHANDIGARH, March 15 — The Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority ( PUDA) has initiated a process of simplifying the process of issuing of no-objection certificate (NOC) in connection with the transfer of property. The Chief Administrator of PUDA, Mr K.B.S. Sidhu, said NOC was required before permitting the transfer of PUDA-allotted plots. The aim was to recover the amount outstanding against the allottee before affecting the transfer. Violations of building by-laws were also seen before issuing the NOC. As per the earlier practice, the NOC was withheld in smallest of the violations. Now instructions had been issued that the NOC would be issued depending upon the nature of the violation and subject to payment of certain fee. The nature of the violations to be compounded and the fee to be charged was, however, yet to be decided. Instructions had been
issued that a buyer of a plot would not be absolved of
his liability on account of building by-laws and would
remain liable for penal action as per the provisions.
PUDA was bringing guidelines for compounding violations
under Section 157 of the Punjab Regional and Town
Planning and Development Act, 1995. |
Spurt in cases at consumer
courts AMRITSAR, March 15 — Justice H.S. Brar, president of the state Consumer Redressal Commission emphasised the need for speedy disposal of cases pending in various district redressal courts in the city. On his first visit to the district consumer forum here on Monday he told TNS that he had requested the government to provide more and better facilities to help speed up processing of cases. Justice Brar, who took over as chairman of the commission in October last year said giving the commission administrative responsibilities had improved the functioning of consumer courts. Giving details of cases Justice Brar said more than 1700 cases were received during the past year while about 2000 had already been filed during the current year. There was growing public awareness of the commission for speedy redress of cases. The majority of cases
before the commission relate to Punjab State Electricity
Board, Telephone Department, Punjab Urban Development
Authority, medical practitioners, consumer product
companies and others. The Minister of Health, Dr Baldev
Chawla who presided over the function said that the
government was seriously contemplating to enact a law to
book manufacturers producing spurious drugs. |
RMPs protest police raids PHAGWARA, March 15 — Registered medical practitioners (RMPs) today staged a demonstration and held a rally outside SDM’s office. They also held a protest march and wore black badges. They presented a memorandum to the DSP, Mr Satinder Singh. The RMPs were protesting against police raids, registration of false cases against them and non-acceptance of their other demands. Addressing the rally Mr Ashok Sandhu, BSP district president, threatened to block traffic if raids were conducted against RMPs. Mr P.S. Pasi, president
of the All-India Anti-Corruption Forum, and Dr S.S. Bedi,
president of RMPs’ association here also addressed
the protesters. |
VHP leader dead PHILLAUR, March 15 — Mr Chiranji Lal Sharma, organising secretary of the Punjab VHP, breathed his last at Dayanand Hospital, Ludhiana, after a prolonged illness last night. He was 70. He is survived by his
wife, three sons and two daughters. His body was brought
to Pathankot, his native town. |
Police remand for JD leader LUDHIANA, March 15 — Mr Harish Khanna, convener of the Punjab Janata Dal and president of the Small Scale Manufacturers Association, who was arrested here yesterday, was remanded in police custody for a day by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Ludhiana, today. Mr Khanna was arrested on charges of manhandling and illegally confining the Punjab State Electricity Board employees while on duty and burning their records on Sunday. A large number of members of the association today staged a dharna causing a traffic jam for some time at Gill Chowk. Meanwhile, the PSEB Engineers Association, Ludhiana region, held an emergency meeting today to take stock of the situation arising out of “physical attack on officers and officials of Punjab state electricity board who were discharging their normal duties.” The meeting condemned
the “behaviour of bad elements who on the one hand
indulged in theft of electricity and on the other
assaulted and humiliated the officials and also kept them
in illegal detention.” |
Case against woman for
beating up cop FATEHGARH SAHIB, March 15 — The district police has registered a case against one Karamjit Kaur, alias Kammo and Kuldeep Singh residents of Sirhind for allegedly manhandling beating and looting a havildar on duty. They were arrested today. According to Mr Paramraj Singh Umranangal, SSP, Havildar Gurmail Singh was going to village Dera Mir Miran to serve the summons on one Kulwinder Singh. On the way Kammo and his relative Kuldeep Singh dragged him into their house and beat him up. They also snatched away his purse and tore his uniform. In the meantime a patrolling police party led by Havildar Charanjit Singh saved him from Kammo. The SSP further said
that Kammo is a Sex worker. Recently on February 23 a
case under section 41-2 (109) of the CrPC was registered
against her along with five other sex workers, and their
customers. Earlier various cases of flesh trade are
pending against her. He said case under Section 353, 332,
186, 342, 379 of the IPC has been registered against her. |
Extortionists injure two AMRITSAR, March 15 — Two persons sustained kirpan injuries in the Katra Sher Singh area here when certain extortionists smashed panes of a readymade garments shop this afternoon. The entire market put up its shutters and shopkeepers blocked traffic for over three hours. According to eyewitnesses, 10 persons carrying kirpans entered the ‘Anytime’, readymade garment showroom at noon demanding protection money from the owners, Sukhjinder Singh, alias Lalli and Inderjit Singh. As they refused to oblige the group started smashing the shop and hit both of them with kirpans. The BJP State President,
Mr Daya Singh Sodhi, who resides in the area, expressed
his dismay over the incident and promised police
patrolling in the area. |
Women Police Helpline CHANDIGARH, March 15
— The Punjab Government, to provide social security
to women, will set up Women Police Helpline. This was
disclosed by Mrs Romila Dubey in a statement issued here
today. She said to check the exploitation of women, the
Central Government had launched an Indira Mahila Yojna
Scheme to make women socially and economically more
secure. |
Plan to move court in fee hike
issue PATIALA, March 15 — The newly formed Yadvindra Public School Parents Association may seek an injunction from court against the recent fee hike in the school in case the school Board of Governor’s meeting on March 26 does not take back the order. Talking to TNS after submitting a memorandum to the school Principal here today, association member Baljit Singh Johal said the organisation would ask the court to check the balance sheets of the school to ascertain how its funds were spent . Mr Johal , who along with Mr P.S. Sidhu, handed over the memorandum of the association to the school Principal after a brief meeting of over 100 teachers in the school, said there had neither been any increase in the salary of teachers nor any additional facility had been added to the school. He said in the light of these facts, the fee hike was unjustified. He said the Association had also decided to represent to the Board of Governors on March 26 itself also besides having already given them a representation through the school Principal today.He said the representation listed the issues of fee hike, general indiscipline in the school and unhygienic class rooms and toilets. Mr Johal said if at all there was to be a fee increase it must to effected only if a concerted drive had been undertaken to improve the condition of class rooms and toilets, besides other amenities in the school .He said the teaching standard of the teachers should also be improved. The parents have taken a
confrontationist stand vis-a-vis the school management
following a hike in the tuition fee from Rs 1050 to Rs
1310. There has also been an increase of Rs 600 in the
boarding fee of hostel residents. |
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