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| Tuesday, August 15, 2000, Chandigarh, India    |
Migrant labour: fear of social tensions Educational institutions hold strike Who is responsible for missing paddy? Rani Balbir
Kaur granted bail Plea against probe
officers dismissed Punjab police seizes cache of arms |
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Dal Khalsa to
contest SGPC poll Laxmi Kanta Chawla’s clarification
‘Regularise’ daily
wage workers Minister’s assurance on kilometre scheme Concede demands,
Balmikis urge govt
Healthcare at doorstep of poor Phone
disruption
continues Dr Shan heads for
Montreal congress Media to boycott
govt functions CPI to hold meeting
on Centre-state ties SAD gives call for planting saplings
Minor girl abducted
62 cr earmarked
for education PG entrance test ‘unfair’
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Migrant labour: fear of social tensions CHANDIGARH, Aug 14 — Though migrant labour has strengthened the economy in Punjab, its continuous flux has also resulted in a host of avoidable problems. It is difficult to hazard a guess about the exact number of migratory labour working in the state given the wide spread in the agricultural, industrial, construction and service
sectors. The fact is this large workforce of men and women has put an additional strain on the existing urban infrastructure and basic civic amenities. It also poses a law and order problem besides adding to the problems of healthcare and human settlement. There are, thus, both positive and negative aspects. This workforce due to abject poverty, is driven out from the “home”
states (Orissa, Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, J and K and even Haryana) for
food, employment, better wages and a better quality of life. Punjab is an attractive destination for these states’ migrants. Several lakh migrants have made Punjab their “second home”. Over the decades, an organised system has been operating to bring migrant labourers to Punjab. This has resulted in their exploitation for a consideration. This exploitation even attracted the attention of the National Human Rights Commission which took cognisance of the matter following a representation from a non-government organisation of Bihar. Recently, it sought a factual report from the Punjab Government besides sending its Director-General (Investigation) for an on-the-spot study of the situation, particularly in Hoshiarpur. There had been media reports on how migrants were “exploited” and brought to Punjab from Orissa. In response to the NHRC, it is learnt, Punjab has submitted a status paper along with an “action plan” to the commission, which has, reportedly, suggested the regulation of migrant labour by the state and the Union Ministry of Labour so that poor workers in search of greener pastures receive a fair, humane deal and are not exploited by unscrupulous agents and employers. The commission is, perhaps, aware that giving a fair deal to migrant labour is not as simple as it appears or a one-time affair. This is despite a host of laws governing migrants’ wages and welfare. It is easier said than done. This much is admitted even by the Punjab Labour and Employment Minister, Mr Balramji Das Tandon. He said so at the labour conference in New Delhi earlier this year. Under the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979, a migrant workman is required to be registered in his “home” as well as “host” state. In reality this does not happen. There is no mechanism to implement this. A second labour commission has been appointed. It
will examine the existing plethora of labour laws and, hopefully, provide umbrella legislation. The Labour and Employment Director, Mr S. S. Channy, says in Punjab no differentiation is made between “local” and “migrant” labourers. The latter do have their own problems: ignorance and illiteracy, lack of unity and
strength, communication barriers, superior strength of employers and scattered nature of jobs. Aberrations apart, the general work culture, wages and job opportunities in Punjab have attracted migrants for
decades. The state, Mr Channy says, has now initiated a process of registration of migrants without causing them harassment. Mr Channy says the proposed “action plan” aims at “educating” the labourers in the “home” and “host” states regarding their legal rights and the existing laws and also creating a mechanism whereby they can get basic facilities. In this endeavour unless NGOs come forward and the Centre gives finance not much can be achieved. Why not set up vigilance panels on the pattern of bonded labour committees? Let migrants form cooperatives and trade unions .Where the concentration of migrant families is more, even temporary housing colonies and schools can be opened. While “home” and “host” states can have a joint machinery for the welfare of migrants, let the Centre evolve a system for the implementation of the relevant laws. Both “push” and “pull” factors cause humans to
migrate. Rapid urbanisation acts like a catalyst to encourage migration. In Punjab, agriculture is the mainstay of migrant labour.The shift to urban, non-farm avenues is also visible with migrants now plying rickshaws, working in factories and at construction sites, selling vegetables etc. The shift to urban pockets from poverty-stricken rural pockets in “home” states is believed to have “depressed” wages for the “local” job-hunters in Punjab. There is growing apprehension that due to the availability of cheap migrant labour, and in abundance, there may be a rise in social tensions. The state Planning Department has compiled some facts on migrant labour. So has the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development. The primary absorber of migrant labour is agriculture, which at peak time employs nearly 14 lakh persons. During the lean period this figure goes down to 11 lakh or so. A study by Punjab Agricultural University has revealed that 1.52 per cent of the migrants are today registered voters. About 55 per cent of the migrant agriculture labour is keen on settling down here permanently. This desire was among a mere 12 per cent in 1983-84.Interestingly, at some places migrants have been elected to panchayats and municipalities. Migrants have also reportedly created panic as “kale kachewale”, particularly during 1985-90. Incidents take place even now. What, however, worries Mr Channy are labour slums which are mushrooming in already congested, polluted urban industrial hubs. These areas are centres of crime, and disease, including AIDS. Punjab’s suggestion under the “action plan” is that industries getting government subsidies should fix a percentage in jobs for the “local” workforce. Punjab is even against migrant labour purchasing property. While the list of unemployed “local” youth gets longer, the added problems of migrant labour have led to the pressing of the panic button in the state, which is getting more and more dependent upon migrants with the “big brother”, the NHRC, now watching. |
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Educational institutions hold strike AMRITSAR, Aug 14 — The strike in educational institutions in Punjab on a call given by the All-India Sikh Students Federation, aligned with the Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal, in protest against the inclusion of Udham Singh Nagar in the new hill state of Uttaranchal got a good response, the federation president, Mr Harminder Singh Gill, claimed here today. He said many colleges, ITIs and polytechnics in the state, including those situated at Amritsar, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana and other district headquarters, remained closed. He alleged that the administration, in order to thwart the strike, rounded up about 124 leaders of the federation in raids all over the state since yesterday. The senior leaders arrested included Mr Bhupinder Singh from Kharar, Mr Sukhwinder Singh Sandhu from Patti and Mr Balwinder Singh from Patiala. Five federation leaders were arrested when the federation held a rally in front of the Ramgarhia College at Ludhiana today, where police resorted to a lathi-charge. Those arrested included the district president, Mr Tajinder Singh Atwal and the general secretary, Mr Parkash Singh Matharu. He said except in DAV College, other colleges and polytechnics in Amritsar observed complete strike. Mr Gill stated that since Mr Badal had failed to get Punjab problems solved, the Opposition Akali organisations were thinking of forming of a third front in the state to launch a struggle for the fulfilment of Punjab demands. The coming byelection for the Sunam Vidhan Sabha seat could be a testing ground for parties. The third front might include the Akali factions led by Mr G.S. Tohra, Mr Simranjeet Singh Mann and Mr Jasbir Singh Rode, BSP and other like-minded parties. Referring to the situation in Kashmir, Mr Gill justified the demand of the Hizbul Mujahideen to include Pakistan in the peace talks. “There is nothing wrong if Pakistan is given responsibility to bring peace in the sub continent, he added. He described the statement of the Union Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandez that Sikh ratio in the recruitments for the armed forces was being maintained, was misleading when he told the Parliament that the recruitment was being done on the basis of population of each state. He criticised BJP leader Brij Lal Rinwa for opposing any amendment to Article 25 of the Constitution to give identification to the Sikhs. |
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Who is responsible for missing paddy? CHANDIGARH, Aug 14 — Who is responsible for the missing paddy worth Rs 50 crore in Punjab? Is the government itself to blame? These are the questions being asked by all concerned in the state procurement agencies which have started the physical verification of the stocks in their possession to find the exact quantity of the missing paddy. The state government has asked all procurement agencies to submit details of the missing paddy by August 22 or face action. The government’s policy pertaining to the allocation of paddy to rice shellers is being blamed for the prevailing chaos on the paddy front. For the past several years, the government has been allocating paddy for milling to rice shellers which defaulted up to 20 per cent. This means that the rice shellers, which accounted for 80 per cent of the total stocks allocated in the previous year, were entitled to the allocation of fresh stocks of paddy next year. Because of such a policy, several millers,who were defaulters, continued to get paddy every year without accounting for the outstanding stocks of the previous years. The procurement agencies were left with no alternative except to allocate paddy to them as per the policy. Some of the millers got paddy allocated through courts by taking advantage of the shortcomings in the government policy. A senior functionary of Markfed told TNS today that certain millers continued to play defaulter and sold rice prepared from government allocated paddy to private parties. He said that the rice milling industry had the privilege of getting raw material without investing a single penny in it. He said the government had been procuring paddy spending crores of rupees, but it was allocating the same to rice millers by just signing agreements with them. No other industry got raw material without spending money on it. Over the years the paddy trade in the state had become so muddled that no officer dared to set things right fearing that his own fingers might get burnt in the process. While a number of millers played with the government stocks of paddy, officials of government agencies at certain places also connived with them to make a fast buck. As many as 11 officials have been suspended by the Markfed authorities in the past years in this connection. By getting criminal cases registered and using other arm-twisting measures, Markfed has succeeded in recovering paddy worth Rs 49 crore from the defaulting millers in recent months. Informed official sources in Markfed said that the government, accepting Markfed’s plea, has abandoned the policy of allocating paddy to defaulting millers from the forthcoming procurement season. Markfed had written to the state government that not a single grain of paddy should be allocated to the defaulters, even up to 1 per cent. Sources said Markfed had engaged the services of private chartered accountants for carrying out the physical verification of the pending stocks of paddy with millers and Markfed itself. The chartered accountants would visit all districts from August 17 to 19 to carry out the exercise. Earlier, district managers of Markfed had carried out a similar exercise in March and June. According to the Markfed authorities paddy stocks worth Rs 80 crore were pending for milling. Out of this paddy, a particular variety worth Rs 24 crore was with Markfed. And the remaining stocks worth Rs 56 crore were with millers. As per the physical verification carried out in March and June, the Markfed authorities said, the pending stocks of Markfed with millers were intact. However, the task of verification had been given to private chartered accountants for an independent assessment of the pending stocks. In fact, according to the authorities, already in districts like Fatehgarh Sahib, Gurdaspur and Jalandhar, the entire stocks of paddy of Markfed had been milled and handed over to the FCI. In Bathinda, Ludhiana, Kapurthala, Nawanshahr, Sangrur and Moga districts over 98 per cent of the stocks had been milled and accounted for. “But we will only be able to give the exact details about the remaining paddy stocks after the verification carried out by the private chartered accountants”, said a senior officer of Markfed. The picture would be clear by August 20, two days before the deadline fixed by the Punjab Food and Supplies Minister, Mr Madan Mohan Mittal, asking for details of the missing paddy from all state government agencies. As far as Punsup is concerned, it has also ordered the physical verification of the pending stocks of paddy. A senior officer of Punsup told TNS that district managers had been told to complete the task within a stipulated period and submit a report in this connection. “Though we have got no official intimation from the State Food and Supplies Department for carrying out the physical verification, we have ordered the verification on our own after going through a report published in The Tribune last week”. The State and Food and Supplies Department was asked to give a copy of the interim report on the missing paddy but it had also not been supplied so far. On the basis of the interim report, the Food and Supplies Department had said that 950 tonnes of paddy and 240 tonnes of rice worth Rs 82.92 lakh belonging to Punsup were missing. The senior officer made it clear that strict action would be taken against the officers concerned if paddy or rice was missing. |
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Rani Balbir
Kaur granted bail PATIALA, Aug 14 — Panjab University Department of Indian Theatre Professor Rani Balbir Kaur was today granted bail in a case of cheating of city residents by demanding money for returning their passports after they had been given visas to the USA, as part of her troupe. Both Rani Balbir Kaur and her assistant Neel Kamal were granted bail by Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Rakesh Mittal. While presenting the duo, the city police had demanded that they be remanded to judicial custody. Rani Balbir Kaur’s lawyer, however, pleaded that she be granted bail as she was no longer required by the police for investigation. The judge released her on bail after a bond of Rs 20,000 was furnished. She was arrested from Chandigarh yesterday under Sections 406 and 420, IPC. Meanwhile, Mrs Rani Balbir Kaur said the complainants had come to her to become part of a troupe going abroad for three months for a series of performances. She said the complainants were part of the six members who joined her troupe as the United States Embassy was ready to give visas only to the economically well-off members. Mrs Rani Balbir Kaur said when the programme, sponsored by Kamal Enterprises, was postponed and the sponsors asked her to get another sponsorship, the complainants along with others offered to donate money to make the trip possible. She said this fact was known to all troupe members. The Panjab University Theatre Department Professor said the complainants started demanding their passports from her after they were granted visas by the United States Embassy. She said she had expressed her inability to return the visas as they had been entrusted to her for being the group leader by the Embassy. She alleged that following this, the complainants lodged a false case against her. She clarified that she had not taken any money from any of the complainants and that she had asked them to deposit money in the account of the Folk Theatre Workshop headed by her and founded in 1974. She said the complaintants wanted their passports to be handed back after the United States visas had been granted, without paying any donation as promised by them. She said she would have agreed to that, but they did not wish to train as part of her troupe and constantly threatened her to part with their passports, which she refused to do. |
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Plea against probe
officers dismissed CHANDIGARH, Aug 14 — Punjab Markfed Field Employees Union’s petition challenging the appointment of retired IAS officers for conducting departmental inquiries was today dismissed by a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Claiming the appointment of Mr Kanwar Gulwant Singh, Mr J.P.S. Puri and six others to be violative of Markfed rules, the union, in its petition taken up by Mr Justice S.S. Sudhalkar and Mr Justice Mehtab Singh Gill, had earlier stated that the officers were outsiders appointed on contractual basis. Expressing apprehensions regarding honest conduct of inquiries, the petitioner had added that the proceedings would be vitiated due to bias as the element of pecuniary benefit would come in. Opposing the arguments, counsel for the respondent had, on the other hand, stated that the amount involved in the inquiries was more than Rs 40 crore. After hearing arguments, the Bench observed: “Counsel for petitioners when asked repeatedly what grievance they have against the retired IAS officers, could not give us any. Further, the remuneration given is not a big amount that the outsiders are being paid. It is only a consolidated amount of Rs 3000 per inquiry.” The Bench concluded: “The petitioner has not shown to us any rule or guidelines by which it is required that the inquiry officer should be an officer of Markfed. A clause in the Punjab Government rules also states that as far as possible the inquiries should be done by the corporation or board concerned but does not say that these cannot be entrusted to a person who is not an officer of the board”. |
Punjab police seizes cache of arms BATALA, Aug 14 (PTI) — The Punjab Police here today claimed to have seized another consignment of arms and ammunitions and explosive from Pakistan nationals which was dumped in Mand area of Srihargobindpur in Gurdaspur district. The arms included 2 HE, 36 hand grenades, 4 magazines of AK 56 rifle, 40 cartridges, one 30 bore mauser, 4 cartridges and one magazine. Two different cases under the Arms and Explosive Act had been registered in this connection, at Srihargobindpur police station. Police sources disclosed that these two different consignments were seized in the area of Mari Panwan village on the bank of the Beas. Two Pakistan nationals were
apprehended during an encounter with the police and the Border Security Force (BSF) at Battar-Chhattar village under Dera Baba Nanak police station on intervening night of July 27-28. Another Pakistan militant of Harkat-ul-Zahaad-e-Islam, a resident of Faislabad, and a courier Sammuel Masih alias Sher Khan were killed in the encounter. A huge cache of arms and ammunition was seized during the encounter. Hanif Mohammad told the police that the mauser and cartridges were given to him by one commander Tamur Sahid who was running a training centre at Shakargarh in Pakistan. He crossed over to India from Pakistan near Jassar border observation post along with four others on July 25. Meanwhile, Mohammad Hanif and Jakub Ulla had been remanded to police custody till August 18 by Batala Judicial Magistrate Rajiv Malhotra. |
Dal Khalsa to
contest SGPC poll CHANDIGARH, Aug 14 — The Dal Khalsa has decided to contest the SGPC elections due to be held early next year. Addressing a press conference, Mr Kanwar Pal Singh, Chief of the Dal Khalsa, here today said that his organisation would tie up with like-minded parties. He said that the Dal Khalsa had decided to become politically active as Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had failed to resolve the issues pertaining to Punjab and get Sikhs recognised as a separate religious entity. The Dal Khalsa was making youth in the rural areas aware of the drawbacks and weaknesses of the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal, he added. The Dal Khalsa was never associated with the Congress, he said. In 1984 certain Akali leaders had dubbed the Dal Khalsa a creation of the Congress party. In fact, senior Akali leaders had become famous for declaring their opponents as agents of the Congress. Now Mr Badal had dubbed Mr Tohra as an agent of the Congress party, the Dal Khalsa Chief said. The Dal Khalsa had always articulated the cause of “Sikh nationalism”, he asserted. |
Laxmi Kanta Chawla’s clarification AMRITSAR, Aug 14 — The BJP MLA, Mrs Laxmi Kanta
Chawla, today clarified that she had not made any derogatory remarks against Mr Surinder Singh
Kairon, a close relation of the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, as reported in The Tribune dated July 28. In a statement issued here Mrs Chawla said that while she had gone to listen to the grievances of the victim on Lawrence Road, some persons from the crowd had mentioned that the miscreants were being protected by Mr
Kairon. However, the alleged remarks which were attributed to her in the news report and had hurt the feelings of Mr
Kairon, she expressed her regrets. |
‘Regularise’ daily
wage workers GURDASPUR, Aug 14 — Mr Sukhdev Singh Bari, who was unanimously re-elected as the president of the Punjab Subordinate Services Federation after the two-day state conference as Shahpur Kandi yesterday urged the state government to regularise the services of the daily wage workers. He also asked for suitable pay grades for anganwari workers, immediate publication of the recommendations of the anomalies committee, time-bound promotions and handing over the government and semi-government boards and corporations to the private sector. Mr Bari warned the government against downsizing of the state departments, retrenchment and efforts to withdraw benefits like fixed travelling expenses
bonus and border house rent allowance, which had already been given to the employees. He also demanded the allocation of more funds to the states by the Central Government for proper functioning of the state. Mr Bari said if the demands were not met immediately, the federation would resort to agitation. It was decided to stage rallies at district levels from September 1 to 15. Jathas and morchas would be organised in the assembly constituency of the Chief Minister and the Finance Minister of Punjab. Finally on October 11, a rally would be held at
Chandigarh. |
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Minister’s assurance on kilometre scheme ROPAR, Aug 14 — The Transport Minister, Punjab, Mr Raghbir Singh, has assured the employees of the Punjab Roadways, that no employee of the organisation would be shunted after the implementation of the Kilometre Scheme. In an agreement reached between the Punjab Roadways Employees Union and the Transport Minister, Punjab, it has been decided that no roadways employee would be ousted due to the kilometre scheme. It has also been decided that the 2407-bus fleet of the roadways would be maintained. In lieu of this the employees union has assured the transport ministry that they would not hinder the implementation of the kilometre scheme. Earlier the union had thwarted the attempts to start the kilometre scheme buses from Nangal, Nawanshahr, Jalandhar and Ludhiana depots. The employees had an apprehension that the drivers and technicians might lose their jobs due to the KM scheme, because under the scheme the driver and the maintenance of buses was the onus of bus owners of the buses while the roadways just has to deploy its conductors. |
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Concede demands,
Balmikis urge govt FATEHGARH SAHIB, Aug 14 — The
Bharatiya Balmiki Sabha has urged the Chief Minister of Punjab to immediately concede the charter of demands submitted to the government last month. Talking to mediapersons at Bassi Pathana town today Mr Karnail Singh Sahota, national president of the Sabha, said the Balmikis, Majhabi Sikh expected the government to accept their genuine demands. He demanded that instead of appointing part-time ‘safai’ sewaks’ permanent posts should be created. The backlog of appointments of Balmikis and Majhabi Sikhs should be cleared. The health care to these of people should be free. Mr Daulat Ram was elected district president, Palli Ram — chairman, Rajinder Kumar — general secretary, Naresh Kumar — senior vice president and Kashmiri Lal — propaganda secretary. |
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Healthcare at doorstep of poor NAWANSHAHR: The Guru Nanak Mission Medical and Educational Trust, Dhahan Kaleran (Nawanshahr), which runs a charitable 250-bedded hospital with ultra-modern facilities, has been organising free medical camps in various rural areas. The trust, whose aim is to provide better health services at the doorstep of the poor and the needy, has been organising medical camps in villages in Nawanshahr, Jalandhar, Ropar, Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala districts. It has also been mobilising NRI’s to sponsor such camps. Seven specialist, treat patients at these camps. As the camps have been sponsored by Helpage India, eye patients are operated free of cost. Medical tests and operations in the case of patients suffering from other diseases are done at Guru Nanak Mission Hospital at Dhahan Kaleran at nominal charges. Besides, doctors serving at the deaddiction centre being run by the trust also provide treatment during the camps. Free medicines are given to patients. Baba Budh Singh Dhahan, founder president of the trust, says that a series of medical camps sponsored by Helpage India and NRIs was started in January, 1999. So far, the trust has organised 17 camps at which nearly 15,514 patients have been given treatment. As many as 146 drug addicts have also been treated. A sum of Rs 11,75,929 has been spent on these camps so far, he adds. Besides the provision of medical facilities at the camps, people are also told about ways to maintain health and improve sanitation. The trust has organised free medical camps at Naura, Dhahan Kaleran, Farala, Modhopur, Jallowal, Goraya, Anandpur Sahib, Gobindpur, Kang, Jagir, Kot Fatuhi, Urapur, Ibrahim, Bhagwain, Beerampur, Sadhra and Dharamkot so far. It has drawn up a plan to organise 12 more medical camps at Rahon, Balachaur, Kot Fatuhi, Jadla, Naura, Bhagwain, Kang Jagir, Sarhala, Rannuan, Achalpur Mazari and in the bet area till March 31 next year. Apart from this three camps will be organised at Guru Nanak Mission Hospital, says Baba Budh Singh. |
Phone
disruption
continues CHANDIGARH,
Aug 14 — Telecom services remained disrupted in the city for the
third consecutive day today making it difficult for residents to phone
people in other cities and abroad. Describing the problem as “intermittent”,
Principal General Manager Telecom, Chandigarh Circle, Mr Prithipal
Singh said it had occurred due to a software circuit failure in the
automatic trunk exchange. He added that efforts were on to rectify
the problem. “Our people are working round the clock. By tomorrow
morning we hope to remove the fault,” he asserted.
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Dr Shan heads for
Montreal congress CHANDIGARH, Aug 14 — Dr Harnam Singh Shan, former chairman, Guru Nanak Chair and Head of the Department of Punjabi Studies, Panjab University, has been invited to participate in the 36th International Congress of Asian and North African Studies (INCANAS) where he is due to present two papers. His first paper will focus on the creation of the Khalsa which took place on March 30, 1699, at Anandpur Sahib. The paper will be titled An epoch-making event in the world history. His second paper talks about a new avenue of study and research in the domain of humanities and social sciences in the field of famous tragic legends which contributed a lot to the socio-cultural tradition of the mankind. The paper will be titled Study of tragic love legends of the East and the West. Dr Shan will leave tomorrow for the conference scheduled to be held in Montreal from August 27 to September 2 under the auspices of the University of Montreal. |
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Media to boycott
govt functions CHANDIGARH, Aug 14 — Serving an ultimatum upon the Punjab Government in connection with the alleged anti journalist campaign started by its minister, Mr Gobind Singh Kanjla, the Punjab-Chandigarh Patarkar Parishad here today decided to boycott all official and non-official functions of Mr Kanjla. A meeting of the state executive of the Parishad held here today, Mr Surjit Singh, president of the Parishad, in a statement said a boycott of the minister would continue till he apologised for his actions. It also decided to submit representations against Mr Kanjla to all those ministers who have been deputed to unfurl the national flag at district headquarters tomorrow. Mr Surjit Singh said the alleged foul language used by the Minister against journalists was brought to the notice of the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal in writing, but he had failed to take any action. Urging the Chief Minister to resolve the issue on priority basis the Parishad also criticised the Punjab Public Relation Department authorities for not arranging a meeting with the Chief Minister on the issue. Journalists held meetings at almost all district headquarters to condemn the actions of the Minister. Mr Surjit Singh said unless the issue was resolved within 10 days, the parishad would announce its next
programme. |
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CPI to hold meeting
on Centre-state ties CHANDIGARH, Aug 14 — The Communist Party of India will hold a state-level convention on Centre-state relations in Chandigarh on August 22, according to Dr Joginder Dayal, secretary of the Punjab State Council of the CPI. A press note issued by the party said in the CPI’s opinion this was the most important issue before the people of the country. “The coalition government at the Centre is behaving in the most dictatorial manner. Instead of a federal structure, it is taking the country to the unitary system of rule”, said the press note. The Central 10th Finance Commission actually took such decisions as were going to prove detrimental to the development of the states, said Dr Dayal. He said the erosion in the powers of the states, gave rise to the sentiment among people that it was treating the state governments like local bodies. This provided a fertile soil to secessionist forces. As for the Anandpur Sahib resolution, Dr Dayal said the CPI was fully committed to more powers to the states to have a true federal structure. However, the CPI was opposed to the resolution because it had in it the seeds of a theocratic state. The CPI was for more powers but against any such idea which gave strength to secessionist, separatist and religious fundamentalist forces which would weaken the secular democratic set-up in the country. |
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SAD gives call for planting saplings SANGRUR, Aug 14 — Mr Amrik Singh Aliwal, president of the youth wing of SAD, today gave a call to the youth Akali workers to plant saplings in schools, gurdwaras, temples and other common places in the villages on a large scale. Mr Surjit Singh Barnala, a senior SAD leader, called upon the people to plant saplings of traditional trees like peepal, neem and bohar, etc. Both were addressing a vanamahotsava function organised by the district unit of the youth wing of SAD at the Panchayat Bhavan here. Earlier, Mr Aliwal inaugurated a plantation campaign by planting five saplings at the local Banasar Garden. Mr Aliwal further said he had a dream to see Punjab as a green state. The Youth Akali Dal had fixed a target of planting 10 lakh saplings this year. He said a state-level function would be held on September 6 at Ludhiana to celebrate vanamahotsava. |
Project for cattle
breeding AMRITSAR, Aug 14 — Dr Rattan Singh
Ajnala, Minister for Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Dairy Development, today inaugurated the national project for cattle and buffaloes breeding at Guru Nanak Auditorium. Highlighting the salient features of this project Dr
G.S. Chahal, Director, Animal Husbandry, said this was the Centre-sponsored project with an outlay of Rs 37
crore. The Department of Animal Husbandry, Punjab, providing frozen semen facility covers about 45 per cent cows and 5 per cent buffaloes population. The department’s plan to provide frozen semen facilities in each and every institution of Punjab is targeting to cover 75 per cent of cattle and 45 per cent of buffaloes population. |
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Two escape from
mental hospital AMRITSAR, Aug 14 — Two patients reported to have escaped from the local mental hospital during the night intervening Saturday and Sunday. Official sources said they escaped by scaling the boundary wall which was not very high. Both patients were convicts and transferred from the Central jail. While one of them has been identified as Pritam Singh the other was not having any name and was called as “wandering lunatic”. |
| Plantation campaign
inaugurated
BARNALA, Aug 14 — Mr Rahul
Bhandari, Subdivisional Magistrate, Barnala, inaugurated a plantation campaign of the local administration and the Rotary Club, Barnala by planting saplings at the local Civil Hospital complex yesterday to mark
vanamahotsava. |
Minor girl abducted TARN TARAN, Aug 14 — Mr Subeg Singh, father of a minor girl of Poohla village in his complaint to the Bhikhiwind police yesterday said on the night intervening August 9 and 10, Kartar Singh, PA, to Nihang chief Baba Ajit Singh Poohla of Amritsar, Baljit Singh, a Punjab Police constable along with two other Nihangs came to his farm house, locked him in a room and
abducted his 14-year girl. A case in this regard has been registered under Sections 363, 366, 34 of the IPC against the PA and others. Wife kills husband A woman Harjinder Kaur (28), mother of three kids, in connivance with her lover Partap Singh (27), also a father of three children, poisoned to death her husband Baldev Singh (30), yesterday at Sohal village. After committing the crime, the lovers ran away. They had illegal relations for the past two years. The police of Chabal has registered a case under Sections 302, 34 of the IPC against the accused. Arrest demanded Residents of Marhana village have demanded the arrest of culprits for the thefts occurred in the village on August 4. Master Bhag Singh said here today that the police had detected the suspected persons who were the residents of the village. But they had not been arrested so far. |
62 cr earmarked
for education HOSHIARPUR, Aug 14 — The Punjab Government has decided to bring about changes in its education policy for which it has earmarked Rs 62 crore during the current financial year. This was disclosed by Mrs Mohinder Kaur, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, while addressing a gathering after inaugurating Government Primary School at Piplanwala here today. She said it was proposed to spend Rs 11 crore annually on the basic structure of education in government primary schools in the state which was only Rs 3.10 crore during 1992-97. She said that computer courses had been introduced in all government schools as a compulsory subject and Rs 40 crore had been provided for the purpose during the current financial year. The minister said that it was decided to open primary schools at small distances throughout the state to ensure education for the children of weaker sections of society. She said that books worth Rs 80 lakh had been provided to 1,09,724 Scheduled Castes’ students free of cost during the current financial year. |
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PG entrance test ‘unfair’ AMRITSAR, Aug 14 — About 60 doctors of the government hospitals in Amritsar and elsewhere today complained to the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Human Resources Development Minister, Mr M.M. Joshi, that irregularities were committed in the postgraduate entrance examination held in the first week of the month as top positions were secured by undeserving candidates and those related to certain high-ups. The doctors, who had also sent a signed joint representation to the Medical Council of India, Governor, Chief Minister, Punjab, Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Vice-Chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, and Baba Farid University of Health Services, Faridkot, sought necessary action against the malpractices. |
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