M A I N   N E W S

PTDC to close holiday homes
From Varinder Walia
Tribune News Service

AMRITSAR, Aug 21 — The cash-strapped Punjab Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) has decided to close holiday homes at Srinagar, Goa, Shimla and other stations.

A letter to the share-holders of the holiday scheme, written by the Managing Director, PTDC, reads: “It has been noticed that many of the holiday homes are not financially viable and a couple of them which have been taken on rent, their owners are insisting on vacation of the buildings”.

The Managing Director said the matter had already been considered and it was felt that some of holiday homes should be closed. A proposal in this regard would be placed before the board of directors of the PTDC, the communication added.

The share-holders of the holiday scheme, which was launched by the state government over a decade ago, have raised serious objections to the proposal to close the holiday homes at Srinagar, Goa and Shimla. They said it was the question of the credibility of the government which had collected crores of rupees from share-holders for opening holiday homes.

Mr Tarlochan Singh and Mr P.S. Grover, president and secretary, respectively, of the Holiday Home Card Scheme (Amritsar chapter), said they were shocked to read the letter of the Managing Director that the PTDC had a proposal to close the holiday homes in certain states.

“I have noted the contents of the letter with shock and disbelief. I wonder, if an organisation by an efficient government can back out from its promise?”

The share-holders feel ‘cheated’ as the PTDC has failed to keep its promise made during the launching of the scheme.

Mr Tarlochan Singh and Mr Grover, in a letter to the Managing Director, said despite crores of rupees collected from the members of the scheme, the PTDC had failed to keep its promise and only six ill-equipped holiday resorts were started which were never renovated or maintained.

The members of the holiday home scheme claimed that the loss in the running of resorts was not due to the non-cooperation of share-holders but due to the “unprofessional” attitude of the officials who were at the helm of affairs.

The members asked the PTDC to refurbish the image of the corporation and instead of closing resorts, more resorts should be added. With a view to making the holiday homes financially viable, the members suggested that top heavy staff should be reduced. The resorts should be renovated and made worth living. These could be handed over to private parties for better functioning.

Junior minister feels snubbed
From Varinder Singh
Tribune News Service

JALANDHAR, Aug 21 — The simmering discord between the Cabinet ministers and the ministers of state of Punjab came out in the open today. The Minister of State for Urban Development and Housing, Mr Ranjit Singh Ballian, accused his superior and the Urban and Housing Development Minister, Dr Upinderjit Kaur, of “humiliating and ignoring” him at a function organised by the Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) here today.

Dr Upinderjit Kaur was to inaugurate the computerised single window system started by PUDA, while Mr Ballian had to preside over the function. But Mr Ballian, who was here since last night, felt “humiliated” by Dr Upinderjit Kaur as she performed the inauguration ceremony “in a huff” and left the venue while he was arriving at the venue of the function.

It is not for the first time that a junior minister has been ignored and “humiliated intentionally” by his senior. Earlier too, ministers of state have complained to the Chief Minister that they were being “by passed” by their seniors, even in official matters. A number of such ministers had taken up the matter at a Cabinet meeting held in June. They had urged Mr Parkash Singh Badal to divide work between them and their seniors and direct the latter not to exhibit their arrogance while dealing with their juniors. The Chief Minister, it was learnt, had also discussed the matter with the Punjab Chief Secretary and had asked him to find a way to satisfy the ministers of state.

“If such a treatment was to be meted out to me then why had I been called to the function?” said Mr Ballian. He said Dr Upinderjit Kaur who had come to the circuit house here for a short while before the function, did not even show courtesy to call upon her ailing junior and headed straightaway to the function venue.

Mr Ballian has a spinal chord injury. “Since it is difficult for me to move without a wheel chair, I reached the function venue at 10.30 a.m., much before the scheduled time of 11.15 a.m. But I was stunned to see her coming out and leaving the venue. Later, I was told that she had already inaugurated the single window system by pressing the button”, said Mr Ballian, who is also the co-Chairman of PUDA. He further alleged that all ministers were being meted out more or less the same treatment by the cabinet ministers.

He said it was not for the first time that he had been given a cold shoulder by Dr Upinderjit “I am being bypassed in respect of major PUDA decisions and had to approach the Chief Minister, who had ordered that all files would be routed through me,” said Mr Ballian. The reason behind his senior’s “annoyance” might be detection of a number of irregularities by him in PUDA. Mr Ballian, who is considered close to the Union Sports Minister, Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, said he had detected a structural fault in the Rs 16 crore building of the Malout Institute of Management and Information Technology. This action might be having a bearing on the behaviour of Dr Upinderjit Kaur.

Regarding his future action, he said he will apprise Mr Badal and Mr Dhindsa, who had got him inducted in the ministry, of the incident. He said Mr Badal was a seasoned politician and expressed hope that he would decide the matter with prudence,” .