’84 riot victims lament unfulfilled promises
From Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, Nov 1 — Sixteen years after they were looted and forced to leave their homes in different parts of the country, thousands of victims of anti-Sikh riots are still struggling to come to terms with the tragic change in their lives.

While their wounds may never heal, the state government has, instead of coming to their aid added insult to their injury by not fulfilling a number of promises made by the successive state governments. The present SAD-BJP government has also only given assurances and not implemented these.

Living in the ‘ Danga-peerat’ (riot-victim) Colony in Urban Estate Dugri here, the affected families are eagerly awaiting the promised allotment of houses, 100 shops, 500 ration depots, besides compensation and proper employment opportunities.

An eerie silence prevailed in the colony here today as the residents were preparing for a function in their colony on the coming Saturday in memory of those who lost their lives. It was the first week of November in 1984 that witnessed the horrifying riots in which thousands of Sikhs were killed and uprooted in the wake of assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. While several functions are organised to pay tributes to the Iron Lady of Indian politics , the victims are left to themselves to observe and remember the dark days of their lives.

On visiting the colony one can meet more than 12000 such families. Each has its own heart-rending tale of misery. Reminiscing the troubled time they fought tears even 16 years after the sordid episode of their lives. While many have now settled down well there are others like Charanjit Singh who are leading a hand-to-mouth existence.

Owning a roadside cycle shop under the open sky he could not manage to build a proper shop on his own. He had a flourishing business of cycle repair and a clothes shop in a town in Uttar Pradesh when anti-Sikh riots swept the place. Forced to flee from his cherished home, he is still running to make both ends meet. More painful is the state of one of his sons, who helps his father in cycle repair work immediately after returning from his school.

“We were promised allotment of a shop if we produced a red card, which was the identity of a riot-victim. As I could not produce the evidence of being one, I could not get the card” laments Charanjit, while his wife and children who stand beside him present a picture of gloom that has engulfed them for the past 16 years.

There are others like the old couple Kesar Singh and Ravel Kaur and their neighbour Rajinder Kaur who had run from their homes twice. Once the Partition of the country in 1947 forced them and when they had almost forgotten the ordeal, the sikh riots took place, thus displacing them for the second time.

Says Rajinder Kaur who migrated to the city from Kanpur, and runs a shop in the colony these days, “Our life has changed completely. Those were the times when we used to employ people and now we are running after small jobs”.

With a choked voice she remembered how a mad mob destroyed in minutes her house and several trucks owned by her husband.

“Dil nun pakka karna painda hai” (we had to become strong), commented the old couple with tears in their eyes. “We had lost all desire to live after being treated in such a manner by people who lived like our family members.

According to Mr Surjit Singh, President, Danga Peerat Welfare Society Punjab and Mr Manjit Singh, another leader of the victims, they were more disturbed by the attitude of the government towards their sorry state.

They said the government had given them these houses in 1984 but are now demanding money in instalments if we have to get the allotment in our names. The then Governor O.P. Malhotra had promised allotment of 500 ration depots to the victims which we are sill awaiting. Then allotment of another 100 shops was announced but only 24 have got the possession in the past 16 years.

Then there are a number of widows who live only on widow pension announced by the government whose payment is also irregular. The leaders were also worried about the future of hundreds of orphan children who were either employed as child labourers or doing menial jobs or are being fed by a local Gurdwara.

Inflated bills continue to shock
From Kuldip Bhatia

LUDHIANA, Nov 1 — An average salaried person has been slapped with a hefty electricity bill for about Rs 23,000 because he has been paying earlier bills on the basis of average consumption for almost a year. The Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) has threatened an elderly retired person that his supply will be disconnected because his son, who has a separate power connection and lives separately with his family in a part of the same house, has defaulted on payment. An old widow has been forced to live without electricity for a long time now because she is not in a position to pay the power bill for more than Rs 7,000. The charges were raised on the ground that the meter installed at her place was running slow. The list is endless.

The grounds on which consumers are being asked by the PSEB to pay hefty bills are also exhaustive. A large number of such cases are decided every day in favour of consumers. Still, many more are pending before the district forum. The situation is grave.

Mostly, officials of lower and middle levels of the PSEB are blamed for causing harassment to consumers. One is made to run from pillar to post for getting wrong and inflated bills corrected, getting credit for payments, that have already been made and getting meters reconnected. Consumers are made to pay surcharge on the plea that the last date for payment mentioned on the bill is incorrect. Supply is disconnected due to non-payment of bills by the last date that is followed by two or three gazetted holidays.

Rampant corruption in the PSEB makes the matter worse for consumers. Consumers are made to pay for every little work that they want to get done in the PSEB offices. There are brokers who claim to be in “direct contact” with officials. They claim that they can fix anything, but for a price.

A large number of consumers told Ludhiana Tribune that the PSEB functioning needed a lot of improvement. “The PSEB officials only know how to impose hefty penalty on the slightest of pretexts, without bothering for the plight of consumers,” says an owner of a tiny industrial unit. Another consumer said the PSEB considered everyone guilty until proved innocent.

The Chief Engineer of the PSEB, Mr A.S. Randhawa, however, contests the allegations. He said, “The number of consumers in city alone is about 3.20 lakh and the quantum of complaints is small. In a big organisation like the PSEB, it is humanly impossible to operate with 100 per cent accuracy”.

Regarding inflated and incorrect bills, he said there was a precisely laid down procedure for it, which had to be followed. There was little or no discretion with the officers, which left no ground for exploitation of consumers. An acute shortage of electricity meters for a long time now stood in the way of speedy installation of new connections and replacement of faulty meters. More than 6,000 new connections were pending for release and 7,000 defective meters needed to be replaced. Consumers, who were paying bills on average basis because of defective meters, would have to pay these on the basis of actual consumption after the new meters were installed.

Mr Randhawa said most of the grievances of consumers might be genuine and would be redressed. He said there was a section of people that indulged in power theft and it was trying to malign the image of the PSEB administration. “Whenever, our enforcement or audit staff catches somebody for stealing power, it is called high-handedness,” he said.

The Chief Engineer said he knew that consumers had to pay money in the PSEB offices to get things done. He said, “In most cases, the consumers offer bribes for getting preferential treatment or out of turn favours”. He said lack of awareness among consumers was also responsible for breeding corruption. He said committees in every division and subdivision would be formed to redress the grievances.

13-year-old boy sexually abused
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, Nov 1 — Life has given a raw deal to 13-year-old Sonu. He has allegedly been sexually abused by a regular customer at a sweetshop where he works. Two days after the incident, he is unable to cope with the trauma. As he has no relative here, he is undergoing a lot of hardship.

Sonu belong to Nanpur village in the Sita Mandi district of Bihar. He had come to Ludhiana in September with hopes for a bright future. He is one of the many children of a poor landless labourer. His brother and he had come here to seek a job to support their family back home.

Today, he continues to work as usual in the sweetshop near Naulakha Cinema, trying to forget the humiliation, pain and guilt associatted with the incident. Sonu has to work from morning to midnight. He was reportedly kidnapped by one of the customers, taken to a secluded shop, robbed of his money, and sexually abused.

The sweetshop where Sonu works is open till midnight. On the night of October 30, Sonu’s employer sent him to serve tea to some labourers in the Bharat Transport Company nearby. While returning, he saw an autorickshaw driver who was sitting in his vehicle near the corner.

He reportedly stopped by for a chat with the driver, a regular customer at the shop, as he was known to him. The accused offered the victim a ride in his autorickshaw. Sonu accepted the offer and the accused drove him away.

Still shaken and with tears in his eyes, Sonu said, “I realised that he was speeding away in a different direction from the shop. I asked him to stop the autorickshaw, but he pressed my mouth with his hands to stop me from screaming. He also held me tight so that I might not jump off the vehicle.”

“I was taken to an empty kiosk near Arora Cinema on the Gill Road. “There, he beat me, took out a knife and threatened to kill me if I raised an alarm. After this, he physically abused me in the autorickshaw and snatched Rs 200 that I had in my pocket. In the morning, I realised that a rickshaw-puller was staying in the kiosk. The driver gave him a bottle of country liquor and asked him not to tell anyone about the incident,” he said.

He said, at about 10 am, they left the place. On the way, the accused gave him a Rs 2 note and asked him buy a pack of cigarettes for him. He said, when he returned, the accused had fled. After this, he returned to the sweetshop.

When his employer asked him what had kept him, he narrated the incident. His employer then took him to the police. The police went to the kiosk to catch the rickshaw-puller who had accepted liquor from the accused, but he, too, had left for Moga to be with his family.

The police has not registered a case in this regard. However, when contacted, the SP (City I), Mr G.S. Sandhu, said he would handover the case to the DSP (City), Mr Sandeep Goel. He said, after a proper inquiry into the case, the police would register a case against the accused.

Councillor injured in attack
From Ruchika Mohindra
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, Nov 1 — Sukhbir Singh Pappu, a municipal councillor and Vice-President of the District Youth Congress, Ludhiana, was injured in an attack by two persons at a marriage party. He has been admitted to the Civil Hospital where his condition is stated to be stable.

According to information available, Pappu was assaulted by two youths — one of whom has been identified as Jasbir Singh Sajad — while he was coming out after attending the marriage of a nephew of Mr Mohinder Singh, a former MP, at Usha Palace.

The incident occurred around 10.30 p.m. last night. Sajad allegedly tried to fire at Pappu from a point-blank range. However, he missed the shot. But Sajad and his unidentified accomplice caught hold of him and hit him with the pistol butt. They also tried to stab him.

Although Pappu managed to save his life, he suffered injuries in his hand.

The assault is being traced to a dispute between Surjit Singh Sekhon of Mualpur and Narinder Singh of Kelpur Baraich village. The dispute between the two is said to be over some monetary transactions involving about Rs 2 lakh. Pappu is reportedly siding with Surjit Singh Sekhon. The accused Sajad is said to be related to Narinder Singh. He has been rounded up by the police for questioning.

Woman burnt to death for dowry
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, Nov 1 — Close on the heels of the triple murder case, yet another woman in the city has reportedly fallen prey to the menace of bride burning for dowry.

It is alleged that the victim had been married to the accused for the past eight to nine years. He has alleged that the accused poured kerosene on the deceased and then set her on fire. The complainant has also accused Satnam Singh and Pritam Singh of mentally and physically harassing the victim for bringing more dowry.

SPEAKING OUT
Stumped nation vents its anger
From Kamal Kishore Shankar

LUDHIANA, Nov 1 — There is resentment among Ludhianvis against the cricketers who have been named in the report of a CBI inquiry into match fixing. Fans want strict action against all those who have been found guilty of match fixing. There are also persons who say that they are sad for Kapil Dev as his name was wrongly associated with the scandal.

Most persons said the guilty players should be banned for life. A student of the Khalsa College for Women said, “The faces of all the guilty players should be blackened and they should paraded in the city on donkey back. They have betrayed millions of Indians.”

Mr Narinder Singh, who owns a shop in the Field Gunj area, said, “Those who have been named by the CBI should be treated like Hansie Cronje. Nobody should be above the law. Cricketers should be discouraged from taking up modeling assignments as it diverts their attention from the game.”

Mr Girish Kapoor, a businessman, said some players like Kapil Dev had been wrongly accused. He said nothing could compensate for the humiliation that Kapil had suffered. “He was declared guilty without a trial. His innocence has now been proved.”

Mr Praveen Aggarwal, a trader and a cricket fan, said the latest developments had disappointed him a lot. He said the guilty players should be banned for life, so that, no other players ever dared to follow them. He said frequent changes should be made in the team and more youngsters should be included in it.

Mr Satpal Malik, Joint Secretary of the Punjab Badminton Association, said the guilty players should get a severe punishment. “They have betrayed the nation and sold its honour for money. Cricket should not be glamourised too much because it is bad for the other sport.”

Mr Ranjan Gupta, General Manager of a hotel, said, “A special law should be introduced to deal with such crime. The incident has shaken my faith in the game.” Ms Ritu, a receptionist in a medical centre, said, “These cricketers should be blacklisted and their names dropped from all record books.”

Harish Dua and Arun Beri, businessmen, said the guilty players should not be allowed to play even in domestic matches and advertisements featuring them should be withdrawn.

The student community demanded a harsh punishment for the guilty cricketers. Kanwarpreet Singh, a student of Class XI, said the match-fixing scandal had shattered his faith in cricketers and he had stopped watching cricket. Neha Sachdeva, a first-year student of Khalsa College, said millions of cricket fans who always prayed for India’s victory had been betreayed. Her classmate, Ruchika Bansal, said, “The faces of all the guilty players should be blackened and they should be paraded publicly.”

Priyanka Mehra, a second-year student of BA, said the property of the guilty players should be confiscated and they should be prosecuted. “We are surprised why the CBI has not registered an FIR against all those who have been named in its report,” most students said.

AN HONOUR
Awards announced for writers
From Our Corespondent

LUDHIANA, Nov 1 — Prof Pritam Singh of Patiala and Dr Dalip Kaur Tiwana have been selected for the Kartar Singh Dhaliwal Sarvshresht Sahitkar Award for 1999 and 2000, respectively. The award carries Rs 1 lakh in cash and a citation.

The awards were announced after a meeting of the Punjabi Sahitya Akademi that was held here today. A former Punjab Chief Secretary, Mr Amrik Singh Pooni, headed the meeting. Besides announcing the Sarvshresht Sahitkar awards, the selection committee also finalised the names of ten writers who would get the Kartar Singh Dhaliwal Awards, worth Rs 21,000 each, for 1999 and 2000. These awards have been instituted by a USA-based native of Rakhra village in the Patiala district, Mr Darshan Singh Dhaliwal, in the memory of his father.

Dr Rattan Singh Jaggi, Dr Waryam Singh Sandhu, Dr Harbhajan Singh Hundal, Baldev Singh Saraknama and a Pakistani Punjabi writer, Afzal Ahmed Randhawa, will get the award for 1999. Dr Dharam Pal Singal, Inderjit Hassanpuri, Hardev Singh Virk, Sukhwant Kaur Mann and Bhagwant Singh will get the award for 2000.

Today’s meeting of the akademi was attended by prominent writers like Jaswant Singh Kanwal, Dr S.S. Johl, Jagjit Singh Anand, Parminder Singh, Harcharn Singh, Prof Ravinder Bhattal, Prof Gurbhajan Gill, Dr Labh Singh Kheeva, Dr Guriqbal Singh Tor, Sukhjit Singh Namdhari, Sudarshan Walia, Dr Vidwan Singh Soni, Kulwant Jagraon, Mohinderdeep Grewal, Avtar Jaura, Jaswant Zafar, Janmeja Johl, Mohinder Singh Cheema and Prem Singh Bajaj.

The akademi has decided to present the Mata Jaswant Kaur Yadgar Award, including Rs 10,000 in cash, every year to a Punjabi writer of children’s books. The prize money will be raised from the income from the interest on a contribution of Rs 1.20 lakh made by Dr Pritam Singh of Patiala and his brother, Mr Kulwant Singh.

Members of the akademi condoled the death of painter Harkrishan Lal, writers Dharam Singh Gill, Santa Singh Aziz, Surain Singh, Rajwant Singh Rana, Baljit Kaur Tulsi, Amarjit Kaur, wife of Dr Sher Singh, founder General Secretary of the akademi and Pritam Kaur, wife of Hadardvir Naushehrvi.

COMMUNITY

A unique project to ease congestion
By Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, Nov 1 — A 2.5 km-long elevated road, the first of its kind in Punjab, would be constructed by the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation (LMC) to ease congestion on a section of the National Highway No 1— from Jagraon Bridge to the Chand Theatre intersection.

This ambitious and unique project, says Dr S.S. Sandhu, Commissioner of LMC, would cost Rs 41 crore and take about 24 months for completion. The actual work is expected to start within this calendar year.

Feasibility studies and soil tests have already been completed. The process of inviting tenders and award of work to the shortlisted agencies would take another two to four weeks.

Dr Sandhu said that this stretch of the National Highway No 1 had virtually become a major traffic bottleneck following an explosion in population of motor vehicles in the town. In the absence of any alternative, the corporation has decided to go for an elevated road. The existing road would continue to cater to the needs of local traffic while the proposed elevated road would act as a motorway or a freeway for long distance travellers running through the city.

Talking about resources, Dr Sandhu said that the Municipal Corporation was capable of generating about Rs 2 crore a month to sustain this project. At present, there was no proposal for any toll tax on this new elevated road.

Raising of toll barriers on this road would defeat the purpose of its construction as they would add to the congestion, he said. The construction of toll collection points would not only slow down the movement of the traffic but would also require sufficient space.

The elevated road has been so designed that it would be linked to multi-storeyed parking developed by the corporation on the Subzi Mandi side for the traffic coming from Jalandhar side. Besides, it would also be connected to the proposed flyover linking the Civil Lines area with the old city from the wooden foot bridge (Lakkar wala bridge) side.

This flyover, which had been pending for last eight years, has also been cleared for construction now. This flyover would have an opening on the proposed elevated road to provide direct entry to vehicular traffic from Civil Lines area heading for Jalandhar side. The flyover would also provide a direct link to Chaura Bazar and old city from the old District Courts side.

Dr Sandhu said that the corporation has agreed to pay compensation to Northern Railways as the new flyover would consume some of the land of the rail yard adjoining Ludhiana railway station.

Both the flyover and the elevated road are expected to be completed by the end of 2002, Dr Sandhu added.

Ludhiana, he said, needed certain flyovers because of the acute congestion of vehicular traffic on busy roads. The corporation, he said, may introduce toll tax on a new flyover, work on which is expected to start within a fortnight. This would link Dhandari Kalan with the Industrial Focal Point.

The work on the Dhuri rail crossing flyover was in progress and was progressing well.

The corporation also proposes to construct another flyover at the Gill Road intersection.

‘Abuse of sex-determination tests
should be checked’
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, Nov 1— Mr Gobind Singh Kanjla, state minister for Social Security, Women and Child Development, announced that the Social Security Department would launch an effective campaign to educate people to check the reducing birth rate of females as compared to males and voluntary organisations would also be involved to effectively check the abuse of sex-determination test and murder of the girl child before birth, as the number of females had gone down to 882 against 1000 males in Punjab as compared to the national ratio of 924 women 1000 men.

Mr Kanjla expressed his views at the state level silver jubilee celebrations of the Integrated Child Development Service Scheme, organised by the Social Security, Women and Child Developement Department at the Nehru Siddhant Kendra, today.

Mr Kanjla said that during the last 25 years, under the ICDS scheme, the state had made substantial achievements and the scheme had been now extended to 142 blocks including 137 in the rural and 5 in the urban areas. He claimed that in all the 142 blocks,about 18 lakh children and more than one lakh women were being provided six components which included Primary Education, Vaccination, Medical Check-up, Referral Services, Supplementary Nutritious and Education regarding health and nutritious food. He informed that under this program 12,787 village level ‘anganwari centers’ were working and an amount of Rs 35 crore would provide nutritious diet to mothers and pregnant women. The minister also announced that the department would set up 10 model anganwari centre in each block, where facilities for children and women would be provided. Mr Kanjla added that under this program, 18.80 lakh beneficiaries had already benefited and 10 lakh children had been prepared for admission to different schools after being provided with nursery-level training under the ICDS program.

Mr Kanjla said that 40 Anganwari workers would be honoured for excellent services with a certificate and a cash award of Rs 2500 each . The first batch of 40 best workers were also honoured on the occasion. The minister said that the department had also launched a new scheme named “ Kishori Shakti Yojana “ to provide education to girls between the age group of 11 to 18 years regarding health and proper diet in three blocks of the state including Adampur, Nakodar and Bunga. This scheme would be further extended to 35 blocks in the state. Giving details of the other achievements of his department, the minister claimed that the department was providing pensions to the 6.50 lakh persons under various old age, widows, dependents and handicapped pension schemes and by the end of the current financial year, the target of 7 lakh pensions under these schemes would be achieved. He said that all the officers of concerned departments had been directed to screen each pension case within a period of one month. The minister also called upon the officers of the department to launch a continuous program to create awareness among the masses for the eradication of social evils includingthe abuse of intoxicants and drugs among youth, dowry and pollution.

Expressing serious concern over the fast-increasing rate of pollution, the minister exhorted the audience to pledge to plant at least 100 trees to contribute toward saving the environment. He said for this purpose, voluntary organisations should also be involved in a big way . He also informed that with a view to redress the problems of the employees of the department, he had decided to listen to their problems every Tuesday at his office and called upon the staff of the department, to come to him without any hesitation in case of a problems.

Addressing the function, Mr S.S. Sandhu, Deputy Commissioner, suggested that there should be no cut on the funds earmarked for the social security schemes in spite of any financial constraints. He said social security workers were engaged in the noble cause of the welfare of women and children and other weaker sections of society. He assured all help from the administration for the implementation of social security schemes in the district.

Addressing the function, Mr R. L. Kalsia, Director, Social Security Department, Punjab highlighted the achievements of the department during the last 25 years and informed that the department was launching a three-month-long new program named ‘Meena’ under the ICDS scheme to check the abuse of sex-determination tests and the killing of girl child before birth. 

WOMAN POWER
Dogged determination helps overcome all odds
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA: “Life is a rendezvous with joys as well as sorrows. If you cling to your sorrows, how can you expect happiness?” says Ms Bachan Kaur. Her life has been a long odyssey of struggle. Born in a lower middle class family, Bachan Kaur’s first brush with harsh reality of life was when her parents left her behind at Lahore during Partition. Her parents’ logic was simple — the child was physically handicapped and she would be a burden on them. They thought that Partition would be “opportune time to severe off the umbilical ties”.

Later, however, the guilt pangs of having abandoned an innocent child troubled her family members. They decided to get her back from Lahore. Though Bachan has only faint memories of her reunion with her family members, the initial betrayal does haunt her sometimes.

Bachan was still in her early teens when she lost her parents. Her older siblings took over the charge of the family. They tried their best to be surrogate parents to her. But nothing could take away the mental trauma that Bachan experienced because of her ‘cot-ridden existence’. She says, “ While looking at my wasted legs, people felt sorry for me. Few empathised with me.”

At that time, Bachan felt that she was alone in this vast world teeming with people. Fortunately, her faith in mother goddess came to her rescue. She drew inspiration from the shakti of the mother goddess. Gradually, her misgivings started ebbing. Life acquired a new meaning and purpose for her.

Bachan’s straitened family circumstances and her own physical problem prevented her from going to a regular school. However, she taught herself to read Punjabi. She also learnt knitting and sewing. In fact, it was her sewing skill that made it possible for her to be economically independent.

She is thankful to the woman who helped her get the job. How she met her benefactress is an interesting story. She had gone to deposit the electricity bill in the electricity department. It was there that she met her benefactress. The woman was amazed at Bachan’s indomitable will and zest for life. It was at that woman’s behest that Bachan applied for a job at Bal Bhavan.

Bachan’s work involves sewing clothes and knitting woollens for the children of the leprosy patients at Bal Bhavan, Ludhiana. She also teaches sewing and knitting to these children. She says, “When small pig-tailed girls come to me for help, I feel very happy. The innocent prattle of the children is immensely soothing. Talking with children is a great cathartic experience.”

In her opinion, children reciprocate love spontaneously. Physical deformities do not make them uneasy the way they do the adults. Many ‘old students’ still come to meet her. Her physical deformity has never stood in the way of her communication with the children at Bal Bhavan.

Bachan lives in the home of her youngest brother. Her nephews and nieces dote on her. She, too, showers her love and affection on them. Did she ever yearn for marriage? Bachan says that she was clear about what she wanted in life and the question of marriage never crossed her mind. Her instinct for motherhood found its sublimation in her care for her nieces and nephews.

Daily meditation is a must for Bachan. After her morning bath, the first thing she does is to have a heart-to-heart talk with her goddess. She also frequents Nanaksar gurdwara. A firm believer in God, she also believes that honesty and selflessness are as important as worshipping God. Bachan Kaur’s dogged determination and her unswerving faith in human dignity are worth emulating! 

700 structures demolished
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, Nov 1 — Teams of Municipal Corporation demolished about 700 structures on the GT Road near Dhandari railway station and in some localities on Pakhowal Road here on Tuesday. The MC Joint Commissioner, Mr Harjinder Singh, and more than 100 police personnel and members of the demolition squad, equipped with bulldozers and earth removers, arrived on the spot in the morning. Occupants of jhuggis, shops and houses were warned to move out their belongings before the drive began. A large number of structures built along the railway track were demolished.

Mr Harjinder Singh said these structures had been illegally constructed on a corporation land. He said notices had already been served to occupants to vacate the land, but they had not done so. The MC had removed some structures from the place earlier as well, but these had come up again. After the demolition was over, the MC employees cleared the debris and began building a boundary wall to ensure that the encroachments did not reoccur. The civic body, plans to develop a green belt on the land. The persons who have been displaced due to this drive mostly belong to West Bengal, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.

Frequent holidays a problem
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, Nov 1 — Too many holidays, too many problems. That is what people feel. Because almost everything gets stuck from business to communications. As Punjab observed a holiday today to celebrate its foundation day hundreds of people had to suffer as for them a holiday means getting stuck.

A survey conducted by Ludhiana Tribune among different sections of society revealed that frequent holidays generally lead to numerous problems. The worst sufferers appear to be the businessmen, for whom a holiday means losing a day's business.

Mr Gopal Joshi, area sales executive of a company, observed that there should be minimum number of holidays. One holiday in a week is sufficient. Moreover, he suggested that the institutions like banks and post offices should ensure minimum holidays.

Another businessman,Mr Chandermohan Singh, dealing in hosiery said that he feels that it should be the policy of the government to observe minimum holidays.

Even students are not happy with numerous holidays. They say, even in usual course they do not get sufficient working days. Plus the unscheduled holidays result in non-completion of syllabus. Sonu, a student of Government College, said there may be some students who would like to have more and more holidays, but most students would like to attend college.

Mr Harish Dua and Mr Arun Beri, businessmen, felt that India may well be the only country in the world, where there is no limit on holidays. This, they felt was primarily due to the lack of work culture. Frequent holidays encourage lethargy and lead to incompetence,they said.

Mr Dua pointed out, government institutions should take a lesson from the private sector, where there are minimum number of holidays. He suggested that a law should be enacted to ensure a limit on number of holidays in a year.

Farmers asked to prepare for global challenges
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, Nov 1 — “Farmers must prepare themselves to meet the global challenges in the wake of WTO and GATT strategies. The must be responsive to new farm techniques so that they can cut down on the cost of inputs and improve farm quality,” said Mr Kewal Singh Badal, vice-president of the Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee, while inaugurating a block level farmers’ training camp at Dakha, about 20 km from here today.

The chief agricultural officer, Dr Gurcharan Singh Rajajung, explained in detail the advantages of sowing rabi cash crops. The department of agriculture, he said, would provide farmers with good quality farm inputs to raise the standard of production to international levels. Farmers should use certified seeds, in addition to judicious application of fertilisers, insecticides and pesticides, strictly on the basis of soil testing report. He advised farmers to switch over to farm yard manures and green manures for maintaining soil health, quality of farm produce and high yield.

Dr Rajajung remarked that in the changing scenario, there was a need for to reduce the area under wheat cultivation by at least 20 per cent, and instead to grow cash crops like sugarcane, oilseeds, mentha, turmeric, ginger, vegetables and flowers. Diversification was necessary to supplement family income and farmers should adopt bee keeping, poultry, dairy farming and mushroom culture in a big way.

During the technical session, Dr Rajinder Pal Singh Aulakh, Dr Partap Singh, Dr Daler Singh, Dr Amarjit Singh Dhaliwal, Dr Bhagwan Singh, Dr Gurdev Singh, Dr Kirpal Singh, Dr Gurcharan Singh and Dr Baljinder Singh Gill provided expert advice to farmers on various aspects of farming like inter-cropping of various crops, agricultural extension services and cash crops. Mr Amarjit Singh Sidhu, a progressive farmer and president of Punjab Kisan Club focussed on the problems of farmers.

Bus rams into divider, no one hurt
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, Nov 1 — A number of passengers travelling in a Punjab Roadways bus to Jagraon had a narrow escape today morning when their bus rammed into a railing on the divider of the busy Ludhiana-Jagraon road near Punjab Agriculture University here. The accident occurred when a car travelling in front of the bus had to suddenly apply brakes in order to save participants in a rally of PSEB employees.

The bus, following the car, had no option but to make a sharp turn to the right in order to avert a collision with the car or other vehicles on its left. Luckily, there was no injury to the passengers or other commuters on the road. The traffic remained disrupted for short while but was later restored after the bus was towed away.

Bandh observed
From Our Correspondent

SAMRALA, Nov 1 — Commission agents of the local grain market observed a complete strike today against the inability of the police to trace the culprits who had attacked the family of Mr Gurcharan Singh, a commission agent, on October 10.

Mr Harpal Singh Dhillon, president, and Mr Sher Singh Mushkabad, general secretary of the Ahrtia Association, Samrala, told media that the culprits had injured the family members of the agent and decamped with cash and gold jewellery. On the same night, 373 bags of wheat were stolen from the godown of Mr Sher Singh and Mr Kulwinder Singh. The leaders of the association threatened to come to the streets if the culprits were not nabbed immediately.

CRIME

Four booked in case of fraud
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, Nov 1 — The police has booked the owners and a driver of a firm in the Focal Point area for cheating and fraud and for black-marketing of kerosene.

One killed
Balbir Singh succumbed to his injuries at Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital here today. He had sustained injuries in an accident on October 10 when he was run over by a bus (PB-13A-9765).

Thieves decamp with cash
From Our Correspondent

SAMRALA, Nov 1 — Thieves broke open a confectionary shop on Khanna road, last night. Cash worth Rs 13,000 was stolen from the shop of Mr Tarsek. A case has been registered by the police.

BUSINESS

‘Garment exports need a boost’
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, Nov 1 — The Punjab Government is neither taking any initiative for the development of the garment export industry in the state nor is it supporting the efforts of other organisations engaged in the promotion of exports from the state.

While other state governments, especially Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, have undertaken various steps to strengthen the infrastructure facilities and training programmes for the required skilled manpower, the Punjab Government does not seem to be interested in the future progress of the hosiery units. The sword of the WTO is hanging on the heads of hundreds of units.

These views were expressed by Mr Vijay Mathur, Director, Export Promotion, AIM and ATDC of the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), New Delhi. He was interacting with mediapersons after the inauguration of a seminar on “Forecasting of fashion in winter and autumn in 2001-2002” organised by the AEPC.

Elaborating on the importance of Ludhiana in Indian garment exports, he said,‘‘ During 1999-2000, the Indian exports were to the tune of about Rs 24,000 crore which were expected to increase to Rs 27,650 crore in 2000-01. The share of Ludhiana was about 2.5 per cent in the Indian garment exports, about Rs 700 crore. However, with the change in market scenario with the full implementation of WTO provisions in 2005, the situation will drastically change.’’

There will be no quota system. Only the fittest units will be able to survive. Most of the competitors like China, Italy, Germany in the international market, and states of Tamil Nadu, UP, Maharastra and Andhra Pradesh are taking a number of steps to meet the challenge. However, the Punjab Government seems to be sleeping and the exporters are running from pillar to post to solve their problems, he adds.

He warns there is no future for inefficient small-scale units, and unfortunately most of the units in the state come in that category. It is not that they can not change themselves but they are not getting the required help from the state government. The central government has introduced a number of schemes like TUF, under which subsidy is provided for the modernisation of units. AEPC was also organising seminars and workshops to create awareness among the industry.

Mr Mathur said the state government should have developed industrial plots for the export units, besides ensuring power supply and hassle-free environment to deal with the administrative formalities. The small units were unable to modernise or expand their capacity since they were unable to get the cooperation of the state government.

Mr Vijay Mathur has been associated with the AEPC since 1988. A marketing graduate from Aligarh Muslim University, he has worked with Glaxo, the Maharastra State Textile Corporation and the National Textile Corporation.

‘‘We are going to open an apparel designing centre shortly in Gurgaon for which the state government of Haryana is contributing about Rs 12 crore. We are ready to provide faculty members for Ludhiana also, provided the state government comes forward,’’ he said.

Regarding the potential of garment exports, he said presently India’s share in the world garment trade was only 2.5 per cent as compared to 29 per cent of China and 8 per cent of Italy. By 2005, India’s share is expected to increase to $ 9 billion. For this, the industry as well as state and centre governments would have to make lot of efforts.

‘‘Even today we need 32 lakh skilled tailors to meet the requirements which will increase in the coming years. If we do not undertake the necessary steps, it will be very difficult to meet the challenges,’’ he said.

What is needed most is changes in labour laws and dereservation of the garment industry from SSI status. Further the government should allow foreign investment in this sector, import of fabrics and exemption of income tax on export earnings, he said. 

Return of decorative style in garments
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, Nov 1 — The winter fashion trends in the Europe this year are going to witness a radical change from trendy ones to the designs of luxurious elegance. An increase in purchasing power and better performance of economies have led to the demand of excited colours, that represent a different personality. The return of decorative style is a noticeable fact.

These points were brought out by Ms Danielle de Diesbach, Director, General Creation, Promostyl, Paris. She was making a presentation in the seminar on fashion forecasting for winter and autumn 2001-2002 organised by the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), in collaboration with the National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi.

She said menswear are adopting modern styles divided in three groups: city wear, with suits in synthetic fabrics treated with the rigour; ‘Military’ uniforms, outdoors styles and ultra-modern jeans wear with lots of topstitching, cuts and multiple pockets.

The seminar was organised to familiarise garment exporters with the new fashion trends in foreign markets.

Mr R.K. Singh, deputy director, AEPC, said, ‘‘The garments export from Ludhiana was about Rs 700 crore which was expected to increase to Rs 1000 crore. The emphasis was to capture new markets like Brazil, and this seminar was part of the planned strategy.

Mr Zdravko Zunec, project manager, Promostyl, Ms Savita Sharma, director, National Resource Centre, and Ms Asha Baxi, Sr Professor, NIFT, made presentations on fashion influences, colour fabric trends and styling. These presentations were followed by an interaction session and presentations by the participants. Representatives of 36 exporting firms participated in the seminar.