AGRICULTURE

BKU to burn copies of budget paper
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, March 9
The Bhartiya Kisan Union will burn union budget papers as a mark of protest during the kisan panchayat, scheduled to be held at Delhi on March 19. Stating this here today, BKU President Ajmer Singh Lakhowal and secretary general Manjit Singh Kadian said in a joint statement that the budget for the year 2002 was “pro-rich” and “anti-farmers”.

They said the union government had failed to provide any relief to the farmers or the poor masses. The indication by the Union Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, during his budget speech, to abolish the Food Corporation of India, coupled with the failure of the government to announce the minimum support price (MSP) for wheat so far, had caused great resentment among the farming community.

Mr Lakhowal observed that the proposal to entrust the responsibility of purchasing the farm produce to the respective state governments would destroy the farmers, particularly in the surplus states. “In Punjab, from where 70 per cent of the food grain was contributed to the central pool, the state government was in no position to purchase and pay for the food grain; nor did it have adequate storage provisions for the total food grain produced in the state.” The government should maintain the existing system of purchase by central and state agencies and the farmers should be paid for their produce within 24 hours, the BKU leaders demanded.

Strongly reacting to the statement of former Punjab Governor and a member of the Congress Working Committee, Mr Arjun Singh, that the Rajiv -Longowal accord was still alive and it should form the basis for the distribution of river waters and to settle the territorial disputes between Punjab and its neighboring states, Mr Longowal and Mr Kadian asserted that the accord was since long dead and had become irrelevant. Moreover, accord or no accord, Punjab had no surplus water to share with any other state.

The BKU activists further said that the remarks by the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, while inaugurating Ranjit Sagar Dam that Punjab should settle the water dispute with Haryana ‘across the table’ were ‘unfortunate’ and ‘mischevious’.

According to Riparian Laws, accepted world wide, the state of Haryana was already utilising its share of water and ‘no water dispute between Punjab and Haryana existed’. They said no one will be permitted to infringe upon the rights of Punjab to the river waters and the issue will not be allowed to be reopened. 

EDUCATION

Workshop by Nirdosh school on March 16
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, March 9
Nirdosh School for mentally challenged children, run by members of the Inner Wheel Club will organise a workshop for parents and teachers of these children on March 16 in Rotary Bhavan of Sarabha Nagar here.

The training given to parents and teachers in this workshop will focus on the rehabilitation of these children. The workshop will provide them with an insight on vocational, social, personal and entertainment skills.

Eminent doctors of the PGI, the DMC and the other hospitals in the region will be here for the workshop and available for consultation. Dr D. Prasad, Consultant Clinical Psychologist and a former Professor of the PGI, Dr R. L. Narang, Head of the Psychiatry Department of the DMC, Dr P. Sobti, Paediatrician, Dr Matta, Occupational Therapist of the DMC, Dr Kalra, Physiotherapist of the DMC, Dr Mishra, a psychologist, and Dr Iqbal Ahuja of a local nursing home will guide parents and teachers on how to handle mentally challenged children.

The workshop will be open to parents of all mentally challenged children.

Teachers seek probe into paper leakage case
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, March 9
Demanding immediate investigation into the leakage of a question paper of Class V students, the Government Primary Teachers Association has sought the intervention of the Education Minister, Mr Tota Singh.

Stating this in a press note, Mr Piara Singh Dhillon, President of the association, and Mr Bhupinder Singh, Secretary, said that proper investigation was required into the case to avoid further harassment of the students and teachers. He said that all sort of investigation done till date was a mere eyewash and that the officers of the department need to be more concerned about it.

The members of the association have expressed their resentment against the decision of the Education Minister to dissolve the primary directorate and implementation of the primary directorate. The members said that the decision would affect the promotion process of the primary teachers. Mr Dhillon said that a meeting to discuss the issue would be held on March 11.