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| Wednesday,
August 21, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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15,000 hosiery units observe bandh Ludhiana, August 20 The hosiery associations are demanding the withdrawal of fresh taxes, while claiming that they were already paying many taxes on yarn and finished products. The call for the bandh was given by a confederation of 39 associations. They had set August 20 as the deadline for the withdrawal of the taxes failing which they had threatened to observe strike. According to the general secretary of the Beopar Mandal, Mr Mohinder Aggarwal, Mr Naveen Sood of the Ludhiana Hosiery Association and Mr K.K. Jain Diggli of the Youth Congress, all hosiery dealers had unanimously decided to observe bandh in protest against the ‘black laws of the government’ imposing various taxes and restrictions on the hosiery traders. The association was demanding the withdrawal of order on sales tax exim form and C-form. Mr Aggarwal said both these forms imposed restrictions with respect to certain issues that were beyond their control. He said the government had asked the hosiery manufacturers to procure C-forms from the purchasers of their goods. The form is issued only to those dealers who have got their sales tax number and whose turnover is more than Rs five lakh. He said over 80 per cent of the purchasers of hosiery items were from the small-scale sector like the retailers and Tibetans. He said, “Nobody expects this form from these purchasers. But, in such cases hosiery manufacturers are supposed to pay 10 per cent tax on their total sales instead of the normal four per cent.” He said it was a draconian provision and the entire hosiery industry would collapse under its impact. He demanded that the government should immediately withdraw this order and save the already ailing hosiery industry. Besides, the mandal was also opposed to the imposition of four per cent sales tax on the import of yarn and the setting up of sales tax barriers at railway stations, which it claimed would lead to harassment of manufacturers and dealers at the hands of sales tax officials. The mandal had set August 20 as the deadline for the withdrawal of these orders. A delegation of the mandal had earlier met the Punjab Minister for Printing and Stationery, Mr Rakesh Pandey, and told him that the hosiery trade in the city was facing problems in sales because small traders and Tibetan retailers, who purchased almost 80 per cent of the hosiery items, were shying away and were shifting to
alternative markets like Delhi as being unregistered dealers, they had to pay 10 per cent sales tax. The situation was so grim that, till date, the markets were almost deserted, although August and September were supposed to be peak months for hosiery trade. In a memorandum submitted to the minister, the mandal opposed the bringing in of exim form 36-A for exporters of hosiery goods. They demanded that the old form 24 should be retained for this purpose. “The introduction of the new form will breed corruption and lead to harassment of hosiery manufacturers,” it was asserted. Mr Aggarwal said the hosiery industry in the city was contributing Rs 9 crore to the state exchequer by way of taxes and over 5 lakh persons were directly or indirectly employed by the industry. Emphasising the need for immediate relief to the industry, the delegation pointed out that the government should come forward without any further delay, lest the hosiery industry and trade should suffer an irreparable damage. |
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TRIBUNE FOLLOW-UP Ludhiana, August 20 Former SDM Raikot Inderpreet Singh Kahlon, who is now posted elsewhere, had in his inquiry report stated that the alleged victim Charanjit Singh (arrested on the charges of stealing a car) had committed suicide and was not strangulated to death as alleged by his family and suspected by a co-accused on January 13, this year. Acting on his inquiry report, the Jagraon police authorities have closed the case and sent the report to the higher state police authorities as well as the Punjab Human Rights Commission (PHRC) as per the required rules. Confirming the facts, Mr Mukhwinder Singh Cheena, SSP, Jagraon, told Ludhiana Tribune that the magisterial inquiry had absolved the accused cops and the file had been closed. Jodhan police post sources said they had heaved a sigh of relief ever since the unfortunate incident took place 7 months ago with the closure of the case. They were worried on two counts. One, they were accused of killing the youth after subjecting him to third-degree torture, Secondly, they were accused of negligence of duty, which allegedly gave the victim opportunity to commit suicide in the police post room, if it was proved that he had committed suicide. However, none of these charges had been levelled at them. The aggrieved family, including the parents of the deceased, wife and three children could not be traced. They had demanded a CBI inquiry instead of magisterial inquiry into the case. They had also demanded suitable compensation from the police or the government. The latest position in this regard could not be known. The sensational case was largely reported in the media. A large number of people, including the agitated relatives and friends of the deceased, had staged a protest dharna at Jodhan police post and Gursar Sudhar civil hospital alleging police’s bid to cover up the case. The deceased Charanjit Singh, along with another alleged car thieve Chamkaur Singh, was arrested by the Jodhan police post staff on the evening of January 12 on the charges of stealing a number of vehicles. They were taken to the police post where police questioned them. According to the then DSP (Raikot), Mr Amrik Singh the police did not touch Charanjit Singh as he had suffered fits in front of them. The police left him in a lock-up room and questioned the other. When, after some time, a policemen went to see Charanjit Singh, he was lying on the floor with a rope around his neck. He was rushed to a local hospital where he was declared brought dead. He added that thick saliva was coming out of the youth’s mouth. The deceased’s father Kishan Singh and brother-in-law Sanjeev Kumar and residents of Preet Vihar colony, Dugri, Ludhiana, had alleged that the entire police story was fabricated. The youth’s father said his son worked with an orchestra party and the allegations that he was a car thief were false. He said the police had implicated his son to improve their achievement record. He alleged that the police used third-degree methods to get a confession from his
son. He said their son did not suffer from fits as claimed by the police. |
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Govt flayed for recruitment ban Ludhiana, August 20 Addressing a well attended rally, organised jointly by the Municipal Karamchari Dal and its political allies at the main gate of the Municipal Corporation, former Speaker of the Punjab Assembly, Mr Charanjit Singh Atwal, and former Deputy Speaker of Assembly, Mr Sat Pal Gosain, along with some of the councillors from the two parties criticised the government for denial of the facility of recruitment on compassionate grounds, which they said would hit the lower rung employees. Activists of the Karamchari Dal including Mr Vijay Danav, chairman, Choudhry Yash Pal, president, Mr Surinder Bali and Ms Usha Jalota of the BJP Mahila Morcha pointed out that in certain cases where the employees died on duty, the only hope of survival for his family and dependents was the recruitment of another family member. Moreover, the ill conceived decision of the government was in gross violation of human rights and directions of the Supreme Court of India.
The protesters demanded an immediate review of the decision and restoration of the facility on humanitarian grounds failing which they would be forced to coordinate with other trade unions and launch an agitation to seek justice. Prominent among other speakers were Mr Netaji Sondhi, Mr Mohan Veer Chauhan, Mr Pitamber Singh, Mr Kehar Singh, Mr Raj Kumar, Mr Sanjiv Kumar, Mr Kishan Pal Beri, Mr Surinder Atwal and Mr Fakir
Chand.
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CPF SCANDAL Ludhiana, August 20 While Sanjeev Likhi, a clerk in the accounts department, Kulwinder Singh, a superintendent in that department, and Mohinder Pal, an assistant, have been placed under suspension, charge sheet has been issued to Ravinder Singh, Deputy Controller, Finance and Accounts. The MC administration is getting the matter legally examined and a possibility of lodging an FIR with the police in the next couple of days cannot be ruled out. The MC Commissioner, Mr S.K. Sharma told Ludhiana Tribune that an examination of the CPF records had revealed that around Rs 6 lakh, provided to the civic employees as loans from their CPF accounts, had not been posted in their personal ledgers. In many cases the repayment of loan had not commenced as the amount had not been debited to the accounts of the employees concerned, he said. An inquiry into the financial irregularities in the CPF accounts had been ordered and Mr B.K. Gupta, Assistant Commissioner, had been asked to conduct the probe and submit his report within one week, he said. Enquiries made by Ludhiana Tribune revealed that what had surfaced so far in the said CPF scandal was not even a tip of the iceberg and a thorough probe could bring out several dubious acts of the senior functionaries in the accounts department of the civic body. Insiders say that a caucus of employees was operating at various levels in the department and the system of ‘cuts’ on all sorts of payments, including loans to employees, was prevalent. Sources said as far as the payment of loans from CPF accounts
was concerned, the stakes of those at the helm of affairs in the accounts department were much higher. “Employees availing themselves of the loan facility were assured that the amount would not be debited to their personal
accounts and hence there was no need to repay the loan. In due course when the employee concerned attained the age of superannuation, he received full amount as indicated in the CPF account as there were no entries showing loans,” they said. The dubious operators in the accounts department of the MC were allegedly sharing a substantial amount of the money thus misappropriated, sources maintained. |
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BRAVE
HEART Ludhiana, August 20 The villagers would pay glowing tributes to Flying Officer Johal on August 21, the day he laid down his life while protecting the residents of this village in 1970. The relatives and friends of the martyr, who hail from Johal village in Jalandhar district would also participate in the function. The village is probably the only one in the region where a crash victim is honoured in such a manner. It is quite common for the flying officers to save residential areas when they find their plane was crashing. Continuing the tradition of remembering the martyr the villagers have shown exemplary reverence of their hero. He sacrificed his life on the same day 32 years ago protecting the villagers which was incidentally Raksha Bandhan day. He left his home after her sister Sawinder Kaur tied rakhi on his wrist and he took off for a routine flying sortie from the Halwara air base. The plane of the flying officer developed a technical snag when it was flying over the Saharan Majra village. Dr Jaswinder Singh of Saharan Majra told Ludhiana Tribune that the flying officer had an opportunity to bale out of the cockpit but he did not do so because he was flying over the residential area and he wanted to save the village. He ultimately succeeded in his mission, but by the time, a blast had occurred in the plane and he died. Since then the villagers, as a thanks giving and to make their children aware of the contribution of this hero, organise an akhand path every year in the village to remember the martyr to whom all of them owed their lives. Flying Officer Johal was born on July 15, 1948, in Johal village of Jalandhar district, to farmer Sagar Singh and his wife Karam Kaur. Since childhood he was a keen student and an allrounder. This was the story of the hero which every villager had learned by heart. The moment they were asked about this soldier they started narrating the tale as if they had told it a hundred times. Even the children of this village knew about the whole story and remembered Johal every time they saw a plane passing above their village. |
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DMCH starts functioning normally Ludhiana, August 20 All the medical and para-medical employees, including consultants, residents, interns, technicians, nurses and ward boys started serving the patients and round-the-clock emergency services also became fully functional. |
BJP charges Cong with having double standards Ludhiana, August 20 The BJP district general secretary, Mr Rajinder Bhandari, said in a statement here that while publically the Chief Minister claimed to curb corruption in the state administration and politics, his acts described something else. Referring to the quiet withdrawal of Lok Pal special leave petitions (SLPs), he said that the decision of the Punjab Government to withdraw all six SLPs, filed in the Supreme Court, challenging a Punjab and Haryana High Court order, was clearly an attempt to shield the Congress leaders who had been indicted by the then Lok Pal. The SLPs were filed against the High Court order which had set aside the appointment of former Lok Pal Justice H.S. Rai (retd.). According to Mr Bhandari, once the inquiry report of the Lok Pal against the Congress ministers — Mr Lal Singh, Mr Shamsher Singh Dullo, Mr Bal Mukand Sharma and Mr Lakhmir Singh Randhawa in, in the erstwhile Beant Singh government was quashed, all the charges of corruption and maladministration against them would be dropped and they would be exonerated. “The Chief Minister will then be able to say it more vehemently that he and his Cabinet colleague and other party functionaries and associates have a ‘clean’ record.” He maintained that the ‘so called’ drive against corruption by the Congress government was nothing but a weapon of ‘political vendetta’ and it had been amply proved by the actions of Capt Amarinder Singh. It was a well known fact that the Punjab and Haryana High Court had quashed the appointment of the Lok Pal on simple technical grounds but at the same time had passed an interim order that the state government was free to take action on the basis of the inquiry conducted by the Lok Pal. “If the Chief Minister has any real conviction and zest for making the state free from corruption, he should have gone ahead and dropped tainted persons like Mr Lal Singh from his Cabinet and let the state machinery take suitable action against the indicted and reportedly ‘corrupt’ ministers in the erstwhile Congress government headed by Beant Singh.” Mr Bhandari further observed that that withdrawal of SLPs would not only provide those, already indicted, with an immunity from the law, it would open a safe passage for corruption for the Chief Minister and his Cabinet colleagues. Referring to the appointment of a provenly corrupt doctor, transferred earlier from Ludhiana after a Vigilance raid, as Senior Medical Officer, the BJP functionary said that an inquiry by the Vigilance Bureau had already proved corruption charges against the said doctor. But instead of sacking him, he had been rewarded with the important post of SMO after a promotion, on the recommendation of Dr Harbans Lal, Minister of State for Forests, Food and Civil Supplies. “The minister’s recommendations for the promotion of the tainted officer as ‘honest and hard working’ and his later admission that he was ignorant about the corruption charges against the said doctor, expose the real face of Congress government.” Mr Bhandari scoffed at the ignorance of the minister and said that he should claim the responsibility of recommendation of a corrupt officer and affecting his promotion, thus mocking at the Vigilance Bureau and thwarting their attempt to bring corrupt officers to book and in a way furthering and encouraging corruption. He said that Capt Amarinder Singh was the captain of such a ship which was bound to sink because his party and corrupt Cabinet colleagues, steering the ship, were busy creating cracks and holes in it.  |
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Homage paid to Rajiv Gandhi Ludhiana, August 20 After paying floral tributes before the portrait of Rajiv Gandhi, the city Mayor, Mr Nahar Singh Gill, highlighted the work done by the late leader during his tenure as the Prime Minister. Addressing the gathering, Mr Gill said it was Rajiv Gandhi who played main role in the establishment of the Panchayati Raj system. He pointed out it was Rajiv Gandhi who gave voting rights to the youth between the age of 18 and 21 years. Addressing the function, Mr Pawan Dewan exhorted the people to shed the feelings of caste, creed, religion or language and work for the betterment of the country. Terming Rajiv Gandhi as a person of principles and leader of masses, Mr Dewan said he had done commendable work to uplift the poor and downtrodden besides maintaining national integrity in the country. Two minutes silence was observed to pay homage to the late Prime Minister. The youth activists also took oath that they would do their best to maintain communal harmony in the country. Later, Mr Nahar Singh Gill inaugurated a blood donation camp organised by the District Youth Congress (Urban Development Cell) at the Civil Hospital blood bank in which 58 youths donated blood. |
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Human rights organisation dubs Longowal ‘traitor’ Ludhiana, August 20 They were interacting with mediapersons before leading their supporters in an impressive caravan of vehicles from Ludhiana to Manpur-Khant (near Morinda) from where the SYL digging began. They said an effigy of Sant Harchand Singh Longowal, the chief architect of the canal, would be burned at the venue after a dharna where the people would be made aware of the role of the people involved in bartering away the rights of the people of the Punjab. They also showed the effigy carrying a placard dubbing the Sant a “traitor” of the people. Also present on the occasion was Gian Singh who was convicted and imprisoned for life in the Sant murder case and has now completed his punishment. He claimed that he had no regrets since he had done what was right. The BKU leaders, including Mr Manjit Singh Qadian, general secretary of the party, said they supported the dharna to be held at Delhi by the BKU on August 30 and they would also support Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh if the state government instituted a writ petition for stopping the construction of the SYL in the Supreme Court. They also demanded that the state government should get a resolution passed in the assembly for nullifying all the earlier decisions regarding riparian rights since they were discriminatory against the people of the state. |
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Govt flayed over ‘anti-people’ policies Ludhiana, August 20 The agitators from all over the district assembled at the Chattar Singh Park and passed through various parts of the city before descending on the complex. Here the protesters were addressed by the CPM secretary, Mr Mangat Ram Pasla, former legislator Tarsem Jodhan, Mr R.S. Beniwal, Mr Amar Nath Kum Kalan, Mr Darshan Singh, Mr Mahinder Singh, Ms Jasveer Kaur, Ms Gurmit Kaur Jawaddi and Mr Baldev Singh. Coming down heavily on the Congress government for the harsh anti-poor budget, the speakers said it had resulted in an additional burden of more than Rs 300 crore. The farmers too have not been spared along with the poor living in the villages. The deserving are not being paid old age and widow pension, poor students are not being given scholarships, books and copies and there are not avenues for the unemployed youth of the state. They also flayed the decision to close more than 29 boards and corporations in the state which would bring thousands of people on the road. The seriousness of the government can be guessed from the fact that only Rs 700 per acre is being paid to the farmers who have been affected by the drought like conditions in the state. |
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LUDHIANA CALLING CONGRESSMEN in the city, as elsewhere in the state, were caught in a dilemma on Tuesday, the 58th birth anniversary of the late Prime Minister, Mr Rajiv Gandhi. While, as usual, they were preparing to organise functions in memory of their late leader they got another brief from the top to reach Longowal village, in Sangrur district, where the government had organised a function to observe the 18th death anniversary of the slain leader of the Akali Dal, Sant Harchand Singh Longowal. This was quite a paradox. They were asked to leave their respective functions in memory of their “dear leader” for someone who would always oppose them and who lived and died an Akali and a rival of the Congress. But they had hardly any options but to follow the orders from the top as their leader and the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh had to make it a grand and successful show at Longowal to outwit and outdo his own arch rival and former Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal. For a while they were told, “forget Rajiv and remember Longowal”. That is why probably the politics is called as ‘the art of possible’. Birth or death annv Sychophancy is an integral if not an exclusive trait of the Indian politics, more so in Punjab. Everyone rushes to sing praise for the leaders in power and those who matter. On Tuesday, the 58th birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi, a number of people, including those who matter and who do not matter at all, organised functions to “remember” their great leader. In the mad pursuit of sycophancy some of them even forgot whether it was the birth or death anniversary of their late leader. A number of them issued handouts, (in what they are best at) saying that tributes were paid to Rajiv Gandhi on his death anniversary. In fact one such leader rushed to The Tribune office to make corrections. But he was not apologetic, arguing: “It is the love and respect that matters not the event...so how does it matter if we say it was the death anniversary instead of birth anniversary”.
Weather blues Although the delayed rains that had lashed the region a few days ago had provided much needed respite from heat, the weather has again turned the same — hot and humid. The nights are also turning darker day by day as the Punjab State Electricity Board has again started cutting the supply during night time. Due to humidity even the residents who were doing with coolers are switching on to the airconditioners, adding to the load on electric supply. What is intriguing is the fact that the ratio of the demand and supply is increasing day by day but there seems to be no solution.
Bhattal’s importance Being the Punjab Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development may not hold any importance for the officials of Ludhiana but being Ms Rajinder Kaur Bhattal is surely important. When she was in the city last week to attend the meeting of the regional committee of ICAR held at PAU, all the senior officials of the administration who are usually elusive had descended on the university. Even their security guards had a tough time when they were bustling around in the rain as the worthy minister was moving from the wheat auditorium to Sukhdev Singh Bhavan. And why not! Everybody understands the importance of being Ms Bhattal, who has been a potential candidate for the Chief Minister’s chair.
Dog training The Punjab Police Academy is reported to have embarked upon a new programme to train dogs and horses of general public as a step towards curbing and controlling crime. It is still too early to presume as to how much response the training programme will generate. The Director of the academy, Dr G.S. Aujla, probably believes that it would contribute towards checking the crime and making the dogs more vigilant. May this will lighten the burden of the overburdened police force in the state. Good luck to police.
All-time low Media-police relations in the city have touched the nadir. Gone are the days when there was active interaction between the cops and the members of the fourth estate. First the senior officers had made themselves unavailable. The press coordination officer, appointed specifically for helping the media, is also helpless as no police station gives any information to his team. Transparency in police working had been forgotten long ago. The latest trend is that the police does not give any information to the media, even if it is about their success stories. The result is that the media publishes news of someone’s arrest before he is announced arrested officially. This helps some criminals in a court in the longer run but unfortunately the police authorities continue to follow their chosen path.
Striking children Strike by schoolchildren is something unheard of. But for the city schools it is becoming a frequent happening. A fortnight ago the students of Sanatan Vidya Mandir, Civil Lines, had agitated and even damaged the property of the school to protest against the fee hike. In this week the students of Rajindra School in Haibowal had observed strike to press for their demands. The school authorities need to wake up to the latest demands as they should realise the fact that the modern world had taught the people to react and not take anything lying down.
Noise pollution For a wedding, a public park was used in BRS Nagar, The loud music of the wedding started right from 8o’clock evening and it went on non-stop till 3 in the morning. All the residents could not sleep because of the loud noise. What is surprising is that Sarabha Nagar police station is located at the distance of just half a kilometer from the venue. As the crow flies, the distance would be even shorter. Surely the loud sounds would have reached the ears of the police personnel, but no action was taken. According to the law, the playing of music should have stopped by 11 p.m. But it did not and it seems the law is just for papers.
Rakhi gifts for sisters The sisters never had it so good. The fashion of dressing the ‘gifts’ for rakhi has originated from this city. Nicely packed gift packs with bangles, bindis, fancy rubber bands are available at many stores. Jewellers have designed special trinkets like earrings, pendants for unmarried sisters. For the married sisters, small sets comprising of pendants in delicate chains and matching earrings are available. New funky watches are stocked for college going sisters.
Chhotu’s chai At a place like Ludhiana where people have very delicate tastes for food it is very difficult to survive for long. But there are certainly some food joints and tea stalls which remain all time favourites of everybody. There is Dalip’s lassi and dahi wadda, Kanahya’s purhi, Khushi Ram’s sweets, Chhotu’s chai. These are only a few names, which always remain in people’s minds. Most of these are located in the old city, from where a number of people have already migrated to the new localities and still they come here only to have the taste of food. Mr Vinod Dewan, a businessman, has a similar addiction. He says whenever he is in Ludhiana, he starts his day with Chhotu’s chai. In fact he straightway drives to Chhotu’s tea stall from his morning walk. There are many like Mr Dewan, who have similar addictions for such tastes. (see picture)
Tailpeace “In office we usually dress like gentlemen, otherwise we act as policemen only”, a police officer heard telling a scribe, when asked as why police officers usually don’t wear uniform while sitting in the office.
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Tyres worth 1.30 lakh stolen Khanna, August 20 The owner of the shop had lodged a complaint at city police station that 14 truck tyres had been stolen by breaking the locks and the shutter of the shop on Sunday Night. |
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