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| Thursday,
April 24, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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No room for indiscipline
in club, says DC Ludhiana April 23 Coming down heavily on the club members, he said: “The club’s discipline had nosedived. But this will not be allowed to go on. Discipline in the club will be dealt with an iron hand”. His statement is being interpreted as a direct threat to those members who have been supporting the suspended club general secretary. Mr Aggarwal said that the Club’s security would be handed over to the Punjab Ex-Servicemen’s Corporation to restrict access to members only. Besides, the Satluj club would soon introduce a dress code for all members, like it is prevalent in most officers’ clubs. The Deputy Commissioner, however, avoided all direct questions on one plea or the other. Though he refused to divulge the contents of the chargesheet given to Mr Jain, it is reliably learnt that the charges include bypassing the purchase committee, appointing of a receptionist without the consent of the president, complaints of rude
behaviour by some club members and distribution of membership forms despite having opened the membership on a one-time basis. Not taking things lying down, 21 municipal councillors of the city today threw their weight behind the city Mayor, who is demanding reinstatement of the club secretary. The councillors have described the Deputy Commissioner’s attitude as “arrogant, dictatorial and arbitrary”. The club, it may be recalled, had issued a signed statement by all executive members, president and general secretary only recently that talking to the media about club affairs will be treated as indiscipline and result in expulsion from the club. But in reply to a question whether he was contemplating action against 7 Congress leaders of the city, which had revolted against the decision to suspend Mr Jain and had sought the ouster of Mr Aggarwal as club president, he said: “I would not like to make any comment”. It may be recalled that Congress leaders, who are also members of the club, led by the District Congress Committee (DCC) urban president, Mr K.K. Bawa, had openly criticised Mr Aggarwal yesterday for taking a
The statement that came from Mr Bawa, Mr Surinder Dawer and Mr Milkiat Singh Dakha (both MLAs), Mr Nahar Singh Gill, the city Mayor, the DCC (rural) president, Mr Gurdev Lapran, senior vice president of the Pradesh Youth Congress, Mr Amarjit Singh Tikka and the chairman of the industrial cell of the PCC, Mr Rajinder Singh Basant, had regretted that the way Mr Aggarwal had suspended an elected member of the club was “undemocratic and unjustified”. These Congress leaders had unanimously resolved to fight the “dictatorial and undemocratic way” of functioning of the DC, demanding that the president of the club should be an elected person representing people and not an officer, who becomes the president, by virtue of his official position. Though Mr Agarwal softened his stand on the issue of taking action against these Congress leaders for issuing a statement to the media, he evaded most questions, offering scribes a sumptuous tea and asking them not to drag the name of the club into any unsavory controversy. Mr Agarwal has maintained that he has acted strictly as per the rights vested in him by he constitution of the club, but at the same time declined to supply a copy of the club constitutions that has undergone drastic changes since its inception in pre-partition India. Meanwhile, supporters of the suspended club general secretary have started demanding a CBI inquiry into the accounts of the club that has assets worth over Rs 200 crore. Meanwhile, several members of the club have opposed the functioning of the club president, Mr Anurag Aggarwal. What triggered the protest was the suspension of the club’s general secretary, Mr Sunil Jain. Clubs members who till recently were adopting a docile attitude have now come out openly to describe the behaviour of the president as unreasonable and authoritarian. In recent times, this is the first incident in which the members have openly opposed the Deputy Commissioner. The members said that suspension of Mr Sunil Jain was in the bad taste. The suspended general secretary was subjected to such treatment inspite of devoting so much time and effort for the betterment and smooth functioning of the club. One of the members said, “There is a widespread feeling of insecurity amongst all the members. The club members have appreciated the existing facilities and infrastructure available to them at the club. Mr Anurag Aggarwal, the present president of the club, had himself extended the term of the General Secretary to two years, which was done as recognition to the good work the general secretary had done in the club. How come he has been labelled as ‘indisciplined’ suddenly?” The members demanded that the “harsh” action should be reversed for the normal functioning of the club. The members who revolted against the decision of the president include Mr Ashok Thapar, Mr Rajesh Nayyar, Mr Ramesh, Mr Anil Jain, Mr Sandeep, Mr Sanjay Jain, Mr Rajeev Jain, Mr Ashwani, Mr Vipan Jain, Mr Raju Sharma, Mr Raj Kumar, Mr Mukesh, Mr Mohanvir Singh, Mr Sanjiv Kumar, Mr Rajesh Tangri, Mr Bhupinder Singh, Mr Anil Katyal, Mr Pawan Moudgil, Mr O.P.Miglani, Mr Ajit Paul Singh, Mr Haridev Kaushal, Mr Inder Paul Singh, Mr Dapinder Singh and Mr Balwinder
Modgil. |
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Cong leaders want Aggarwal transferred Ludhiana, April 23 The Congress leaders including city MLAs, Mr Surinder Dawer, Mr Milkiat Singh Dakha, the Mayor, Mr Nahar Singh Gill, the rural and urban unit district presidents Mr Gurdev Singh Lapran and Mr K.K. Bawa, the Youth Congress leaders, Mr Amarjit Singh Tikka and Mr Pawan Dewan, besides the chairman of the Industrial Development Cell of the Congress, Mr Rajinder Singh Basant, are learnt to be lobbying hard for the transfer of the Deputy Commissioner. Today most of these leaders, including Mr Dawer, Mr Dakha and Mr Gill, left for Delhi to meet Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh to prevail upon him to get the DC transferred. These leaders had been to Chandigarh on Tuesday to meet the CM in the same context. However, they could not meet the CM there. Since today he was supposed to be in New Delhi, they all decided to meet him there only to put forth their point. It is probably for the first time that the legislators belonging to the ruling party have taken confrontation with the DC. In fact the resentment among the local Congress leaders, including the legislators, was brewing up for some time. It was manifested only yesterday when the leaders unanimously criticised some of the actions of the DC, including the suspension of the general secretary of the Satluj Club, Mr Sunil Jain. Interestingly, the same DC, in his ex-officio capacity as the president of the club, was instrumental in extending the term of Mr Jain from one to two years. Now the DC claims to have suspended Mr Jain for “indiscipline and misconduct”. Keen to find fault with the
The Congress leaders have been for a long time airing their grievances at different fora, saying that they were being ignored and they had not been given such treatment even during the Akali regime. Mr Tikka has written a letter to the CM also, while others like Mr Dawer, Mr Dakha, Mr Bawa and Mr Lapran have on several occasions raised the issue with the party high-ups. Yesterday these leaders also met the Finance Minister, Mr Lal Singh, at his residence in Chandigarh pleading with him to convey their demand to the Punjab Chief Minister. The Deputy Commissioner, when asked for his reaction on the issue, during his press conference at the Satluj Club, refused to comment. |
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Roof collapse: official visits school Ludhiana, April 23 Teachers and students passed through the verandah of the school, with its caved-in roof, as a class is held in an adjoining room. While heavy wooden logs fallen from the collapsed roof have been piled on the floor, many more logs, on the verge of falling, still hang from the ceiling. Since the school is left with just two classrooms after the Monday’s incident, the teachers said they could not manage teaching work without using the classroom next to the verandah. The five classrooms and a toilet atop the verandah cannot be used as the way has been blocked now. All those children have now been shifted in uncovered verandahs in the front and backyard that turn very hot by noon. The teachers said they found it very difficult to take class in hot, sunny afternoons. In fact, the students witnessed a second narrow escape on Monday. A similar incident occurred when the parapet of the terrace fell down after a heavy branch of a peepal tree fell on it during a hailstorm. The tree with its huge spread of branches and vast mesh of roots is posing a grave danger for the school building. However, the decision of the school to uproot this tree has always faced strong opposition from hundreds of residents who worship the tree every morning. Ms Harminder Kaur, Headmistress, said she went to the District Education Department and presented a memorandum. In response to her representation, Mr Varinder Sharma, District Science Supervisor, visited the school today, listened to the problems of the staff and the students and assured them some help from the department. Mr Bachitar Singh, District Education Officer, said he was trying to seek financial aid for the school from the state government. The school staff is also expecting some grant from Lala Lajpat Rai, MP, and is preparing for his visit around the weekend. Earlier this month, the school received Rs 5,000 for repair of the building and an amount of Rs 2,000 for annual maintenance of furniture from the department. An aid of Rs 5,000 had also come from the Rural Education Development Committee, said the Headmistress. The students and staff hope that the Monday’s incident of roof collapse could be blessing in disguise for them in case the government officials are able to solve their problems and provide them sufficient resources for the facelift of the school. |
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Councillor-contractor nexus in allotting projects Ludhiana, April 23 The orders of the municipal Commissioner, Mr S.K. Sharma, today for postponement of tenders, to be received later in the day, for a number of projects in different parts of the city, estimated at more than a crore of rupees, give further credence to common allegation by the contractors that a few councillors were not only taking undue interest in the allotment of projects, but were also actually influencing the very process of tendering. The unholy alliance between councillors, contractors and certain corporation officers is nothing new and has been in existence for quite sometime. But of late, taking advantage of the revised procedure for obtaining tender forms, in which the work has to be specified, a few councillors, belonging to the ruling party, are said to be manipulating things to their ‘personal’ advantage. If the corporation contractors are to be believed, these councillors, said to have laid hands on quite a few development projects worth a few crores to be executed in their respective wards through contractors of their choice, had resorted to openly intimidating civic officials, telling them not to issue tender forms to other contractors for projects to be carried out in their wards. At the same time, the contractors, who choose to go against their wishes, are threatened that they will not be allowed to complete the work and secure payment for the work done. Sources in the corporation said generally the projects carried out by contractors, enjoying proximity to the respective area councillors, were awarded at a comparatively higher rates for a simple reason that the contractor had to ‘share’ his profits with the elected representatives. Besides, making a dent in the much needed financial resources of the corporation by way of payment on higher rates, the quality of work was also, at times, compensated. While the corporation officers and contractors were not prepared to go on record, enquiries made by Ludhiana Tribune revealed that among the regulars to promote business interests of their favourite contractors were some of those from the ruling party, who were till recently vocal critics of the civic administration, a councillor known to be very close to the Local Bodies Minister, one of the deputies of the Mayor along with a few of others from the SAD-BJP combine. A group of contractors, upset over undue interference in the tendering process, also met Mr Sharma and apprised him of the situation. The contractors had reportedly urged that the entire process, right from issuing of tender forms to final award of work, should be reviewed and amended with adequate checks and safeguards to make it fair, fool proof and competitive, sans any political interference. |
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Area under hyola contract farming to be increased Ludhiana, April 23 He said the PAFC would increase the area under hyola contract farming to one lakh acres in the coming rabi season in Punjab. In fact, the corporation had been declared a nodal agency by NAFED to procure oilseeds and pulses from the state, he added. Farmers are now busy harvesting and thrashing hyola. Despite inclement weather, they are getting a yield between 8 and 10 quintals per acre, whereas, the traditional cultivators are yielding much less. But the loss in yield is compensated by high prices in the market, he pointed out. Mr N. K. Sharma, senior manager of the organisation, said the PAFC could procure the entire oilseeds and pulses produced by Punjab contract growers at the MSP of the government the same way as the FCI and other agencies were procuring wheat and paddy. Mr S. S. Bassi, Senior District Manager, said all arrangements for organised marketing had been completed. “ We have been approached by big processing units like M/s Godrej Agrovet and M/s Amrit Vanaspati Company, Rajpura, who want to buy hyola and other oilseed crops grown by the PAFC under the contract farming programme.” Earlier, Mr S. S. Sahota, a consultant, informed the farmers that hyola had the potential of giving higher returns than wheat and that too at a lesser cost of cultivation and savings in natural resources like underground water. He said the hyola-based cropping systems, hyola-moong-maize could give Rs 7,000 to Rs 9,000 per acre extra net returns than the paddy wheat, without any additional cost of cultivation. The corporation initiated contract-farming of hyola gobi sarson in the Punjab on 10,000 acres during rabi season 2002-2003. Hyola (PAC-401) is a canola type hybrid rape seed-mustard, developed and introduced for cultivation into India by Advanta India Ltd, a Holland-based multinational company. It has a yield potential of 12 quintals per acre and its seeds have 2-3 per cent higher oil contents than the Indian varieties of rape-seed mustard. Its oil has negligible contents of euracic acid and glucosinolates, the two constituents that impart pungent and bitter odour and taste to the mustard oil. For this reason, hyola is known as a 00 hybrid. As a result, the oil and the cake from hyola is of export quality, he said. For export, the euracic acid in mustard oil should be less than 2 per cent and extract from traditional Indian rape seed- mustard varieties does not fulfil this condition and is, therefore, not accepted by the European and the US markets, he added. |
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Damage to crops: BKU seeks compensation Ludhiana, April 23 They also said the government should also initiate measures to compensate the farmers whose yield had gone down by more than 20 per cent. Ironically, the government had yet to acknowledge this aspect and was resisting all demands to defreeze the MSP of wheat. The farmers should be paid Rs 988 per quintal which was in tune with the price index, they added. The kisan leaders said this was not the end of the woes of the farmers. The government was yet to announce any relief for the farmers even though the prices of diesel had increased more than one and a half times, the prices of pesticides and insecticides had increased between 25 per cent and 45 per cent, the government was unwilling to relent and had kept the price at Rs 620 only. Mr Lakhowal said that keeping in mind the decreased yield and the cost of the farming, the government should give an additional amount of Rs 368 in addition to the current MSP. In addition to this, he said the government had not done anything for settling the dues of the sugarcane farmers. The faulty policies pursued by the state had resulted in the closure of the sugar mills in the state. The unit has also welcomed the implementation of the Nanakshahi Calendar and said that by doing so one of the long pending demands of the community had been met.
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Punjab jails to go hi-tech Ludhiana, April 23 On his maiden visit to the Ludhiana Central Jail here this noon, he said a sum of Rs 15 crore would be spent by the state for constructing additional barracks in jails across the state. Rs 13 crore was received under a special Central scheme and the state government had chipped in with Rs 3 crore. The blueprints had been drawn up and the work would start soon. Besides, Mr Birmi said the state would spend Rs 15 crore more on improving the existing facilities and infrastructure in the jails and would provide television sets, computers and water coolers. Mr R.S. Chalia, ADGP, Prisons, was also present. Overcrowding in jails was a major problem in the state and the department would construct more barracks in the jails at Jalandhar, Amritsar, Ferozepore, Gurdaspur, and Patiala. The work on two barracks, one each at the Ludhiana Central Jail and
women jail, would begin first. The barracks would be equipped with the latest facilities available, he said. He said there were 250 women in the local jail which had a capacity of just 150 persons. An additional barrack would be constructed easing the pressure on the existing infrastructure. Elaborating on the tele-conferencing facility, Mr Birmi said he was aware that they were facing a lot of difficulties in ferrying prisoners and undertrials to the courts. They were coordinating with the departments concerned to ensure that the inmates could record their statements or give evidence from the jail premises itself. This facility would be provided at the Ludhiana jail and extended to other correctional centres in the coming months, he said. The minister said he was also concerned about the medical care extended to the prisoners. Efforts were afoot to provide the best medical care on the premises, but they were facing a resource crunch. If the situation improves, all jails would have full-fledged hospitals so that the influential persons do not use this ploy to get themselves admitted in private or government hospitals outside, he pointed out. He said he wanted to root out this trend of seeking exemption on the grounds of medical facilities. Mr Birmi also cautioned the jail staff to desist from the practice of providing intoxicants to the prisoners. Those found guilty of breaking jail laws would be severely punished. He opined that the inmates were human beings who had committed some offences owing to circumstances and their endeavour was to release good citizens after the prisoners had completed their sentence. Earlier, minister took the salute of an impressive guard of honour led by Assistant Superintendent Raj Kumar. He inspected the kitchen and barracks besides listening to the grievances of the inmates.
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Private
practice: docs against criminal cases Ludhiana, April 23 An extended district executive meeting of the association was held yesterday at a local ESI hospital. It was presided over by its state president, Dr Hardeep Singh. Dr Balwinder Kumar, district general secretary of the association, said the association was strictly against any private practice by government doctors for financial benefits. If a PCMS doctor indulged himself in such activity, he/she should be punished severely by the health authorities and the responsibility of the administrative supervisory officers concerned should also be fixed. Members said the association was strongly against the move of the bureau to treat the cases of private practice as cases of corruption as these medical officers were not anywhere using their official chair to get money collected from the public. It was also decided that a deputation of the association would soon meet the Health Minister in this connection. Dr Hardeep Singh said the issue of private practice was not a criminal offence and the NPA allowance given to PCMS doctors was not related to private practice as it was special overtime allowance for working 24 hours and odd duty hours for their emergency, VIP, post-mortem and indoor patient-on-call duties etc. It was technically difficult to draw a clear cut line between obligatory humanitarian ground and private practice at home. “ It is difficult to be a doctor as he is always compared with the God, has to face the wrath of public at times and also face derogatory way of vigilance official as a cost of helping the needy, ” said Dr Hardeep Singh. Meanwhile, the Indian Medical Association has also said a number of doctors working in government hospitals were facing a lot of problems at the hands of vigilance officials. The matters pertaining to private practice should be dealt within the Health Department only, it added. |
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READERS WRITE The advertisements given in various newspapers by the Congress under the heading “Completion of one year of corruption-free government” can be justifiably termed as the joke of the century. The truth, as it prevails in the state, is quite different. It is appreciable that the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, is spearheading a relentless crusade against politicians and bureaucrats of the previous government and has pinned down many a stalwart and heavyweight. It is a welcome change and public is highly appreciative of the same. So far so good. But other side of the picture is dismal. People have to suffer harassment at various levels so far as their day-to-day problems are concerned. Corruption goes on unabated at all levels in the state. Be it the Collectorate, the municipal corporation, the Improvement Trust or the Health Department. Name any department at the district level, the story is the same. Nothing moves in any government office without greasing the palms of the officials concerned. If you pay up, the job is done in a jiffy and the required documents reach your home. But if you do not do so, many number of rounds of the office concerned will yield nothing. Ultimately one has to fall in line and be part of the nauseating system. The latest example of rampant corruption is the functioning of DTO’s office in Ludhiana. Eight clerks and 14 agents working for them have been caught indulging in corrupt practices and it is claimed that one of the clerks has amassed assets over Rs 1 crore. But the moot point is: can any clerk indulge in blatant corruption without the knowledge and connivance of the officer in charge and other senior officers above him. The only logical answer is ‘No’. Yet the Vigilance Department has not touched these officers. Unless the officers In charge of various departments are not made accountable for the functioning of their departments, nothing will change and the things will keep on going from bad to worse. Will any action be taken against those already charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act, is an open question. Of the 21 cases registered against employees of various departments, action has been initiated against one person only. In the remaining cases, no departmental enquiry has been initiated nor have the accused been suspended. This shows the seriousness of the government towards the anti-corruption drive. Over to the Chief Minister. Major S.S. Khosla, Ludhiana Cricket in MC park There is a municipal park along the main road opposite Bharat Petrol Pump in Phase-I of Urban Estate, Dugri road. A cemented strip has been provided along the entire length of the park for the public to take a walk. A number of benches have also been provided therein for the visitors’ facility. Mostly, senior citizens and children visit this park to take a stroll and to relax. For the past more than two months, a batch of boys has started visiting the park with their cricket bats, balls and wickets in the evening. They instal wickets right on the cemented strip and start the game that continues till dark. Instances are not lacking when senior citizens were hit by the cricket ball and had to be hospitalised. Efforts of visitors to persuade these boys to shift elsewhere have proved futile. Rather abuses and threats are all that they get in return. They create a lot of noise. Sometimes windowpanes of nearby houses get broken. The authorities should take steps to shift these boys from here and free the public from this undesirable situation. M.K. Chhabra
Withdraw tax Telephone subscribers are deeply sore with the Punjab government for imposing 12.5 per cent tax on telephone rentals being charged by the BSNL. It is totally unjust as it puts an additional burden of nearly Rs 100 crore on the subscribers in Punjab. No other state government in the country has levied such a tax. Moreover, the subscribers are already paying five per cent service tax (now hiked to 8 per cent) on telephones to the central exchequer. The imposition of new tax put an extra burden on more than 30 lakh telephone subscribers in the state. The tax should be withdrawn. Telephone subscribers are also angry with the Telephone Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for raising telephone rentals, cutting free calls from 150 to 60 and decreasing local rates apart from reducing call duration from 3 to 2 minutes from May 1. If all decisions are implemented, every subscriber in Punjab will have to shell out an additional sum of Rs 300 to Rs 600 against his bi-monthly bill. The telephone subscribers belonging to the middle class are at the receiving end. Therefore, the authorities are urged not to implement the same.
Yash Paul Ghai
VAT a ‘redundant’
phenomenon With reference to Value Added Tax (VAT), please allow me to voice concern regarding the tax and its obscure nature. VAT is indeed an obscure and a redundant phenomenon. Smart state governments are now arming themselves with many opportunities to increase revenue by taxing goods at the first stage and later denying input credit. Even the Central Sales Tax cannot stop them. States can interfere with the value added chain at their own whim and fancies. They are indeed free to impose conditions on various goods before VAT can be claimed. Take the example of Haryana, the first state to implement VAT. The state’s VAT Act has categorically stated : Under certain conditions, tax paid on goods, including capital goods, paddy and rice, will not be considered as input tax. If the tax has been paid on first stage, it will not be offset under VAT if the commodity is exported. The strategy is excellent because neither the local traders nor the consumers will be affected. On the other hand, the exporters who don’t pay tax now, will be taxed. As a result, the state can claim that it is not actually taxing the genuine export transaction, but can load the entire chain with tax which is not offset. The CST itself has helped states to make inroads into their kitty. Under Section 15 Clause (a) of the CST, states are free to impose local sales tax more than once on all “declared goods” (whose trading is of national importance.) Subsequently, instead of one-time tax of 4 per cent on all declared goods, states can now levy sales tax each time they are traded and change hands within the state. The myopic outlook of the so-called “custodians of economic reforms” have made the mockery of entire system. Rajneesh Sharma
Selected lecturers’ fate More than one year has elapsed since 370 lecturers were selected by the Punjab Public Service Commission. Since then they have been waiting for appointments. However, they have all along been disappointed. How much more time will the government take to end their misery? Interestingly, there has been no recruitment of lecturers for the past seven years and at present, nearly 700 posts of lecturer are lying vacant in various government colleges across the state. The selected lecturers seek early appointments in larger public interest. Prof Antar Jyoti Ghai |
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Bapu Asa Ram’s birthday celebrated Ludhiana, April 23 |
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Artiste
bereaved Chandigarh, April 23 He is survived by two sons, Charanjit Singh Channi of Alaap group fame and Mr Paramji t Singh, an advocate at Ludhiana. A condolence meeting will be held at Gurdwara Model Town Extension tomorrow afternoon.
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Body found Samrala, April 23 The body was brought to the local Civil Hospital for post-mortem and investigations started under Section 174 of the IPC. |
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ADO held on bribery charge Samrala, April 23
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Steel traders’ tussle with industrialists Mandi Gobindgarh, April 21 During a visit to this town, this reporter was told by Mr Channan Singh Matharoo, Senior Vice-Chairman, All India Steel Re-rolling Mills Association that more than 40 per cent steel of the town had been closed down due to recession and non-availability of raw material. Mr Matharoo said that the owners of nearly one hundred steel mills had dismantled their structures out of 250 steel mills of this town. The SAIL and other major steel plants were not supplying the raw material to the steel mills as a result of which, they had to depend on the local raw material. The iron scrap had to be obtained at higher rates from far off places. Even the sponge iron was quite costly, he said. According to Mr Matharoo, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, UP, Kerala and Orissa used to buy the steel requirements from Mandi Gobindgarh. Now these states had sufficient number of steel mills and they were not dependent on them. Mr Matharoo said that prices of iron scrap and ingot which were the basic raw material of the industry had witnessed steep rise-say about Rs1500 to 2000 per metric tonne during the past dew months. At the same time, demand for the finished steel had also gone down because of rise in prices of the same. On the other hand, the neighbouring states like Himachal and Jammu and Kashmir were offering soft loans and cheap power supply. Besides, the union government had declared ten-year tax holiday for the new industries. The exemption of central excise duty was a big relief and attraction, says Mr R.P. Bhatia, Senior Vice-Chairman, Induction Furnace Association of India. Mr Bhatia opposed the levy of VAT and entry tax on the steel industry. Some steel industrialists of Gobindgarh were already in the process of setting up steel units in Jammu and Kashmir and Orissa. Mr Shankar Lal Gupta, President. Steel Traders Association, Mandi Gobindgarh alleged that for the past six months steel prices had been witnessing sharp increase as a result of pooling by the steel manufacturers . There was increase of Rs 2000 per tonne in the prices of finished steel items. He disclosed that they were sending goods worth Rs 6 crore daily out of Mandi Gobindgarh two years ago. Now they were sending only goods to the tune of Rs 1.5 crore daily. The steel manufacturers had not increased their commission for the past ten years —which was only one per cent. |
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