Batala, August 27
The collection of toll tax at Lakhanpur toll barrier of Jammu & Kashmir government is being usurped and in this way the govt. of J&K is being duped to the time of thousands of rupees each day.

Whenever, any vehicle enters the J&K territory through Lakhanpur barrier, toll tax is collected at the barrier by officer. They are supposed to issue computerized receipt to the entering vehicle by mentioning the particulars of the vehicle, date and time of its entry and the amount charged from the driver of the vehicle.

Instead, the officials present at the barrier collect the tax and either don’t issue any receipt or the drivers are being slapped the office copy of the receipt which is supposed to be retained. This way, thousands and thousands of rupees are being pocketed daily by the officials posted at the barrier.

Sometimes car driven are given receipts of the trucks while at other times the receipts of cars are handed over to the truck drivers.

Mr Davinder Pal, president, Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh, Gurdaspur district disclosed to this correspondent here yesterday that the corruption prevalent at the toll tax barrier at Lakhanpur is causing a great loss to the exchequer.

When he objected the issuance of the wrong receipt of the toll tax he paid at the barrier for car number PB 54 0023, he was slapped with receipt of some other vehicle showing the same to be an office copy instead of driver’s copy.

Patiala, August 27
Representatives of senior PCMS doctors, in-service wing of the Indian Medical Association, Punjab, medical and dental teachers met in an emergency meeting at the Government Medical College here to chalk out a course of action against the instructions of the Punjab Finance Department.

The doctors said the interpretation of the June 2004 notification of the Punjab Government on the issue of the merger of 50 per cent dearness allowance with the pay and the calculation of the non-practice allowance of the doctors was wrong and illegal.

Then meeting was addressed by Dr D.C. Sharma, general secretary of the Senior PCMS Association, Dr D.S. Bhullar, Chairperson, in-service wing of the IMA, Punjab, Dr B.S. Sohal, general secretary, Medical and Dental Teachers Association, and Dr Vijay, PCMS Association, Punjab.

The members appealed to the Chief Minister, Health Minister and the Finance Minister to direct the Finance Department to withdraw the instructions of the department as the letter issued by the Under Secretary, Finance Department, on August 19 was strongly condemned.

The Punjab Government through its notification in June had merged 50 per cent dearness allowance with the basic pay to be shown as dearness pay for all its employees. The new instructions of the government discriminate against the Punjab government doctors, they alleged as it would cause a loss in income to doctors. The loss would range between Rs 1600 to 4000 per month for various categories.

Meanwhile, the PCMS Association, Punjab, has decided to hold a dharna against the Finance Department’s decision in Chandigarh on August 31. Dr M.S. Randhawa, Dr D.S. Gill, patron and president of the association, respectively, said the order discriminated against the doctors as all other employees were getting DA pay benefits on the Central Government pattern except the PCMS doctors. 

Attari, August 27
Even as the release of Sarabjit Singh, languishing in Pakistan jail, is gathering momentum, the Indian Government, as per its commitment of free heart treatment for 20 Pakistan children allowed passage to an eight-year-old girl of its neighbouring country today.

Hamida Khanum arrived via the Samjhauta Express along with her parents. Talking to The Tribune, the child ‘s father Abdul Karim Baksh said his little one was diagnosed with a hole in heart at birth.

The father said he had sought treatment for his child in their hometown Lahore, Islamabad and other cities of Pakistan.

During this period, he was advised to seek treatment in India by doctors. He said he was convinced when he met several parents of the young children who had got them treated in India and were showing very encouraging results.

Buoyed by their recovery rate, the poor father said he approached the Indian High Commission in Islamabad. Appreciating the Indian officials, he said he was immediately sanctioned a visa of three months on a priority basis. “We are lucky and grateful to the Indian Government for its humanitarian gesture and I am hopeful and positive that my daughter would recover after her treatment here, as surgeons here are known to be deft in this kind of surgery,” said Abdul Karim Baksh.

The father, who is heading for Bangalore, further said that treatments in developed countries cost more than Rs 4-5 lakh, whereas in India these could be done at one fifth the price. Abdul was happy that the Indian Government was extending the Prime Minister’s Welfare Scheme to them in which the treatment was practically free. The family would return to Pakistan in mid-October.

Hoshiarpur, August 27
Leaders of several Muslim organisations in Punjab today demanded that Pakistan should release Sarabjit Singh, who is facing death sentence there on charge of being an Indian intelligence operative.

Punjab Muslim National Front president Maulvi Syed Azhar Hassan, National Muslim Welfare Movement president Abdul Rashid Noori Baba in a joint statement here said Sarabjit Singh was innocent.

Bathinda, August 27
While the police reportedly arrested fathers of two persons settled in South Africa in connection with the abduction of Makhan Singh of Mohali yesterday, the family of one of those held has alleged that he is being falsely implicated in the case.

Four Indians settled in South Africa had allegedly held Makhan Singh hostage for a ransom of Rs 15 lakh. Sources said Sarabjeet Bhattal, father of 30-year-old Guninder Bhattal who worked at a shop in South Africa, and Hari Chand of Jethuke village, father of 28-year-old Paramjeet Singh who was in South Africa for the past three years, had not returned home after the police purportedly picked them on August 24.

Sarabjeet is also the district general secretary of the Congress.

Though the police has not shown their arrests, their family members have accused it of keeping them in illegal custody. The sources said the families had also made their sons call up the police from South Africa, but it had still not set Sarabjeet and Hari Chand free.

District police chief Kapil Dev said they were just called for investigation and were released. “But, they have not been released,” said Kamal, daughter of Sarabjeet Bhattal.

Talking to The Tribune, Kamal said Balwinder Singh had been giving misleading statements on a private TV channel regarding the case. She said Balwinder was a friend of Jassi, at whose shop her brother Guninder worked in South Africa.

Once Balwinder was accused of stealing money from his shop and he had a fight with Jassi over the matter. Since then he had been nursing a grudge against Jassi and her brother, and had also threatened them of taking revenge, she added. Kamal said, “We are well-off and Guninder doesn’t need to indulge in such activities to make money.” She also accused the media of hearing one side of the story and said ultimately the truth would prevail.

Sultanpur: People of 16 villages of this sub-division of Kapurthala district remain cut-off from the rest of country from 6 pm to 6 am everyday. As many as 250 families of Baupur Mand, Baupur Jadiel, Baupur Kadim, Mohammadabad, Rampur Gora, Kadir Bhaini, Baradpur Bhaini, Mubarakpur, Mand Mubarakpur, Sangri, Bhim Kadim, Mand Gujjarpura, Mand Akalpurukh, Bandu Jadiel, Bandu Kadim and Kishanpur Karka villages situated on an island in the Beas have to use boats to reach the main land, of the district due to the absence of a bridge. Agriculture and sale of milk being the only source of their income, they have to visit the city daily to sell the products.

Due to lack of medical facilities in any of these villages, patients have to visit dispensaries in villages across the river.

Sometimes our women die during labour pains due to complications as there is no medical facility in the area and boats do not ply during nights, “rued Didar Singh, a panch of Mand Gujjarpura village. Similarly, due to the absence of veterinary facilities people have to transport sick animals in boats which prove fatal for seriously ill animals, said Jagjit Singh, Sarpanch of Bandu Jagir village.

Though Rana Gurjit Singh local MP, has assured villagers of a temporary bridge of boats proposal for which is in process, the villagers are not satisfied as they are apprehensive of the viability of the boat bridge.

The middle school in the area is being run with one teacher without any building.

The situation during the monsoon worsens because, boats cannot be used due to the rains and overflowing of the Beas.

Postal services are not available in the area, the plight of Mohammadabad, Mand Partapur and Alam Khan villages on the other end of the river is more pitiable.

“Whenever we approach the authorities at Kapurthala, they direct us to substation Sarhaili under Patti division of Amritsar district,” said Kashmir Singh of Alam Khan village adding that officials at Sarhali refuse to oblige as our villages fall in Kapurthala district.”

Meanwhile, the authorities, at the Electricity Board, Kapurthala, mentioned that the supply of electricity to these villages from this side is not feasible and we are in touch with the authorities at Patti division Electricity Board to solve this problem. 

Ludhiana, August 27
Prof Prithipal Singh Kapur, former Pro-Vice Chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University, and member of the national monitoring committee on minority education set up by the union HRD Ministry, has called upon the Punjab NRIs to emulate the example of the Kerala NRI muslims and invest in the social and education sector in Punjab.

Prof Kapur, who is also a member of the eight-member standing committee of the national monitoring committee, had a tour of the states of Kerala and Karnataka to study the backwardness of the education of minorities in these states. The committee listened to the problems of the minority educational institutes in the two states and also met a cross section of society in the two states.

Mr Kapur told The Tribune in an exclusive interview that Keralite Muslim NRIs had made huge investment in the social sector and also established good Muslim educational institutes in Kerala. Kerala was the most highly urbanised state in the country. They had also set up a 1000-bed hospital in Kerala.

According to Mr Kapur the population of Muslims in Kerala was 23 per cent of the total population and a very enlightened education minister of Kerala, Mr Bashirudin, met the committee. He told the committee that the Kerala School Education Board had set up quite a few schools in the Gulf countries for the benefit of Keralites. The medium of instruction in these schools was Malyalee, besides the local languages as well were taught in the schools. The Keralite Muslim NRIs had encouraged their brethren to set up engineering, management and medical institutes and they had contributed liberally to the same. The Muslim institutes had come up in quite a good number as compared to Christian instiutions. The Muslim community was also running schools for handicapped persons. These institutes were being run with the involvement of eminent retired Vice-Chancellors, judges, lawyers and engineers. Two universities in Kerala had Muslim Vice-Chancellors. There were madrasas also in Kerala and the demand was for Urdu teachers. “Perhaps Kerala presents one of the best examples of integration of Muslim community in the Indian mainstream,” observed Prof Kapur. In Karnataka, Muslims had a sizeable number of higher educational institutes and madrasas.

Prof Kapur said the ground situation of Muslims in Karnataka was much better than Bihar and UP.

Prof Kapur disclosed that a few Sikhs had also settled in Karnataka and set up gurdwaras. The Sikhs were running Guru Harkishan School for the benefit of the poor and students of all communities were admitted there. Interestingly no Sikh student was studying in this school.

Hoshiarpur, August 27
The Bhartiya Kashtriya Maha Sabha (North Zone) at a meeting held in Talwara seriously viewed the changing of name of Kaman Bridge, falling on the Uri-Muzzafarabad road on the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir.

In a fax message to this correspondent from Talwara, Thakur Satbir Singh, working president of the Maha Sabha, stated that Kaman Bridge was named after Mahavir Chakra winner, Lt-Col Kaman Singh Pathania, Commandant of 3 Garhwal Rifles. Lt-Col Kaman Singh (MVC) later took command of 3 Kumaon and was posted in the Uri Sector. On July 15, 1956, while commanding the battalion, he sacrificed his life for the country. As a mark of respect to the brave Colonel, the last Indian post on the Srinagar-Muzzafarabad road was named Kaman Post and Kaman Bridge.

He said now a bus service between Srinagar and Muzzafarabad had been started and the name of Kaman Bridge had been changed to Aman Setu. He resented that after 49 years of the historic war event, the name of the bridge had been changed. A representation in this regard had been sent to chairperson of the UPA, Sonia Gandhi, Defence Minister, Pranab Mukhrjee, Chief of the Army Staff, General J.J. Singh, and Mufti Mohammad Syed, he added.

Amritsar, August 27
The 172 stranded passengers of an Air India flight proceeded to their destinations in a special aircraft at 4.25am today.

They were stranded here as the Air-India’s flight from Mumbai-Delhi via Amritsar to Birmingham en route to Toronto failed to reach here from Delhi due to a technical snag . The information was given by Mr Ashwani Arora, Station Manager, Air-India.

Among those stranded were Mr Avtar Henry, Minister for Food and Civil Supplies and Mr S.K. Sharma, IG (Traffic).

Meanwhile, Mr Vimal Rai of Singapore Airlines today clarified that it was the fault of the travel agency through which Mr Bikram Sandhu and Ms Poonam Preet Dhillon had booked their seats. The couple was to travel to Vancouver by Singapore Airlines on Friday. They had alleged that despite having OK status of their tickets, they were not allowed to board the flight causing undue inconvenience to them.

Mr Rai said the travel agency had issued tickets through another agency in Jalandhar. From the time their booking was made on Singapore Airlines till yesterday, their seats were never confirmed.

He said the agency had allegedly ‘misled’ the couple. Incidentally, Poonam Preet was to appear for an oath taking ceremony in Vancouver for her citizenship. Taking a grim view of ‘malpractices’ by travel agents, Mr Rai said the airlines have decided to take strict action against such agencies. 

Kapurthala, August 27
Migratory birds and tourists are likely to find the famed Kanjli wetland near here to be comparatively more attractive and hospitable as hyacinth and silt have been removed from parts of the lake during weeklong “kar sewa”, that concluded here today.

The “kar sewa” was a joint effort of environmentalist Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal, the district administration, panchayats of the area, students and teachers of different schools. Hyacinth has been removed from about 1 km stretch of the wetland.

Silt from along the banks, near the barrage at the wetland, has also been removed. Growth of hyacinth, a water weed, has been a persistent irritant for birds, particularly migratory birds that come from Siberia and other areas.

It is not for the first time that an effort has been made to clear the wetland of the weed as a major initiative was taken by the Army in this direction about three years ago. It was followed by another “half-hearted’ exercise, which was kick-started at the initiative of a political leader, but hardly achieved any major success.

Despite annual efforts at various level, hyacinth has largely remained an uncontrolled affair. This has been the sole factor responsible for marring beauty of the wetland, which was once a major tourist spot of the state due to its serene surroundings and tranquil atmosphere. Moreover, the weed was a major hurdle in nestling of birds.

Mr Samir Kumar, Deputy Commissioner, said besides hyacinth removal plantation was also being undertaken in the area. “A bridge is also being erected for connecting two banks for the convenience of tourists”, he said.

The Department of Fisheries was in the process of setting up an aquarium with fish breeding facilities at the picnic spot, while the district administration was envisaging setting up of a cafeteria and musical fountains. It was, however, not known as to what had happened to the much publicised children train project, which was planned by the administration about four years ago.

Patiala, August 27
Mr Tarlochan Singh, Chairman, National Commission for Minorities, while urging Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to make arrangements to bring out the truth behind the massacre of Sikhs in 1984 and to make those, who engineered the same, to seek apology from the Sikh community demanded that both Houses of Parliament should pass a joint resolution for condemning the riots.

Mr Tarlochan Singh, who was here today said that though a number of commissions had been set up by successive Central governments to probe the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, these had failed to bring any relief to the kin of the victims of the community.

When asked how the guilty could seek forgiveness from the Sikh community, he said the Prime Minister should call a meeting of representatives of the SGPC, Sikh political parties, jathedars of all Takhts and other dignitaries and in that meeting, all guilty should seek apology. This would bring relief to the victims and the community and would also settle forever the issue connected with the massacre of Sikhs in 1984.

The Chairman said he was surprised why successive governments at the Centre had failed to pass a joint resolution in Parliament to codemn the massacre of Sikhs in 1984 when resolutions could be passed in connection with the Bhopal gas tragedy, assassination of Indira Gandhi, terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre (WTC) and bomb blasts in London.

To a question regarding the proposal of the Haryana Government for setting up a separate gurdwara parbhandhak committee for the Sikh living in that state, Mr Tarlochan Singh said no government should interfere in the religious affairs of any community.

Abohar, August 27
A complete bandh was observed at Gharsana, Rawla, Anoopgarh and various townships in neighbouring Sriganganagar today while as the Kisan Mazdoor Beopari Sangharsh Samiti held a rally at the grain market defying prohibitory orders issued by the District Magistrate under Section 144 of the CrPC.

The nearly 2000 policemen deployed on roads connecting Gharsana with other villages and townships near the Indo-Pak border proved ineffictive as over 10,000 farmers, labourers and traders thronged the rally site.

Those who addressed the rally included Mr Riyan, CPM MP from Tripura, Mr Sheopat Singh Makkasar, a former MP, and two former MLAs, Mr Hira Lal Indora, who is also national president of the Dhanak Samaj, and Mr Sohan Lal Nayak from Raisinghnagar, who had received injuries during the police lathicharge at Gharsana on August 24.

They condemned the government for adopting a path of confrontation rather than solving the problem of poor water management.

ADMINISTRATION

Admn complex in bad shape
Perneet Singh
Tribune News Service

Muktsar, August 27
Constructed about five years ago, the District Administrative Complex building is a shambles and needs immediate repair. It has also forced the Additional Deputy Commissioner to shut his courtroom and use the DC’s courtroom for the purpose.

According to sources, the building, which had been housing the administrative complex, is incomplete. Cement has already lost its grip on the wall of the ground floor, which comprises the offices of DC, ADC, SDM, DTO, Tehsildar and Naib Tehsildar. Though crores have been spent on the construction of this building, a scratch is enough to expose bricks of any wall. The wooden desk, from where complainants seek justice in the court of the ADC, has almost decayed. The desk’s frame is on the verge of collapse. At some points it appears like a very old building. Public toilets in the building have been shut due to stench and soggy walls, while on the second floor effort has been made to cover bad condition of walls with a coat of paint.

There are no water pipes for cleaning work. The rooms of the registry clerk, readers of the DC and the SDM are also crying for attention. Pieces of plywood are being put to use to prevent falling of cement and sand from these walls. The work on domicile certificates, pensions and salary of peons is carried out on second and third floors, which poses problem to elderly and handicapped.

The drinking water, which is being supplied to the complex from the waterworks of Chak Bir Sarkar village, is also contaminated. Clerical staff at the complex said that they either bring water from their homes or fetch it from a nearby handpump. Doors and windows of the complex also need urgent repairs, as these pose a security threat.

Deputy Commissioner Dalip Kumar said the administration would writed to the government for repair work as well as a probe into the poor workmanship while raising the complex.

Hoshiarpur, August 27
Mr Lok Nath Angra, Senior Superintendent of Police, Hoshiarpur, stated here today that the result of the CD and photo prepared from the MMS video clipping of the MB card, relating to an obscene movie of a girl and photographs of daughters of a local political leader, had been received from the Forensic Science Laboratory, Chandigarh.

According to the report of the laboratory, the obscene picture of the MMS did not match with the photographs of the daughters of the political leader.

It was clearly proved that the picture of the MMS was of another girl.

It may be recalled that a case under Sections 65, 66, 67 and 72 of the Information and Technology Act and Section 6 of the Indecent Representation of Women Act 1985 and Sections 292, 292 A and 293 of the IPC was registered by the City Police, Hoshiarpur on July 30, 2005, on the complaint of the political leader.

Mr Angra further stated that one of the accused had got interim bail from court. Warrants of other accused Sanjiv Talwar of Bassi Gulam Hussain and his accomplices had been obtained from the court. Their arrests would likely to be made soon.

Phagwara, August 27
The Sultanpur Lodhi police has arrested Ram Pal of village Khukhrain and seized counterfeit currency worth Rs 37,000, according to a press note issued by

Kapurthala SSP Tejinderpal Singh Sandhu.

Ram Pal was coming from Kapurthala on a scooter. On a tip-off, the police party, headed by Gurvinder Singh, SHO, Sultanpur Lodhi police station, had laid a naka near the Shaheed Udham Singh chowk and nabbed him.

The counterfeit currency notes were found in the pocket of Ram Pal. He was arrested under Section 489 A,B,C of the IPC.

Amritsar, August 27
The former students of the Khalsa College, who were denied admission in the college this year allegedly by the principal and academic council of the college, held a demonstration outside the college.

Mr Parampal Singh, leader of students, said if necessary they would go on a fast unto death in favor of their demands. They raised slogans against the principal and secretary of the college management committee for allegedly denying admission to them.

Patiala, August 27
There is not enough electrical power in the Chief Minister’s home town. The power situation has hit the industry too. It is suffering huge loses due to power cuts. The situation is going from bad to worse as unscheduled cuts play havoc with the outputs.

According to Mr H.P.S. Lamba, general secretary, Focal Point Industries Association, the situation has reached alarming proportions. Apart from the one day of power off, industries are facing between four or five hours of power cuts daily.

There is no prior information from the Punjab State Electricity Board regarding them. Besides these cuts there are emergency shutdowns for breakdowns, maintenance and closure due to new connections.

The association has alleged that the clubbing of the industry with urban and rural consumers is killing the industry.

The industrialists not only lose material but also valuable man-hours. Many industries are showing huge loses, putting them in a dilemma.

Mr Lamba says despite repeated efforts of the association apprising higher officials of the PSEB about the situation, nothing has been done. The industry is feeling orphaned as no help is forthcoming from any quarter.