Padhiana (Jalandhar), August 11
As many as 282 Army personnel, hailing from Padhiana village, have shown their valour in the World Wars I and II.

More than 35 youth from the village still serve in the Indian Army, while some have joined the Indian Air Force.

But all the serving and over 400 ex-servicemen here say their courage and sacrifice has not been duly rewarded by the district administration. Their only demand to the administration— a Sainik Bhawan— is yet to be fulfilled.

The villagers mooted the proposal in the late 80s. It was accepted and planning began in 1992. The plan and the estimate for the project were complete by 1995. The District Planning Board released the first token allotment of Rs 35,000 in January 1996.

Three to four more grants followed, taking the total sanctioned amount to Rs 8.5 lakh, till date. But the project is still incomplete.

Another estimate of Rs 3.85 lakh, prepared by the XEN, Panchayati Raj, and passed by the previous Deputy Commissioner, Mr Ashok Kumar Gupta, is yet to be received.

While a hall, library room, meeting room and verandah has been completed in the past six years, the building is yet not ready for use, as there are no provisions for power connection, water supply, kitchen and toilets.

The residents said they had put forth their demands in meetings of the District Sainik Board a number of times and an amount too had been sanctioned, without it being released.

The villagers said they had some monuments in the village to boast of the bravery of the soldiers But they rued that this building project was being sidelined.

The village has an entrance gate in the memory of Subedar Bir Singh who fought in World War I as well as II. A stone erected outside a gurdwara in the village reads: “176 men went for war from this village from 1914 to 1919. Eight gave up their lives.”

Captain (retd) Baldev Singh, who has been striving hard for the project to get completed, proudly recalls, “The first Commander-in-Chief of the country, General K.M. Cariappa, too visited this village on March 4, 1949.”

He said he was hopeful that his efforts would not go waste and grants would come soon.

Lt-Col Manmohan Singh, Deputy Director, Sainik Welfare, confirmed that the grant had yet not come. But he said he was pursuing the case. 

Jalandhar, August 11
Training guns at the Captain Amarinder Singh-led Punjab government, the BJP MP, Mr Navjot Singh Sidhu, toady alleged that a Central grant of Rs 177.80 crore, meant for re-modelling and cleansing of the canal system in the Majha region, had been “frivolously wasted” by the officials of the Irrigation Department.

The grant, according to Mr Sidhu, was an outcome of the “efforts and vision” of the then Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal.

He said had the grant been utilised in a “proper manner”, it could have prove to a boon for the farming community of Majha.

Addressing a press conference here, Mr Sidhu said that a decade back, Punjab’s canal irrigation system was one of the best in Asia and the system did not cost the farmers much. “But the lack of attention towards water resources management, planning and vision had damaged it,” he alleged.

“Nearly 75 lakh acres of land was irrigated by canal water that time, but now only about 30-35 lakh acres are getting the benefit of the canal system due to the apathy of the Punjab Government and the Irrigation Department,” he further alleged.

“The funds have either not been utilised or have been wasted frivolously. The result is that the farmers have been forced to use artificial methods to irrigate fields, furthering crisis as far as ground water is concerned,” Mr Sidhu alleged.

The MP said the sustenance of Punjab depended on the farmers, who had brought in the Green Revolution.

“At a time when there is no stress on the growth of industry, the least the government can do is to take care of the farming community and ensure that Punjab maintains its top position in this sector,” Mr Sidhu said.

He claimed that the level of exploitation of the ground water resources was alarming in Punjab and the World Bank, in its report, had warned of serious consequences if the situation continued. “This will also the general population of Punjab.” Mr Sidhu said.

Jalandhar, August 11
Projecting the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) Chief, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, as the “next Chief Minister of Punjab,” Mr Balwinder Singh Bhunder, senior SAD leader and MP, has asserted that Mr Badal was the strongest leader of his party.

Mr Bhunder, who was accompanied by Mr Parkash Singh Gardhiwala, a former MLA and Mr Jarnail Singh Gardhiwala, a youth Akali leader, was talking to media persons here today.

“There is no question of any other name coming to the fore as far as the party leadership is concerned. Mr Parkash Singh Badal is the strongest leader of our party and he would be the next Chief Minister,” said Mr Bhunder. He added that though Mr Sukhbir Singh was doing a lot of hard work, no one could replace Mr Parkash Singh Badal.

About the performance of the Congress government, he said it had “failed” on all fronts. “The Congress is playing fraud with the people of Punjab. Farmers are suffering, and traders are facing discrimination in more than one ways,” he alleged.

He alleged that permission about the change of land-use had been granted by the Captain Amarinder Singh government so that it could extend the benefit to some of its “own people”.

“This benefit has been extended to only those persons who have been given lands for a song,” he added. 

Chandigarh, August 11
As many as 34 colleges offering Bachelors in Education in Punjab have not been allowed to admit students for this session, pending affiliation from universities. Candidates seeking admissions to these colleges now have at least 3000 seats less than what had earlier been expected.

Over 30000 candidates have cleared the joint entrance test for admission to over 120 BEd colleges in the state and Chandigarh and the counselling for admission began at Panjab University here yesterday. Counselling of candidates for admission to 85 per cent state quota seats in various Punjab colleges took place today.

The list of affiliated colleges that reached the counselling venue showed that many colleges which had been affiliated to Punjabi University, Patiala, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, and Panjab University, Chandigarh, last year and had already run the college for one session had not been granted affiliation again for running classes in this session.

Among Guru Nanak Dev University-affiliated colleges, 14 old colleges and only one out of the 20 colleges which had opened just before the last session have been allowed to admit students this year. As a result there would be only 1955 seats available this year as compared to 3855 last year. The university has, however, granted two new colleges fresh affiliation and the number of seats is likely to go up by another 200.

Among the BEd colleges affiliated to Panjab University the 15 old colleges and 22 out of the 24 colleges which opened last year had been allowed to admit students this year. While two colleges of PU cannot admit students this year, one new college has been granted fresh affiliation. The number of seats in PU-affiliated colleges is now 5050 as against 5150 last year.

Out of the BEd colleges affiliated to Punjabi University, 10 old colleges and only 19 out of the 32 colleges which opened last year had been allowed to admit students this year. While 13 colleges of the university cannot admit students this year, three new colleges have been granted fresh affiliation. The number of seats in Punjabi University affiliated colleges is now 3300 as against 4300 last year.

Stating that these colleges had been included in the list of colleges which would be admitting students for this session, Dr Satinder Dhillon, coordinator of the joint counselling for admission to BEd for Punjab and Chandigarh colleges today added that candidates had been also told that affiliation to these colleges was pending and there could be a last minute change.