Batala, November 12
Nirmal Singh Kahlon, speaker, Punjab assembly and Bikram Jit Singh Majithia, water supply & sanitation and public relation minister, Punjab laid the foundation stone of a water supply project for border villages Dadu Jodh and Kotli Surat Mallian on Monday.

A sangat darshan programme was addressed by these two dignitaries. Kahlon announced a project worth Rs 137 crore for the development of border blocks out of which 6.5 crore will be spent in the Fateh Garh Churian area.

An amount of two hundred crore has been earmarked to maintain and develop 753 kms of link roads in the border areas.

He further directed the PSEB officers to supply electricity for 24 hours of the day to the 14,000 identified deras, regarding which the funds have been sent to the concerned authorities.

Majithia stated that Rs 1,280 crore will be spent on the maintenance and development of drinking water projects and on the laying of sewerage lines. He also stated that water supply and sanitation has been a priority for the SAD-BJP government.

Majithia further stated that special plans at the cost of Rs 1,330 crore have been prepared for lifting the standard of schedule castes. Special model schools will be started in each block to provide education of the modern and technical 
values, for which Rs 50 crore have been released.

As many as 50 beneficiaries were given cheques for Rs 15,000, each under the shagun scheme.

Complaints numbering 187, out of a total of 203, were redressed at the spot in the sangat darshan, while the remaining were addressed to the departments concerned. 

Amritsar, November 12
As many as 50 AIDS patients from Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Faridkot and Gurdaspur have sought free travel facility in the state transport buses. The issue came up at the meeting held by KIRAN (Knowledge Information Rights Advocacy Network), an organisation for HIV positive persons in the region, at the Red Cross Bhawan in Amritsar.

The patients made an appeal to the minister for health and family welfare Laxmi Kanta Chawla that they should be given the facility for travelling to anti-retroviral therapy (ART) treatment centres in Amritsar and Chandigarh. The states of Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan are already providing the facility to the HIV positive.

Sarbjit Singh, coordinator of KIRAN, said every HIV positive patient has to travel atleast once a month for medical check up or treatment to the nearest ART center and every 6 months they have to get a CD4 test done to continue the treatment. In majority of the cases, the entire savings of the family are spent on the treatment of the patient and after his/her death no money is left for the surviving spouse and children.

In some cases, the in-laws throw the widow out of their house along with her kids thus denying them their ancestral property and rights. In such cases, poor patients, HIV+ widows and orphans cannot reach ART center as they cannot afford to travel. ART is a lifelong treatment and one has to take medicine regularly. And if due lack of money the patient fails to reach the centre, the whole purpose of providing free ART treatment fails.

The HIV patients were of the view that because of the social stigma prevailing in society their identity cards should be in the category of disabled so that they do not have to face any discrimination while commuting. Also, it will strengthen the legal provision of confidentiality of HIV+, they opined.

It was also demanded that NACO should introduce second-line ART for the needy patients. The patients who are facing drug resistance to the first line ART need to be shifted to second line therapy and if the government fails to introduce the same many patients may die due to lack of affordable/available drugs.

“AIDS is spreading like an epidemic and it is not merely a health problem but it has social implications also. The government is providing free first-line anti-retroviral therapy (ART) to people living with HIV/AIDS through ART centers. But there are only two ART centers for 20 districts of Punjab,” said Sarabjit.

According to an estimate, nearly 2,000 people are given ART treatment at PGI, Chandigarh and also at Jalandhar and Amritsar. Dr Jyoti Jaitwani, SMO, ART centre, Guru Nanak Dev Hospital and Dr Ravi Saini, secretary, AIDS awareness group (AAG) delivered a lecture on medical and social aspects of HIV/AIDS.

Amritsar, November 12
As per the orders of election commission, the district administration has started updating voter lists of 11 assembly constituencies of the city.

Deputy commissioner-cum-district election officer Kahan Singh Pannu said the draft voter lists of 11 constituencies has been published and the forms regarding claims and objections on voter lists would be received till November 28 from electoral registration officers, assistant electoral registration officers and officers designated.

He said a two-day special campaign would be launched on November 17 where voters can file their claims and objections at the polling booths set by the administration. According to the guidelines the recognised parties would also file combined claims and objections on the forms issued by the commission. “If any person wants to register his or her objection on the combined claims, he has to attach an affidavit attested by a first class magistrate or notary public,” Pannu added.

He said the claims and objections received would be settled by December 4 and the final voter’s list would be sent for publication by January 10 next year. The voters who were not registered or had no identity cards should submit their forms to the booths of their areas.

Jalandhar, November 12
Demanding increase in pension given to the elderly, widows and physically challenged by doubling the amount, Pendu Mazdoor Union today held a demonstration at Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall here.

The members then proceeded toward the office of the deputy commissioner to present a memorandum of their demands.

The union also demanded that disbursement of pension must be done through the village panchayats. They also demanded that residents who could not avail the atta-daal scheme must also be included under it. 

Jalandhar, November 12
Alleging that their promotion channel had been blocked owing to misinterpretation of certain rules, the employees of the municipal corporation have demanded that these should be either spelt out clearly or amended.

The staffers working on clerical posts in the accountancy department said they have cleared their B.Com examination from recognised universities and have a long experience of working in the office. “Still we are not eligible for the post of accountant grade-II post,” they added.

The employees pointed out that as per a rule notified on April 4, 2005, a candidate for direct recruitment to the post had to be B.Com graduate. For those seeking the post on promotion basis from within the department, clearing the accountancy examination and having a minimum experience of five years are the pre-requisites. They said since the department had not conducted accountancy exam for the past many years, they could not appear in it. 

Phagwara, November 12
Though several intellectuals of various Sikhs organisations, including Dal Khalsa, have described the increasing numbers of migratory labourers as a major threat to Punjab and organised protest marches in the state against it, but deputy Lok Sabha speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal does not agree with them saying that this is a completely politically motivated campaign.

Addressing a press conference here this evening, Atwal described it as a state affair and said different state governments like Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pardesh had reserved their rights on these types of issues and the matter was related with the Punjab government.

When his attention was drawn towards the protest marches and demand of Sikh intellectuals, Atwal said lakhs of Punjabis were living in several states and it was not possible to restrict migratory labourers in the state.

The deputy speaker expressed his confidence that the Mehtan bypass flyover would be completed by the end of December or first week of January next year, ie more than nine months late than its scheduled time of completion in March, 2007.

Replying to a question about the Satnampura railway over-bridge, Atwal assured that it would be constructed without specifying the time of its completion.

Meanwhile, Punjab technical education minister Chaudhary Swarana Ram claimed that the state government had sent Rs 8.25 crore for sewerage works of Phagwara.

But, The Tribune has learnt from reliable official sources that only a sum of Rs 2 crore has been received by the local administration from the state government.

Jalandhar, November 12
The local industrialists are sour with the Akali-BJP government over the imposition of new power tariffs, security deposits, entry tax and enhanced rates for registration of plots as it was proving to be a huge burden.

The industrialists said the new government had promised better infrastructure and working environment before coming to power and now they feel the pre-election commitments were just a way to seek votes. They pointed out that the state was already facing step-motherly treatment from the state government in comparison to respective governments of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttranchal and other neighbouring states.

Jalandhar Chamber of Industries and Commerce’s general secretary Charanjit Singh Maingi said the members were surprised at the revision of basic minimum price for registration of plots, which was now more than double (Rs 2 lakh per marla), than the actual price of industrial plots at Focal Point, Industrial Estate and Industrial Area.

He said the members were disturbed with the 8 per cent hike in power tariff as the industry was not prepared to bear the burden. Prior to the assembly polls, Parkash Singh Badal had committed interest on securities to be deposited with the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), but now instead of giving interest the State Electricity Regulatory Commission had decided to take security equivalent to consumption charges of two months from industry and three months from residential connections.

It would be implemented from January 1, 2008. As a result, the industry was now being forced to borrow money to pay interest free securities, he added.

Charanjit said, “The government’s decision to impose four per cent entry tax on iron and steel including scrap dyes, chemicals, yarns, fibre tops and chips would directly affect the cost of production.”

Holding alliance partner BJP equally responsible, the members alleged that it had played a negative and discouraging role. “If they were really concerned with the industry and urban voter, they should have taken bold steps to prevent Punjab government from killing industry,” said Maingi.

He informed that deputations of Jalandhar Chamber of Industry and Commerce had held several meetings with the CM, minister of local bodies, industry and commerce and many senior officials to declare Godaipur as industrial zone.

However, the industry was stunned to know that PSEB did not have the capacity to give electric connections. All the feeders of Focal Point, Gaushala and Tanda Road were already over loaded.

Meanwhile, Chamber has demanded immediate exchange of 12.5 MW transformer with 20 MW at Tanda Road feeder to give some temporary relief. For a permanent solution, they have asked for installation of new sub-station at Kanpur village on Tanda Road.