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Canal breaches farmers’ hopes
Migrant workers give a boost to state economy
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Cooperatives should enhance productivity: Minister
Left has say in N-deal: Bardhan
Doctors say no to lethal injections
Nannu blames Congress for misuse of MC funds
Seminar to be held on Right to Information
Teacher’s Role Under Scanner
Graft charge
against cop
NFL workers continue stir
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Canal breaches farmers’ hopes
Bathinda, November 15 On November 1, a distributary of the Sirhind Canal near Bhai Mati Das Nagar overflew its embankments. Its waters first entered the adjoining sewerage construction site and then into Bhai Mati Das Nagar. The breach was reported to be 10-12 feet wide. A week later, on November 8, a 30-feet wide breach in the embankment of the Sirhind Canal affected several persons as the water gushed into houses and jhuggis on the outskirts of the city. Again on November 12, a breach in the distributary of the canal outside village Burj Tharod and Dod near Bhagta Bhai in the district, added to the problems. The breach was said to be 15-feet wide, which inundated the nearby agricultural land. On November 14, several hectares of agricultural were flooded as the waters of the Behman distributary canal breached the embankment. The flow of water was diverted to prevent it from entering NFL Colony. The authorities have no straight answers for the reason behind the breach. Erosion of land, damaged roots of trees and foul play are all a possibility, they say. But officials of the irrigation department say, albeit on the condition of anonymity, that the department is not getting sufficient funds for the repair of embankments and de-silting that is urgently required. Farmers in the area say that even when there is not much need, water level in the canal is high. So, the embankments need to be repaired. Bathinda Deputy Commissioner Rahul Tewari said that the inquiry has been marked to the ADC (Development). “But it will take a few more days to come up with a factual report,” he added. Speaking on phone, Janmeja Singh Sekhon, Irrigation Minister, Punjab, said, “We have made a master plan which suggests that all the canals and drains in the state are in dire need of repair and de-silting. The plan has already been presented to the chief minister. Now the only issue is of generating funds. As soon as funds are generated, the process of repairing the canals will start on a war-footing.” |
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Migrant workers give a boost to state economy
When the TNS team visited the Bathinda grain market, it found that a majority of those working there were migrant labour. Most of them are involved in loading, unloading of grain and other similar activities. Satish Bansal, president, Arhtiya Association, Bathinda, says the basic reason for migration from villages to cities, from one state to another and from one country to another, was economic. ``At our Bathinda mandi, we have more than 700 labourers, a majority of them hailing from UP, Bihar and Rajasthan. Like the Punjabi youth, who in search of greener pastures went abroad, these migrants have come to Punjab to earn their living.’’ While the migrant labourers are getting jobs in factories and farms and have even set up small shops, the Punjabi youth, also called `kakey’, is moving in cars and riding motorcycles, least bothered about their future and culture. Some time back, a study by Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, revealed that 1.52 per cent of the migrants are today registered voters. About 55 per cent of the migrant agricultural labour is keen on settling down here permanently. Interestingly, at some places, the migrants have been elected to panchayats, municipalities and even municipal corporations. Sada Nand, a migrant labourer from Bihar, says that he has been coming to Bathinda for the last 10 years. ``We come here in groups of 10-15 people, a majority of whom belong to the same village or city. I work at Ludhiana in a factory for 5-6 months in a year. Then we come to Bathinda mandi when the paddy season starts and stay here till the cotton season ends. Two of my cousins are also working here with me.’’ Same is the case with Rajesh Singh of UP, who has been working in Punjab mandis for the last 23 years. ``Sometimes, we feel sorry for a majority of the youth in Punjab, who are unconcerned about helping their parents in agriculture. We hardly see any youngsters at the mandis and most of the time, it is the elderly who come to the mandis during the procurement season. The youth is seen only at the time of collecting money from the arhtiyas.’’ |
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Cooperatives should enhance productivity: Minister
Ferozepur, November 15 He announced that the state government would give a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh to those cooperative societies whose performance was the best in the state. While keeping in mind the requirement of people in the rural areas, the cooperative banks had reduced their rate of interest for loan on agriculture to 7 per cent only. Capt. Singh informed that during the last financial year, the banks had disbursed crop loans amounting to Rs 4,801.63 crore and had also issued credit to 8.59 lakh farmers under the Revolving Cash facility scheme. He further said this year, the banks had targeted to advance crop loan to the tune of Rs 6,000 crore to the farming community in the state. The minister said the banks had never used coercive methods but the recovery percentage was about 9.22 per cent. During the last financial year, it had advanced Rs 245.72 crore as credit limit in this sector and in the current year, the target was Rs 263.36 crore, he revealed. The minister also said the bank had formulated some new schemes such as loans for the purchase of property, education loan schemes for poor students and commercial dairy loan. Even in the field of women’s empowerment, the bank had played a significant role and distributed Rs 90 crore to woman entrepreneurs, he added. |
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Left has say in N-deal: Bardhan
Moga, November 15 Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary A. B. Bardhan said this on the sidelines of the Punjab Khet Mazdoor Sabha’s rally held to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Bharatiya Khet Mazdoor Union (BKMU) at the Town Hall here today. He said completion of the coalition’s full term relied entirely on the government led by Manmohan Singh as it was allowed to hold discussions with the IAEA on the condition that the findings of the UPA-Left committee would be taken into account before the nuclear deal with the US becomes operational. However, the committee was not time-bound and was free to give its findings in as many sittings as it required, he added. Reiterating the earlier stand of the Left, he said they would not allow at any cost the nuclear deal to become functional in its present form as the deal had clauses that impinge upon India’s liberal foreign policy. Commenting on the Nandigram imbroglio, he said the issue was resolved when West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had announced that the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) would not be set up and the drive for land acquisition had ceased in March. The veteran leader of the Communist Party of India said, “The Trinamool led anti-Left parties are inciting discontentment to help achieve political ends.” Bardhan lamented that while big industrial houses were enjoying benefits of country’s progress, the poor still find themselves left in the lurch and without much hope. Nagendra Nath Ojha, general secretary, BKMU, said the union was the true representative of rural labourers. The union, along with Left wing’s trade unions, would participate in the two-day nationwide agitation. Guljar Singh Goria, general secretary, Punjab Khet Mazdoor Sabha, said the Punjab government was reluctant in improving the living standards of farm labourers and had not implemented the Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. He said the state government must make arrangements for at least 20 days employment for men and women with Rs 150 as the daily wage. He also demanded a monthly pension of Rs 1,000 for the old and widows. Free education up to Plus Two level and interest-free loan to labourers must also be made available, he added. |
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State’s fiscal health sound, says FM
Abohar, November 15 Speaking at the annual function of Jhamku Devi Senior Secondary School in Mehrajpur Dhora village here today, Badal asked teachers to take care of the culture and moral values of students. He paid rich tributes to Anubha Bishnoi, former vice-chairperson of the school, for tirelessly working to promote literacy among the Bishnoi community besides, the cause of women empowerment. He agreed with the school principal Kuriakose V K that Anubha, who died in April, would be a beacon for the school. Badal also honoured brilliant students for leading the school to great horizons at national level. Uday Pal Singh Godara, vice-president, honoured the chief guest Mahant Manohar Dass of Dhora Mandir. The students presented cultural programmes which included folk dances of Punjab and Rajasthan. The gathering was moved by a short play that exhibited how 363 members of the Bishnoi community had sacrificed life to save trees in Jodhpur long back.
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Doctors say no to lethal injections
Bathinda, November 15 The views of the doctors were in reaction to the reported desire of the Law Commission of India to find out an alternative method of capital punishment. IMA members said that the oath taken by a doctor prohibits him from “never giving a deadly drug to anybody.” European, Pacific countries and Canada have abolished capital punishment, but the practice is still prevalent in the US, Asia and Africa. Usually death penalty is reserved for major crimes like premeditated murder, espionage, treason or as part of military justice, but some countries give this punishment for crimes like rape, adultery, drug trafficking and corruption. “Death penalty is rare in India, but no doctor will feel comfortable executing it. A doctor dispenses only life, not death,” said the IMA members. “The proposal of the Law Commission for lethal injections should be condemned by the IMA. Any method not involving the medical fraternity can be tried,” they pointed out. Amrit Sethi, president, IMA, Punjab said, “The Punjab and Haryana High Court has fixed March 3 as the next date for hearing. We are sending our comments to all concerned.” “The national chapter of the IMA should form a consensus on the issue and send our recommendations to the Law Commission to absolve the medical profession of this avoidable guilt,” he concluded. |
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Nannu blames Congress for misuse of MC funds
Ferozepur, November 15 Nannu stated that during the reign of the previous government, an amount of Rs 1,84,80,952 was provided to the MC on different occasions for clearance of all outstanding arrears. According to him, instead of clearing the dues, the then municipal authorities spent the amount elsewhere. Stating that the MC spent the money for purpose other than the specified, Nannu said an inquiry would be ordered into the alleged misuse of funds. It is pertinent to mention that the PSEB had recently cut the power supply of streetlights in the city area as the municipal committee failed to clear its pending electricity
bills. Nannu said that provision of drinking water, streetlights and sewerage disposal were the most important requirements for the public, and the same should not get affected under any circumstances. |
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Seminar to be held on Right to Information
Muktsar, November 15 Punjab State Information Commissioner R. K. Gupta, former DGP, would be the chief guest on the occasion. Punjabi Tribune editor G. S. Sidhu Damdami and Baba Farid University of Medical Sciences coordinator Pyare Lal Garg would be the guests of honour. The seminar is beíng organised by ‘Pulang’, an non-government organisation (NGO). It would provide an opportunity to the common people and stake holders in bureaucratic and political circles to interact and debate on the prevailing scenario in terms of facilitating the people with the information required by them and the problems they faced in acquiring such information, president of the NGO S. S. Gill
said here. |
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Youth fest begins
Abohar, November 15 Harjasan topped in the Indian orchestra in the individual category. Hans Raj Josan, a former minister, gave prizes to the winning teams. Principal B.C. Josan presented mementos to the visiting principals from 12 zones. Former minister, Surjit Jyani, hosted flag and was joined by SDM N. S. Brar in lighting the lamp to inagurate the festival. |
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Teacher’s Role Under Scanner
Mansa, November 15 According to information available, Veerpal Kaur, a student of class XI and Veerpal Kaur, a student of class XII, were absent from the school as they had gone out for some work on November 13. But when they returned, Jasbeer Singh, who teaches science in the school, questioned the girls about their absence. The girls felt insulted and attempted suicide by consuming poison. One girl fell unconscious and was admitted to the civil hospital here while the other girl was admitted to a private hospital. On receiving the information, the sadar police here got the statements of girls recorded in the court. The sadar police here has have registered a case against the teacher, Jasbeer Singh. However, Jasbeer Singh, when contacted, said that he had only performed his duty to maintain discipline in the school. The teacher also said he had informed the girls’ parents about the whole incident. |
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Graft charge
against cop
Fazilka, November 15 In this case, ASI Iqbal Singh had allegedly demanded Rs. 15,000 from him and connived with the accused persons. On inquiry, his complaint was found to be correct. Mohan had also filed a suit which also found that the complaint was true.
— OC |
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NFL workers continue stir
Bathinda, November 15 |
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Sangat darshan held
Bathinda, November 15 The residents of village Mian Meer, Naruana and Jodhpur Romana met with DC along with the Panchayats of the villages. The problems and complaints about the drinking water, streets, health facilities, electric wires were some of the prominent ones. The DC assigned the works to the subordinates. SDM, Bathinda KPS Mahi, Sarup Chand Singla, Baljit Singh Beer Behman, Gurtej Singh Jodhpur Romana were some of the eminent persons in the Sangat Darshan
programme. — TNS |
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Bathinda, November 15