Bathinda, November 20
Because of restrictions imposed by the top bosses, extracting information from officials in the Malwa belt of Punjab has become next to impossible in this modern environment of transparency.

Most officers at the district level quote a circular of the government prohibiting them from speaking to the media. However, deputy commissioner Rahul Tiwari told this correspondent today that there was no intention of the government to create hurdles in the flow of information to media persons.

Interestingly, the local set-up of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), that ought to be forthcoming in providing data regarding the pollution level in the town, was most secretive.

A scientist heading the government laboratory assigned the job of testing fake pesticides and insecticides despite persuasion would not part with any information about the test results as he claimed to have received orders not to divulge anything to the media. It is within the knowledge of even common farmers that with the growing trend of using pesticides and insecticides, a fairly large number of unscrupulous elements have jumped into the trade and fake chemicals were under circulation.

This is not so with these two departments alone, but the experience of media persons were that officers of most other departments too generally do not part with even any general information.

With the government functionaries trying to block vital information of public importance, certain media persons have adopted the route of seeking the desired information through the Right to Information (RTI) channel. However, it was a long process as the departments were bound to provide the required information within a time-frame of 30 days. There were complaints of certain departments not adhering to the provisions of the RTI.

Being one of the most polluted cities of the country, the officers of the PPCB here were reluctant to part with the data regarding the level of air, water and noise pollution. It is worth mentioning that the leaves of trees in the town are covered with a thick layer of ash emanating from the power thermal plant and also the roadside dust. Many diseases have occurred due to contaminated drinking water. However, unlike other states, the PCB here maintains complete secrecy about the level of pollution.

A couple of media persons and public spirited individuals have set up an NGO, Pulang, to elicit information from various departments under the RTI as it has become impossible to get it in the normal routine.

A local media person, Charanjit Singh Bhullar, says that at the moment, nearly 24 applications filed by him under the RTI were pending in various departments. Bhullar, who is an active member of Pulang, pointed out that he has filed six complaints before the State Information Commission against the departments that failed to provide information under the RTI within the stipulated period. Several offices, including those of employment exchange and Zila Parishad, have so far not nominated their respective public information officers from whom any information could be sought. 

Bathinda, November 20
After a decade-long wait, the Bathinda Municipal Corporation is all set to hold elections next year. The state government has informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court that elections for the Bathinda MC will be held before April 30, 2008.

The MC poll process had been uncertain for some time now. The earlier Congress government did not appear to be too interested in holding the elections and the attitude of the ruling SAD(B)-BJP combine in the state too appeared to be on the same lines. It now appears that the government will not be able to delay the elections.

The interesting thing is that these elections would be a challenge for the government and also for the opposition. As per the information, the Bathinda area has a large number of Dera followers, which is believed to be the main reason for the defeat of the SAD (B)-BJP combine in Malwa belt.

The speculation doing the rounds is that it is because of this that the government had been delaying the municipal corporation elections.

It has also been learnt that the tenure of panchayats and panchayat samitis is going to be over next year.

An ex-councillor of Bathinda MC, Mathra Dass had filed a writ petition regarding the elections of Bathinda MC in High Court.

Sources said the High Court is supposed to take a decision on the issue on November 23.

Principal secretary D. S. Bains while talking to TNS said the High Court has been informed that the government would hold the elections before April 30 next year. It has been further disclosed that the government wants that the election should be held along with that of the municipal councils in other parts of the state.

The government plans to hold the elections after the school examinations, which take place in February-March. The distribution of wards will be done soon.

When contacted, Bathinda municipal commissioner D. P. Gupta, said, “The High Court is supposed to decide the fate of elections on November 23.”

The work of amending voters’ list had been initiated but as of now, it has been halted on the order of the Election Commission.

Confirming the fact, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Vijay N Jade said the work would restart after the decision on ward territories. The new date would also be announced then.

It may be mentioned that the last elections for the Bathinda municipal council had been held in 1998.

During the Congress regime, Bathinda was declared a municipal corporation because of the increase in number of wards from 35 to 50.

Some leaders had complained to the chief minister then about the unfair distribution of wards. The government had demanded a report on the issue and after that orders for new ward limits have been sought. 

Bathinda, November 20
After the protest of farmers held on Monday against Balwant Singh Brar, bank manager, Bathinda Central Co-operative Bank, the manager has been transferred by Gurpreet Singh Maluka, managing director of the bank.

In a press note today, the managing director stated that a written complaint against the manager has also been sent to the CM, cooperatives minister, registrar, co-operative societies and the MD, Punjab State Co-operative Bank Ltd. On Monday, the farmers had expressed their anger against the bank manager over the delay in disbursal of agricultural loan at the branch located in the Anaj Mandi here. 

Bathinda, November 20
For preventing school children from violating traffic rules and becoming a victim of heavy traffic on city roads, the Bathinda traffic police has launched a full-fledged campaign to solve this problem. Now schools in the city will have to adhere to the guidelines set by the district traffic police.

New rules will be implemented in all schools in the city from December 1 onwards and anyone found violating them would be fined. In this regard, the district administration and Bathinda police held a meeting with representatives of 24 odd schools from the city today and the schools have agreed to obey all traffic rules.

As per details gathered from the Punjab Police website, there are 26 accident-prone roads in Bathinda city. Recently, a student of DAV School, Bathinda had died in a bus accident outside his school premises.

Giving details about the new guidelines for schools, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Traffic), Parminder Singh, said, ``As per the new guidelines, the name of the respective school, along with the route assigned to it will have to be written on all the private and school owned buses and vans ferrying students from various parts of the city. The driver of that van will have to wear a proper dress, with his name on it. He also needs to possess a valid driving licence along with other necessary documents. The drivers will be appointed by the respective schools themselves,’’ Parminder Singh informed.

The traffic police has also started a programme in which they will be educating school children about traffic rules. ``We have also asked every school to put up four barricades, two on each side of the road, and two persons from each school will have to stand at the school gate, at the time when school starts and ends,’’ he said.

``The exercise to inculcate traffic sense in students is on and the `men in khaki and white’ are already going to schools every now and then to tell the students about stop lines, red lights and using dipper at night,” he asserted.

He also appealed to the parents of these students to check the vehicle and its driver’s documents at the time of hiring a school van or bus.

Barnala, November 20
Acting on the complaints of some local residents, a five-member vigilance team of the local bodies department raided the office of the Improvement Trust in Barnala here today.

The team, headed by Inderpal Aulakh and Sat Bushan Sachdeva, thoroughly investigated the official records and took along documents regarding some popular schemes of the Improvement Trust.

Ram Rattan Mittal, a local contractor, had lodged a written complaint against the trust officials in general and inspector Baljeet Kumar in particular. In his complaints, Ram Ratan alleged bungling in the trust records. A trust engineer had taken a bribe of Rs12, 000 from him to clear his payments of bill.

The team raided the premises early in the afternoon and continued to examine the records for hours.

Miittal had also alleged that the trust authorities had violated norms, while making the way for the Solitaire Hotel (built in municipal limits), inside the Trust’s residential colony.

Inderjeet Aulakh, a vigilance officer, said they were investigating the records and any statement could be made only after a thorough investigation, at this stage they had nothing more to add. They also took away some important key files for further scrutiny.

Z.R. Khan, executive officer of the Trust, said he had joined recently in October, so any complaint regarding the irregularity was made before his tenure and he couldn’t say anything about it.

When K.S. Brar, executive officer of the municipal committee, Barnala, was contacted, he said Solitaire Hotel fell in the municipal limits, but it was adjoining a Trust scheme. So permission for the construction of the hotel was given only after the owner produced a no-objection certificate issued by trust officials, and its site plan had been approved by the chief town planning section of the local bodies department.

Our Correspondent
Mansa, November20“An accountable police administration would be provided to the people of Mansa,” said M. F. Farooqi, the new SSP, at his first press meet here today. A sense of security would be instilled in the citizens and justice would be given to the people, he added.

The SSP also said that law was meant for the protection of the innocent and strict action against criminals was the need of the hour.

He assured that an awareness programme would be started to make people conscious about the ill effects of drug addiction. A meeting would be held with the chemists association to identify people who were involved in the sale of drugs, he added. Remove criminal elements form society, he exhorted and called for cooperation from the media in the campaign against the anti-social elements. 

Barnala, November 20
The local police succeeded in arresting a proclaimed offender, Gurmail Singh, with a large quantity of poppy husk, here today.

Addressing a press conference, SSP Parmjeet Singh Garewal informed that during a special campaign against drug peddlers, inspector Harpal Singh, along with a police party, set up a special checkpoint near Dhillwan village.

A Bolero jeep, number HR24G-2311 with tinted black glasses coming from Tapa, broke the barrier and the driver tried to run away instead of stopping the jeep at the check-point. The police chased the jeep and ultimately, near the Bhotana village, the jeep overturned as its front tyre got punctured.

Police arrested Gurmail Singh while his accomplice managed to flee from the site. During the search, the police recovered one quintal and 60 kg of poppy husk from the jeep.

The SSP said that during the primary investigation, Gurmail Singh disclosed that he had been smuggling poppy husk since long and was undergoing imprisonment for 20 years in a poppy husk case in Mansa district.

Gurmail said that he was on parole from March 3 and was absconding from home. He also confessed that 10 cases of poppy husk have also been registered against him in district Mansa, Faridkot, Bathinda and Haryana, which are under trial in different courts. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered against him.

Bathinda, November 20
To deal with the increasing number of cancer patients in the area, senior officials of various government departments surveyed the city to decide on a site for the proposed cancer hospital. Slums in the surrounding areas will also benefit from the move with dispensaries slated to come up there under the project.

To find a suitable site for the cancer hospital, the cost of which is estimated to be in crores, director, health department, special principal secretary to CM and vice-chairman of the State Planning Board along with the deputy commissioner, Bathinda, and other senior officials took a round of the city.

The team visited the Industrial Growth Center on Mansa Road, the civil hospital and a plot of vacant land near a chemical factory on Dabwali Road to scout for the site.

Giving details, deputy commissioner Rahul Tewari said, “The team is planning to upgrade medical facilities and infrastructure at the civil hospital. Members of the committee also visited the slum areas, as they are planning to set up dispensaries there to provide relief to the residents.”

Sources said the team was of the view that the five acre of land lying vacant behind the children’s hospital in the civil hospital premises could be utilized for the purpose. The team is expected to submit a detailed report to the chief minister.

It may be mentioned that Bathinda has a high incidence of cancer with almost 1000 patients reported to be suffering from the disease.

District health office Kasturi Lal said, “On an average, the district has two cancer patients for every 1000 persons.” He also said that the team was in favour of selecting the land lying vacant in the civil hospital here to set up the oncology department.

However, members of team could not be contacted for their version on the proposed hospital project. 

Abohar, November 20
The Border Security Force (BSF) gunned down an intruder on Monday in the Karanpur sector. The 75 Bn had earlier shot dead an intruder near Saiksarpal border post on November 7.

Later, an Afghan national was nabbed on November 13 near 3FC post, but none of the interrogators has so far been able to understand what he said. Sources confirmed today that the 75 Bn again foiled an intrusion attempt from the other side of the international border yesterday afternoon. A 30-year-old person was challenged, as he proceeded towards pillar number 320/4, approximately 150 metres inside the Indian territory. As he ignored repeated warnings, the BSF men fired 18 rounds, out of which 15 hit the intruder. He died on the spot.

Later, the Pakistan Rangers refused to accept his body during the flag meeting. 

Abohar, November 20
Balbir Singh, chief consultant of the North India Technical Consultancy Organisation (NITCON) inaugurated the six-week entrepreneurs development programme for students at the Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering Technology here today. 

The Union Ministry of Science and Technology has sponsored the training for women, who would be offered financial assistance to set up units like food processing, hosiery and others. —OC

Moga, November 20
Ajmer Singh Lakhowal, chairman of the Punjab Mandi Board, has said that Rs 33.25 crore more as market fee was earned during the current harvest season.

During a visit here today, Lakhowal, who is also the state president, Bharatiya Kisan Union, said that four per cent increase in the arrival of paddy was registered this year. He informed that 140.48 lakh metric tonne of paddy reached the markets till today, against 134.28 lakh metric tonne paddy last year. He informed that the town would hold the 35th kisan panchayat of the state on December 4 and added that all other states would also hold panchayats.

He said that a string of such state-level panchayats would conclude by March 15 next year. Eventually, it would take the shape of Maha-Panchayat, which would be organised in Delhi on March 26 and added that to impress upon the central government to accept the demands of farmers. They would gherao the parliament on that day.     

Abohar, November 20
The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee vice-president Sajjan Kumar Jakhar and a former MLA Dr Mohinder Rinwa, while talking to news persons at their respective camp offices here today, criticised SAD supremo and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for allegedly playing gimmicks to run the administration. Each sangat darshan costs Rs 4-5 lakhs approximately, but serves no purpose, they said.

Pensioners had not been getting money for the last five months. Ration supplies have been curtailed by 55 per cent for distribution through fair price shops under the atta-dal scheme that had been used as major election winning tactics to fool the poor electorate, they alleged.

Both criticized Badal for expressing dissatisfaction over the rise in MSP for wheat and paddy by the UPA government. Jakhar and Rinwa sought to remind Badal that he, as Union agriculture minister, had been able to raise the MSP for grains by Rs 10-25 only. —OC

Bathinda, November 20
Sahibzada Jujhar Singh House bagged first prize in the annual sports day function and athletic meet of Guru Nanak Dev Public School, Kamla Nehru Nagar here today.

Sahibzada Zorawar Singh house stood second, Sahibzada Fateh Singh house third and Sahibzada Ajit Singh house stood fourth. Major General (retd) U. S. Sidhu was the chief guest while school principal Reetinderjit Kaur Chahal proposed the vote of thanks. —TNS