Jalandhar, April 25
Technical education minister Ch Swarna Ram today ruled out the possibility of setting up an IIT in Jalandhar and said the institute was likely to come up at Mohali.

Talking to the mediapersons on the sidelines of the annual prize distribution function at Government Polytechnic for Women, Ladowali Road, here, the minister said the Jalandhar proposal could not work out because of unavailability of the land for the purpose.

Swarna said he had asked private groups to come up with proposals for setting up technical colleges and polytechnics in the state. The state government is also keen on taking such projects on public-private partnership basis with an investment of upto Rs 3.5 crore.

The minister, who also holds the charge of social security and development of women and children department, said he conducted a surprise check at Gandhi Vanita Ashram on Wednesday and found that the ration, including sugar and milk meant for mid-day meals, was being siphoned off in a truck. “I have asked the deputy commissioner Ajeet Singh Pannu to conduct an inquiry into the matter,” he added.

Later, the minister distributed prizes to 90 meritorious students. The college staff informed that a new course in food processing will be started this year.

Jalandhar, April 25
Potato and vegetable growers of Doaba region are up in arms over the erratic power supply which is wreaking havoc on their crops.

Scores of farmers today discussed the issue and warned the government that in case power was not supplied for six to eight hours every day, the people will not be able to purchase fresh potatoes and vegetables.

Jaswinder Singh Sangha, general secretary of the Jalandhar Potato Growers Association, said the maize, sunflower, mentha and potato crop has virtually dried in hundreds of acres in the region in the absence of proper power supply. Our pleas to authorities have fallen on deaf ears, he alleged.

“We are getting electricity for only two to three hours in two days and that too at odd hours in the night. How a farmer is supposed to irrigate his fields at 3 am when he has been working all day long,” he rued.

He said PSEB officers informed that the power supply had been reduced since wheat was being harvested and there had been fire incidents at many places in the state resulting in damage to the standing crop. “Why should we suffer due to inefficiency of the board,” Sangha questioned.

In fact, the government is not serious about its diversification policy, he further alleged. “What stops the government from changing the pattern of power supply in those areas that grow only potatoes and vegetables? Jalandhar and Kapurthala are known for their potato produce. The board should revise its schedule and supply power in these areas during the day,” he added.

The situation is so bad that we are being forced to spend Rs 2,000 everyday to run diesel pump sets to irrigate the fields, said the growers, adding that some crops like muskmelon have to be irrigated during the day only. “Similarly hybrid potato seeds were very sensitive to irrigation changes. If this happens, hundreds of farmers would suffer huge losses,” Sangha said.

While welcoming the ordinance prohibiting the sowing of paddy nurseries before June 1, he said potato growers should be exempted since they have to sow potatoes again in October. He also said that given the depletion of ground water, the government must take steps to revive the canal system in the region. This would help the farmers in getting water during the dry months and also save the expenditure incurred on additional power generation, he pointed out.

Nawanshahr, April 25
Emboldened by the response of party workers, Jathedar Resham Singh Thiara, working committee member of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), released a list of the prospective party nominees for the ensuing panchayat poll yesterday.

Addressing mediapersons at his residence here on Thursday, Thiara said he would submit the list to SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal and urge him to bolster the morale of loyal party workers by giving them due honour and recognition in the coming panchayat poll.

Thiara, an arch rival of local SAD MLA Jatinder Singh Kariha, had come out of his shell and convened a meeting of party workers at his residence here a few days ago. The party workers had openly expressed their resentment against the “discriminatory” attitude of the MLA. They accused the MLA of ignoring the old SAD workers.

However, while denying the allegations levelled by party workers owing allegiance to Thiara, Kariha had dared Thiara to submit a list of party workers or works he had ignored.

Reacting to it, Thiara said if party workers in particular and people in general had been raising an accusing finger at the functioning of the MLA, then there was no need to submit a list. “His prime concern is to boost the morale of party workers so that the electoral prospectus of the party in the coming panchayat and Lok Sabha polls be brightened,” added Thiara. — OC

Kapurthala, April 25
Deputy commissioner J.M. Balamurugan today presided over a meeting to review arrangements for the zila parishad and panchayat elections in the district to be held on May 12.

The DC said the candidates could submit nomination papers till May 2 followed by the scrutiny of the papers on May 3. The candidates could withdraw their nominations on May 5, after which they would be allotted election symbols.

He said to make the election process easy and smooth for the public the election commission had decided to use green colour ballot paper for zila parishad and pink colour ballot paper for panchayat elections. “Even the ballot boxes would be covered with the same colour paper to avoid confusion,” he said.

Amritsar, April 25
The Indian Academy of Fine Arts ( IAFA) would organise 74th All India Art Exhibition here tomorrow. As many as 12 artists selected from across the country would get a cash prize of Rs 10,000 each on the occasion. Deputy commissioner Kahan Singh Pannu would grace the event as a chief guest.

Over 340 art works, including paintings, drawings, sculptures, graphics and photographs would be on display. The academy had received a total of 900 artworks. The artists who would be felicitated are Chandana Khan from Hyderabad, Mohd Arshad Ameen from New Delhi, Gagan “G” from Jalandhar, Hemant Rao from Bhopal, Ashok Kumar Gupta from Haridwar, Ajay Jaitly from Allahabad, Shiv Nath Ram from Varanasi, Neoram Rajesh Singh of Manipur, Jyothi Das K V from Khairagarh, Narinder Singh of Amritsar, Manjit Singh Gill of Moga and Hemendra A Shah from Ahmedabad.