Bathinda, May 18
With political opponents already accusing the administration of ‘helping’ the ruling SAD, the district administration today faced another charge of being ‘slow’ in carrying out the scrutiny of nomination forms for the Gram Panchayat polls, scheduled for May 26.

Candidates and their supporters across the district alleged that they were anxious as the process for withdrawal of nomination forms would begin on Monday morning, but till Sunday evening, they were not aware of the status of their forms.

Altogether 20 ROs along with a team of subordinate staff, started the scrutiny of a total of 6,475 nomination forms on Saturday morning, but the process could not be completed till Sunday evening, which irked many of the candidates.

After receiving a number of complaints from the candidates belonging to Talwandi Sabo and Bathinda blocks, when the TNS contacted ROs and the SDMs concerned, it received a similar reply, “The work is in process and will be completed shortly.”

When additional deputy commissioner (development)-cum additional district electoral officer, Vijay N Zade, was informed about the matter, he assured that it would be expedited speedily.

As per the information received from the ADC (D) office, it was found that out of 20 centres, the list could be prepared only in 10 and the work was still in process at the rest of the centres.

As per the list, in Bathinda I zone, 84 forms were rejected out of 390, in Bathinda IV zone, 57 forms were rejected out of 355, in Talwandi Sabo I zone, 88 forms were rejected out of 360, In Talwandi Sabo III zone, 20 forms were rejected out of 298, in Maur II, 27 forms were rejected out of 284, in Rampura I, 63 forms were rejected out of 345, in Phul I, 8 forms were rejected out of 282, in Phul II, 8 forms were rejected out of 212, in Bhagta Bhai Ka I, 25 forms were rejected out of 357, and in Bhagta Bhai Ka II, 40 forms were rejected out of 256.

While speaking about the reason behind the rejection, most of the ROs said that there were a number of mistakes in the forms as many of the candidates were illiterate. Missing signatures, absence of the name of the proposers and non-attachment of the documents required were among the major mistakes.

On the other hand, in Rampura, some people raised anti-establishment slogans outside the BDPO office, when the officers concerned allegedly made some alteration in the pasted list.

Complainants rued that in the scrutinised list, the name of a candidate was mentioned in the column of rejected forms, but after some time, his name was omitted with some fluid.

The protesters reportedly brought the matter to the notice of the State Election Commission through fax.

Bathinda May 18
For the first time in the history of independent India, ex-servicemen are up in arms against the Sixth Pay Commission (SPC) report and have threatened to launch a nationwide agitation if their grievances with regard to ‘low and humiliating’ pay-scales are not redressed.

Hundreds of ex-servicemen gathered at Fauji Chowk here today and resorted to a token hunger strike to give vent to their desperation. The leaders of ex-servicemen wing of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) lashed out at the SPC and the UPA government for adopting an indifferent attitude against the armed forces and ex-servicemen and demanded a separate pay commission for them.

Terming the  recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission as final burial of  long pending ‘one rank, one pension’ demand of ex-servicemen  by the UPA government, Col (retd) Pratap Inder Phulka, leader of the movement, said it was unfortunate that the soldiers who fought wars to defend the country against external aggression were being treated shabbily.

He urged the UPA government to include experts from the Army in the Review Pay Board and ensure that serving armymen and ex-
soldiers were placed in a better position in pay-scales and allowances compared to their civilian counterparts and given benefits retrospectively from January 2006.

The year-wise edge of armed forces personnel over other civil services must also be maintained and the hardship faced by the 
servicemen and round-the-clock duties performed by them should be taken into consideration while deciding the pay-scales and other allowances, he added.

The ex-servicemen rued that all the five commissions had been unfair to the armed forces but the SPC had been the most harsh and inconsiderate. “The plea of the government that a separate pay commission for armed forces personnel was not feasible and tenable is wrong as we already have a separate commission for judicial services,” said Havildar Kartar Singh another ex-servicemen.

The Army was already facing a crunch of young officers and if the ‘guards of the nation’ were not paid well and given due respect, it would be difficult to attract talented and dedicated people to serve in the Army, he feared.

The MSP recommended by the SPC did not take into account the hardship and difficult conditions of services and these should be enhanced as recommended by three services i.e. 65 per cent of pay for Persons Below Officer Rank (PBOR) and 56 per cent for officers besides extending it to all ranks and not restrict it to brigadiers, said Major Karnail, district president.  He also demanded that the resettlement schemes for military veterans be executed at the earliest in letter and spirit, and their lateral induction should be carried out through an Act of Parliament.

He further appealed to the ex-servicemen of Malwa to rise above party affiliation and teach the Congress-led UPA government a lesson in the upcoming elections.

The plight of the ex-servicemen was aptly described by Col (retd) Pratap Inder Phulka in a lyrical style, who said, “I hear we have crossed the 60th year, standing ground without any fear; another day in the desert sun or night at a height with freezing gun; Tell me my India, what am I worth for the battles and wars I have fought without asking which one is right.”

Abohar, May 18
Recently sown Bt cotton, green fodder and other crops in more than 1000 acres of land were feared to have been damaged due to a breach in the Kikkarkhera sub-canal on the outskirts of this sub-divisional town.  Some orchards were also inundated under water.

A farmer from Azeemgarh noticed the breach at 9 pm on Saturday and informed others. The sub-canal had 100 cusecs of water discharge then. The affected farmers said they tried to contact the sub-divisional engineer of the irrigation department but were told that he was busy with the scrutiny of the nomination papers. Then telephone calls were made to the executive engineer but he allegedly responded at 11 pm only. One Devinder Kumar of Dhaani Bashesharnath said he reached the spot at 11.30 pm but did not find any employee of the department there. Initially the breach was very small but it expanded to about 50 feet later.

The farmers were worried that the gushing water was heading towards the Abohar-Hanumangarh road (state highway) but its flow later took a diversion. An early visitor on Sunday, Ramesh Kathuria said had the department risen to the occasion immediately, the loss could have been minimised by plugging the breach at the initial stage. The affected farmers include Banarsi Devi, Doongar Ram, Rohtash, Sahi Ram, Gopi Ram, Ram Chand, Brij Lal and Tara Chand.

However, the irrigation department suspended the water supply from the Sotha head-works in Muktsar district at 7.30 am on Sunday, sources said. The flow of water from the Malukpura distributary was also diverted to the Daulatpura sub-canal to prevent further flooding through the breach. The department today pressed two JCB machines into service in addition to other measures and hopes to plug the breach by tomorrow.

The farmers lamented they had been spending a lot on sowing Bt cotton for last three years. Kinnow crops had already been affected. The compensation given to the affected farmers after breaches during May and July last year was just an eyewash, they rued.

Sources in the Irrigation Department said that most of the breaches during the decade were caused by tree plantation on the banks of the canals and sub-canals in the region. For the last three years, at least breaches were recorded officially in the months of May and July. An official said on the condition of anonymity that the estimate files for repair of the sub-canals in the region had been gathering dust for last five-six years at the headquarters. As and when efforts were made to make water available at the tail-end of the outlived sub-canals, a breach took place.

Bathinda, May 18
Lightning, thunderstorm was witnessed in the entire region on Sunday evening damaging water tanks and electrical home appliances. A number of electricity poles were also uprooted in the city. Ram Parvesh, a resident of Bala Ram Nagar, informed that the lightning damaged a concrete water tank constructed in his house while his neighbours reported that their electrical home appliances like refrigerators and television had been damaged due to lightning.

Sources said that Jarnail Singh of Jogi Ram Nagar also suffered losses when the lightning damaged his plastic-made water tank. As per the information available, a number of electricity poles were uprooted in Paras Ram Nagar, causing disruption of power supply. However, no loss of life was reported till the filing of the report. — TNS

Bathinda, May 18
Hundreds of heads of cattle, including milk yielding cows, sheep and goats, which had migrated to villages in this district following drought-like situation in Rajasthan have reportedly died due to lack of fodder and water. However, the exact number of cattle that have died during travel to Bathinda villages is unknown.

Thousands of cattle have taken shelter in Ablu and Ghudda villages of the district. Although the herds have been more or less mobile, shepherds accompanying them are worried for them.

A shepherd, Banke Mian, who belongs to Ganganagar in Rajasthan and is camping with his cattle along with many others in the vicinity of the villages here, said he left Ganganagar about 20 days back with 1,000 cows, out of which 95 died on the way due to lack of fodder and water.

He added that although a temporary stay had been given to his herd, but the shortage of fodder had been worrying him and his family members. The shepherd is travelling with his wife and children along with the animals. He said if he had not come here, all his animals might have perished by now.

Most of the shepherds, who have come to the villages here, feel that temperature has been extraordinarily high in the region and it might force them to shift to another place. A majority of the families of these shepherds have been surviving by selling milk.

It is learnt that many animals were sold to the locals for money to buy essential commodities.

According to another shepherd, they had to save some money in order to send it back to their family members, who were living in their ancestral villages for the security of the houses. Most of the persons staying back are aged, for whom travelling would have been difficult.

Most of the herds usually stay at one place for four to five days. They have demanded adequate fodder, water and proper staying arrangements.

Muktsar, May 18
The absence of Congress leaders, including MLAs of the region and also the leaders of Left parties and the BSP, has apparently taken away the lustre from the two-day long ‘Vishal Maatami Rosh March’ which began from Muktsar today.

It may be recalled that Congress stalwart Jagmeet Singh Brar, who is also an AICC member, had announced the plan to take out the march.

When Brar was asked about the absence of Congress MLAs of Bathinda district and surroundings areas, he parried the query saying that he had conveyed the message to everyone but could not force anyone to join. Even after urging like-minded persons and parties, including the Left parties and the BSP to participate in the march, their absence remained a matter of conjecture.

Before commencing the march, Brar flayed the SAD for alleged rigging and force used by ‘anti-social’ elements with alleged connivance of bureaucracy in the recently held PRI polls. He informed that on May 20, he would file a public interest litigation (PIL) against the irregularities like violation of code of conduct.

Three out of the five freedom fighters, namely Hem Raj Mittal, Vakil Chand Dabra, and Mahasha Dev Raj, wearing black gowns, participated in the march, while Karta Ram Sevak and Pandit Devinder Singh are expected to join the march on the way.

Regarding his announcement to launch a task force named “Punjab Bachao, Pag Bachao, Vote Bachao, Nigran Dastte” (observer squads), which he claimed would be constituted in villages across the state, he said it was the decision of the PPCC and not his.

He ward off queries regarding the resignations of 43 Congress MLAs submitted to CLP leader, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal.

When the freedom fighters were asked about what prompted them to join the Congress march, they said they were participating not due to the party but only to “save democracy from being strangulated at the hands of the ruling SAD during the PRI polls.”

The march started at 10 am from the New Grain Market, Muktsar, and after passing through city market, joined the road leading to Amritsar via Sarainaga, Bariwala, Kotkapura, Sandhwa, Faridkot, Mudki, Talwandi Bhai, Zira, Makhu, Harike Pattan, Sarhali, Naushahra and Tarn Taran.

Brar said the march would halt at Tarn Taran for the night and on Monday it would culminate in Amritsar with PPCC president Rajinder Kaur Bhattal addressing party workers.

Abohar, May 18
The staff, which was scrutinising the nomination papers for the Gram Panchayat elections till wee hours on Sunday, reported to the district authorities that 92 out of 1,844 nomination papers in the Abohar block had been rejected. 

According to the available information, as many as 586 members for the 70 Gram Panchayats in the Abohar block are to be elected. After rejections, there are now 765 nominations for 270 seats in the general category, 395 for 135 seats reserved for women, 386 for 110 seats in the SC category, 176 for 59 SC women and 36 for 11 seats in the BC category.

All the five members for the newly constituted panchayat in village Dhaani Arur Singh got elected unopposed. They are: Gurjant Singh, Mohinder Singh, Pargat Singh, Harjinder Kaur and Jagdish Kaur. Interestingly, the electorates in the village had not earlier been provided a chance to elect the panchayat or a municipal councillor as their names figured neither in the municipal electoral rolls nor was the Dhaani, located close to the town, was part of any village. The newly elected members categorically told the mediapersons they should not be quoted as members or followers of any political party.

Only two panchayats of village Pucca Seed Farm and Gobindgarh, both close to the town, will have 11 members each, though the number was less in other villages.

In the Khuyiansarwar block, electorates in 53 villages were to elect 455 members. The assistant returning office has rejected 80 out of 1,554 nomination papers that had been filed since Friday. There are 849 nominations for 197 seats in the General category, 207 for 118 seats reserved for women, 288 for 69 SC category seats, 62 for 34 seats reserved for SC women, and 68 for 37 seats reserved for BC category.

The panchayats in villages: Choohriwala Dhanna, Alamgarh, Dangarkhera and Sayyedwala will have 11 members each, whereas the number would be five each in Ramsukh Pura and Dhaani Harcharan Singh Sandhu villages.

Ferozepur, May 18
With the exception of some wards where some incidents of poll related violence took place, the cantonment elections were held in a peaceful manner. The elections saw a lot of enthusiasm amidst the electorate as a large number of voters had started queuing up early in the morning to exercise their franchise to vote.

Returning Officer (RO) Jaskiran Singh, ADC , said barring a few incidents of scuffle between workers belonging to warring groups, the elections were held in a peaceful manner. The RO further said that though exact details have to be ascertained, an estimated 60 per cent polling was reported.

In ward no.1, an independent candidate, Rakesh Bharti, alleged that bogus voting had taken place at some booths. Similar reports were also received from ward no. 6, where the Akali and Congress workers entered into a heated exchange of words over identity of some voters, which later took violent turn. Congress leaders including, Ajit Singh Bhalla, alleged that the Akalis thrashed them.

Even some mediapersons who were trying to take photographs were also threatened. Some cases of violence were also reported from ward no. 3 and ward no. 8.

Sources said that the counting of votes shall begin tomorrow morning at the cantonment board office and the results were expected to be out by afternoon, the same day.

Abohar/Fazilka, May 18
“Even 60 years after independence, municipal councils in the region are unable to provide the residents safe drinking water,” regretted Navdeep Jasuja, secretary of the Graduates Welfare Association, a Fazilka-based NGO.

He said the lab test reports received yesterday confirmed that the TDS and fluoride contents had alarmingly increased in groundwater at Fazilka. The drinking water supplied by the municipal council from its tubewells in Partap Bagh was not fit for consumption.

Informing that Bhupinder Singh of the Association had recently collected 13 samples from different localities and performed water quality tests at the Water Quality Testing Laboratory (Technology Mission) in Amritsar, Navdeep said, “The results shocked all of us as the residents of Adarsh Nagar near Sanjeev Cinema, Radha Swami Colony, TV Tower colony and Army cantonment, had been consuming polluted drinking water with high fluoride content. Exhorting that it was the time to act, the NGO had requested the environment lovers to come forward for the cause.

“If we will not act now, I am sure our future generations would definitely curse us and very soon we will see more and more people leaving Fazilka, a historic and beautiful place, for the search of better environment,” he said.

Interestingly, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) put fluoride content at 1-1.5 mg/litre.

It is believed that levels above or below this could cause dental decay. Ironically, there is an increased incidence of dental caries, yellow teeth and twisted limbs among people of all age-groups in India.

Dr V.K. Joshi, former director of the Geological Survey of India, had reported Fazilka on the red alert list of fluoride contamination in the groundwater. Almost 70 per cent of the sub-division’s population suffers from dental decay, the Association observed.

Executive Officer Municipal Council, Fazilka, Tilak Raj Verma when confronted with report of Water Quality Testing Laboratory Amritsar, said that the municipal council is also getting the drinking water samples tested regularly. He however expressed helplessness with regard to quality of tubewell bore water. The EO maintained that since the canal water project of Fazilka is attached to non perennial canal for water supply the MC is not able to meet the entire drinking water demand from canal based water. He further added that the Municipal Council has applied for procuring canal based water for its project from perennial canal. The entire problem shall be addressed properly when the project is approved and adequate canal water shall be available.