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Irregularities
in PRI polls
Protest march by Dalit woman
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Ex-servicemen decry SPC report, threaten agitation
Attack on house: 6 booked
Tributes paid to Rajiv Gandhi
7-yr-old dies in accident
20-year-old girl attempts suicide
Schools fair well in Boards
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in PRI polls EC seeks election details Rajay Deep Tribune News Service
Bathinda, May 21 Considering the alleged callousness of the ROs while reporting the election-related details to the additional district electoral officer (ADEO), Bathinda, the latter issued a letter mentioning that after the completion of Gram Panchayat nomination process, all officers have to submit the details to the office of the ADEO. But, none of them paid heed to the orders. In the letter, it has been clearly stated that reports had been received from all officers through telephonic calls only due to which a lot of mistakes had crept in. Resultantly, the lists could not be compiled till date. The ADEO cautioned the officers in question saying, “The State Election Commission (SEC) has taken a serious notice of the delay. So send the details till Wednesday evening at my office.” The details sought included details like nomination forms, list of scrutinised forms, dummy ballot papers, reasons for the cancellation of nomination forms, unanimously declared Panch and the names of panchayats. It has been warned that in case of non-compliance, disciplinary action would be initiated against the guilty under section 120 of the Punjab State Election Commission Act, 1994. It is pertinent to mention that the district was bisected in 20 zones. An RO headed a zone that comprised 15 villages. In the district, a number of allegations were levelled against ROs regarding their unfair activities related to the withdrawal of nomination forms without taking the consent of the candidates.
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Small village with big dreams
Bathinda, May 21 According to information available, the Panchayat of the village was formed in 1998. At present, there are only six-seven families, which are scions of erstwhile zamindars while the remaining 30 houses belong to the Dalits. As per the new list of voters, the number of total votes in the village is 147, out of which, 73 are male voters and the rest 74 are females. The seat of Sarpanch in this five-member Panchayat has been declared reserved for a Scheduled Caste (SC) woman, whereas as per the guidelines, two members from the general category, one general woman candidate and one SC man can be elected as the Panch. The Gram Panchayat of village Kothe Sangat Kalan was formed after it was separated from Sangat Kalan village. Sources said that at the time of Panchayat formation, its population was shown to be residing even in the sheds of tube-well pumps. A former office-bearer of the village, Gurjant Singh, said the village has neither shamlat land nor any common structure related to basic amenities, where the received grant could be spent. So, it becomes much difficult to adjust the received grants. In that condition, the amount is spent on the construction or repair of small bridges in the fields. During the recent Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti polls, a total of 134 votes were cast and it took only one and half hours to complete the polling. After village Kothe Sangat Kalan, the following villages are in the category of smallest: Nava Kesar Singh Wala, where the number of votes is 186; Kothe Himmatpura with 203 votes and Nathana where the total votes are 220. In all these villages, the polling staff feels much more comfortable as the voters are through in a couple of hours.
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Congress leader calls for quick action
Kulwinder Sandhu Tribune News Service
Moga, May 21
She was in contact with the victim and said that she would soon approach the National Commission for Women (NCW) to provide justice to the victim besides, demanding severe action against the police officers, who did not provide justice to her. She said it was the duty of the police, being public servants, to protect the honour of the Dalit woman. It was sad that even after she was raped and thrashed by two politically powerful youths, the police instead of arresting the culprits was trying to save them by getting statements of the village people against her under their influence, she accused. She demanded from the state government to immediately suspend the SHO of the police station (rural), who failed to realise the gravity of the situation and the trauma faced by the victim. Senior police officials, if involved in forcing her to take the extreme step of removing clothes under protest, should also be punished as per the law. Thapar, while welcoming the immediate move of the local District Magistrate Satwant Singh Johal for ordering a magisterial probe into the whole episode, hoped that the magistrate inquiring the matter would conduct a fair probe. She also lashed out at the state government for having failed to protect the honour and rights of women. Meanwhile, Thapar contacted the victim and assured her all possible help to get justice.
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Ex-servicemen decry SPC report, threaten agitation
Bathinda, May 21 The president of the association Capt Bhagwant Singh (retd) said the demands of the lower ranks should be dealt with separately as the senior officers were more concerned about their own pay-scales and did not take up the cause of other ranks seriously. “We have no faith in senior officers and the matter pertaining to pay-scales and allowances of other ranks should be dealt with separately,” he demanded. He also called for checking misuse of military transport by the officers and their family members. Meanwhile, the Indian Ex-Services League has also joined the issue and threatened to take to the streets if justice was not done to the armed forces personnel and ex-servicemen. President of the League Lt Col. Daya Singh (retd) regretted that the soldiers and ex-servicemen were remembered when there was threat to security of but no one cared after the crisis was over. He said that while the major demand of ex-servicemen for ‘one rank, one pension’ was hanging fire for more than two decades, the SPC had added ‘insult to injury’ by downgrading the pay-scales and allowances of the armed forces and disturbing parity with civil services. It was intriguing that the SPC proposed a running pay- scale of Rs 15,600 to Rs 39,100 for all officers from the rank of Lieutenant to Brigadier and scaled down the grade pay ratio to 1.5 times as compared to 1:6. Further, the Military Service Pay (MSP) for PBOR (Personnel Below Officers Rank) had been fixed at Rs 1000, which would not be valued for fixation of pension and gratuity. He said that experience, length of service and MSP should be taken into account while fixing pension and Gratuity, retrospectively from January 2006.
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Barnala, May 21 Jagsir Singh, resident of Shaina village, said that he had sold a few acres of land to Surinder Singh some time back. But Surinder Singh took the possession of more area than the actual land purchased. Despite Jagsir Singh’s repeated requests, when Surinder Singh refused to vacate the extra land acquired, he filed a complaint with the police. Jagsir Singh alleged that today, Surinder Singh along with his five accomplices, attacked his home. They entered his house forcefully and misbehaved with the women present there. The villagers held a demonstration when the police didn’t take any action against the accused. It was only after the villagers’ demonstration that the Shaina police registered a case against Surinder Singh and five others. Shaina SHO confirmed the registration of a case under section 425 of the IPC. He admitted that he received a complaint from both the parties and he had given them time for settlement, but before any dialogue could be held, this incident happened. — OC
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Tributes paid to Rajiv Gandhi
Bathinda, May 21 The local Congress leaders went through the ritual of paying floral tributes, as most of the senior leaders were busy with campaigning for the ongoing Panchayat elections and Amritsar Lok Sabha bypoll. The president of Bathinda (Urban) District Congress Committee, Ashok Kumar described Rajiv Gandhi as the architect of modern India who prepared the country to enter the 21st century. He said that Rajiv Gandhi encouraged the youth and took the revolutionary decision to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 years to increase the youth participation in the democratic process. Iqabal Singh Dhillon of the Youth Congress also lauded Rajiv Gandhi for his vision and persistent efforts to empower youth and women. Satpal Bhatheja, secretary, Punjab Pradesh Congress, and chairman of the Rajiv Gandhi Lok Bhalai Manch also praised the contribution of former PM to the country and said that the real tribute to him would be to fight against social evils and constantly work for the development of the country. A two-minute silence was also observed to pay homage to Rajiv Gandhi who was killed by a human bomb in Tamil Nadu on this day in 1991. Moga: Officials of district administration and leaders of the Congress party on Tuesday paid homage to former PM Rajiv Gandhi on his 17th death anniversary by observing it as Anti-Terrorism Day.To mark the occasion, a district-level function was organised at the meeting hall of the district administrative complex in the morning. District magistrate Satwant Singh Johal highlighted the visionary ideas of Rajiv Gandhi. General secretary of the state-unit of the Congress and former minister Malti Thapar also organised a separate function at the party-level to pay tributes to their visionary leader. Many local workers of the party also participated in the function. Mansa: The 17th death anniversary of former PM Rajiv Gandhi was observed here on Wednesday. This function was organised at the Bachhat Bhawan, Mansa, which was presided over by deputy commissioner Surjeet Singh Dhillon. Addressing the gathering on the occasion, the DC said, “We should unite against the terrorists and other anti-social elements.” SSP Mansa, M.F. Farooqi, Baljeet Singh Sandhu, ADC (Development), D.S. Nagi, civil surgeon of Mansa, Harbhans Singh Sandhu, DEO secondary, Parampal Kaur, DDPO Mansa and terrorism-affected families were also present on the occassion. —OC
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7-yr-old dies in accident
Fazilka, May 21 According to the available details, Jagsir Singh, father of the boy and a resident of Jandwala Kharta village, stated that his son Ramandeep Singh (7) had gone along with his mother Raj Rani and grandmother Chhinder Kaur for meeting some relatives at village Katehra. As both the women reached the bus stand at village Banwala Hanuwanta, Ramandeep tried to cross the road , following them. In the meantime, a speeding car reportedly being driven by some police officials hit him. He died on the spot.
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20-year-old girl attempts suicide
Bathinda, May 21 Principal of her school Mandeep Kaur said the girl had taken leave for a day citing sickness as a reason. When her room-mate knocked at the door and found it bolted from inside, she peeped and found Manpreet preparing to hang herself. When contacted, investigation officer Angrej Singh said no case had been registered as the girl was not in a condition to give any statement and the investigation was going on.
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Bathinda, May 21 The school has achieved 100 per cent result in both the examinations. Similarly, all the students of DAV Edwardganj Senior Secondary Public Scool Malout, class XII (commerce, science and arts) have passed in the examinations.— TNS
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