Bathinda, June 3
The problems of Shiromani Akali Dal (B) in selecting candidates for the forthcoming Bathinda Municipal Corporation (BMC) is apparently refusing to die down.

With the Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) chief Avtar Singh Makkar taking a stand against the SAD junior vice-president to launch his kin, Jagmohan Makkar, the problems for SAD leaders here appear to be aggravating.

According to information, junior vice-president of the SAD, Sarup Chand Singla has been making efforts to facilitate ticket from ward number 15 for one of his friends, Master Harmander.

And Harmander has tendered his resignation from his government job on Monday to avoid any hassles in getting the same. He was a science supervisor in Bathinda.

Meanwhile, Jagmohan Singh Makkar, kin of Avtar Singh, is also a strong contender for the ticket from the same ward, covering Ajit Nagar, Bibiwala road and Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar.

To get the ticket for him, Avtar Singh himself approached the SAD general secretary Balwinder Singh Bhunder.

Interestingly, the issue has made the two come face to face and neither is ready to relent considering it as a matter of prestige. Moreover, the piquant situation has put the seats allocation committee in a dilemma. Sources said that to sort out the issue, senior members of the committee, have sent the matter to SAD chief Sukhbir Badal, who is in the US.

When Avtar Singh was contacted, he said, “I have demanded the ticket for Jagmohan but I came to know that Sarup has been trying hard for the same for his candidate. This way, his attitude cannot be termed as the right approach and he may have to pay a price for it in the elections which he hopes to contest in the future.”

“It was not a big demand on my part and it would be better if the issue is sorted out amicably,” he added.

On his part, Sarup Chand Singla said, “We have received the demand from both the prospective candidates. It is the reason behind not issuing the list of candidate till date. I know that Avtar Singh approached for him but the demand was put forward at the last moment. Earlier, when Jagmohan was asked for the ticket, he did not turn up. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal are aware of everything. We will follow what they will decide.”

Bathinda, June 3
The forthcoming elections to the Bathinda Municipal Corporation is witnessing an interesting change in stand as far as the Sikh-Dera controversy is concerned.

While earlier, the hardliners were strident in their opposition to the Dera, they are now seemingly dragging their feet over the issue.

The reason for this is not far to seek as the Dera followers constitute a strong vote bank with an estimated 25,000 to 35,000 followers in Bathinda.

Only a year back, Akal Takht Jathedar Joginder Singh Vedanti had issued a hukumnama (edict), forbidding all Sikhs from having any kind of relationship with Dera followers.

But now, political leaders of all hues are eying the Dera votes and this explains the toned down attitude of the hardliners.

According to sources, at present no political party is in a situation where it can afford to lose the Dera votes as it is the first elections after the formation of the municipal corporation and probably it is also part of the groundwork being done to prepare for the coming parliamentary elections.

Consequently, all political parties have started approaching the Dera followers to lure them presenting themselves as their well-wishers. Talking to some Sikh religious leaders, it was observed that bitterness among them for the Dera was decreased a lot.

SGPC chief Avtar Singh, who is also seeking a BMC ticket for one of his kin on SAD ticket, said, “Any comment on the subject can be given only by the Akal Takht Jathedar, I am just supposed follow the hukumnama.”

“Politicians can never follow the hukumnama in a rigid manner,” he added. It may be mentioned that this wsa a much milder version of what the SGPC chief had earlier said when he had stated that lawyers would be hired to fight court cases against the Dera followers.

Takht Damdama Sahib Jathedar Balwant Singh Nandgarh, who had remained in news for issuing hardline statements against the Dera chief, today said in a mild tone, “One must go by the Akal Takht’s hukumnama. Only the Akal Takht is supposed to decide the further course of action if politicians go beyond the hukumnama to seek Dera votes.”

Baljit Singh Dadu Sahib, a renowned Sikh religious leader, who had staged a strong protest against the Dera chief, today said, “If anybody goes against the hukumnama in his own interest, the matter would be forwarded to the Akal Takht for a decision.”

Despite repeated attempts, Jathedar Joginder Singh Vedanti, Jathedar of the Akal Takht, could not be contacted as he was reportedly out of station.

Bathinda, June 3
The rise of Students Organisation of India (SOI), a youth organisation patronised by Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal, is giving sleepless nights to the Congress, yet to recover from the drubbing it received in the recent Panchayat elections.

The influence of the SOI was visible in the Zila Parishad and Panchayat elections, especially in the Malwa region.

With elections to the municipal corporation and other municipal bodies around, the worries of the Congress are increasing.

There is a possibility that the SOI would actively work for SAD-BJP candidates in the forthcoming municipal elections and ensure victory of their candidates.

The president of the district unit of SOI, Baljeet Singh Dhanoa, addressing a meeting of the organisation here, said that the people’s mandate was with the SAD-BJP combine and better results, endorsing the performance and achievements of the government, would be witnessed in the municipal elections.

Describing Sukhbir as a dynamic leader with vision and capacity to lead, Dhanoa said the youth had completely identified with him and Bathinda and other areas of the Malwa region would see a phenomenal progress under his guidance.

SOI, considered as ‘personal army’ of Sukhbir Badal, and compared with the Green Brigade of Om Prakash Chautala, has made deep inroads in the Malwa region and is well entrenched in colleges.

Initially, founded to take on former chief minister Capt Amrinder Singh during the Congress regime, it was a force to reckon with in this region.

Aware of the clout of the organisation, the Congress and Akali Dal (Maan) have dubbed it as an organised gang of’ criminals’.

PPCC chief Rajinder Kaur Bhattal lashed out at the SAD for propping up SOI and also declared that the Congress would take sufficient measure to protect its workers.

Bathinda, June 3
Punjab is touted as India’s most prosperous state in the country. Yet in villages like Mirpur Kalan village, it is one long tale of poverty, unhygienic living conditions, disease and above all official apathy towards the needs of the people.

While the state health authorities and the political leadership remain unconcerned, the people of this remote village are trying to reconcile to the fact that cancer has taken in the form of an epidemic here.

Captain Gurdial Singh of the village told TNS that as many as 70 persons have fallen prey to different forms of cancer.

There have been 10 deaths in recent years and five more are undergoing treatment for the scourge in Bikaner hospitals of Rajasthan.

In the meantime medical assistance remains as distant as it has always been,
he added.

Though the spread of the disease cannot be attributed to one particular reason, the villagers, advocate Hardip Singh and Gurtej Singh, believe that it is caused by the brackish ground water with high levels of fluorine which they have been forced to drink due to inadequate supply of potable water for the last one decade.

Others point towards the excessive use of chemicals in agricultural operations in this cotton belt situated in the south-western districts of Punjab.

As it is, the villagers have to travel 150 kilometres to Ludhiana or 300 kilometres to Bikaner in Rajasthan for treatment.

They point out that though the village dispensary was set up a few years ago, the health authorities have never bothered to post a doctor or para-medical staff here.

Nachattar Singh, a youth says that his mother died after a cancerous tumour was detected in her breast.

Similarly, Kikar Singh says his wife also died of the same ailment, while Joga Singh’s mother died of a cancerous growth in the abdomen. Mohinder Singh says that his parents also died of cancer.

Meanwhile, the Punjab government has decided to institute a detailed inquiry into the high incidence of cancer and will be associating senior professionals from the government, private organisations and research institutions to analyse the causes and suggest preventive measures.

According to rough estimates, there are about 9,000 patients with various forms of malignant cancers in the state.

To compound the problem, illiteracy and the lack of proper awareness has led to major misconceptions among the villagers.

They believe that cancer is contagious and they burn everything that belongs to a dead patient.

There were numerous cases, when even the documents related to the treatment of the patients were either burnt or buried.

Moga, June 3
The menace of stray cattle in Moga town continues to haunt local residents. People were upset over the indifferent attitude of local administration, particularly, the authorities concerned and municipal council. 

One could see stray cattle eating grass on road dividers and roaming freely on streets of the town. More often than not they are caught and transported to cattle sheds, but still their population is increasing day-by-day.

As per the official figures available from animal husbandry department, the population of stray cattle freely roaming in the district is 6,256, out of which 961 animals are here in the town alone. 

Although, it is the duty of civic body to do away with the problem of stray cattle but the responsibility has recently been handed over to animal husbandry department.

Satpal Sharma, who retired as deputy director of the department three days back, said that there were 27 cowsheds in the district in which 8,894 stray animals had been kept and taken care by the local animal welfare associations. In the Moga town, there were seven cowsheds, housing 1,365 animals.

He revealed that the capacity of the existing cowsheds was full and it was not possible for the department to keep more animals until and unless the infrastructure was raised.

Dwarka Bansal, chairman of the citizens’ welfare council of the town, demanded from administration to ensure that the stray cattle didn’t roam freely on main roads and streets of the town, and a strict vigil should be kept to prevent their entry from rural areas into the town.

President of the senior citizens’ forum, Sardari Lal, gave a memorandum to DM Satwant Singh Johal, last week, to take effective steps for tackling the problem of stray cattle but so far nothing had been done in this regard.

It was learnt that the DM had asked the authorities concerned to catch hold of stray animals and send them to cowsheds immediately, but few teams were called here to do this work and they went back without doing any job.

There were reports that more than 10 accidents had taken place in the town during the past six months due to the presence of stray cattle on roads, claiming at least three lives and injuring more than 20 people.

A stray bull also killed a retired assistant director of animal husbandry department last month.

Residents of the town say that they have made several complaints with the officials of municipal council and local administration, but they did not take any affective step to prevent this menace.

“The district administration should take this issue on a priority basis as it has created a lot of nuisance,” demanded Bansal.

Moga, June 3
The Punjab State Ayurvedic Medical Services Association (PSAMSA) has demanded from the state government to enhance their salaries at par with allopathic doctors, to give non-practice allowance, fill up vacant posts and provide adequate medicines to dispensaries besides improving their infrastructure.

Navdeep Singh Brar, a senior executive member of the association, while talking to The Tribune, said ayurvedic doctors had long been demanding increase in their salaries, at par with the allopathic doctors, in accordance with the salary structure of the doctors working under the union government.

He said the granting of non-practice allowance to the ayurvedic doctors was another issue pending before the state government for the past many years, but so far nothing had been done in this regard.

Brar revealed that the association, in a state-level meeting held yesterday, had also passed a resolution with regard to their demands that had been sent to the health minister and the secretary of ‘ayush’ department for consideration.

He said health minister Lakshmi Kanta Chawla had evinced interest in propagating the ayurvedic system of medicines in Punjab on the pattern of Kerala and hoped that she would come up with a comprehensive plan to improve the existing infrastructure, create new infrastructure and fill up the vacant posts in the department.

“In the recent past, health conscious people have started turning away from the allopathic system of medicines, except for emergency situations, and have shown interest in ayurvedic medicines. Therefore, the government should take special interest in improving it in the state, keeping in view of the people’s demand,” added Brar.

Bathinda, June 3
In order to give shape to the plan envisaged by the Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in his budget speech earlier this year, the Department of Central Excise and Custom has embarked upon a nationwide programme of setting up help centres for small assesses.

The help centre for the Bathinda zone will become functional on July 1. Giving this information here today, Commissioner, Central Excise, D.S. Sra, said the help centres for small assesses would provide an institutional mechanism to provide guidance and education of trade and industry on problems and misgivings related to central excise, service tax and customs.

Further, the help centres would also create a sense of awareness about the rights of the taxpayers, their tax obligations and consequences of non-compliance.

He said that the help centre would largely be a constituent body of representatives from different sections of the trade and industry along with a few independent consultants and a nominated officer of the department.

Sra further informed that in an attempt to make the department user-friendly, it was decided to deal with ‘large tax-paying units’ with turnover of Rs 75 crore or above, on one-to-one basis.

Bathinda, June 3
Sehat Education and Welfare Activity Society (SEWA), Bathinda, organised a seminar on female foeticide at Ambedkar Bhavan here today in which over 100 activists of the society and women leaders participated. Women from slum areas also attended.

The overall objective of the seminar was to create awareness among village women about their reproductive rights, female foeticide and its impact on the population growth.

During the seminar, Sadhu Ram Kusla, project officer, PNDT and member, National Child Protection Commission said that despite efforts of the government, population has increased manifold. The existing rate of growth of population had nullified all development efforts.

Indu Bhushan Aggarwal, assistant civil surgeon, Bathinda, who was the chief guest, elaborated that figures of the 1991 census which have scared the authorities concerned show that sex ratio in the age group of 0-6 years has declined sharply from 945 females per 1000 males in 1991 to 843 females today.

Paradoxically, sex ratio decline is very prominent in the high per-capita income areas of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi.

A.P. Grover, president of the society, said that dowry system and female foeticide were largely prevalent in society and education was the only solution to these problems.

He said that women should fight for their rights and in case they were ill-treated for dowry or molested, they should not hesitate to report to the police.

Bathinda, June 3
Thieves and snatchers had a field day in city today as two cases of thefts and one snatching were reported during the last 24-hours while district police could do nothing so far to trace the accused.

According to sources, Dheeraj Gupta of Veer Colony reported to the Kotwali police that some unidentified persons allegedly stole his 2001 model, silver colour Lancer car from his residence in the Monday-Tuesday intervening night.

In another incident, Ravinder Sharma, a resident of Navi Basti street number 2, here reported to the police that some unidentified persons allegedly stole his white-coloured Maruti 800 car from his residence.

After the two thefts, Kotwali police received a call of snatching, which reportedly took place outside the Canara Bank, situated on the Mall Road, here.

The complainant alleged that he was coming out of the bank after withdrawing a sum of Rs.70,000, when two motorcycle-borne youth snatched the bag from his hand.

Barnala, June 3
To lodge their protest against the scarcity of petrol and diesel in Malwa, the Bharatiya Kisan Union Ekta (Ugrahan) blocked the road traffic for two hours today at Pakho Kanchian, about 12 km from here.

Addressing the farmers, Bukan Singh Saadhowal, district president of the union, said though the common man in general and farmers in particular were facing a lot of inconvenience due to the non-availability of petro products, the state government was not doing anything to ensure the sufficient supply of fuel in the region.

He said the oil companies wanted to convey the message that if the prices were not increased, the supply could be cut down drastically. And in the guise of it, the union government wanted to increase the prices of petrol and diesel.

Saadhowal alleged that the union government was dancing to the tunes of capitalists and was least bothered about checking the fuel supply in the region.

Hardeep Singh Tallewal, state press secretary of the BKU, apprehended that if the union government failed to check the rising prices of petrochemicals, it would result in further increase in the prices of essential commodities.

Consequently, the common man would be the real loser, he pointed out. Tallewal said in the wake of the ensuing paddy season, it was the government’s duty to supply diesel as per requirement and at subsidised rates.

Mansa, June 3
The area under paddy is growing in Mansa. This is mainly due to the danger of Mealy bug hovering in the minds of farmers and also due to the rain in May.

Chief agriculture officer Davinder Singh said that last year, nearly 61,000 hectare area was covered under paddy. He confirmed that this year, the area under paddy would increase.

Nearly 14.9 mm rain was recorded in the month of May in Mansa. Farmers have been showing interest towards Pusa 14 variety of paddy as this gives more yield than the other varieties.

At some places, PR-11, PR-14, PR-16 varieties were also being planted. Ram Singh Bhaini Bagha, Bhola Singh and Mukam Singh Ralla, who are farmers, said that the fear of Mealy bug had made them shift towards paddy.

They said that high bred and early sowing varieties were being cultivated by the farmers due to lack of water in the canals.

Mansa, June 3
To make preparations for the upcoming Municipal Council (MC) election, the Congress today held a meeting at Jain School here.

The main topic of discussion was the selection of candidates for the different wards of the council.

In the meeting, Ajit Inder Singh Moffer, an MLA and the district chief of the party, said the Congress would prepare well for the elections.

However, MC president Narottam Singh Chahal’s arrival at the meeting created some nuisance as Moffer objected to his presence saying Chahal had been expelled from the party in May 2007.

Following the objection, Chahal left the meeting. Later, in a statement, he said the party had neither issued any show-cause notice to him nor was he informed about his expulsion from the party. He alleged that it was a move to downgrade him.

The party would again meet on June 8 at the same venue and discuss about the selection of candidates. The aspiring candidates were asked to apply before June 8.

Abohar, June 3
On completing its 40 years, the Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Ltd (IFFCO) has recommended payment of dividend at the rate of 20 per cent for the seventh consecutive year now.

Chairman of the organisation Surinder Kumar Jakhar said here recently that the dividend would be paid on equity share capital of the members whose names appear on the register as on March 31 this year. Over 37,000 cooperative societies were among the share holders.

“The past financial year has been the toughest one as the global fertiliser industry experienced exorbitant prices of raw material and feed stock shortage that reduced the production of complex fertilisers. Urea plants faced breakdowns. Still, our plants achieved production level of 68.47 lakh tonne fertiliser material with urea production of 39.63 lakh tonne,” he said.