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Separate SGPC Varinder Walia Tribune News Service
Amritsar, September 9 Even though several Sikh leaders served a 30-day ultimatum on the Central and Haryana governments for separate SGPC for Haryana at a conference convened by the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (ad hoc) at Karnal on September 7, yet the Jathedar, Akal Takht, stressed for an amicable solution to the issue. Jathedar, Takht Kesgarh Sahib, Giani Tarlochan Singh said there was need to bring all historical Sikh shrines under one umbrella by enacting an all-India gurdwara Act. He said separating gurdwaras in Haryana would be against the spirit of the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925, under which the SGPC was formed. Addressing the conference, convened by the Haryana Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (ad hoc), many Sikh leaders had threatened to take over gurdwaras in the state after the 30-day ultimatum. The speakers had called on Haryana Sikhs to rise to “liberate” the gurdwaras in the state from the SGPC, controlled by the Akali Dal and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. However, Giani Iqbal Singh, Jathedar, Patna Sahib, and a representative from Takht Hazur Sahib were not invited to this meeting. To a question, Giani Gurbachan Singh said this was “informal type” of meeting, hence, representatives from both outside Takhts could not be invited. Giani Iqbal Singh was stopped from the meeting of Akal Takht on June 6 due to the issuance of controversial hukmnamas (edicts), pronounced from Takht Patna Sahib. Such edicts were rejected by the meeting of Sikh clergy here. However, Giani Iqbal Singh visited Akal Takht to present “dastar” (turban) to Giani Gurbachan Singh at the time of his installation which indicated ending animosity among the Jathedars. Meanwhile, the Sikh high priests have decided to organise religious programmes at Amritsar, Anandpur Sahib, Damdamda Sahib and Sultanpur Lodhi in connection with tercentenary celebrations of Gurta Gaddi of Guru Granth Sahib, to be held at Takht Hazur Sahib, Maharashtra.
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Tarlochan has a formula
Ludhiana, September 9 Haryana has 11 elected and one nominated member on the SGPC. The SGPC claims that seven of them are with the SGPC and only the remaining members are for a separate committee for Sikh shrines in Haryana. Tarlochan Singh said today that he had suggested to Haryana Sikhs and the SGPC that an autonomous body of SGPC members from Haryana be set up to control gurdwaras by remaining within the SGPC. The autonomous body could manage gurdwaras and the golak money and income from the land attached with the shrines. He added that the autonomous body was possible and the Gurdwara Act of 1925 provided for it and the Act need not be amended. He said the local committees which managed the gurdwaras with an annual income of more than Rs 20 lakh had the authority to manage it. This provision in the Act was made when Gurcharan Singh Tohra headed the SGPC. Tarlochan Singh claimed that a majority of the Haryana Sikhs had accepted this formula and only a handful of Sikhs, under the Congress influence, were seeking a separate Haryana SGPC. He revealed that there were 12 lakh Sikhs in Haryana living mostly in Kurukshetra, Karnal, Ambala and Sirsa districts.
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27 MLAs support Capt
Jangveer Singh Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, September 9 Capt Amarinder Singh has also got the much-needed strength on the eve of the Vidhan Sabha session tomorrow, which may take up the committee report that accuses him of committing gross irregularities while exempting a private builder from acquisition of 32.10 acres of land in Amritsar. The former Chief Minister seems to have built around him a core group, and the fact that even a senior leader like Avtar Singh Brar has come out in his support indicates that he has the numbers to take on Akalis in a slanging match in the Vidhan Sabha tomorrow. The Amarinder camp is trying to give a political colour to the entire affair with the legislators today claiming that the SAD-BJP was working against Amarinder to affect his party in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. The legislators also released a part of the alleged policy made by the then Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal, based upon which Amarinder claims that his government dropped the acquisition proceedings against the private builder. The policy document quoting Badal states, “The mere fact that the department (PUDA) has proposal to urbanise an area should not by itself debar consideration of a proposal to grant licence to private colonisers.” The legislators also made it clear that though Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal had nominated party nominees to the committee, the Congress nominees dissented and stopped taking part in the proceedings once they came to know about the “ulterior motive” of the committee. The legislators alleged that the written statements made to the Dhanda Committee, for which a ruling was requested by Amarinder and others, including the Congress members of the committee, were not only not responded to, but these documents had not been placed in the records of the House in the committee's report. The legislators also alleged that the chairman of the committee seemed to be lying by saying that the SAD-BJP government had not released 1,260 acres of land due for acquisition. The legislators said a notification in this regard was issued by the Urban Development Department (Urban Housing- I Branch) on July 13, 2007. They said the government should also disclose how this land got into the hands of a private developer. The statement was signed by O.P. Soni, Darshan Singh Brar, Gurpreet Kangar, Ajaib Singh Bhatti, Sukhpal Singh Khaira, Balbir Singh Sidhu, Makhan Singh, Luv Kumar Goldy, Rana K.P. Singh, Sukh Sarkaria, Mangat Rai Bansal, Sher Singh Gaggowal, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, Sunil Jakhar, Ajitinder Singh Moffar, Surjit Singh Dhiman, Ajit Singh Shant, Ishar Singh, J.P. Jain, Joginder Singh Panjgrain, Harmohinder Singh Pradhan, Sunny Brar, Nirmal Singh, Harchand Kaur, Avtar Singh Brar, Naresh Kataria and Jeetmohinder Singh Sidhu.
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He may be left to fight his own battle
Chandigarh, September 9 Kaypee said: “The party is morally bound to stand by every Congress worker targeted by the SAD-BJP government. We are all with Amarinder Singh too and if you have a thermometer to check our support to him, you can do so by inserting this into our hearts.” But, he refused to comment on the Vidhan Sabha report indicting the former Chief Minister saying “the House is supreme, I don’t want to comment on it”. “I cannot put any ifs and buts on the report of the House, but all I can say we will support every one against whom atrocity has been committed”. When asked if the report against Amarinder could be labelled as an “atrocity”, he said: “You could say so”. He, however, refused to disclose the party strategy to deal with the situation arising out of the tabling of the report in the House. He said it was up to the legislators to decide what line of action to follow on the floor of the House and the party was not giving any directions. The acting Congress president, who was interacting with some mediapersons here today, was reluctant to come out openly to make a comment on the issue. Even though he repeated time and again that Amarinder Singh had the support of the entire party, his utterances indicated otherwise. Kaypee said he would be meeting the party high command in Delhi tomorrow and apprise it of the latest situation in the state. He disclosed that he had updated Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the party high command, who asked him to deal with the situation at the local level. He said the meeting to be held tomorrow would be attended by all past and present MPs and MLAs.
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Will House expel Amarinder today?
Chandigarh, September 9 Interestingly, while both the ruling SAD-BJP alliance and the Opposition Congress are leaving the issue for decision at their respective legislature party meetings hours before the House assembles again on Wednesday afternoon after four days’ break, action on the House Committee report indicting Amarinder and three others looks imminent. “The House has to decide either way as the report has already been tabled and made public. What action is to be taken will be decided at a joint meeting of the SAD-BJP legislature party convened for mid-day tomorrow. “It will all depend upon the Leader of the House and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to firm up the decision,” reveals a senior Akali leader, maintaining that the ruling alliance does not want to let this opportunity slip. Intriguingly, tabling of the report did not figure in the report of the Business Advisory Committee that finalises the agenda of various sittings during a session. Conventions indicate that the House on assembling again after a break takes up the item on which it was adjourned at the last sitting. Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon had adjourned the House twice after chairman of House Committee Harish Rai Dhanda tabled the report and started presenting its gist on the floor of the House when Congress legislators came to the well of the House. Tomorrow, when the proceedings are resumed, legislative business as mentioned in the committee report will be taken up first before the discussion on the Dhanda Committee report is resumed, members of treasury benches maintain. In that situation, the Punjab Official Language (Amendment) Bill and the Punjab Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill will be taken up immediately after call attention motions, leaving the debate on “emotive and explosive indictment report” as the last item before motion under Rule 16 regarding adjournment of the House sine die is taken up. Treasury benches also hold that after completing the legislative business, the Speaker may even permit discussion on floods in the state before resuming debate on the House Committee report. Even if the Congress legislators do not disrupt the proceedings and join debate on both House Committee report as well as the floods, the last sitting of the session may be extended by few hours, if not by a day, maintain some of the members of the ruling alliance.
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Youth Congress chief to meet PM
Sangrur, September 9 Talking to The Tribune here today, its president Vijay
Inder Singla said he would apprise the Prime Minister of the
deteriorating law and order situation in Punjab and appeal him to save
Youth Congress activists from alleged government excesses. Singla
alleged that a Youth Congress member from Tallewal village in Barnala
district had been killed by Akalis the previous day over sarpanch’s
election. Earlier, in the municipal council elections, the general
secretary of the Batala Youth Congress had been killed by the Akalis, he
alleged. Sarpanch’s election in more than 3,000 villages could not be
held as the Akalis had no majority in those villages, he added.
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Time fixed for industry pleas
Chandigarh, September 9 The move aims to strengthen the already existing Punjab Industrial Facilitation Act, 2005, which laid down a time schedule, but was
rarely followed. The government has now fixed a number of days for the various departments and in that time period they have to process an application for the establishment of an industrial project in Punjab. Such a project requires as many as 15 clearances from the various departments and bodies, and the time consumed can range anything between a few months to a few years. According to a notification issued by the Department of Industries and Commerce, the registrar of firms has been asked to complete the formalities within 10 days, while the PSIEC, PUDA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development have been directed to deal with the applications regarding change of land use within 40 days. The housing department has also been asked to deal with the applications regarding grant of licences within 30 days. The state Pollution Control Board will have only 15 to 21 days to grant consent for establishment of the industry depending on its category. The chief town planner, municipal corporations, director of factories and the PSIEC have been asked to take only 30 days to approve construction activity and buildings plans. The sanction for water and sewerage connection has to be given within 10 days. The chief conservator of forests has been directed to grant approval to the project within 15 days in case no forestland is involved in the project, and 45 days in case the project includes forestland. The electricity board has been asked to give sanction for power within seven days to 120 days depending on the type of construction. The Department of Excise and Taxation will have to register the project for VAT within 30 days, and in case of a drug-manufacturing unit, a licence will be issued by the director, Health, within 30 days. The permission to draw water from a river or canal will have to be given by the Department of Irrigation within 30 days. The government has already announced that in case the concerned department does not give the clearance within the stipulated period specified in the notification, the nodal agency would give a certificate of deemed approval to promoters of the project. For industrial facilitation, the government has notified district industries’ centres as the district-level nodal agency and the Udyok Sahayak as the state-level nodal agency for the purpose.
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Tributes paid to hero of Khemkaran
Amritsar, September 9 The function was organised by Khemkaran Brigade under the aegis of Golden Arrow Division. Wreaths were laid by chief guest Brig Vinod Kumar, Infantry Golden Arrow, Ferozepur division, followed by guard of honour carrying the saga of sacrifice and valour of the great son of the soil. A chadar was also laid at his mazaar. Two-minute silence was observed in his memory and the jawans reversed their weapons to pay tributes. Deputy commissioner Khushi Ram on behalf of the state government laid a wreath at the memorial. The Army also organised a medical check-up camp on this occasion in which about 1,500 patients were examined and given medicines. A two-day sports fair was also held by the village panchayat to mark the occasion. Brigadier Kumar said honouring the brave was an old tradition and it was an occasion to draw inspiration from the supreme sacrifices to the jawans, who laid down their lives while guarding the borders of the country. Abdul Hamid of 4th Battalion of the Grenadiers attained martyrdom during the 1965 war when Khemkaran sector witnessed heavy tank artillery from the Pakistan side.
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Govt move shocks docs on contract
Ludhiana, September 9 Over 50 doctors from the US, Canada, the UK and Australia had come to serve in Punjab on contractual jobs in 2006. Dejected by the “unfulfilled promises”, more than 350 doctors serving on contract in rural areas have quit in the past two years. A doctor said: “The government is planning a tie up with Fortis, which would prove disastrous for villagers who can’t afford to pay even Rs 2 for ‘parchi fee’.” According to official figures, 100 doctors retire every year. A batch of 800 doctors recruited in 1976 is due to retire by 2010, besides 500 doctors having put in their papers for premature retirement. Neighbouring states, realising the importance of rural health, have taken measures to encourage doctors for postings in rural areas. Haryana gives extra bonus from Rs 5,000 to Rs 15,000 to the doctors working in the rural areas. The BJP governments in Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh have regularised 1,000 and 500 contractual doctors, respectively. Dr Aslam Parvez, state president of the Rural Medical Services Association, told The Tribune that rural doctors had taken up the role of community workers in the village as they were educating, motivating and counselling people on physical and mental health. “The MBBS doctors working in rural areas should be regularised and given an opportunity to do their postgraduation,” Dr Parvez added.
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Poohla committed suicide: Front
Amritsar, September 9 Sandhu said there was a need for a probe by an independent agency into the death of
Poohla. Refuting the allegations levelled by certain persons that their organisation was behind the killing of
Poohla, Sandhu said the front was pursuing the cases against the Nihang leader within the parameters of the law. Taking law into one’s hand could never be justified and the persons responsible for Poohla’s killing must be punished as per law, he added. He also demanded a probe into benami property and bank accounts of
Poohla.
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Malout dispute resolved
Malout, September 9 Senior officials of the police and the district administration and BJP leaders appeased the groups by getting the venue of the Ram Katha shifted to Dabwali Malko village, 7 km from here. Manjeet Singh Gill, media secretary, Yuva Parivar Seva Samiti, an allied group of the
sansthan, said, “It was just to restore peace in the city that we agreed to shift the venue. We had called Sikhs for talks during the day, but they refused. Then senior officials requested us to shift the venue, which we accepted.” “In the clash last night, they assaulted us and left five of our followers injured, to which we retaliated. They had firearms, but only one of our followers had a gun and he fired just two shots in the
air. They even threw petrol bombs in bottles along with crackers,” he added. Sukhdev Boota Singh Gill, president, Sarbansdani
Guru Gobind Singh Mission, said: “The rivalry has been going on for a long time as they disrespect Sikhism and Sikh Gurus.” DSP, Malout, Manmohan Singh Sharma said: “A cross-case has been registered against both groups.”
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Scrap Amritsar trust scheme: Farmers
Amritsar, September 9 Out
of the original 275-acre scheme launched in 1996, only 156 acres of land
were left, while the remaining land was exempted by consecutive
governments during their regimes. President of the New Amritsar Kisan
Sangharsh Committee Rajiv Singh today said innumerable alterations had
been made to the original scheme of 275 acres, out of which only 156
acres belonging to the farmers remained. He said 87 acres of land was
exempted by the Akali-BJP government during 1997-2002, and later 32
acres by the Congress government to their ‘favourite’
colonisers. While talking to mediapersons here, he alleged that how
colonisers obtained exemptions was not a big secret as “healthy” and
“profitable” relationships existed between the colonisers,
politicians and bureaucrats. He alleged that the previous governments
had policies for letting off the land for big colonisers, but not for
farmers who had been denied even the genuine compensations for their
agricultural lands. He said a compensation to the farmers had been
worked out, which was much lower than the actual market price. He said
the scheme was re-launched after exemption in 2003 and compensation of
Rs 16 to 20 lakh per acre was awarded to the farmers, which was slightly
higher than the prices given 10 years back. He urged Chief Minister
Parkash Singh Badal, SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and Bikram Singh
Majithia to scrap the scheme with immediate effect as promised by them
and their alliance partners during polls.
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Govt funds not utilised
Chandigarh, September 9 The commission had purchased the plot worth Rs 85 lakh for constructing its office building in Sector 37 in 1998, but it is still functioning from a shop-cum-office in Sector 22, here. The commission had received Rs 1.27 crore as office expense by the Centre. Thereafter, it had requested the Food and Supply Department to utilise the money. Subsequently, the money was forwarded to the Planning Department that approved the request and sent it to the Food and Supply department that forwarded the file to Bridges and Road (B&R) department for release of Rs 87 lakh for construction out of Rs 1.27 crore was released. The Finance Department raised objection on the release of money. Earlier, the commission was facing problems as the money was not released for nine years. It had written several letters to the Centre regarding the utilisation of the one-time grant given to it in 1998. However, the money was finally released in 2008.
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PM has done nothing for Amritsar: Sidhu
Chandigarh, September 9 Sidhu said the Prime Minister was welcome to contest the forthcoming parliamentary poll from Amritsar. He said such speculation had done the round earlier also, but what he was interested in was the Prime Minister’s commitment to the holy city. The BJP MP said though he respected the Prime Minister as a father figure, he could say Dr Manmohan Singh had not given even a single penny for the development of Amritsar. He said the Prime Minister had promised a Biotech Park to Amritsar, besides a 2,500-acre multi-project Special Economic Zone. He said while the Biotech Park had been shifted to Amritsar during the previous Congress regime, the SEZ never materialised. He said similarly the state never got the Rs 5,000 crore-relief package announced by the Prime Minister.
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Johl convener of world Sikh body
Jalandhar, September 9 Dr Johl said he had been given a big responsibility and to live up to the expectations, he would have to work hard. The confederation was set up to discuss important issues related to Sikhs. “There are legal, social, economic, political and religious issues faced by Sikhs all over the world and the confederation has to tackle such issues,” said Dr Johl.
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PepsiCo workers block road
Sangrur, September 9 The protesters sought the reinstatement of the suspended and dismissed employees. AITUC’s state president Nirmal Singh Dhaliwal and general secretary Bant Singh Brar, state president of the BKU (Ugrahan) Joginder Singh Ugrahan, and other leaders addressed the protesters. Press secretary of the union Kishan Singh said a joint action committee of various organisations had convened a committee meeting on September 13 at Channo.
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Scribe Assault Saurabh Malik Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, September 9 Further proceedings before the trial court too have been stayed. The trial is currently going on in a Faridkot court. Taking up an application filed by Kotkapura-based press correspondent Naresh Kumar Sehgal, Justice Ranjit Singh observed: If the averments made in the application have semblance to truth, fair trial certainly would be a causality. Sehgal was allegedly assaulted at Sukhbir Singh Badal’s behest when he was covering the Lok Sabha elections in 1999. After the high court’s intervention, a case of assault and other offences under Sections 307, 392, 327, 323, 201 and 120-B of the IPC was registered at a police station in Kotkapura on June 30, 2006. As the matter came up for hearing, Justice Ranjit Singh observed: “The grievance of the petitioner is that he is not getting a fair trial because of the fact that the accused is a politically powerful person. “The present application has been moved, averring that the petitioner is even removed from the court premises during the examination of witnesses. Grievance also is that majority of the essential witnesses have been left out on the ground that the public prosecutor is under the influence of the present government, accused being the president of the ruling party”. Issuing notice to the state for September 24, Justice Ranjit Singh added “the petitioner would be at liberty to move an application for the transfer of the trial from Faridkot”. The Judge also took note of the fact that the petitioner’s application for providing him with security was already pending adjudication, and directed that the “comments of the trial court be obtained on the application”. Sehgal has already sought a CBI probe into the matter and has appealed to the Supreme Court to transfer the investigation.
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Chaudhry Jagjit Singh’s arrest stayed
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, September 9 Justice Puri asked him to file an application before the trail court within seven days. In case the same was dismissed, the petitioner would get three days time to approach the high court, the Judge added. The former minister was apprehending arrest in a case registered by the vigilance bureau at Amritsar under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 420, read with Section 120-B, of the IPC. He had implication in the case because of political vendetta. 8,940 cases decided Special Lok Adalat by the Punjab Legal Services Authority at Jalandhar has proved to be a success. In the adalat, as many as 8,940 cases, out of 11, 400 taken up, were disposed of. A total transaction of Rs 9.4 crore took place. Justice Mehtab Singh Gill is the chairperson of the Punjab Legal Services
Authority.
MC polls Punjab’s failure to conduct general elections to Nangal MC, even after the lapse of three years since the expiry of the elected body’s tenure, was brought to the high court’s notice by advocate Anuj Thakur. Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur and Justice Surya Kant issued notices for November 11 to Punjab.
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7 police officers transferred
Chandigarh, September 9 Arpit Shukla (IPS) under transfer SP, Special Staff and Crime, Punjab, Chandigarh, will continue as SP, Intelligence, Punjab, Chandigarh; Gautam Cheema (IPS) under transfer SP, Intelligence Punjab, Chandigarh, will now be SP, special staff, Crime, Punjab, Chandigarh; Gurmail Singh (PPS) under transfer assistant commandant 4th Commando Battalion, SAS Nagar, will now be AC 2nd CDO, Battalion, Bahadurgarh. Pushpinderpal Singh Gill (PPS) under transfer AC Ist CDO, Battalion, Bahadurgarh, will continue as AC 36th Battalion, PAP, Bahadurgarh. Harbaj Singh (PPS) AC 13th Battalion, PAP, Chandigarh, will now be SP, Crime II, Punjab, Chandigarh. Jagjit Singh Gill (PPS) under transfer SP, operations, SAS Nagar, will continue as SP, Headquarters, Nawanshahr; Harinderjit Singh (PPS) under transfer SP, Headquarters, Nawanshahr, will continue as SP, Operations, SAS Nagar.
— TNS
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