Chandigarh, October 9
Punjab is heading towards a bumper paddy crop with the purchase by six procurement agencies crossing the 24-lakh tonne mark, 10 days after the procurement was started in the state. Agencies are expecting to cross last year’s figures and touch around 165 lakh tonnes, about 19 lakh tonne more than the state’s production last year.

Right from the day one, Ferozepur division has maintained lead in bringing paddy to the mandis. Till today, the division recorded 13,02,760 tonnes of paddy with maximum of 5, 24,548 tonnes recorded by Ferozepur district. Ferozepur is followed by Amritsar division that has received 9,07,669 tonnes of paddy with Tarn Taran, falling under it recording 2,26,407 tonnes till yesterday evening.

According to the Department of Food and Supply, all paddy procured by the agencies will be got milled from the rice millers of the state as per clause 10 of the Punjab Rice Procurement (Levy) Order 1983.

According to the data available with the government till Wednesday evening, Pungrain had procured 5,49,096 tonnes, Markfed 4,91,046 tonnes, Punsup 4,83,088 tonnes, Punjab State Warehousing Corporation procured 2,92,477 tonnes and Punjab Agro 2,63,438 tonnes. Among the Central government agencies, the FCI procured only 31,483 tonnes of paddy. Besides the millers have procured 2,97,268 tonnes.

While, the CPI has alleged that the farmers were being forced to sell paddy, the state government claims that in all 1,622 procurement centres in Punjab, there is a smooth and voluntary sale for which farmers are being paid within 48 hours of lifting of paddy.

This year’s bumper harvest has resulted from a widespread monsoon and better protection from disease. Punjab contributes about 60 per cent of paddy to the Central food kitty, even though its geographical area is only 2 per cent of the country.

Punjab food and supply minister Adesh Partap Singh has indicated that the Centre may announce a bonus on paddy. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has also taken up the issue with the Centre demanding Rs 1,200 per quintal of paddy as against the Rs 850 fixed by the UPA government.

Chandigarh, October 9
In their greed to make it big in the Chandigarh’s periphery, the region’s bigwigs are not even sparing the unproductive land. A chunk of 500 acre of land that runs along the Jayanti Devi ki Rao (a seasonal rivulet) and is locked under the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA), 1900, has been bought by influential persons, including politicians.

The land, located along the upcoming Chandigarh-Baddi road, has been earmarked as the PLPA area in the Mullanpur master plan. Still, the big shots have been buying shares in the “unproductive” land.

“They know that the Akali government is pushing hard to take out large chunks of land in the Kandi area out of the purview of the PLPA Act. It is the speculation that city’s periphery would open up that influential persons are using all constitutional and unconstitutional methods to own the land,”said a revenue official, who has been dealing with a recent controversy over the ownership of the land, valued in several crores. The land is close to the area that is owned by IAS and PCS officers’ cooperative house building society in Sangriwala village.

The land has been under contention for the past 20 years as the village panchayat claims ownership of the land, stating it is shamlat (village common land). On the other hand, some other villagers, belonging to the Choe Reclamation Society in the village, hadclaimed that the land was private property and belonged to them. A division Bench of the high court ordered in favour of the societies.

Sources in the revenue department reveal a senior official in the Akali government has been pushing hard for mutations in favour of the landowners. A patwari, who had been recently reinstated, has been playing a crucial role in the controversial mutations. So far, the bigwigs only possess power of attorney executed at different places in the region. The record of the sale and purchase is entered in a separate register that remains in custody of the land brokers.

Though the role of the niab tehsildar, Majri, in executing the mutation in back date (September 5, 2008) is under scanner following an inquiry marked by the financial commissioner (Revenue) Punjab, Romila Dubey, the financial commissioner, rural development and panchayats, has pointed another major anomaly in the mutations.

In a communication to the financial commissioner, revenue, financial commissioner rural development has pointed out that the orders passed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court were in favour of the Choe Reclamation Society and not in favour of individual landowners. The concerned revenue officer had at his own will sanctioned the mutation in favour of the individuals. Besides, the gram panchayat of Mullanpur, Garibdass, (the owner of the land in original Jamabandi) was never given an opportunity of hearing by the revenue officer while sanctioning the mutation. 

Bathinda, October 9
Taking a serious note of slow lifting of paddy from grain market here, SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal directed officials concerned to speed up lifting and also making sure the payments were made within 48 hours.

Sukhbir was here for the Dussehra celebrations.

He passed strict orders to the district food and supply controller, saying he would visit the mandi again after two days. “I do not want to see any farmer complaining about delay related to paddy lifting or payment”, he said.

“Deputy commissioner Sahib, it is your responsibility to make sure the arrangements are in place. If any mismanagement is detected, you too would be held responsible,” he added.

He ordered deputy commissioner Rahul Tewari to arrange more tractor-trailers and hire shellers and godowns, immediately.

After inquiring from the officials, he ordered for the procurement of the PAU-201 variety of paddy (brown).

Talking to this correspondent, he refuted allegations levelled by Amarinder Singh that the SOI was getting training in Bihar for poll-related violence. He said Amarinder should keep in mind the success of the SOI had compelled the Congress to toe the SAD line. Moreover, Amarinder had no evidence in support of his allegations, he said.

On the problem of industries fleeing the state due to lack of subsidies and incentives, he said, “Uninterrupted power and other infrastructure would soon 
bring a smile on the faces of industrialists”.

On Amarinder’s allegation that the Badal family had cornered bus permits from private transporters to develop their Orbit company that has fleet of over 100 buses, he said: “Everything can be investigated. But, I want to make it clear I do not have as many buses as Amarinder has been saying”.

On Punjab farmers, being forced to sell cotton in other states like Rajasthan due to variation in cess, he said with the CCI purchasing cotton at Rs 2,800 per quintal, the gap was getting narrowed down and efforts were on to check the problem.

Ludhiana, October 9
Usually Jat Sikh men are said to be going for arms licences. These days more women are seeking to have authorisation to keep a gun by their side .

More than 10 per cent of the 400 applicants seeking licence for arms from the district administration this month were women. Most of those were widows, who wanted to have the security of a weapon.

"The number of women seeking licence is growing. From less than one per cent in previous months, it has gone up to 10 per cent and more now," revealed ADC K. P. Kaur Brar licence - issuing officer.

The prime reason is to feel secure, especially after the demise of their husbands, "There were some women who sought licence to keep the licensed weapons of the deceased husbands.

There were aged women also, who wanted to have a weapon to feel safe against robbers, snatchers and thieves. Old residents are favourite targets of criminals.

The industrialists, political party supporters and real estate developers are the other category of residents seeking arms licence.

Widow Sukhwinder Kaur (name changed on request)who recently lost her husband in an accident, told this reporter outside the ADC’s office , "I live alone with my son, who is studying in school. There is no one to look after us. Further, I have a dispute with my in-laws. I fear they may try to cause harm. So I decided to keep a weapon as a safety measure."

The industrialists have their own reasons to keep a weapon.

Aditya Soni, managing director of R.K Machine Tools, who keeps a weapon, said, "Times are bad, you do not know when you will be robbed, stabbed or shot. The industrialists are more likely to encounter such circumstances as no security is being provided to them by the administration."

He added, "As the unscrupulous easily get hold of weapons for criminal activities, it is really important to safeguard one self by carrying a weapon. The authorities have added trouble for us by providing easy licence to the youth who have nothing to do with weapon except flaunting it. The recent case of shooting in the court complex exemplifies lax attitude of the administration."

SSP R.K. Jaiswal said, "Weapons with valid arms licence often act as a deterrent to crime. We try our best to find if the persons want the weapon for genuine reasons or just for show off. The later category is dangerous."

The administration generally does not encourage youngsters. ADC K. P Kaur Brar said, "We 
discourage the youth, who apply for arms license as they have nothing to do with the weapon except, flaunt it among friends."

Ludhiana, October 9
Punjab government is contemplating an enactment to check malpractices by doctors.

Sources said at the last Cabinet meeting the ministers raised voice against malpractices like fleecing of patients and other unethical practices by doctors . The ministers wanted the Cabinet to bring forth provisions to punish the doctors for unethical practices in the draft of the law which provided punishment for acts of violence against them.

Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal is said to have and agreed with the ministers on a law against the unethical practices. The Cabinet also decided to bring another law in the next session of the Vidhan Sabha to check malpractices of doctors. The state Health Department was asked to prepare the draft of the Bill, it is stated.

Rameshinder Singh chief secretary said the secretary health was preparing details of the proposed law.

Private doctors and nursing homes allegedly indulge in unethical practices. Quacks in rural areas work as agents and bring patients to the nursing homes.

Tests like MRI and CT scan range up to Rs 5000 and Rs 1500 to Rs 3000 per test. The commission on such tests is said to be 50 per cent for the referral doctor. Some nursing homes have even appointed public relations officers (PROs) to bring patients.

Following reports of some private nursing homes and private practitioners making fortunes , the Income Tax Department made raids and seized incriminating documents. Some PCMS doctors are also said to be running ‘benami’ nursing homes or visiting private nursing homes to perform surgery and other procedures while absenting themselves from official duties.

The police recently arrested a PCMS doctor for allegedly indulging in female foeticide.

The doctors refuse to speak against unethical practices as majority of them were in the business of making money.

Dr L. S. Chawla founder vice- chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health sciences, hailing the government decision, said the MCI had stringent provisions which prohibited the doctors from committing unethical practices. Under MCI rules, the complaints against unethical practices are supposed to be settled in six months by the state Medical Councils otherwise the complaints go to the MCI. Dr Chawla ,a member of the MCI for 10 years, revealed the MCI had sent a proposal to the Union Health Ministry seven years ago for enacting a law making the registration of nursing homes compulsory and renewal of registration of doctors after five years. It is still with the Health Ministry.

Vijay Cain principal secretary, health, Punjab said the issue of enacting a law was being examined .

Hira Singh Gabria, minister for jails also confirmed the state Cabinet deciding to enact a law. 

Sangrur, October 9
Following a receipt of complaints regarding the sanction of old-age pension and other pensions, including widow pension, to ineligible persons the government has ordered a survey to delete names of ineligible persons from the lists of beneficiaries.

To a question here today, Punjab social security and technical education minister Chaudhary Swarna Ram said there were a large number of complaints that even young people were getting old-age pensions by showing their age as 60 or 65 years. He said the survey was on to check these cases.

Swarna Ram said on the completion of the survey, details of ineligible persons getting old-age and other pensions would be made public and ineligible persons, getting benefits would be acted against besides deleting their names from lists of beneficiaries. Also “erring” officers responsible for approving pension cases of ineligible persons would be penalised .

To a question why the chairpersons of improvement trusts from the BJP’s quota are not being appointed, the minister said the BJP would clear the names of chairpersons of improvement trusts of its quota after adjusting its workers and leaders in the market committees. He said the chairperson of the Sangrur Improvement Trust would be from the BJP.

The minister also said the government had reserved 10 per cent seats in government technical colleges and polytechnics for economically backward students. Besides this, no tuition fee would be taken from the students of economically backward category, he added. 

Patiala, October 9
Lobbying for the post of vice-chancellor of the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences has started as the term of Dr Ravinder Singh is due to end later this month. Senior medical professionals have started approaching political leaders.

The Punjab government has constituted a search committee to find a suitable candidate for the post. Senior doctors of Punjab have started using their clout with powers-that-be to influence members of the committee.

Sources in the Medical Education Department confided that frontrunners in the race included Dr B.l. Goyal, a former principal of Government Medical College, Amritsar, who is also a former head of the Department of Psychiatry, Dr Mandip Singh Sandhu of the American Board of Psychiatry. Dr Sandhu has experience in medical education and healthcare.

Others whose names are being mentioned in the medical education circles include Dr A.S. Khurana, a former professor of Dayanand Medical College, Ludhiana, Dr Suri, a former cardiothoracic surgeon of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, Dr J.S. Dalal, director, Research and Medical Education (DRME), Punjab, and Dr P.S. Sandhu, present principal of Medical College, Faridkot.

The sources say Dr Suri is based in Delhi and does not have much experience in the field of medical education. Incidentally, Dr Dalal has been in and out of the office of DRME, Punjab.

The term of present vice-chancellor Ravinder Singh ends on October 23. Dr Ravinder Singh was handpicked by former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh for this post. He was appointed vice-chancellor after he had demitted office as DRME.

Some months back Dr Ravinder Singh had started lobbying for an extension in his service and he had sought help of some senior Akali leaders of the state. He reportedly also tried to access Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal through Dr J.S. Bajaj, then adviser to the CM. Hailing from Patiala, where he worked as principal of the Government Medical College, Dr Ravinder Singh held key assignments in the Congress rule.

Meanwhile, Medical Education Department sources said the search committee had been functioning merely as a recruitment agency. Prospective candidates are reported trying to convince the search committee members of their “suitability” for the post. Dr B.S. Walia, registrar, Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, who is the member-secretary of the search committee, is at the centre-stage as several medical professionals are believed to be trying to convince him of their claims to the post even though the new incumbent would be his boss. 

Amritsar, October 9
The kin of assassins of Gen Arun Vaidya, a former Army chief, Harjinder Singh Jinda and Sukhdev Singh, were honoured in the Golden Temple complex, to mark their death anniversary, here today.

Gen Vaidya in charge of Operation Bluestar was killed by Jinda and Sukha in Pune .

According to Shiromani Committee press note , Bhupinder Singh ( assistant manager, Darbar Sahib), brother of Jinda and Bibi Surjit Kaur , mother of Sukha were presented with iropas( robes of honour) by SGPC chief Avtar Singh. Declaring them ‘martyrs of Sikh community’, the press note added Sukha and Jinda took revenge of Operation Bluestar.

Jinda and Sukha, members of the Khalistan Commando Force (KCF), were also responsible for killing Congress member of Parliament Lalit Maken on July 31, 1985, in New Delhi.

Jinda along with other members of the KCF was also involved in the bank robbery in Miller Ganj Ludhiana of the Punjab National Bank in which more than Rs 5.70 crore was looted. The press note of the SGPC added Bhog of Akhand Path was performed at Jhanda Bunga gurdwara in the SGPC complex. Bhai Inderjit Singh of Mumbai performed Kirtan. Amarjit Singh Chawla ,a former member of the Punjab Public Service Commission, Rup Singh, additional secretary and Jaswinder Singh advocate.

Moga, October 9
Five youths were killed while three were seriously injured when the car in which they were travelling first rammed into a road divider and then hit a pole and other vehicles parked on the roadside at about 2 am on the Moga-Ludhiana road here on today.

The youths killed in the accidents were shopkeepers of Jagraon (Ludhiana district) and had come here to attend a marriage ceremony. They were returning to their hometown when they met with the accident.

Gurdeep Singh (23), Ashwani Kumar (28), Pankaj Makkar (30), Paramjit (31) and Ravinder Singh (29) died on the spot. The injured were taken to a private hospital in Ludhiana where their condition was said to be serious.

Preliminary investigations made by the police revealed that the Accent car in which the youths were travelling was going on a high speed. Some youths had taken drinks at the marriage party. The driver of the car lost control over the vehicle when a stray dog abruptly came on the way.

Eyewitnesses said that the speed of the car was so high that after colliding with the divider it went as much as 10 feet high.

Amritsar: an eight-month child, were killed when the scooter they were riding collided with a Bolero vehicle coming from the opposite direction, 10 km from here, today.

The family was going to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple. A case under Sections 279, 338, 304 and 427 of the IPC has been registered against driver of Bolero, Harcharn Singh, a resident of Kohali.

Mohinder Kaur (50), a resident of Ghanupur Kale village, her daughter Palwinder Kaur (22) and scooter driver Ravinder Singh (20), their relative from Nakodar (Jalandahr), died on the spot while eight-month-old child Gurwinder Singh (grandson of Mohinder Kaur) died in the hospital.

Nabha, October 9
Traffic in markets here is becoming chaotic on account of approaching Diwali festival. The town has main approaches - Patiala Gate, Mehs Gate, Boran Gate, Dulladi Gate and Alhoran Gate. Roads from these gates culminate at Chowk Devi Dwala. All markets are located on these roads. Traffic jams are common on Bhikhi More, Old Subzi Mandi, Sadar Bazar, Bhawara Bazar, Panch Mukhi Mandir and Devi Dwala Chowk.

The town is centre shopping for more than 200 villages. Villagers come here by scooters, motorcycles, three-wheelers, tractors, tempos, cars etc. There is no check on the plying of these vehicles in markets. Moreover, the entry and exit points of markets are same, which add to traffic snarls.
Movement of four-wheelers, stray cattle, lack of parking space, and vendors displaying wares in front of shops are main reasons for the traffic chaos.

Sanjay, a shopkeeper, said the problem was aggravating day by day, but the administration was doing nothing.

Dinesh, another shopkeeper, said entry of three and four-wheelers should be banned between 8 am and 8 pm. A businessman, pleading anonymity, said lack of administration’s will had led to anarchy in markets. 

Amritsar, October 9
Dussehra was celebrated for the first time at Krishana Temple in Lahore in Pakistan. Though it was a low-key affair, as effigies of Ravana and others were not burnt in view of the troubled conditions in that country.

Revealing this to The Tribune through an email, Sunny Kumar, executive secretary the temple, said they celebrated the festival with members of various communities and organisations, including NCIDE executive secretary Javaid William, Imam of Badshai Mosque, Lahore, Molana Abdul Kabir Azad, Sardar Sham Singh and Dr Manohar Chand.

Elaborate security arrangements were made at the temple.

Zira (Ferozepur), October 9
A gunman was killed and two persons were injured when unidentified persons opened fire on a van of the ICCI bank carrying cash near Talwandi Mange village in Zira sub-division of Ferozepur district, yesterday evening.

Ferozepur SSP Dinesh Pratap Singh said the robbers came in a Tavera car and opened fire from automatic weapons on the van at a dhabha when the gunman and other employees were getting out for meals.

The gunman identified as Ramji died on the spot while two other employees identified as Avtar Singh son of Nanak Singh resident of Dakoha village (Jallandhar) and Chaman Lal resident of Dasuya (Hoshiarpur) were injured in the firing.

The SSP said an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of the state police was going from that side and he challenged the robbers. On seeing him the robbers fled , he added. There were reports the robbers took away two guns of the gunmen before the arrival of the police officer on the spot.

The SSP said he along with DIG Ram Prasad Mittal reached the spot. A case was registered. It came out the robbers were chasing the cash van for some time. The van had collected money from branches of the ICCI bank in Barnala, Moga and Ferozepur districts and it was heading to Jallandhar to deposit the cash, Dinesh Pratap Singh said. He said the bank van was carrying more than Rs 3 crore.