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Gurta Gaddi Divas
Hailstorm, rain damage paddy, cotton crops
A farmer tries to save his cotton produce after the rain and hailstorm at the cotton market in Bathinda on Thursday. Tribune photo: Kulbir Beera |
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Paddy procurement
Arhtiyas penalised for not maintaining proper records
DC suspends commission agent’s licence
79 pc of paddy lifted in Faridkot
Farmers protest short supply of DAP fertiliser
Security reviewed ahead of Assembly polls
Hike in creamy layer limit flayed
Woman ‘abducts’ her granddaughter
IT sleuths raid jewellery shops
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SGPC ready for big day
Rajay Deep Tribune News Service
Takht Shri Damdama Sahib,
October 16 The main programme will be held from October 18 to 20. A number of religious personalities besides various political leaders including the chief minister are scheduled to attend the celebrations here. Devotees and workers alike are engaged in decorating the Takht complex. Setting up of a number of pandals is in progress. To take stock of the preparations, SGPC president Avtar Singh today visited the complex. The manager of the Takht Sahib, Jaspal Singh, said that as per the list, there would be 13 langar pandals, excluding the permanent langar hall of the Takht Sahib. A number of Sikh religious leaders have been arriving here to arrange langars on a Kar Seva basis. The SGPC has also chalked out plans to run langar pandals. The arrangement for the langar has been done both inside and outside the complex in different corners. Though the work on connecting the complex with a hot line for uninterrupted power supply is in the initial stage, yet the PSEB is learnt to have assured of ensuring uninterrupted power supply for three days. A new lighting system for the illumination will also be put in place. According to the schedule available, the event would start with the Sri Akhand Path Sahib at 10 am on October 18. Then from 8 pm to midnight, three religious plays, conveying social message, would be performed in different colleges, there. On October 19, five Ragi Jathas have been invited to perform Kirtan Samagam, which would be held from 10 am to 2.30 pm. Meanwhile, a gathering of women has also been planned, which would be presided over by various political and religious personalities including Surinder Kaur Badal and Harsimrat Kaur Badal. Awareness campaigns on female foeticide and environment would also be launched for Malwa under the banner of "Nanhi Chhaan". Later, a poetry recitation would be held at the Deewan Hall, where six groups would perform. After the Raagi Jathas, poets would recite their poems at the same hall on different issues. It would be followed by six dhaadi jatha performances. On the final day, after the shabad kirtans, a kabaddi competition would be held, Punjab style, where teams from Punjab and Haryana would contest in two categories: 50 kg and open. The matches would take place at 3 pm at Mata Sahib Kaur Girls College, here. It may be mentioned that the Punjab government received a grant of Rs 100 crore from Union government for development works in Talwandi Sabo keeping in view the celebrations. The CM and SAD chief had recently placed as many as 11 foundation stones for the projects.
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Govt to free prisoners as goodwill gesture
Bathinda, October 16 As per the list sent to the state home department, 10 prisoner were lodged in Patiala central jail, 16 in Ferozepur, 11 in Jalandhar, 27 in Ludhiana, 10 in Bathinda, 4 in Gurdaspur and 33 in Amritsar central jails. A proposal to free 4 prisoners from Faridkot district jail, 13 from Sangrur, 3 from Nabha, 2 from Kapurthala district jails had also been sent. One prisoner is likely to be set free from Moga sub-jail, one from Muktsar,
7 from Ropar, 4 from Barnala, 2 from Phagwara, 2 from Borstal jail in Ludhiana and 2 women prisoners from women cell,
Ludhiana, sources added. |
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Hailstorm, rain damage paddy, cotton crops
Bathinda, October 16 Reports of hailstorm and strong winds in Muktsar and Mansa have also been received. Farmers said their harvested crop got drenched in the rain. This was bound to lead to grain damage. Surjit Singh, a farmer of Kotshamir village, said the hope of good return was shattered by the rains. Migrated labour has also raised the daily wage from Rs 200 to about Rs 240. Contract labour, for which charges are fixed, has also become expensive. Experts from the agriculture department also confirmed that this would cause damage to both quality and quantity of paddy. In case of the harvested paddy lying in the fields, the loss would be more as it would lead to discolouring of and damage to grains, they said. Though the farmers in the region suffer from bad weather conditions almost every year, there is no direct government scheme to save them from financial loss. This sudden change in weather has come as a big jolt to the farmers whose cotton and paddy crops were lying in various mandis of the district and the procurement was also picking up day by day. Though Bathinda didn't receive heavy rainfall, strong winds have anyway caused damage to paddy and cotton crops. The arrival of paddy in purchasing centres had been delayed due to the rains today, the farmers said. Traders had refused to buy the rain soaked paddy due to the absence of the government procuring agencies and the cotton crop also had few buyers. The general secretary of the BKU (Ekta), Harjinder Singh, demanded special girdawari and adequate compensation to the affected farmers. He said the government should also make sure that the farmers get remunerative prices for their produce lying in the market. Sources added that the uncovered paddy lying in other mandis of the district has also suffered damage due to rain. The villagers claimed that they were likely to suffer financial losses and had demanded a compensation for their damaged crops. In some areas, waterlogging has also led to the destruction of both paddy and cotton crops. Preliminary reports said the worst affected villages included Goniana, Abloo, Aklia, Mehta Sirja, Jandawala, Diwana Mehman and Khialiwala villages. However, Ram Gopal Singla, District Mandi Officer, said the weather since Tuesday had been quite pleasant and this morning's hailstorm was unexpected. The compensation for the loss would be given to the farmers as per rules after consulting the authorities concerned, he added. |
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Paddy procurement Kulwinder Sandhu Tribune News Service
Moga, October 16 Hailstorm and moderate downpour in almost all areas in the district on Wednesday night affected the standing paddy crop and increased the moisture content in the paddy lying in the grain markets thereby delaying its procurement for another couple of days. Besides paddy, cotton crop was also affected by the rain and hailstorm. During a visit to various grain markets in the district, it was found that the paddy lying outside the sheds due to bulk arrival was badly hit by rain. The humidity content of paddy had increased beyond the permissible limits of 15 per cent resulting in hampering the procurement process. With accumulated rainwater in fields, harvesting by combine harvesters was also affected. Ranjit Singh, a farmer of nearby Daroli village, said it would take another two days to use the machine. District Mandi Officer Amarjit Singh Gill, while talking to The Tribune, revealed that more than 30,000 tonnes of paddy was affected by the rain across the district. He said till date, more than 5 lakh MT (metric tonne) of paddy was purchased by various procurement agencies in the district, adding that about 45 per cent of the total produce had already arrived in the markets. Meanwhile, district magistrate Satwant Singh Johal expressed concern over the ‘lacklustre’ attitude of the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the biggest procurement agency of the country, in purchasing the paddy in the district. However, he claimed that the district was still number one in procurement, lifting and release of payment to the farmers in the state. Johal said although the inclement weather had hampered the process of purchase, the administration ensured that no farmer suffered due to this. “We have ensured that the commission agents would purchase paddy from the farmers within 24 hours of its arrival and payment will be released to them within 72 hours,” he added.
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Arhtiyas penalised for not maintaining proper records
Ferozepur, October 16 He said 80 per cent of the procured paddy had already been lifted while 90 per cent of the total payments had also been made to the farmers. Remaining paddy would be lifted soon, he added. The DC said though there was some problem in lifting paddy initially due to sudden heavy influx, the same has been resolved now. He said the rice mill owners, who were found indulging in evasion of market fees, RDF and other misappropriations, had been taken to task. Ambika Rice and General Mills, Talwandi Bhai, has been slapped with a fine of Rs 23,883, the DC
added. Megh Raj said at least a dozen individuals and firms, including Sunder Dass Harbans Lal, Lakhpat Rai Laxman Dass, Ratan Lal and Sons, Balbir Singh and Company, Preet Commission Agents, had been penalised for not maintaining the records properly, besides other misappropriations committed by them. |
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Govt assures farmers
Muktsar/Bathinda, October 16 Jaspal said that the government was expecting good paddy crop this year. The farmers would have no problem this time in selling their produce, he added.
— TNS |
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DC suspends commission agent’s licence
Mansa, October 16 The DC today visited purchasing centres at Dulowal, Bhammekalan, Fatha, Jhuneer and Sardoolgarh. He directed the officials of the procurement agencies for quick purchasing and lifting of the paddy. At Sardoolgarh, he suspended the licence of Bhikhi commission agent on finding that paddy was not properly being cleaned before filling up the bags. Besides, notices were issued to Kewal Kumar, Manoj Kumar, Heera Lal and Somati Lal for not complying with the government directions. Meanwhile, some persons were arrested at Bhikhi for not obeying the orders of the district magistrate, which stated that paddy should not be harvested from 7 pm to 10 am.
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79 pc of paddy lifted in Faridkot
FARIDKOT: Principal secretary of the transport and public relations department D.S. Jaspal and district magistrate V.K. Meena along with senior officials of the Punjab Mandi Board and procurement agencies today visited various grain markets of this district to review the procurement process.
While talking to mediapersons, Jaspal said a sum of Rs 291.16 crore had been allocated to the district for the release of payment to the farmers for their produce. Out of which, a total of Rs 277.90 crore had already been released to the farmers, he added. Jaspal revealed that out of the paddy procurement target of 4,72,374 MT, as much as 4,00,535 MT had already been purchased by various government agencies and private purchasers. Over 79 per cent of lifting had already been completed in the district, he added. — TNS |
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Farmers protest short supply of DAP fertiliser
Fazilka, October 16 The protesters alleged that
they had come to collect fertiliser on Monday but were asked to come on
Wednesday. They waited all the day but could not get the fertiliser on
Wednesday. Disappointed, they returned in the evening. Today, the farmers
were given the fertiliser in less quantity as compared to their requirement.
Long queues of farmers were seen before the IFFCO outlet. Some of them had been
camping since 5 am. Resham Singh, a resident of border village Dona Nanka,
and Ranjit Singh of village Mauzam, along with farmers from Kheowali Dhab,
Gaganke, Penchanwali, Ram Kot, Sabuana and many other nearby villages, lamented
that they felt harassed due to acute shortage of the DAP fertiliser. The
farmers added that the government should ensure availability of DAP fertiliser
now as it would be of no use to them later. Meanwhile, Jagdish Kumar,
in-charge of the IFFCO centre here, said the fertilisers were being distributed
according to the stock position keeping in view the demands of the
farmers. Some farmers showed their palms and cuffs of their shirts on which
codes for distribution of DAP bags were written by the IFFCO officials. They
were awaiting their turn for delivery of the fertiliser. One of the farmers
said he did not change his clothes for the second consecutive day while another
said he did not wash his hand lest the delivery code on his palm got erased. |
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Security reviewed ahead of Assembly polls
Sriganganagar/Abohar, October 16 As per the information available, the IG held meetings with the Police Public Committees in some of the sensitive areas, including Gharsana that had been the epicentre of violent agitations by farmers in the past. Sharma was accompanied by SP Alok Vashishth. The officials invited suggestions from representatives of the public, including Kusum Maheshwari, president of the local municipal council, to ensure smooth conduct of elections, besides preventing mishaps during the festival of lights. On the civil front, the district collectors in Sriganganagar and Hanumangarh had busy schedule in finalising the list of sectors in-charge. Hanumangarh DC Mugdha Sinha announced the names of 118 officials, who would work as in-charge of each sector in the district during the process of election. She warned the government employees against approaching political leaders to get their election duty cancelled. She also directed the employees to get their photo ID cards prepared immediately. The DC also held meeting with owners of printing presses and cautioned them against violating the rules and regulations prescribed under the Peoples Representatives Act for elections. Meanwhile, Sriganganagar DC Bhawani Singh Detha directed assistant returning officers to update the photo electoral rolls on priority basis. |
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Hike in creamy layer limit flayed
Barnala, October 16 He told the reporters that upgradation of the income limit would make affluent backward castes eligible for caste-based reservation in educational institutes, public sector jobs and other services and benefits. Secondly, this decision will affect the intelligent students of general category who earlier were able to get admission on the left out vacant seats which remained unfilled by OBC candidates. Rajiv Barnala further said that the decision virtually defies the Supreme Court ruling according to which the creamy layer should be kept out of OBC quota. The general category association in the district held its meeting in this regard here today, which was presided by Rajiv Barnala.
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Woman ‘abducts’ her granddaughter
Fazilka, October 16 Manjit Singh and his wife Rajni Bala lodged an FIR with the city police against Raj Setia (Manjit Singh's sister), a resident of the United States of America, who came to meet their adopted daughter Jasmine at their residence. Jasmine was playing outside their residence in local Malhotra street of Gandhi Nagar locality. Raj Setia allegedly "kidnapped" her and took her away in her Tata Indica car. Manjeet Singh has further stated in the FIR that they had adopted Jasmine from Menka daughter-in-law of Raj Setia after fulfilling all the legal formalities. Sunil Kumar Menka's husband, son of Raj Setia, passed away some time back. After adopting the girl in her infancy, they were bringing her up well. Raj Setia suddenly reached their house during her visit to India and forcibly took the girl away with her. The city police has registered a case against Raj Setia.
— OC
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IT sleuths raid jewellery shops
Sriganganagar/Abohar, October 16 Resenting the raids, hundreds of panicky traders pulled the shutters of their shops down and assembled around the jewellery shops that were under scanner of the specially drawn teams of the department. The ‘survey’ was still on till the filing of this report. |
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Karva Chauth rush in city
Bathinda: The days preceding Karva Chauth were the busiest. Women were busy shopping for Karva Chauth celebrations. There was a lot of rush in the city. A college girl said she was observing the fast for the first time and was enthusiastic about it. She said she was not much aware about the significance of observing fast on Karva Chauth. All she enjoyed was the dresses purchased for the occasion.
Muskan, a Plus Two student, said she enjoyed the mehndi on her palms. Although her teachers did not allow wearing ornaments or applying nail polish or mehndi etc, but on Karva Chauth, they were free to do such things. Ujjwal, a housewife, said the occasion gave her a chance to shop to her heart's content. Kanchan, a schoolteacher, said she did so only to fulfil the wishes of her in-laws. She said she did not force her daughter to observe fast.
— TNS |
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The high velocity hailstorm and rain that lashed the rich cotton belt this morning damaged the paddy crop in the entire region.
