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Farmers in cotton belt up in arms against CCI
SAD, admn face tough time
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Major fire breaks out at local SBI branch
Advertisers continue to deface city, BMC indifferent
Defying the Defacement Act, the walls are painted across the Bathinda town. Tribune photo: Kulbir Beera
Rs 4400-cr plan to improve infrastructure
Town upgraded, youths suffer
A view of the off-campus institute of the Punjabi University at Talwandi Sabo. A Tribune photograph
Total strike
Canteen workers and shopkeepers playing cricket in the main bus stand as the Punjab Roadways staff observed a strike in Moga on Wednesday. Photo by writer.
Govt has been indifferent’
Private players have a field day
Jakhar family scion elected DYC chief
Abohar girl bags silver
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Farmers in cotton belt up in arms against CCI
Bathinda, December 17 Speaking on the occasion, Jhanda Singh, senior district president of the union, said the Central government was responsible for the new clause and said he would urge Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to ask the Centre to ensure that the CCI created no hassles in the procurement of cotton. They demanded the review of the guidelines and speedy procurement of crop. Farmers also demanded the withdrawal of 2 per cent VAT increased on cotton by the state government. They said though the Central government had refunded the VAT amount to the farmers but the state government was dilly-dallying over the issue and was not ready to refund the amount. They urged the CCI officials to accept certificates endorsed by village nambardar or sarpanch as proof of crop ownership instead of insisting on having copies of the revenue record. Shingara Singh, president of the union, said the guidelines aimed at eliminating the middlemen and preventing inter-state selling of cotton due to different MSPs, which depend on the parameters of quality. He said cotton MSP in Haryana was lowest and the guidelines would help check farmers sell inferior quality cotton in Punjab. The union president also said that the state government should direct Markfed to join the cotton markets and purchase cotton from the farmers. The farmers threatened to intensify their agitation if their demands were not met soon. |
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SAD, admn face tough time
Bathinda, December 17 In protest, farmers in the cotton belt have started agitations demanding the revocation of the order. On the other hand, the ruling party, to avoid any untoward situation prior to the parliamentary polls, has quickly started blaming the Union government. The administration, finding itself in a tizzy, has no other option but to assure the agitators that it will make its best possible efforts to provide services of revenue officials to help cotton farmers. Officials have reportedly been saying that the order was an attempt to prevent the tactical sale of cotton. The attempt by the officials, apparently, contradicts the statements of the chief minister and SAD chief Sukhbir Badal, who have been blaming the Union government for the mess. At the time, when momentum is gathering for the Lok Sabha elections, the issue has come as a boon for farmers’ associations throughout the state. Leaders of the associations have been sparing neither the union nor the state government. Though farmers’ associations have been holding dharnas to stage protests, but unity is still missing among them. Recently, one faction of the farmers, Bharati Kissan Union (Lakhowal), following an assurance by the district administration, called off the stir in Abohar, a renowned market for cotton. But other factions of the BKU are still not ready to do so. When contacted, Rahul Tewari, Deputy Commissioner, Bathinda, said, “To help call off the agitation, we have been left with no other option but to assure the farmers to bring their demand to the notice of the officials concerned. But in fact, we too are helpless as we have already submitted it in writing to the chief secretary of the state. Nothing else can be done as the decision rests with the CCI officials.” On his part, Ajmer Singh Lakhowal, chairman, Mandi Board, while talking to TNS from Delhi, said, “I will meet the Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar tomorrow and try to convince him to revoke this order which is resulting in harassment of farmers. Even if the matter is not resolved, we will pass some order at the state level to save the farmers from such inconvenience.” Despite repeated efforts, V.N. Nagpal, in-charge, CCI, Punjab, could not be contacted for his comments. |
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Major fire breaks out at local SBI branch Bathinda: A fire broke out in the State Bank of India (SBI) branch located near the bus stand in the heart of the city on Wednesday night. Bank manager M.L. Midha, while speaking to the media on the spot said that the bank staff had left for the day at about 7.45 in the evening and nothing untoward had been noticed till then. It was only later that Harjinder Singh, a security guard with the adjacent HDFC bank noticed smoke coming out from the SBI branch at around 9.30 pm and he raised an alarm. Two fire renders rushed to the site along with vehicles of the Sahara Jan Seva, an NGO, that was also equipped with searchlights, which unfortunately the fire brigade did not have. Police had to summon JCB machines to break open the shutters. According to preliminary reports the fire broke out in the computer room of the bank, ostensibly because of a short-circuit. A final version of the causes behind the fire, however, is still awaited. SP (City) Narinder Kaushal and SHO Sandeep Singh were present at the spot. — TNS
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Advertisers continue to deface city, BMC indifferent
Bathinda, December 17 Ironically, the Bathinda Municipal Corporation (BMC) appears to have turned a blind eye towards the menace. Certain business establishments have gone to the extent of painting their advertisements on walls although the BMC has earmarked places in the town for advertisements. These establishments have not spared electric poles, distribution points of BSNL and road crossings. Members of the district public grievance committee, led by Amrit Pal Singh Sidhu, on Monday submitted a memorandum to the Mayor and sought strict action against those defying the law. He said many educational institutes had pasted posters or painted the walls without valid permission. These posters have given an ugly look to the city. Defacement of public property is punishable to the extent of jail term for six months and a fine of Rs 1,000. |
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Rs 4400-cr plan to improve infrastructure
Bathinda/Mansa, December 17 Sukhbir said under the development programme, 11,000 villages in the state would be provided with all basic amenities at a cost of Rs 400 crore whereas the urban areas would be provided sewerage and drinking water facility at a cost of Rs 4,000 crore. He said that for the SAD, development was the main plank for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections Launching a frontal attack on the previous Congress regime, Sukhbir said it pushed the front-runner Punjab towards backwardness due to its wrong polices and programmes. He said the government had also chalked out Rs 3,200-crore programmes to strengthen and rejuvenate the canal network of the state to supply irrigation water to the farmers at the tail-end villages. The SAD-chief said that 365 tubewells would also be provided at the tail-end villages. Later, Sukhbir laid the foundation stone for development works of Rs 25 lakh at Guru Nanak College (Budladha) and addressed the students there. He said the SAD was fully committed to provide quality education to the younger generation at all levels. Sukhbir said that to uplift the educational standards in the Malwa region, a Regional Centre of the Punjabi University was being established at village Ghuda in Bathinda. |
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Town upgraded, youths suffer
Talwandi Sabo (Bathinda), December 17 The off-campus institute was established here exclusively for rural students to pursue courses in B.tech and various other disciplines. However, as the town has lost its status of gram panchayat, the students were this time denied admission in the institute as the town with a population of around 14,000 has grown into an urban area. An elderly resident, Hukam Singh, said although the institute was situated in the heart of the town but the youth was deprived of admission in it. What purpose has upgradation of the town has solved, he asked. Mohinder Singh Sidhu, principal of the campus, confirmed this admission could be given only on the basis of the bonafide resident of rural area certificate issued by the sub-divisional magistrate. However, a seat could be thrown open for the general category only if it remained vacant. The campus runs three colleges, Guru-ki-Kashi College, university school of business study and B.tech institute. Foundation stones were recently laid for setting up the departments of pharmaceutical sciences, biotechnology, information technology and library sciences for which the central government has provided a sum of Rs 20 crores. The college was established in 1961, but the campus was taken over by the university in 1989. As many as 679 rural students under the Golden Heart Scholarship were exempted from paying any tuition fee. The Rotary International recently provided a grant of Rs. One crore to the institute for introducing modern technology relating to computers, installing wi-fi internet and other equipment. A course in MCA has also been started with 60 seats. However, reservation for the rural students was restricted only in the B.Tech course of six years. Another resident pointed out that although the town has been given the status of a religious place, but the liquor vends in the area have not been shut by the government. The condition of the general bus stand that was constructed in 2000 at a cost of Rs.1.34 crore as the first modern bus stand of Punjab was deplorable. Encroachments by shopkeepers in the bus terminal have become an eyesore. |
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Total strike
Moga, December 17 Since morning, no bus was allowed to enter or move out from the bus stand due to the strike. The private operators were seen moving with packed buses on all the routes. Hundreds of commuters scheduled for long routes to Delhi, Chandigarh, Shimla, Sri Ganganagar, Jammu and other parts of the neighbouring states were seen standing for hours due to the unscheduled bus service of the private operators. Addressing a gathering, Gurmail Singh, state general secretary of the Punjab Government Transport Workers Union, alleged that for the past 20 years, no employee working in the workshop of Punjab Roadways was promoted. He demanded that the state government should complete the fleet of 2,407 buses in Punjab as at present, very less number of buses was moving on the roads. Gurmail alleged that hundreds of government buses' routes were defunct to the benefit of major private players, either owned by the CM Prakash Singh Badal's family or their close associates. Lashing out at the Badal family for allegedly promoting 'gundagardi' through the employees of Orbit, Jujhar and other big bus operators, the union leader said a transport mafia had emerged in the state through the employees and promoters. of these bus services. He said the employees of the roadways and on most of the occasions, passengers themselves have to face odd situations while catching government buses. The leader said if the state government did not stop extending undue help to the employees of the private operators thereby disturbing the timetable/schedule immediately, the union would further take stern steps. He threatened to continue the strike for an indefinite period if the 'gundagardi' was not stopped immediately. The union also demanded to regularise the services of contractual and daily-wage employees, all future recruitments be made on regular basis, to raise the salary of all contractual/daily-wage employees till the their regularisation was in process, get insurance cover for all buses, stop blaming drivers for accidents, frame seniority list of the clerical staff and give equal pay for equal ranks.
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Private players have a field day
Fazilka, December 17 The private players had a field day as the buses plied overloaded. The passengers on the Fazilka-Ferozepur route, a monopoly of the Punjab Roadways, were hit hard as no private bus plied on the route. While addressing the dharna, the employees' leaders, Gurmail Singh, Fateh Singh, Hira Singh and Swaroop Singh, demanded from the state government that more than 300 Punbuses should be transferred to the Punjab Roadways. Besides, they demanded amendment in promotion rules of workshop employees working since 1982. They asked that pending cases of appointment on compassionate ground for kin of the deceased Roadways employees should be cleared on priority basis. They also demanded early release of pay commission report as Haryana and Rajasthan had implemented it. — OC |
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Jakhar family scion elected DYC chief
Abohar, December 17 Sandeep secured 144 votes against 24 polled by his rival Ravinder Singh Ghalkhurd in a direct contest. The youngest male member of the Jakhar family is son of IFFCO chairman Surinder Kumar Jakhar and grandson of Bal Ram Jakhar, the governor of Madhya Pradesh.
Commenting on his win, Sandeep Jakhar said here today that the youth Congress workers would extensively campaign to apprise the masses of the welfare schemes launched by the Congress-led UPA government and motivate the electorate to reject reactionary forces during the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. — OC
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Abohar girl bags silver
Abohar, December 17 "It is indeed an unforgettable day for the sub-divisional town," said principal Kusum Khungar, offering sweets to the budding archer. Among others present were Dev Mittar Ahuja, chairman of the local advisory committee of the school, national coach Ravi Kumar, tehsildar Avtar Singh, Aggarwal Sabha president Faquir Chand Goyal and Arpit and Anuradha, the school captains, besides Gaganjot's parents Rajdeep Kaur and Gurpal Singh. The chairman announced Rs 21,000 as sponsorship in her name to recognise her victory along with other awards. Dr B.B. Sharma, principal of the DAV College, said another golden chapter had been added to the history of the school here. Kulbir Singh Kang, president of the Punjab Archery Association, who was the first to promote the game by organising state-level competitions in Abohar during his tenure as ADC, said in a message, "We have been waiting for such laurels. Abohar was not only known for cotton and kinnows, it has been producing good archers also." |
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Bathinda, December 17
Talwandi Sabo (Bathinda), December 17
Moga, December 17
