Amritsar, January 4
Members of the Kisan Sangharsh Committee (KSC) blocked vehicular traffic on the Chabal road in protest against the anti-farmer policies of the central and state governments.

Addressing the gathering, Satnam Singh Pannu, chief spokesperson, KSC, after opening its office in the Chabal area of the city here today said the imperialistic policies of successive governments in the country and highly tilted policies towards capitalists had driven lakhs of farmers to take the extreme step of committing suicide.

Holding banners, the protesters raised slogans against government and its policies pertaining to farmers and labourers.

He said the government had not reduced the prices of oil in the domestic market in proportion to the steep fall in the price of crude in the international market.

Pannu said it was strange that the government had offered nearly Rs 1.50 lakh crore to industrialists and capitalists to save them from global economic recession and liquidity crunch caused by wrong policies of the USA. “Whereas farmers and labourers were never granted any such generous package though they have been undergoing the severest time,” he said.

Another farmer leader Jasbir Singh Gandiwind addressing the gathering said all loans to farmers and labourers be written off immediately and future advances be given to them on 4 per cent interest.

The KSC demanded that oil prices be fixed as per the international market rate and wheat price at Rs 1,600 per quintal. It also sought immediate stoppage of privatisation of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) and public sector units (PSU) in the country.

They resolved to launch a stir in favour of these demands in case the government failed to take relevant action.

Farmer leaders from the district and members of the Bir Baba Budha College Sudhar Committee were present at the meeting-cum-protest.

Amritsar, January 4
President of the District Congress Committee (rural) Sukhjinder Raj Singh Lalli termed the statements of Sukhbir Singh Badal, president, SAD, and Bikramjit Singh Majithia, public relations minister, that the Congress ignored interests of Punjab as bundle of lies.

He said the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre released Rs 2,325.39 crore to the SAD-BJP alliance government in the state in the financial year 2008-2009, whereas the BJP-led NDA government had sanctioned only Rs 731.65 crore in 2003-2004. Lalli said the Parkash Singh Badal-led government had miserably failed in preparing plans for drawing maximum finance from the Centre and now putting blame of its failure on the Centre.

He asserted that owing to personal intervention, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had sanctioned various projects, including railway corridor and overbridges, express highways, elevated road to the Golden Temple, funds for Galiara scheme, central university, IIT, IIM, national law school university, national institute of nano technology, national institute of bio-technology and Indian institute of science and knowledge city, to the state.— TNS

Kapurthala, January 4
A man belonging to Nathu Chahal village here, who was allegedly beaten up by his drug addict son two weeks back, succumbed to his injuries at a Jalandhar hospital today.

SHO Ravinder Singh of Sadar police station, under which the village falls, said 26-year-old Sanjiv Kumar mercilessly beat up his father Joginder Lal in 
a fit of rage under the influence of some drug on December 24.

Joginder sustained serious injuries and was rushed to the local civil hospital, from where he was shifted to a Jalandhar hospital.

On a statement of his uncle Karnail Singh, a FIR was registered against Sanjiv under sections 323, 324 of the IPC, after which he was arrested.

Meanwhile, after Joginder’s death the FIR was amended and Section 302 of the IPC was added in it, said the SHO.

Pathankot, January 4
Assistant sub-inspector (ASI) William Masih, posted at Shahpur Kandi police station, was transferred to Gurdaspur for allegedly not entertaining MLA’s “orders”.

The incident so happened that during a naka at Wala Khoo Chowk, the police stopped a motorcyclist, who was triple riding with his two women relatives and was on the way to attend the cremation of their relative at Kathua village.

DSP Karam Chand said when asked about documents of the vehicle, the motorcyclist sped away. The police chased the vehicle and brought all the three to the police station.

Meanwhile, the residents of the Chowk Wala Khoo village reached the police station and asked the ASI to let the three persons go but the ASI refused. The villagers then contacted MLA Dinesh Singh Babbu of the Sujanpur Constituency who immediately reached the spot and directed the ASI not to harass the public for unnecessary reasons.

Infuriated ASI told the MLA that he was not an authority to give orders. The MLA immediately contacted the Gurdaspur SSP, who immediately ordered the transfer of the ASI.

Talking to The Tribune here today, DSP Karam Chand pleaded that the police was observing a traffic week in which the police team was deployed at the Chowk Wala Khoo on the Pathankot-Jammu road to verify the documents of the vehicles to check the illegal plying of vehicles and anti-social elements.

He claimed that the ASI was not wrong as triple riding was itself an offence under traffic rules.

Jalandhar, January 4
Even as the municipal corporation is preparing a new agenda for holding its House meeting on January 8, it failed to implement the issues that had been passed in the previous meet four months back.

The MC House had then passed certain unpopular, harsh decisions including enhancing malba fee, charging penalty from those dumping concrete outside their building, levying higher penalties in tow away zones, starting self-assessment system for completed buildings and starting single window system for getting birth and death certificates but none of these decisions have been implemented till date.

This despite the fact that the MC officials had issued public notices in this regard and had even set a deadline for December 15. Not even a single violator of the new rules has been fined till date due to delayed execution of the decisions.

The only decision taken last time that has been implemented till date is the holding of camps for taking development charges in unapproved colonies.

The town planning officials of the MC have managed to collect a few lakhs of rupees in three to four such camps held recently.

The MC officials seem to have recently adopted a very laidback attitude on various fronts. Till almost a half year back the MC was on a sealing drive, penalising all those shops, malls, hotels and even marriage palaces that did not have adequate parking arrangements. The action had proved to be a deterrent for many builders who were getting new malls and shopping arcades constructed.

Of late people in Model Town and other market areas have again stopped using their parking lots as a result of which traffic blockades have become common again.

The MC officials also seem to be sleeping over its demolition drive. Perhaps unable to withstand the political opposition that the officials had to face after the drive at Rama Mandi, the MC seems to have withdrawn its ditch machines.

The officials had given notices to owners who have buildings along Kapurthala Road, Nakodar Road, Pathankot Road and Garha Road but action is yet awaited.

Not just that the officials have even failed to take action against 11 encroachers who have been squatting on MC’s own 3-acre land near Wadala drain.

The decisions passed included imposition of a fine of Rs 200 on the owners of two-wheelers, Rs 300 for three-wheelers and Rs 400 for four-wheelers parked along the roadside in any of the three tow-away zones in the city.

The city’s tow-away zones include the GT Road from Company Bagh to the railway crossing, near Sadar police station, BMC Chowk to HMV College Chowk and Model Town road from Skylark Chowk to Masand Chowk (religious places and hospitals not included). The House had also called for Rs 5,000 penalty per day for dumping building material and scrap outside the boundary walls.

MC commissioner Vinay Bublani said his office had issued several public notices regarding new decisions so as to create mass awareness before being stringent with the laws.

He said the demolition drive had been deliberately slowed down along highways because there were certain issues over demarcation of land as per our records and those available with the DC office. “We will first tally these before taking action”, he said. Regarding sealing drives, he said an effort was being made to catch the builders and warn them of consequences for not creating parking lot before they are through with their projects.