The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Truckers’ Strike 2-fold impact on veggies’ prices Kusum Arora Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 6 Truckers’ strike has two-fold impact on the prices of vegetables and other items. While the prices of the locally produced vegetables have come down, the prices of the vegetables, such as onions, which come from Maharastra and other states, have gone up. “As supply of the locally produced vegetables to other parts of the country has come to a halt, their prices crashed,” said Jawahar Dhall, a local cold store owner and trader of onions. However, the price of onions, which come from Maharashtra and Gujarat, had gone up by Rs 5 per kg because of the snapping of the supply line,” said Dhall. However, the price of potato, which is produced in plenty in this region, has also crashed in the local market because its supply to other states has been affected to the great extent. There has been marginal increase in the prices of fruits such as apples, etc. “Apple is lying in local cold stores and it is being supplied from there to the various towns. So there is not much increase in its price in the local market,” said Dhall. “If the strike continues, then there could be a sharp increase in the prices of onions and other vegetables,” said Sohan Lal, another local trader. The Tribune spoke to a cross section of traders in the city. Talking to The Tribune, onion commission agents and order suppliers for the local New Sabzi Mandi Sohan Lal said, “Ever since the strike began, we have witnessed a decline in the supply of onion. In the wholesale market the onion is available at a price of Rs 15 per kg. However, the same is available at a price of Rs 20 and above in the retail market now. Earlier, it was selling at Rs 10 per kg,” he added. Traders maintained that the untimely rains in Maharastra had also hit the onion crop severely. The potato price had crashed because its supply and demand mismatched. Earlier, about 70-80 truckloads of potato were daily moving out from Jalandhar to other places such as Delhi. However, because of the strike, the availability of potato had increased in the local market.
	Money Matters Rs 3 cr spent on a state-held function Parmod Bharti Nawanshahr, January 6 In a clear case of wastage, the state organised a function at Khatkar Kalan village on September 27 last year to mark the birth centenary of Shahid Bhagat Singh and spent more than Rs 3 crore, which was granted by the Central government. An NGO, Human Empowerment League of Punjab (HELP), took the RTI route to find the exact amount spent on the function. NGO activists Parvinder Singh Kittna, Deepak Bali and Gurvir Singh in a press release issued here today said they sought the information from the Department of Cultural Affairs. As per the details of expenditure provided by Dr Swaran Singh, Punjab Arts Council chairman-cum-principal secretary in Department of Cultural Affairs, it has been stated that a sum of Rs approximately Rs 1.5 crore was spent on preparation of stage, light & sound, sitting arrangement for public, security arrangements, publication of cards, brochures etc., a sum of Rs 1.13 crore for the artistes, Rs 18.54 lakh on radio/ TV projection, Rs 11.42 lakh on inserting advertisements in newspapers and printing of banners etc., Rs 2.52 lakh on hospitality, Rs 4.56 lakh on transport and a sum of Rs 5.34 lakh was spent on miscellaneous expenses. It has also been stated that the Central government released a sum of Rs 2.36 crore out of the total Rs 3.15 crore sanctioned for the function. The remaining amount is to be released by the Centre after the submitting of details of expenditure. Earlier, the government had spent a huge amount on the inaugural function of the centenary celebration of Shaheed Bhagat Singh organised at Amritsar in September 2007. The HELP activists, while demanding a thorough probe into the expenditure, said a technical committee should be constituted to spent money on such projects. The NGOs should also be given due representation in the committee, they suggested. Prof Jagmohan Singh, nephew of the great martyr, while lamenting on the 'wasteful expenditure', said the amount should have been spent on organising seminars on the life and philosophy of Shaheed Bhagat Singh in all the educational institutions in the state, so that the youth could be mobilised for getting inspiration from the martyr.
	Undertrial creates ruckus outside court Our Correspondent Batala, January 6 An undertrail prisoner created a ruckus outside the court here today. Manjit Singh, alias Moti, an accused in a case of attempted murder of Naresh Mahajan, district BJP president, was brought from the district jail, Gurdaspur, in a police van. When he was being taken back after the court hearing, he started pressuring the policemen on duty to let him get out of the van and talk to his friends and relatives present outside the court. The policemen, however, did not allow him, at which he dashed his head against the window of the van and hurt himself. When the injured undertrail was being taken to the civil hospital for treatment, he told mediapersons that he was beaten up badly by the policemen. He alleged that he was not permitted to talk to his friends and relatives, although other prisoners were even allowed to take meals with their friends. On the other hand, the police stated that Manjit Singh hurt himself by dashing his head against the window. The policemen said it did not allow him to talk to his relatives and friends as they feared he might escape from the custody with the help of his friends. The Batala police has registered a case under sections 309, 353, 186, 427 and 506, IPC, against Manjit Singh, city police station SHO Kapil Kaushal said.
	I’ll fulfil grandpa’s dreams: Bittu Amarjit Thind Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 6 Punjab Youth Congress chief Ravneet Singh Bittu today said he would work to strengthen the party in the state, besides fulfilling the dream of his grandfather late Beant Singh, former Chief Minister of Punjab. En route to Amritsar, he stopped here and garlanded the statue of the late CM at BMC Chowk. He was accompanied by senior party leaders. He interacted with Youth Congress workers who had come to welcome and greet him. “My grandfather laid down his life for the integrity of the country and I will follow in his footsteps and work towards taking the state to greater heights. I will fulfil his unfinished political and economic agenda,” he pointed out. He said AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi had devised a new policy for bringing the youth into active politics and under the scheme only those who had worked at the grassroots level had come up the party hierarchy. This had ensured that no one could make a lateral entry on account of one’s clout and money power, he pointed out. “I will also make efforts to take along all factions in the party, even those who could not make it in the elections. Now that all elected people are under one roof, it is up to us to work hard to ensure the victory of all party candidates in the parliamentary poll,” he said. Commenting on the Akali-backed Students Organisation of India (SOI), he said it was a one-man show and comprised of youngsters who were not involved in any political activity other than putting up banners and hoardings of SAD chief Sukhbir Badal across the state.
	‘Govt giving stepmotherly treatment to aided schools’ Our Correspondent Nawanshahr, January 6 The manager of the local W.L. Arya Senior Secondary School, Surinder Mohan Tejpal, in a press statement here today accused the state government of meting out stepmotherly treatment to the privately managed government-aided schools in the implementation of the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). “Though the government schools are being given grants for the development of infrastructure facilities under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan but the privately managed government-aided schools are being deprived of the facilities, except Midday Meal scheme,” lamented Tejpal, adding that the privately managed government-aided educational institutions had been playing a vital role in the field of education since long. He also criticised the Midday Meal scheme under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan saying that the school students of the state did not need midday meal but the teachers to bring in the qualitative improvement in the school education in true spirit. The money being “wasted” on providing midday meal should be spent on making up the scarcity of staff in the government as well as the government-aided schools in the state, he suggested while urging the state government to immediately lift the ban on recruitment imposed on the government-aided schools.
	ECHS polyclininc in the pipeline Post CSD canteen: Life gets easier for ex-servicemen Kusum Arora Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 6 With an aim to serve those who served the nation, the Ex-Servicemen Welfare Union, Shahkot, under the aegis of the District Sainik Welfare Office (DSWO), has come up with a multipurpose Sainik Bhavan at Shahkot. A dream-come-true project, Sainik Bhavan, is serving the needs of hundreds of ex-servicemen from the adjoining areas. Raised on 16-marla plot of the nagar panchayat, the bhavan was inaugurated on December 12, 2001. With its multipurpose facilities, the bhavan is fulfilling the requirements of more than 10,000 ex-servicemen from parts of Moga, Kapurthala, Loyian and Nakodar. Talking to The Tribune, chairman of the Shahkot Ex-Servicemen Welfare Union Lieut-Col J.S. Atwal (retd) said, “Besides the timely availability of funds, the bhavan is the result of the joint efforts of revenue minister Ajeet Singh Kohar, DSWO deputy director Lieut-Col Manmohan Singh and the union. With an initial grant of Rs 5 lakh from the revenue minister in the previous Akali regime, the project was executed within a stipulated period of one year.” At present the bhavan houses a CSD canteen, besides facility for a medical inspection (MI) room for the ex-servicemen and their families. After receiving sanction from Western Command pertaining to the CSD canteen, it was inaugurated in 2003. The CSD is being looked after by seven Army personnel, one JCO and six jawans, from 22 Mech Regiment. Bachan Singh, an ex-serviceman from nearby Mureedwal village, said, “Earlier, we had no option but to go to the canteens in Jalandhar cantonment every month. But with the opening up of Sainik Bhavan in the village, things have become very easy for us as well as our families.” An elderly woman who came all the way from Punia Redma village, near Shahkot, maintained, “Barring some big household items, the CSD canteen is serving all our needs. And now we are waiting for the ECHS polyclinic to begin as soon as possible as all the ex-servicemen and their dependants in this area have to go to Military Hospital (MH) for treatment.” Meanwhile, arrangements were also made for starting an MI Room, which was scrapped later due to the implementation of the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) throughout the country. “Now we are looking forward to start the construction of ECHS polyclinic in a separate chunk of land measuring 3 kanal 11 marlas situated along the Shahkot-Malsian Road. The project is in the pipeline and we hope to begin very soon. Moreover, a communication in this regard was exchanged with then GOC-in-C of Western Command Lieut-Gen Daljeet Singh for further work,” added Col Atwal. Sainik Bhavan is also running a special “assured decent last rites scheme (ADLRS)”, which is applicable to all the ex-servicemen since August 1, 2006. Under this scheme, the bhavan provides Rs 2,500 each to the family of the ex-servicemen concerned at the time of his death.