Jalandhar, February 26
Despite a reasonable decline in the diesel price, Punjab transport minister Master Mohan Lal yesterday said there would be no reduction in the existing bus fares in the state. “There is no move to reduce the bus fares. However, the state transport department in its bid to provide quality service to the passengers will be coming up with some state-of-the-art luxury buses within a few months,” he said.

The minister was here to attend a prize distribution function at the local BD Arya Girls College.

He said the department would be introducing 100 AC Volvo and King Long buses. “The manufacture of these Chinese luxury buses will be completed by June. The 50-seater buses will have reasonable fares with spacious and comfortable seats,” he said.

These luxurious buses are being manufactured in Jaipur and Punjab at a cost of Rs 52 lakh each. “Besides, we are also introducing 325 ordinary buses in the Punjab Roadways,” he said.

“We are introducing a fleet of 10 luxury buses at one time,” maintained the minister. And further extending the service of these luxury buses the department would sign an agreement with other states and regions, including Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The minister stated that with the efforts of the ruling SAD-BJP government the state would soon get luxurious AC bus stands in Mohali, Patiala and Bathinda, the foundation stone of which had been laid in the past couple of days.

“The bus stand at Mohali will be completed within two years at a cost of Rs 300 crore. Besides, Patiala and Bathinda bus stands will be constructed at a cost of Rs 200 crore each,” Master Mohan Lal added.

Nawanshahr, February 26
Capt Kanwaljit Singh, cooperation minister, laid the foundation stone of 12 MW co-generation power plant at Nawanshahr Cooperative Mills Ltd here today.

The project would be renewable energy project based on biomass and other byproducts of sugar mills. The total cost of the project would be Rs 80 crore and it would be implemented in collaboration with a private company, Saraya Industries Ltd, on the built-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) basis. The project would not only make the sugar mills self-dependent in meeting the power needs but also they could earn by selling power to the PSEB.

Addressing the gathering on the occasion, the cooperation minister said out of the total 15 sugar mills and three distilleries in the cooperation sector, as many as nine sugar mills had been functioning and the loses of the cooperative sugar mills in the state had touched the figure of Rs 500 crore.

“The major cause of the huge losses being faced by the sugar mills is increase in the cost of production,” said the minister, adding that with a view to make the cooperative sector sugar mills self-dependent, the sugar-fed Punjab had signed an MOU with private companies for generating 150 MW power in the cooperative sugar mills in the state. The co-generation plants would be set up at nine sugar mills and would become operational in August next year.

Besides, the cooperative sugar mills would also be upgraded and modernised.

The co-generation power plants would also help the farmers in getting remunerative prices for their sugarcane and biomass, said the cooperative minister citing the example that the farmers in the state had been burning “parali” (sugarcane biomass) worth Rs 600 crore every year, but with the setting up of the co-generation power plants, it would be purchased through cooperative societies.

The minister also revealed that Doaba Alco Chemicals, a subsidiary unit of Nawanshahr Cooperative Sugar Mills, would also be made operational. The unit would not only produce spirit but also wine and this would be the first unit in the cooperative sector to produce 60,000 bottles of country-made liquor and 12,000 bottles of English liquor. 

Amritsar, February 26
The PCMS Specialist Doctors Association is sore over the recruitment of specialist medical officers bypassing the Punjab Public Service Commission.

In a press note issued here yesterday, the association, led by Dr Kashmir Singh Sohal, said the medical officers recruited through the departmental selection committee were reluctant to join the service due to poor working facilities, environment and emoluments in the department.

He alleged that the specialist medical officers were being treated like bonded labour and had to perform the duties of both general duty medical officers and specialists while being paid the emoluments of ordinary medical graduates.

He said they had to function as emergency medical officers of hospitals for at least 10 days every month. He said most of the specialists were overworked and tired but nothing was being done to give them any relief. Dr Sohal criticised the transfer policy being pursued by the government nowadays which was resulting in separation of families of doctors. He said the demand of various organisations of doctors for a transparent and rational transfer policy had fallen on deaf ears. The association urged the state government to pay attention to their demands. 

Amritsar, February 26
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has urged the Punjab government to pass a bill in its assembly requesting the central government to press the government of France to allow Sikh children wear turbans in schools.

SGPC president Avtar Singh here today shot off a letter to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to pass the bill to support Sikhs in France. He said the ancestors of Sikhs residing in France had participated in World War II and had preferred to be hit by bullets in heads than wearing iron helmets.

He said the Sikh community residing in various parts of the globe expressed concern over the ban and had been steadfastly urging him to take up the issue with the central and Punjab governments to impress upon the French government to lift the ban on Sikh students.