Though he refused to contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha Polls, he said, “There is no age bar to contest elections. So, being a politician, I will not withdraw myself from elections.”

On being questioned about the announcement of Bathinda parliamentary candidate, he passed the responsibility to his son Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. He said, “Being the SAD (B) president, it is his (Sukhbir’s) prerogative to give ticket, so I cannot give any statement in this regard.”

Badal was here to assign poll campaign duties to various leaders, including Manpreet Singh Badal, Tota Singh, Sikander Singh Maluka and others, of Faridkot constituency .

Finding himself in a piquant situation with the call of Akal Takht and radical Sikhs to start a march to get all deras of the Sacha Sauda sect closed throughout the state, he said, “We will try our best to ensure law and order but the order was issued by Jathedar of Takht Sahib, so he should be asked about it.”

When asked about the phobia among farmers about the wheat procurement and storage, he said, “In a day I contact all officers concerned a couple of times to get the whole process done in a smooth way.” About the delay in unloading potato bags at cold storages, he said, “We had announced the best possible steps to provide subsidy to farmers for export, the rest is not in our hands.”

Replying to a question about his demands related to water and Punjabi-speaking regions, he said: “The demands will be placed in front of the next government at the Centre”.

Amritsar, March 13
Assamese Sikhs, who do not know a word of Punjabi, today visited Punjab for the first time in search of their roots to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple here. Most of them even boarded train for the first time, says PP Singh, an Assam-based journalist.

However, as they can read Gurmukhi, the Punjabi script, they can read and recite Guru Granth Sahib. They speak Assamese and generally follow the local code of conduct regarding food, social discipline and dress. But they are aware of their Sikh identity and do wear the five Ks.

Interestingly, three Assamese Sikhs, including Waryam Singh, Lalit Singh and Amar Singh, are elected “Gaon Buddha” (sarpanches). Waryam Singh, Sarpanch of Lanka, said the Sikhs were popular among local people there.

The origin of this small, but enterprising, community of Assam goes back to the reign of legendary Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh during the early 19th century. His ally in Assam, Swargadeo Chandrakanta Simha, was facing an armed rebellion, following the intrusion of Burmese militants in the kingdom. 

Hearing about this, the Maharaja promptly dispatched a Sikh soldiers under the command of Chaitanya Singh to the rescue of his friend. Though some of the Sikh soldiers died after engaging in a fierce battle with the advancing Burmese troops, yet the surviving soldiers married local Assamese girls to settle there permanently.

The band of Assamese Sikhs comprising 185 members including women and children are from Lanka and Barkola, the villages in Nagaon district of Assam where some Sikhs from Punjab set up an enclave for themselves around 1820.

Giving details of their origin, Ravinder Singh Oberoi said the microscopic Sikh minority spread out all over Assam and had integrated themselves with the local populace and hence they are more close to Assamese culture than Punjabi. But they continue to retain their distinct identity as Sikhs. All Sikhs are “Gurmukhs” and don’t cut their hair. The pre-condition for their marriage is that they have to be baptized.

They visit the gurdwara regularly and even have names that end with Singh. However, they hardly use caste or other surnames.

Another Assamese Sikh, Chattar Singh said their womenfolk hardly wear salwar-kameez like other Punjabis and can be seen in the traditional Assamese gear.

The womenfolk also brought musical instruments with them to perform Bihu dance of Assam in Amritsar and other parts of Punjab.

Though most of the Assamese Sikhs are marginal farmers, having small land holdings, yet some of them have succeeded in getting government jobs, especially in the police. They said old canons or weapons used by soldiers of Maharaja Ranjit Singh were still preserved in gurdwaras there. 

Chandigarh, March 13
The Department of Public Relations, headed by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, ceases to be the eyes and ears of the Punjab government. The Election Commission (EC) has directed the department to update it with news, especially reports on violation of the model code of conduct. For the past few days, the department has been busy scanning newspapers as even a “slight oversight” can prove costly.

The EC has directed the department to forward all news items that may be “objectionable”. All senior and junior officers of the department have been busy scanning news reports literally as they put the news clippings on a scanner to convert them into the digital format. These reports are being sent daily to the EC as well as the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Punjab.

According to specific instructions issued on behalf of the Chief Election Commissioner, the Department of Public Relations has been asked to send the news daily till the elections are over. “Each morning the department officials are scanning newspapers for activities of ministers and other officials of the government. Anything found amiss is immediately brought to the notice of the EC,” a source said.

The source pointed out that the department had taken the “warning” seriously as the EC had made it clear that it would like to hear about the violations from the department before the same were pointed out by the Congress or any other political party.

As per the instructions, three sets of news cuttings in digital format are sent to all three election commissioners.

For the first time in the electoral history of Punjab, the EC has decided to hold the poll process in two phases (May 7 and 13). This has primarily resulted due to the Congress’s apprehensions of violence and rigging. The Congress has demanded that Punjab be declared sensitive till the poll process is over.

On the other hand, Punjab’s Home Minister and Deputy Chief Minister has “guaranteed” a free and fair poll. In a statement to journalists in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, he said, “I can assure the people of Punjab that the poll will be held peacefully and no one would be allowed to vitiate the atmosphere in the state.”

Jalandhar, March 13
The possible tie-up among the CPI, CPM and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) may upset the electoral calculations of the Congress in Punjab. Though BSP supremo Mayawati has not yet become a part of the Third Front, she has extended support to it.

The CPI has decided to put up its candidates from Bathinda and Faridkot Lok Sabha constituencies. The CPM will contest the Anandpur Sahib seat. The BSP has already announced its candidates for all seats in the state except one - Gurdaspur. The CPI has put up former MLA Hardev Arshi from Bathinda and Kushal Bhaura, wife of late MP Bhan Singh Bhaura. The CPM has nominated Mahan Singh Rori as its candidate from Anandpur Sahib.

The CPI has a considerable following in Bathinda region and the CPM has voter support in many parts of the Anandpur Sahib region. Though a decision has not been taken as yet, there is a possibility that both Left parties would extend support to Lok Bhalai Party president Balwant Singh Ramoowalia in the Sangrur constituency. 

However, in case of tie-up with the BSP, they would have to extend support to Madanjit Singh, a former superintendent of police, who is the BSP candidate from Sangrur.

About the possibility of an electoral alliance of the Left parties with the BSP in Punjab, secretary of the Punjab unit of the CPI Bhupinder Sambar told The Tribune today, “I raised this issue at the meeting of the national executive of the party and urged senior leaders to speak to Mayawati in this regard. 

I have already spoken to some leaders of the BSP in Punjab in this regard and will meet some other senior leaders during my visit to Jalandhar tomorrow or day after.”

Though the BSP has announced candidates for 12 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab, it will not be difficult for it to leave three seats for the Left parties in the state. And this alliance will affect the Congress the most. 

The Left parties and the BSP have a substantial number of voters who tend to vote for the Congress in absence of their parties’ candidates in any assembly or Lok Sabha constituency. However, in case of an alliance between the BSP and the Left parties, supporters of these parties will vote for candidates put up by these parties.

In contrast, reports of the formation of the Third Front should bring cheer to the SAD-BJP alliance, which will be facing a tough contest from the Congress. The SAD-BJP combine has already announced candidate for all seats except Hoshiarpur and Bathinda.

Sources said both the SAD-BJP combine and the Congress were closely watching the political developments with regard to the Third Front. Though the Congress is putting up a brave face, the coming together of the Left parties and the BSP in Punjab would adversely affect it and others political parties which are a part of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

Sangrur, March 13
After unsuccessfully contesting MP and MLA elections for 41 times in various parts of the country in the past more than three decades, Mit Singh Sehjara (67), a resident of Sehjara village, 16 km from Barnala, has decided to contest the current Lok Sabha (LS) elections from Amethi against Rahul Gandhi. Besides this, he will also file his nomination papers from the Sangrur LS seat.

Earlier, Sehjara had contested against late Indira Gandhi in 1978 from Chikmanglur, Karnataka, while in May 2006 he contested from Rai Bareli against Sonia Gandhi. He contested his first election in 1975 for a Rajya Sabha seat from Punjab.

Since 1977, Sehjara had also filed his nomination papers six times to the post of President of India, but every time his papers were rejected on technical grounds. In 1989, he filed nomination papers from seven LS constituencies in the state.

Sehjara, who is an agriculturist by profession, runs his domestic affairs from the income of his 14 acres land. At the time of war with China in 1962, he had joined the Army to serve the country, but he left it in 1966.

Talking to The Tribune over the phone today, Sehjara said he had covered a distance of about 40 km daily on foot. During this time, he conveyed his election agenda to people. 

Sehjara said he always spent money on his election campaign from his own pocket, which he earned from agriculture produce. He said he did not believe in collection of election funds as it led to corruption in politics.

Sehjara said as far as the matter of seniority in contesting elections is concerned, he was senior to all as he had contested the LS and Assembly elections 41 times in various parts of the country. He claimed that no individual had contested such a large number of elections in the country so far. 

Sehjara said he had got printed about one lakh cards in Hindi and 20,000 in Punjabi, which were being distributed by him during his campaign. He said in the card he had made an appeal to people to make him the Prime Minister of the country unanimously.

Chandigarh, March 13
The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) high command has cleared the name of former bureaucrat Som Parkash for the Hoshiarpur (Reserve) Parliamentary seat. His name figures in the list released by the party high command today. 

With the announcement of the Hoshiarpur Parliamentary seat, the BJP has named its candidates on all three seats it will contest in alliance with the SAD in Punjab. The BJP has already announced the name of cricketer Navjot Sidhu from Amritsar and film star Vinod Khanna from Gurdaspur.

It is the first time that the BJP is contesting a reserve seat in Punjab and it is also the first case in recent times where a bureaucrat has sought early retirement to contest elections. Sitting BJP MP from Hoshiarpur Avinash Rai Khanna has been replaced. Hoshiarpur was an open seat prior to the delimitation process. Khanna, who does not belong to the SC/ST category, can not contest this reserve seat.

Som Parkash, a 1988 batch IAS officer, was due to retire on April 30 this year. But this former Chief Administrator, Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA), sought premature retirement from the Punjab government as he had been promised the Hoshiarpur seat by the BJP.

Interestingly, the former bureaucrat, who asked to be relieved by mid-February, 2009, had cited domestic reasons for leaving the service. With the allocation of the ticket to Som, there is gloom in the Vijay Sampla and Rajesh Bagha camps, who were also aspirants for this ticket.

Apart from being the PUDA chief, Som has served as Deputy Commissioner of Faridkot, Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar districts. He has also served as Managing Director, Punjab Financial Corporation; Labour Commissioner; Director, Social Security, Government of Punjab, besides other important positions. 

Chandigarh, March 13
The two-year-old programme of the Punjab agriculture department to mechanise paddy transplantation in the state has been jeopardised with the Election Commission (EC) today deciding that no agriculture-related subsidy is to be given to farmers till the model code of conduct remains in force.

The EC has asked the agriculture department to put on hold the decision to give subsidy on import of 700 mechanised paddy transplanters which are to be imported from China, Japan and Korea by the farmers directly.

The department has decided to pay each farmer 50 per cent of the cost of the machine or Rs 1.50 lakh per machine.

According to agriculture department sources, the department has to start the process of training of farmers as well as laying down of special nurseries for transplanting paddy through these machines. These nurseries need to be in place before May 10 if the transplantation is to be done through machines.

Besides this, the other machinery proposed to be given on subsidy, includes laser levellers, which are a prerequisite for mechanised paddy transplantation.

The government proposes to give these levellers to farmers at a subsidy of 33 per cent or Rs 1.25 lakh per machine. The government has set aside Rs 2.50 crore for this exercise.

The functioning of as many as 200 agricultural societies is also likely to be affected by the EC order. These societies were scheduled to purchase farming equipment, including laser levelers, rotavators and happy seeders, on subsidy so that they could be rented out to farmers at a nominal cost. Other season specific measures include distribution of gypsum for soil amendment.

Agricultural department sources told The Tribune that the department would approach the EC again to review its decision.

They claimed that this was necessary as the state government had built up a momentum to spread paddy mechanisation over a two-year period after the state started witnessing a fall in the arrival of migrant labourers as well as a sharp increase in the labour rates during the transplantation season. State Chief Electoral Officer Kusumjit Sidhu said she had received a request that the case be referred to the EC again.

Meanwhile, Sidhu held a meeting with representatives of various political parties.

She answered queries of the representatives from the SAD, Congress, BSP and the CPM. She said there was no restriction on the number of vehicles for campaigning but the expenditure for the same would have to be accounted for.

She also made it clear that all party advertisements would have to be cleared by her, while at the district level they would be cleared by the district electoral officers.

She said helicopters could also be used for private purposes. 

Chandigarh, March 13
The Bharatiya Kisan Union (Rajewal) has decided to hold a three-day meeting starting on March 30 at Nabha to devise its policy for the forthcoming parliamentary elections. Disclosing this here yesterday, BKU (Rajewal) president Balbir Singh Rajewal said the party cadre would take a decision on the type of candidates or even parties it should support in the coming election.

Rajewal said the organisation would also urge Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to hold a survey to ascertain what effect the present warm spell in the state would have on the wheat crop. 

He said it would request the Chief Minister to provide compensation to farmers in case scientists predict a decrease in productivity.

The BKU leader also said his organisation would urge the government to promote almond farming in Punjab.

He said preliminary studies indicated almonds could be grown in the state and that Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, should be entrusted with the responsibility of preparing nurseries to facilitate almond farming. He also demanded that the government should ensure eight hours power in rural areas to facilitate wheat irrigation.

Patiala, March 13
The Samana Nagar Council has floated tenders for development works worth over Rs 70 lakh even as the model code of conduct is in force in view of the Parliamentary elections.

The tender notice appeared in the newspaper on March 7 after the code of conduct came into force on March 2. This has prompted the Deputy Commissioner, who is also the District Election Officer, to call an explanation from the president and the executive officer of the Samana Nagar Council.

Through the public notice the council has invited tenders till March 16 for recarpetting of certain roads with premix, besides supply of sewer cleaning machine.

Tenders have also been invited for transportation of bitumen from Panipat Oil Refinery during 2008-09 and 2009-10. The tenders are scheduled to be opened at 3.30 pm on March 16 itself.

Kapur Chand, president of the council, told The Tribune that the public notice inviting tenders had been sent to newspaper on February 21 by the executive officer. He said the officer had retired on February 27 and as of now the post had been lying vacant.

He said when the public notice was sent to newspapers for publications the code of conduct had not come into force. He said if the inviting of tenders had violated the code he would like the public notice cancelled and fresh tenders invited after the elections.

DC Deepinder Singh said he had got to know about the public notice only today. He said he would seek a written explanation from the executive officer of the council.

Director of the Local Bodies, Punjab, SK Sharma said he was not aware of the council inviting tenders for development works. Now that the matter had been brought to his notice, he would have the matter looked into.

The DC has already held a meeting with representatives of political parties to ensure that there is no violation of the code.

Jalandhar, March 13
All questions of the chemistry paper of Class XII examination conducted by the Punjab School Education Board on March 5 were from the prescribed syllabus, said Prof Adarsh Bhatti, who teaches chemistry, even as he today challenged chairman of the board Dalbir Singh Dhillon to point out the questions that were out of syllabus.

Urging Dhillon to drop the proposal to conduct the chemistry examination again on March 24, Professor Bhatti said the better option, in case the board was of the opinion that the question paper was a bit difficult, would be to give grace marks to students or to moderate the evaluation of the answersheets instead of “harassing” thousands of students and making them reappear in the examination.

A public notice was issued today by the board authorities, stating that because of administrative reasons it had decided to conduct the examination again on March 24.

Professor Bhatti said conducting of the examination again would distract the students from preparing for various entrance tests for admission to engineering and medical colleges. 

Bhatti said the question paper of chemistry was from the prescribed NCERT book and even the solution of the numerical, that had been projected as the most difficult one in set-A (Part-B) of the question paper, was available on page 362 of the prescribed book for XII.

Bhatti said it was a standard question paper and conformed to the board’s policy that stated that 30 per cent part of the question paper should be knowledge based and 33 per cent understanding based and remaining 33 per cent should be application based.

Bhatti has asked Dhillon that on the basis of which committee’s report the board had decided to conduct the examination again. He said there was no administrative reason for holding the examination again. 

Chandigarh, March 13
Wheat production in Punjab is likely to fall by at least 3.5 lakh metric tonnes (MT) this year due to the unusually warm weather in January and February this year. Director, Agriculture, Punjab, BS Sidhu said the fall could increase in the coming days as the weather department predicted still higher day temperatures. 

“The late sown wheat is going to be affected the most. Almost 15 per cent of the total 3.5 lakh hectares under wheat in the state were sown wheat,” he said.

The state had registered 157.2 lakh MT of wheat production last year, out of which the market arrivals were about 105 lakh MT. “This year there is going to be a fall of about a quintal per hectare and our expected production target will hover around 154 lakh MT,” said Sidhu.

Last year the production had crossed the 150 lakh MT mark after seven years. However, this was not the highest as the state had registered record breaking production of 159 lakh MT at the turn of the century. “This year we were hoping to touch the same figure again, but weather gods have played truant.

As far as our efforts go, we had put our best foot forward. We had ensured that 40 per cent of the sown area is under replaced seed and also made the essential micronutrient zinc, available at 50 per cent the cost to farmers,” said Sidhu.

The government had fixed the minimum price at Rs 1,080 per 100 kg this year and market arrivals for the crop were expected to increase from last year. The state procurement agencies and the Food Corporation of India (FCI) were worried about making storage facilities available for the crop that was going to be procured from April onwards.

The state is facing a shortage of storage space as out of the 105 lakh mt of wheat which was procured last year, only 70 lakh MT has been moved out of the state with the rest of the grain still stacked in plinths and covered spaces.

“For this year there is no cause for panic. State agencies have increased their storage capacity by about 10 lakh MT. Moreover, due to a fall in crop production, market arrivals are also likely to be affected. We will have to manage with makeshift storage arrangements (kuchcha) for about 20 lakh MT of wheat.

This wheat will be moved out on priority. But in case the sluggish movement of wheat out of the state continues this year also, storage will become a cause of serious worry for the next procurement season,” said Sarvjit Singh, General Manager, Punjab, FCI.

Chandigarh, March 13
Markfed will pay state potato growers an inter-state subsidy of Rs 1.79 crore out of the sanctioned grant of Rs 5 crore. Besides, the state government has also facilitated the export of two containers of potatoes from Punjab to the Middle East and one container to Sri Lanka. Five more containers will be dispatched to these destinations this week.

The announcement of freight subsidy on potato has prevented potato growers from a crisis. Over 44,711 MT of potato has been moved to other states, including Assam, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, according to Cooperation Minister Capt Kanwaljit Singh.

A 10 to 15 per cent increase in production of the crop has resulted in a glut-like situation in January, but a Rs 400 per MT freight subsidy on domestic movement and Rs 1,500 MT on export subsidy has brought rich dividends to the farmers.

During the year 2008-2009, the state is expected to produce 16 lakh MT potato, out of which 7 lakh MT would be for seed, 3 to 4 lakh MT for domestic consumption and the remaining is being sent to other states and even exported.

Capt Kanwaljit said the price was now ranging between Rs 350 and Rs 450 per quintal locally. This had stabilised and enhanced the state market, he added.

Hoshiarpur, March 13
The Dal Khalsa took a swipe at a statement made by Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon that devolution of powers to Tamil-dominated areas in northern Sri Lanka is "really the way" to address the decade-old ethnic conflict in a "credible fashion".

India has called for an urgent need for credible devolution of powers in Sri Lanka, saying it is the only way to ensure resolution of problems afflicting the island nation.

In a statement, party secretary for political affairs Kanwarpal Singh said what was stopping Menon to apply the same formula to address problems of ethnic and religious communities in India that had been striving for independence like Tamils in Lanka. 

He blamed Indian leaders for adopting double standards and reiterated that without addressing the problems of Kashmiri, Nagas, Sikhs and other ethnic people, the alienation of minorities would continue. 

Chandigarh, March 13
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has made it clear that an employee is not entitled to the benefit of reservation, if his gross income puts him in the creamy layer.

The ruling, in case of a Punjab State Electricity Board employee, assumes significance as the board had claimed “the income to be reckoned for consideration for exclusion as creamy layer is that of the parents, and not of the candidate….”

The board had relied on a clarification issued by the Union ministry of Personnel and Training, dated November 21, 2002. In response to a clarification on reservation for “OBCs in civil posts and services” under the government, the ministry had intimated “determination of creamy layer for an OBC candidate is done with reference to the income of the parents”. The clarification had been sought by the Punjab Department of Welfare, Reservation Cell.

The Bench of Justice MM Kumar and Justice Jora Singh ruled: “The question in the present case is that when the parents have gross income of Rs 1 lakh or more, then the exclusion principle would apply and whether the exclusion principle would not apply if the sons and daughters themselves are earning Rs 1 lakh or more as gross income for three consecutive years.

“The answer to the aforesaid question has to be in affirmative because if the exclusion principle to such an affluent person is not applied, the basic object of providing reservation for backward classes would be defeated and the benefits accruing from reservation would be taken away by those who are affluent and belong to the creamy layer because the income of the parents has to be clubbed with that of the children if they claim to be one unit”.

The Bench also quashed the appointment of respondent Surinder Singh as accounts officer under the OBC category.

Challenging the appointment, petitioner Anil Kumar Uppal had claimed Surinder Singh was drawing salary exceeding Rs 1, 00,000 per annum for more than three successive years.

His counsel had contended that the annual income of the respondent has to be taken into consideration, instead of his parents’ annual income, for the benefit of backward class.

The Bench concluded: “Non-exclusion of creamy layer leads to perverting the very objective of special constitutional provisions. It discourages the beneficiaries to stand on their own feet and compete with the forward classes as equal citizens. 

Non-exclusion would also keep the backward class in-perpetual backwardness as if by saying: Once a backward class is always a backward class…. We are of the view that the respondent is not entitled to the benefit of reservation because his gross income is more than Rs 1 lakh”.