Hanumangarh/Abohar, April 28
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh today launched a scathing attack on the former BJP government led by Vasundhara Raje for "non-cooperation" in implementing the public welfare schemes funded by the UPA government.

Addressing a well attended rally in Bikaner on Tuesday, the PM said grants released by the UPA government for various projects in Rajasthan were not utilised by the Raje government while the present government led by Ashok Gehlot had done commendable work within three-four months.

During last five years, the country had achieved unprecedented excellence in economic development, the ratio was almost double than the preceding NDA govt. Industrial development during the tenure of the UPA government recorded 50 per cent increase. "We ensured such a system that the benefit of the welfare schemes/projects could pass on to common people. Only the Congress-led front is capable of strengthening such system, so please give us another chance" he exhorted.

Dr Manmohan Singh was received by party observer and AICC member Virendra Kataria and Rajasthan MP Dr B.D. Kalla on his arrival. While listing achievements of his government, the PM said 18 lakh farmers all over the country had started life afresh with waiving off of whopping debts. Six lakh families in Rajasthan alone were benefited by the auspicious NREGA scheme. 1.10 lakh new houses were built for the have-nots. In Rajasthan, 42,000 female workers were given employment under the central government schemes, he pointed out.

Nearly 37 lakh children aged up to six years are being imparted primary education in Rajasthan and also looked after hygienically under the ICDS scheme. Total number of Anganwari centres in the country has been increased from 12 lakh to 14 lakh. About 60 lakh students in the government and government-aided schools in Rajasthan are served with Mid-day meal. “We are determined to bring each child to primary school to improve literacy rate,” the PM said amidst thunderous applause.

Unfolding further plans, Dr Manmohan Singh said Rs 1700 crore had been earmarked for infrastructural development in Ajmer, Pushkar and Jaipur, 700 crore will be spent on development of slum areas. "Our government had laid 923 km long railway line besides opening special economic zones in Jaipur, Bhiwadi, Jodhpur and Bikaner. We are inclined to promote export of marble block and slabs in Rajasthan by revising the existing policy. 

On threat perceptions from terrorism, the PM said this evening that working of the intelligence agencies and security management would be reshaped to weed out terrorism. No doubt we have to opt for diplomatic restraints to ensure coordination among various countries to give joint fight to subversive and separatist elements but I am here to assure that we will fight terrorism with an iron hand,” he asserted.

The election rallies of the Prime Minister matter much for Hanumangarh and Sriganganagar district also since some of the Assembly segments fall in the Bikaner parliamentary constituency. 

Bathinda, April 28
The Congress candidate from the Bathinda parliamentary constituency, Raninder Singh, today said he would take steps to eradicate cancer from the area by ensuring clean drinking water, pollution free atmosphere and world-class medical facilities. Besides, the cancer patients would be provided free treatment.

Addressing a series of public meetings in the Bhucho Assembly segment, Raninder expressed sympathies with the people who were suffering in the ‘cancer belt’. He pointed out, this is no simple job and would require a holistic approach. He said the cause of cancer needed to be identified as to why people in a particular belt fall victim to the disease.

He said, although some research has been done attributing it to the use of chemicals, still more research needs to be carried out to identify the cause of this dreaded disease so that the evil can be nipped in the bud.

The Congress candidate said, he would also facilitate setting up of industry in the region. He pointed out, “despite being the union minister Sukhbir Badal never bothered to set up industry in the area which he could have conveniently done”. He pointed out, the previous Congress government led by his father Capt Amarinder Singh had brought huge investments and mega projects to the state, including Bathinda. But the Badals stalled the development in the state. Investors and industry fled the state, property prices are at an all time low.

Bathinda, April 28
Raninder Singh, the Congress candidate for the Bathinda Lok Sabha seat, has urged the election commission to immediately deploy central security forces in the constituency, as there was “apprehension” of the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) resorting to any tactics to get the election countermanded.

In a letter to the chief election commissioner, Naveen Chawla, and other members of the commission, Raninder today demanded extra central security cover for all candidates contesting the election for the Bathinda constituency, where Harsimrat Kaur Badal, wife of deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, was the SAD candidate. He has pointed out that “out of desperation”, the SAD might take any step to countermand the election.

He has demanded that all urban areas of the constituency should be treated as “extra sensitive” and safe passage be assured to the electorate from their homes to polling booths.

A control room managed by the central security forces should be established, as the Punjab police was not in a position to perform free and fair duty when the deputy chief minister’s wife was the SAD candidate.

Videography of all the movements in the densely populated urban areas was required to identify anti-social elements during the poll.

Raninder has demanded that the constituency should be cleared of outsiders, Students Organisation of India (SOI) activists and fake identity card holders 48 hours before the polling begins on May 7.

He has claimed that activists of the SOI, an organisation floated by the deputy chief minister, and criminals from other states were terrorising the peaceful voters in the urban areas of the constituency. These people are camping in marriage palaces, hotels and temporarily rented places in the urban areas.

He has also claimed that many criminals were being recommended by the SAD leaders to be released on parole to terrorise peaceful voters with the intention to get votes in their favour.

Moga, April 28
In yet another shocking incident, a three-year-old girl has been devoured by stray dogs at village Puranewala in Moga district this evening.

The victim has been identified as Priyanka. Her father Ramu and mother Koeli are migrant labourers originally hailing from Sanda village of Banda district in Uttar Pradesh. Ramu is a farm labourer working in this village for the past 15 years.

As per the details available, the girl was sitting in a field under the shade of a tree while her mother was harvesting wheat crop a few yards away when all of sudden, a group of stray dogs came out of the nearby animal carcass dump and attacked the girl. Her mother cried for help but by the time people reached, portions of her body had been eaten up by the violent dogs. She was rushed to the district hospital here but died on the way.

It may be mentioned that the district administration had a couple of days back started a drive for sterilisation of the stray dogs keeping in view the recent attacks of violent dogs on children in this district.

Earlier on April 8, the dogs at village Samadh Bhai in the district had mauled a 14-year-old child. A couple of days later, another child in this village was seriously injured by the dogs. The child is still undergoing medical treatment.

Bathinda, April 28
To lodge their protest against the alleged 'anti-employee' policies of the state government, activists of the Punjab Subordinate Services Federation (PSSF) blocked the main gate of the bus stand, here this afternoon.

The protesters demanded the implementation of the Fifth Pay Commission report and notification for all demanded modifications before the Lok Sabha elections. The agitators, led by Gurbans Singh Johal, zonal secretary of the Federation and Manjeet Singh, state vice-president, warned the state ruling party to accept their demand or face the consequences in the forthcoming polls.

In their charter, they mentioned the revision of the terms and conditions of the 'anti-employee' pay commission and regularisation of employees, among other issues.

A PSSF member Sajjan Singh has been sitting on fast-unto-death for the past eight days in Chandigarh. If something untoward happens, we will bring the whole government to an end."

Raising anti-Badal slogans, the members warned the government of holding a "Badal Bachao-Sajjan Singh Bachao rally" in Bathinda on April 29. 

Fazilka, April 28
Army formations stationed at Fazilka will for the first time be able to cast their votes at the polling booths at their posting stations during the ensuing Lok Sabha polls.

According to SDM Fazilka, Charandev Singh Maan, in compliance of instructions of the Election Commission, 1969 Army men have been issued Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) to enable them to participate in the polls. These Army men will cast votes in booth no. 9-A and 9-B located at the village Korianwali in vicinity of the Army headquarters on outskirts of the town. These booths have been set up exclusively for polling of votes of the army men.

Besides, SDM-cum-Assistant Returning Officer Maan maintained that all arrangements for conducting smooth, free and fair polls have been completed. Maan further disclosed that 144 booths will be set up in Fazilka Assembly segment.

Out of these, 61 have been identified to be sensitive, while 15 have been marked as hyper sensitive. About 900 officials will be deployed to conduct polling of 1,42,580 votes.

Polling of vote has been made mandatory for the first time for the polling staff at the place of their duty station. They have been issued separate identity cards for this purpose. He further said that EPIC has been issued to 98.5 per cent of the enrolled voters in Fazilka Assembly constituency. 

Bathinda, April 28
In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court recently ordered for installation of fire-extinguishing equipment and adoption of other safety measures in all government and private schools across the country within six months. The schools are blatantly violating the fire safety guidelines under the Fire Safety Act, thus endangering the lives of students.

The apex court has asked education secretaries of all states to file their compliance report of its order within one month after installation of the safety measures.

The SC also ordered all government and private schools to strictly comply with various safety measures prescribed by the National Building Code of India in 2005 and asked the governments of various states and union territories not to recognise the schools unless it complies with the prescribed safety measures.

The petition had been filed in 2004 in the wake of one of the worst tragedies involving school children in Kumbakonam town of Tamil Nadu’s Thanjavur district.

“Before granting recognition or affiliation, the concerned state governments and union territories are directed to ensure that the buildings are safe and secured from every angle and they are constructed according to the safety norms incorporated in the National Building Code of India,” the bench said.

“All existing government and private schools shall install fire extinguishing equipment within a period of six months,” said the bench of Justices Daveer Bhandari and Lokeshwar Singh, also ordering “necessary training to the staff and other school officials on how to use the fire extinguishing equipment.”

It also ordered that “the school buildings be kept free from inflammable and toxic material. If storage is inevitable, they should be stored safely.”

Bathinda, April 28
Demanding suspension of the deputy registrar of the Giani Zail Singh College of Engineering and Technology, the staff of the college lodged a protest today.

In the protest, members of technical, teaching and non-teaching staff accused the deputy registrar, Gurdeep Singh, of being involved in various cases of corruption. Later, they held a meeting with the principal of the college, Harpal Singh, and urged him to remove Gurdeep from the said post.

During the meeting, they apprehended the non-withdrawal of two writ petitions lying in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which the principal had reportedly filed to get the college declared as a non-government college.

They have also sent a letter to the principal secretary, department of technical education, seeking Gurdeep’s suspension.

In the letter, they asked him to arrange a meeting with the staff of the college so that the dignity and faith of the college staff be restored as the image of college had been tarnished.

Principal Harpal Singh said, “They were asking me about some points, which I have answered. Moreover, it is my prerogative to withdraw the writs. But for the demand of the staff, I withdrew them.”

The deputy registrar could not be contacted for his version. But he had already refuted the allegations recently in writing.

Bathinda, April 28
The hourlong jam outside the bus stand here left hundreds of commuters in the lurch, that too in the scorching heat at around noon.

To build pressure on the government for the fulfillment of their demands, the PSSF employees blocked the main gate of the bus stand and disrupted the traffic movement there, apparently ignoring the inconvenience caused to the common people. Not only the commuters but also the bus staff were observed annoyed over the chaos.

Ironically, the police preferred to be a mute spectator and remained indifferent to the plight of women and children who were stuck in the buses in the sweltering heat.

Of late, it has become a regular practice in Bathinda that whenever anyone has a grudge against the government, they find this tactic to be the most suited for them to raise their issues. But in doing so, they always forget about the hardships caused to the others.

"I have paid the bus fair and got the ticket for Patiala where I had to attend a meeting. Now it has been over half-an-hour but I am sitting in the bus helplessly as there is no way I can reach my destination."

"If the cops here are unable to solve the problem, do give us a free hand and we can tackle such nuisance," said Sukhjinder Singh, an irked conductor of a private bus company.

A driver Pritam Singh, frustrated over the jam, said, "Protesters have 'fun' as there is no check on them. But nobody is bothered about our route and timings which have been been affected due to them."Gurpreet Singh, an adda-fee contractor said, "On an average, if the gate is blocked for an hour, we suffer loss of around Rs 1,500. Our haplessness is that as per the contract terms, we have to deposit Rs 14,420 with the PRTC authorities every day, irrespective of the condition."

When asked about the public inconvenience, Kotwali station house officer Harmeek Singh Deol expressed his inability in taking any action.

Commuters stranded in the buses were seen terming the problem as the fallout of Bathinda having become a hot seat courtesy the poll battle between the Badals and Capt Amarinder Singh.

Fazilka, April 28
Shankar Dass Daulat Ram Nagpal Charitable Trust organised a free mega medical camp. About twenty four specialist doctors of different departments rendered their services in the camp and examined about 3500 patients suffering from different disease.

According to Jagdish Chander Nagpal, chairman of the Trust Sriganganagar based cardiologist Dr Pardeep Singla inaugurated the camp. Psychiatrist Dr Roop Sidana and Chand Sidana, CMC Ludhiana oncologist Dr Raman Arora, ENT specialist Dr Rishsi Sarsva, gynecologist Dr Ashok Gupta, Chandigarh-based Eye surgeons team led by Dr S.P.S. Grewal and other doctors examined the patients.

Volunteers of Mohali based Sachkar Social Service Society led by Seema Arora also contributed a lot in organising the camp. Para medics teams from Jaipur and Chandigarh helped in conducting the tests and distribution of free medicines. Free ultrasound examinations ECG and blood tests were also conducted wherever necessary.

Highlighting the welfare activities of the Trust chairman Jagdish Chander Nagpal said here today that this was the 12th mega medical camp. — OC