Ferozepur, May 2
Congress campaign committee in charge Amarinder Singh allegedly met Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh at Sirsa yesterday. However, he denied the meeting here today.

Sources said Amarinder, who had gone to Sirsa yesterday to attend a rally in support of Congress candidate Ashok Tanwar, which was also addressed by Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, took time off to visit the dera chief also.

Amarinder, when questioned on the issue here today, said he had solicited support from the dera many times and he did not have any hang-ups in visiting the dera to do it . “However, I do not want to antagonise anyone and also create trouble for any community,” he said explaining why he had not visited the dera till now.

To whether the Congress was sure of support from the dera, he said, “We are not smug at all. In fact, we are humble in our approach,” he said adding that the Congress was asking for dera support, while the SAD was claiming it did not need votes of the dera.

Dera official spokesman Dr Aditya Insan confirmed Amarinder visiting the dera yesterday. Other sources said Amarinder came in an entourage of seven to eight persons, including his erstwhile media adviser BIS Chahal. The sources said he requested a meeting with the dera spiritual head following which he met him to seek his blessings. Following this, Amarinder also met a few other persons associated with the dera.

Meanwhile, dera sources said henceforth they would request politicians to meet their “guruji” in the open along with the sangat. “We want this as then they will have to spell out their plans for society and ensure that the general public does not get the impression that some brokering is taking place at closed-door meetings”.

The sources said it was also necessary the attributes of candidates be discussed at public forum so that people could ask them about their “qualities” and also name shortcomings. They said only then the attributes necessary for a candidate as preached by the dera head, including non-use of intoxicants, high moral and financial conduct and ability to stand up against oppression of any single community, could be enforced.

Amritsar, May 2
Targeted by Taliban, 35 Sikh families, which had been living for decades in Pakistan's Orakzai Agency, have migrated to safer places and taken refuge in Sikh shrines there, including Gurdwara Bhai Joga Singh (Peshawar) and Gurdwara Panja Sahib, Hassan Abdal, near Islamabad, after the imposition of jaziya or protection tax.

Nankana Sahib-based Mastan Singh, former president, Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC), stated this to The Tribune on telephone today. He, however, said members of other minorities which had refused to pay protection tax were also targeted by the Taliban.

Taliban militants had taken over shops and homes of the 35 Sikh families and arrested community leaders Klank Singh and Sewa Singh in the Ferozkhel area of Lower Orakzai Agency.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) has sent a missive to the UNO to save the lives and property of Pakistani Sikhs.

Senior Congress leader MM Singh Cheema, a member of the AICC, said he would again take up the matter with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and chairperson, UPA, Sonia Gandhi, who is visiting Gurdaspur tomorrow.

Cheema, appreciated the initiative of Dr Manohar Singh Gill, Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, for taking up the matter with Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran to take it up further with his Pakistani counterpart.

He said on the initiative of Dr Gill, diplomat of Pakistan High Commission was summoned by appropriate authorities in New Delhi expressing deep concern and anguish.

Cheema has requested Dr Manmohan Singh to take up the issue with the United Nations. He said the incident showed lack of authority of Pakistan President Asif Zardari and the government in Pakistan that had signed the agreement of Shariat Law with Taliban. The Orakzai Agency is situated in the virtually ungovernable Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, where the writ of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda largely runs.

Chandigarh, May 2
Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla today said there was no need of deploying additional security forces in Punjab for the forthcoming Lok Sabha election in the state.

The Congress party has been demanding more force for the state, specially in the Bathinda constituency. “I am completely satisfied with the security arrangements and there is no need for additional forces. These are not assembly elections and so much security cannot be given to a single state,” he said. Punjab had asked for 200 companies of paramilitary forces but has been given 155 companies for the elections.

Chawla was addressing media persons here this evening following a series of review meetings with political parties and government officers.

He said security forces would undertake night patrolling 48 hours before the polling. “This is the time when chances of distribution of money and liquor are the highest,” he said.

Stating that he had received a host of complaints regarding “surrogate advertisements” being carried in newspapers in the form of news reports, Chawla said he had asked central observers to probe the allegations and in case such news has appeared in favour of a candidate, to charge the candidate concerned.

Chawla said the health departments of the two states have been asked to make adequate arrangements to ensure that excessive heat does not take its toll on voters on election day. “It is very hot and water coolers, shaded places and ambulances should be in place,” he said.

Chawla said the Commission had zero tolerance for infringement of the model code of conduct. “Use of derogatory language and inflammatory speeches will not be tolerated. In case anyone notices a violation, central election observers should be informed immediately. Their mobile numbers have been advertised widely,” he said. He warned that the expenses incurred by those who are found to be “surrogate candidates” would have to be paid by the candidate. The CEC urged voters to bring their election identity cards on the day of voting.

When asked about allegations that the office of the CEC was pro-Congress, Chawla said he had already answered these questions. In response to a question if he was a schoolmate of Punjab’s former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh, Chawla said he studied in Sanawar while according to a newspaper report Capt Amarinder had been a student of Doon School, Dehradun.

Jalandhar, May 2
Every day in the afternoon, farmers in Punjab and Haryana’s countryside put wheat stubble on fire to quickly dispose it off. In the process they not only intensify the scorching heat wave in the region, but also make life miserable for those suffering from respiratory problems.

“Besides creating a thick cloud of smoke around and polluting the atmosphere, burning fields also adds some degrees to the temperature, already hovering around 45°C in the region nowadays,” said a senior officer of the Punjab Pollution Control Board.

“We have warned farmers against the burning of the wheat and paddy residue with regard to its adverse effects on populace and flora and fauna, but they continue to do so without bothering about what we say,” added the officer.

“This way farmers are contributing to global warming,” said an agriculture expert. “Decline in wheat yield in some of the areas of the state this year is a result of global warming,” he added. With the burning of residue, some important nutrients required to improve the health of soil are also destroyed. Friendly insects are also killed in the process.

Drivers of buses and other vehicles told The Tribune that it becomes difficult for them to drive as the smoke reduces visibility in the area, causes irritation in the eyes and leads to the breathing difficulties.

“The government should stop the practice of burning the crop residue by enacting strict laws. There is no other solution of the problem”, said the doctor.

Hoshiarpur, May 2
Here former bureaucrat Som Parkash, a BJP candidate, is contesting against Congress candidate Santosh Chaudhary, a seasoned politician.

While two-time member of Parliament from Phillaur, Santosh claims to be the best candidate and has been banking on four segments, Bholath, Sham Chaurasi and Phagwara, which earlier were in the Phillaur Lok Sabha constituency, a former IAS officer Som, a BJP candidate, claims that bureaucrats prove better leaders.

Som, who was Additional Chief Administrator, Punjab Urban Development Authority, jumped into the fray after quitting job as he got BJP ticket from Hoshiarpur. He has been trying to woo voters on the performance of the SAD-BJP government in the state as well as the projects taken up during the NDA regime.

Santosh claimed that an officer could never be a servant. Since Som remained an officer and used to a good life, he could not feel pain of the common man. Moreover, she claimed to have signed the first appointment letter of Som as she was member of the Punjab Pradesh Public Service Commission when the latter got selected for the job.

Santosh has been seeking votes on issues like introduction of railway lines till Talwara with more trains, industrial package for industrialists at the pattern of Himachal, solution of problems of Kandi area residents, eradication of unemployment, substance abusers.

Claiming that bureaucrats make excellent politicians, Som says being a former Deputy Commissioner of Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar, he was well aware of the problems of the area.

When asked that his opponent claimed to be his boss when he joined the job, Som Prakash said, “I got the job in an open competition and not on the mercy of anyone”.

Gurdaspur, May 2
Wives of Congress candidate Partap Singh Bajwa and SAD-BJP’s Vinod Khanna are moving from town to town and village to village of the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat to seek votes for their husbands.

Charanjit Kaur Bajwa and Kavita Khanna are even visiting remote areas like villages along the international border and backward areas sharing border with Himachal and Jammu and Kashmir.

Charanjit on Friday visited Pakhoke Tali village and Dhianpur in border tehsil of Dera Baba Nanak and Nanuharnia village. Apart from addressing public meetings, she visited some houses to establish rapport with women voters.

Besides talking about development, she also asked about their family members and enquired after their well-being. She said the key to development of this backward region lay in women empowerment.

“I have been campaigning for Partap Singh Bajwa ever since he entered the electoral fray,” she said adding she also associated with an NGO, Adhar, that was helping downtrodden women.

Meanwhile, Kavita on Friday visited villages in remote Dhar Kalan tehsil bordering Himachal. Accompanied by her mother Saryu Daftri, who received Padam Shri for her contribution to industries, she addressed public meetings.

Brushing aside opposition criticism that her husband remained out of the district and did not possess even a house here, she said his priority was always development of the town. She said he discussed it with her when he first time won the seat 12 years ago that for all-round development of the border district it was necessary to link the villages to main roads of the district. “The district is vast and criss-crossed by river and canals. Bridges and roads are its lifeline and that is what Vinod has focused on. He came up with the idea of constructing bridges,” she said. She said three bridges had been completed while six were under construction and three more had been approved.

She appealed to people to vote or her husband as he did not crave for money and had left the film industry at the height of his career for spirituality. She urged people to send honest people to Parliament and requested them to ensure their participation by casting votes.

Ludhiana, May 2
The Congress may have pacified 1984 riot victims by withdrawing candidature of Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar, but victims based in Ludhiana have decided to boycott poll this time to protest against alleged illegal sale of residential apartments meant for them.

The riot victims, who reside in PUDA flats in Dugri, said black flags would replace all party flags in their colony till action was taken against such people who were selling the flats.

At least 1,000 families of riot victims stay in this colony, the biggest inhabitation of riot victims in the state. They also took out a march today carrying black flags and raising slogans against the incumbent government.

A victim, Amarjeet Singh Rajpal, alleged that some leaders of victims were selling flats, which were not yet occupied by them, for Rs 2 lakh each. ‘‘I had personally met Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and made him abreast of the activities of several leaders who were selling these houses,’’ added Rajpal.

He had demanded from the CM that a case of fraud should be registered against the leaders, failing which a group of victims would not participate in the election.

Jalandhar, May 2
As the Congress was not allowed to hold the rally of its national president Sonia Gandhi at the Punjab Armed Police (PAP) ground, it has changed the venue to Burton Park.

PPCC president and Congress candidate from Jalandhar (SC) Mohinder Singh Kaypee alleged that the PAP authorities did not allow them to hold Sonia’s proposed rally at PAP at the behest of the Badal-led SAD-BJP government.

“That was why, the Congress has to change the venue to Burton Park for Sonia’s rally tomorrow. PAP ground will also have been much better for the security point of view as compared to Burton Park,” he added.

However, denying the Congress allegation, PAP ADGP HR Chadha said, “The training and parade of PAP personnel was going on at the PAP grounds, as they will be deployed across Punjab during the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress has not been allowed to hold Sonia’s rally here, as it will adversely affect the training,” he added.

Meanwhile, Kaypee further alleged that several SAD supporters had burnt Congress flags and hoardings after removing them from several parts of Jalandhar Cantonment a few days back.

Sangrur, May 2
“If you educate a man you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman you educate the entire family.” Keeping in mind this famous saying, assistant professor in the Department of Entrepreneurship Development Programme, Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology (SLIET), Longowal, Pardeep Jain, along with his team, has so far guided about 400 rural girl students, with special focus on resuming the education of those girls who happen to be school drop-outs due to various financial and social constraints.

Jain said he had been doing all this as the goals of human development were closely interlinked with development and empowerment of women, who as an independent group constitute about 49 crore and representing 48 per cent of the total population of the country.

He said he also told the girls about the choice of careers and courses, besides helping them to apply in the colleges. He said he led his team to various villages across Sangrur district for holding voluntary camps to promote rural girls’ education.

Jain said he had also resolved to bring about a change in the perspective of people about the empowerment of rural girls. He said after going to a village, they approached the village gurdwara and made a request for announcement that they were here to guide girls who had passed eighth standard or above.

Jain said in the past six months, they had visited numerous villages, including Changal, Badbar, Sheron, Kattuwalia, Cheema, Lidran, Bhaini Mehraj.

As per their observation, the basic reason for girls not pursuing further studies was lack of awareness among them. Besides, they also lacked conveyance facility, which acted as a big hindrance in their further studies. Due to such reasons, many a time even meritorious students were not able to pursue education further, he added.

Keeping in mind the economic conditions of the villagers, he always laid stress on suggesting cost-effective and feasible study alternatives that opened self-employment avenues for girls. He wanted that such girls should become self-sustainable entrepreneurs, so that they might be able to provide jobs, rather than seeking jobs. The minimum qualification, he wanted, that all the girls should achieve a bachelor degree in any discipline, as it would act as perfect platform for exploration of further avenues.

Amritsar, May 2
Jathedar, Akal Takht, Giani Gurbachan Singh has directed Amarik Singh Ajnala and Gurjatinder Pal Singh, leaders of the Sikh Youth Federation Bhinderanwala (SYFB) and the Gurmat Vidyalay Damdami Taksal (Mehta), to clarify position for burning the effigy of SGPC president Avtar Singh and manager, Darbar Sahib, Giani Harbhajan Singh, by May 5.

They were protesting against the alleged laxity of the SGPC that led to occupation of the “holy peehra” (small cot), meant for the installation of Guru Granth Sahib in the sanctum sanctorum of the Golden Temple in on April 26.

Activists of radical Sikh organisations were prevented from proceeding towards the SGPC complex. However, they were persuaded to restrict their protest march at Sultanwind Chowk where they burnt the effigies.

This was for the first time that effigies of SGPC president and manager Darbar Sahib were burnt.

The protesters alleged that the SGPC wanted to cover up the matter by establishing the culprit was mentally imbalanced person.

Patiala, May 2
In what has delighted nature and wildlife lovers, more than 200 birds — mynahs, small colourful sparrows and parrots — have preferred to adopt about 200 “safe and secure” wooden nests, installed by the Basant Ritu Club and the Punjab Forest Department in a green strip in the local environment park and in a couple of private houses in Phulkian Enclave in this ‘City of Gardens’.

The nest-installation project was the brainchild of club president Rajesh Sharma, originally hailing from Ram Tatwali village of Hoshiarpur district, and Patiala divisional forest officer Karamjit Singh Jatana, who got concerned after they observed a visible dip in the number of small birds in the otherwise ‘green city’.

Having a rural background as he was brought up in a small but lush green Ram Tatwali village in the serene Shivalik foothills, Rajesh was a staunch nature lover who could not tolerate the ‘flight’ of the small birds from the cities, particularly, for pressing factors like pollution and depletion of number of trees or forest strips in urban areas. Consequently, he floated the Basant Ritu Club along with like-minded friends who vowed to woo small birds ‘back’ to their habitats — city trees. The project was initiated from the Environment Park, dotted with hundreds of lush green euclyptus, mulberry, pilkan, pipal, mango, lasoori, bil, lemon, guava, kathal, bohar, khirni and neem trees.

“Initially, birds did not like to sit or breed in these wooden nests, but now they have adopted these nests as their homes. Not only this, we have also installed such nests in private houses in some areas,” said Rajesh.

Karamjit said he had made his department spend an amount of Rs 20,000-30,000 on making of wooden nests and it was a joint project of the forest department and that of the club. “The design of the nests are on the lines of the original ones to make the birds feel comfortable and secure,” he said.

Chandigarh, May 2
The Punjab and Haryana High Court wants Punjabi University, Patiala, to ensure the process for selecting director, physical education and sports, is finalised at the earliest

The directions by the Bench of Justice JS Khehar and Justice Uma Nath Singh came on a petition filed against the varsity and other respondents by Surinder Singh Bhatia

Taking up the matter, the Bench observed: Raj Kumar Sharma was appointed director, physical education and sports. On the basis of the fact that he did not fulfil the qualifications prescribed for the post, his selection became a subject matter of re-consideration at the hands of Punjabi University.

“In fact, a re-examination of the matter at the hands of a committee constituted for the purpose it was held, that Raj Kumar Sharma should be relieved from the post of director, physical education and sports, immediately. This decision has since been adopted, inasmuch as, the post has also been re-advertised on February 8….”

The Bench added: “The vehement contention of the counsel for the petitioner is, that the certificates in possession of respondent are bogus, and that he should not be permitted to continue against the post of director, physical education and sports, for a single day, and even till a fresh candidate is selected in furtherance of the advertisement”.

After hearing the arguments, the Bench ruled: “The annexures appended to the writ petition reveal that the selection of the respondent came to be annulled on account of the fact that he did not fulfil the experience stipulated in the advertisement.

“Thus viewed, it is not possible for us to accept the submission of the counsel for the petitioner that the respondent should not be permitted to hold the post in the interregnum, while the process of selection and appointment to the post is being finalised at the hands of the Punjabi University, Patiala.

“In the peculiar circumstances, while disposing of the petition, we consider it just and appropriate to direct the Punjabi University, Patiala, to ensure the finalisation of the selection process in furtherance of the advertisement dated February 8 at the earliest, so that a duly selected candidate can man the post”.

Chandigarh, May 2
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today made it clear that Punjab could not be unfair towards the fair sex while appointing “agriculture masters”.

A Division Bench held women eligible for the post, ruling reservation for men was against the provisions of the Constitution.

Even after over 60 years of Independence and sermons on equal rights for women, the state was discriminating by not appointing them “agriculture masters” in schools. Its categorical stand was that there was no provision in the 1978 Punjab State Education Class III (school cadre) Service Rules for the appointment of women to the post of agriculture master.

Asserting that women are capable of carrying out operations even in agriculture, the Division Bench of Justice MM Kumar and Justice HS Bhalla has now ruled that a woman is eligible to occupy the post.

Lakhwinderjeet Kaur of Ferozepur had asked for directions to the director, public instructions, secondary education, to consider her case for promotion/ appointment by “treating her equal to male ETT teachers”.

Before parting with the order, the Bench directed the respondents to consider her case with effect from the date candidates belonging to male category have been promoted. If she is found eligible, promotion be given to her to the post of agriculture mistress with effect from date her male counterparts have been promoted.