Moga, May 17
The Congress has got eight out of the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab and now all eyes are on how many ministerial berths its MPs will get in the Union cabinet.

In the outgoing UPA government, there are two Rajya Sabha members, Ambika Soni and Ashwani Kumar, from Punjab.

This time, there may be demands for more ministerial berths for the party winners. Those eying ministerial berths include Santosh Chaudhary, Preneet Kaur, Manish Tiwari, Pratap Singh Bajwa and Mohinder Singh Kaypee.

Sources said the party could pick at least two MPs from this state. The choice could be either Kaypee or Chaudhary to give representation to the weaker sections and either Preneet Kaur or Pratap Singh Bajwa to give representation to the Jat Sikhs.

Manish Tiwari could also be a choice from the youth quota. It would not be a surprise if two youth from Rahul Gandhi's brigade, Ravneet Singh Bittu from Anandpur Sahib and Vijay Inder Singla from Sangrur, also are in contention.

Bittu has the advantage of being a kin of former CM late Beant Singh and Singla has the credit of drubbing Akali heavyweight Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa.

Overall, it may not be an easy task for the high command to decide on the names from Punjab but the state may hope for a good deal.

Moga, May 17
Congress MLAs of Faridkot and Moga districts have been put on the edge with the comfortable win of SAD's seasoned woman politician Paramjit Kaur Gulshan by a margin of 62,042 votes.

Six out of the seven Assembly segments in these two districts are represented by the Congress MLAs but five of them seemed to have lost their mass base if one were to go by the results of the Lok Sabha elections.

The only solace for the Congress that swept the entire Malwa belt in the last Assembly elections came from the party MLA of Moga Joginder Pal Jain, who has managed to provide a lead of 5,101 votes for the party in his Assembly segment.

The results are bound to cast a shadow on the losing Congress MLAs and the power they wield in their respective constituencies. They could also end up losing their party tickets in the next Assembly elections.

As per the details available, Congress MLAs Avtar Singh Brar (Faridkot) has gone down by 1,983 votes, Ripjeet Singh Brar (Kotkapura) 1,461 votes, Ajit Singh Shant (Nihalsinghwala) 5,715 votes and Darshan Singh Brar (Baghapurana) 8,772 votes.

The figures of Panjgrain Assembly segment represented by independent MLA Ajit Singh Shant, who later joined the Congress could not be available, as this constituency has now been replaced by Jaito, a new Assembly segment after the delimitation. In Jaito, the Congress has gone down to SAD by 8,815 votes.

Political observers are of the view that Jain has emerged stronger within the Congress in Faridkot and Moga districts by becoming the only exception from the area in getting lead for his party in his Assembly segment.

The massive rally of Rahul Gandhi, which Jain successfully organised in this town during the campaigning period, has also helped him to a great extent to catch the fancy of the electorate.

While talking to The Tribune, Jain said a large section of the people have got annoyed with the local leadership of the SAD over the alleged 'unfair' ways and means adopted by the ruling party to take hold the reigns of the local municipal council in the last year's elections, which forced the Congress to pull out its candidates from the polls.

“We got the sympathy of the local people, particularly the urban electorate and got a lead of about 12,000 votes from this town,” he added.

Moga, May 17
A young married woman Rajni (24) has allegedly committed suicide by immolating herself by pouring kerosene after being repeatedly harassed by her in-laws over dowry in this town on Sunday morning.

The police had registered a criminal case under sections- 304B and 34 of the IPC in the police station (south) against her husband Sohan Lal, father-in-law Bhagwan Dass, mother-in-law Jamuna Devi and sister-in-law Sita Rani, all residents of Indira Colony. However, no one was arrested when the news report was last written.

A police official said that the incident was under investigation and a hunt has been launched to nab the culprits who had fled away from home.

Preliminary investigations had revealed that Rajni was mentally disturbed for the past many days.

Her sister Sonam came from Muktsar to meet her on May 15 but was surprised to see that Rajni was in a state of depression and was physically also not well.

She called her father Puran Chand who came here on May 16 to take her daughter Rajni along with him for treatment but the in-laws refused to send her with him.

He went back home. This morning, Rajni sprinkled kerosene and set herself on fire. The police recovered the body from the bathroom of her house.

The body was sent to the district hospital for a post-mortem examination. Later, it was handed over to the parents of the woman for cremation.

Puran Chand lodged a complaint before the police that her daughter was subjected to physical and mental torture for demand of dowry ever since her marriage.

He said that she was married about two years back. She has left behind her a nine-month-old daughter, he added.

Bathinda, May 17
One more case of dowry death has been reported today in less than a week with the Raman police registering a case today.

According to details available, about nine months back, Kiran Kaur of Amarpura Basti in Bathinda, in her early twenties, was married to Hardeep Singh of Raman Mandi.

Her father, Karnail Singh, who was here at the Civil Hospital to get the postmortem of the body conducted, alleged that Kiran was being harassed by in-laws for dowry.

A weeping Karnail Singh said the in-laws of Kiran used to pressurise her mentally and physically for dowry.

According to him, he once had to mortgage his house and gave Rs 50,000 to meet their demand. Even then, they were not satisfied.

"I received the information on Saturday evening that my daughter had committed suicide by hanging herself to death. Immediately after receiving the information, I rushed to Raman Mandi and found her body lying on the floor. Her neck was tied with a piece of cloth. I observed that the incident was not as it had been made out to be. There was no mark on her neck but some internal wounds were apparent on stomach, back and other limbs," he claimed.

On his complaint, Raman police booked the husband of the deceased, Hardeep Singh, his mother Harjeet Kaur, his two uncles, Nikka Singh and Kala Singh and aunt, Rani Singh, on charges of causing dowry death.

A case has been registered under section 304-B, 148 and 149 of the IPC.

In another case, a man and two of his family members were booked for strangulating his wife to death at village Kot Bakhtu in Bathinda late on Tuesday evening.

Family members of the deceased had said the woman was killed because of their inability to fulfill the demand for dowry.

Bathinda, May 17
A seminar on AIDS was held at Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) centre on Bibiwala road by Narinder Kumar, community AIDS educator, UNAIDS Civil Society awardee.

On the occasion of the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial today, this seminar was organised where candles were lit to sympathise with the AIDS affected people.

This has happened for the first time in Punjab. Over 160 countries observed it the world over, according to the organizers.

The centre's commanding officer R.K. Verma assisted in organising the seminar. Narinder Kumar made the seminar interactive by asking questions and organising an on-the-spot quiz in which he asked questions based upon what he told the soldiers during his 45-minute talk.

He informed the soldiers and members of their families that there was no need of getting scared by the AIDS virus. It was like a battle which had to be fought with only one weapon — knowledge.

"Every 15 seconds, the AIDS virus claims one life and every 13 seconds, a person gets infected with this deadly virus. The first case of HIV positive was ascertained in 1981 when five American youth were diagnosed with this virus after they returned from South Africa. In India, the first case was diagnosed in 1986 and today, there are 25 lakh infected people in India and 3 crore infected people around the world. Around 87 patients out of 100 transmit this virus through unprotected sex," Narinder Kumar informed.

He also stressed upon the need to be careful of quacks that practice in rural areas, people who claim to be dentists and are mostly found at bus stands and railway stations who do not sterilise their equipment used for extracting a tooth.

There had been cases of AIDS being transmitted after marriage. Hence, every individual should take responsibility of getting HIV test conducted before marriage.

He cleared many doubts of soldiers present. He said AIDS virus could not survive in open air and died after boiling any used syringe or blade for about 30 minutes.

Throwing light upon the traffic cops present in cities, he said they are prone to HIV/AIDS because when they handle an accidental case they might get infected through a wound on their own body and informed the soldiers that while handling an accidental case, gloves should be worn or at least polythene should be used.

He also informed that there have been cases in the border areas when AIDS affected women mingle with the soldiers and transmitted the virus.

At the end of the seminar, candles were lit by those present to mark the international AIDS candlelight memorial.

Bathinda, May 17
Are the traditional narcotics like opium and poppy husk still the first choice of migrant labourers of the area?

The answer is in the affirmative if the number of addicts who came for wheat harvesting in the region, in the past one year, is any indication.

As per survey conducted recently by an NGO "Nasha Mukti Kendra", about 25 per cent of the total numbers of migrant labourers who come for wheat harvesting were taking poppy husk or opium. Only two per cent of them were addicted to liquor.

There were 1,291 labourers who came for harvesting last year and out of these 937 were consuming opium or poppy husk, while the liquor addicts were 113.

The number of labourers taking capsules, injections, cough syrups or sedatives (like diazepam, alprazolam tablets) who came for harvesting was 251.

Meanwhile, landlords cannot afford to say no to the labourers for the husk if they want to get their wheat harvested before it rains again.

When this correspondent visited various fields on Bathinda-Goniana road recently, labourers under the influence of the contraband were seen working tirelessly.

"How can we work in the scorching heat until the landlord gives us our daily dose of poppy," said a farm labourer.

A landlord of Goniana, requesting anonymity, said though the smack is "gaining popularity" but it is the costliest of drugs available in the area.

There were only three labourers taking smack and were working for 18 hours a day. Some addicts of 'bhang' were also working in the fields.

With the elections and harvesting season coinciding, there has been a shortage of poppy husk, said a landlord.

"Each farm labourer consumes poppy husk worth Rs 30 to Rs 60 daily," he added.

"Besides the polls, increased vigil by cops has jacked up the rate from Rs 900 to Rs 1,200 per kilogram," said sources.

Not all landlords procure the drug for their labourers. Another labourer Yodha Ram said, "We just need money in our pocket and nod from our landowner to get the contraband."

Last year, he had to be hospitalised, when he could not get his dose for a few days, Yodha Ram said.

"It works like an energiser, without which we feel tired and cannot toil," said a group of migrant labourers working in Abloo village.

Ferozepur, May 17
Luck continues to evade firebrand Congress leader Jagmeet Brar, known as ‘Awaz-e-Punjab’ as his party failed to break the jinx of losing this border Lok Sabha seat again. Brar, who emerged as a high profile winner in 1999 when he defeated Akali stalwart and sitting MP from Faridkot, Sukhbir Badal in a fierce contest, lost from Ferozepur second for the consecutive time in a row.

Earlier, in 1989 also, he had lost this seat to Dhian Singh Mand of the SAD.

Over and above, it is for the seventh successive time that the Congress has lost this seat, which it had won the last time 24 years back, when Gurdial Singh Dhillon had defeated Inderjit Singh of SAD in 1985.

Prior to 1985 also, this seat was wrested by the Congress leader Balram Jakhar in 1980 when he went on to become the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.

A close review of the poll results indicates that besides intra-party politics among the Congress leaders that marred the party's prospects, the caste factor also played a vital role in ensuring the victory of the SAD candidate, Sher Singh Ghubaya, who won by a comfortable margin of 21,071 votes.

Out of a total of 13.40 lakh voters in this constituency, a staggering 3.25 lakh belong to the Rai Sikh community which Ghubaya represents.

Rai Sikh votes got consolidated in favour of the SAD, much on expected lines and with the help of its strong traditional rural vote bank in this area, supported by Kamboj Sikhs and Dera Sacha Sauda votes, Ghubaya managed to sail through past Brar, who despite losing, did put up a valiant effort. Brar polled more votes this time.

Out of a total of 9,56,794 votes, 71.39 per cent were polled this time. 2,40,353 votes, that is 61.64 per cent, were polled in urban areas whereas 7,16,621 votes or 75.39 per cent were cast in rural pockets.

Although, Brar performed well in urban areas, but higher percentage of polling in rural areas made the difference. In some Rai Sikh dominated villages, over 90 per cent polling was reported whereas in urban segments like Abohar and Ferozepur (Urban), only 50-55 per cent votes were polled.

Out of a total of nine Assembly segments in this constituency, four went in favour of Brar which included Ferozepur (Urban), Abohar, Balluana and Muktsar whereas in the remaining five Assembly segments including Ferozepur (Rural), Guruharsahai, Jalalabad, Fazilka and Malout, Ghubaya took a heavy lead.

All the five Assembly segments from where Ghubaya took lead boast of more number of rural electorate, mainly Rai Sikhs than urban voters.

The absence of any senior Congress leader representing the Ferozepur (Rural)
segment (reserve) also contributed to Brar's defeat as he lost here by a huge
margin of 19314 votes.

Most of the Congress leaders from Ferozepur mainly concentrated in Ferozepur (Urban) segment, where Brar lead by 17,851 votes.

For the Akalis, Irrigation Minister Janmeja Singh Sekhon worked relentlessly in Ferozepur (Rural), which eventually made the difference.

In Guruharsahai and Fazilka also, Brar was expected to do better, but caste factor worked in favour of Ghubaya, who took a lead of over 11,000 votes in these two segments besides managing a lead of 20,531 votes in his hometown of Jalalabad.

On the other hand, Brar failed to put up an impressive show on his home turf of Muktsar and Malout. Just before the elections, senior local leader, Bhai Kukku switched over to SAD.

The indifference of local Congress workers in Muktsar also seems to have hit him hard as he managed a meagre lead of 4,722 votes from here.

In neighbouring Malout, Brar was totally routed as SAD played its cards well and trounced Brar by 7,047 votes.

Congress also failed to capitalise on the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who came all the way to address a huge electoral rally in favour of Brar at Jalalabad.

Then also, Congress leaders created embarrassing movements for Brar over trivial
issues. Political observers feel that this defeat is going to make a serious dent in 
his firebrand leader's further career prospects, who with his outstanding oratoral
skills had carved out a niche for himself amidst the comity of senior Congress
leaders from the state.

Fazilka, May 17
About 10000 teachers and employee of 484 government aided primary, middle, high and senior secondary schools of Punjab have not been paid their salaries for four months ever since the commencement of the year 2009.

Besides, about 2000 teaches and employees, who have retired from the Government aided schools after June 2003 have not been paid their pension since then. Out of these about 50 teachers and employees are now no more.

This situation has caused resentment amongst the working and retired teachers of the government aided schools.

Punjab Government Aided School Teachers and Employees Union District Ferozepur General Secretary Jagmohan Singh Patwa and Government Aided School Pensioners Cell Fazilka General Secretary Bihar Lal Doda have in joint statement alleged that since the government has not released the grant in aid for the last quarter of the financial year 2008-09, teachers and employees have not been paid salaries.

Mansa, May 17
Thousands of labourers of Mansa district today held a dharna and courted arrest in front of the deputy commissioner’s office under the leadership of the CPI (ML) and Mazdoor Mukti Morcha.

They demanded the right to construct their houses on the panchayat lands.

It may be mentioned that the labourers had occupied the plot of their share in panchyat lands in 26 villages including Barnala, Khiala, Kharksinghwala, Kotdharmu, Gurnekalan, Ralla and Chjakerian.

Addressing the gathering, the state secretary of CPI (ML) Rajwinder Singh Rana said that both the Akalis and Congress had promised to provide plots to the labourers but it had not been done till now.

When labourers had not found any way to get plots in panchayat lands, they had taken the step to occupy the it, he added.

He demanded that the administration should give legal status to the occupied plots. State secretary of Mazdoor Mukti Morcha Bhagwant Singh Sammaon said that today's dharna was started under the banner of "Provide plots or jail" and that the dharna would continue until their demand was accepted.

He informed that a big rally would be held at Mansa on May 19 in this regard.

Sammaon also informed that some labourers had constructed their houses on the occupied panchyat lands at Gurnekalan and Khilakalan.

State president of Punjab Kissan Union Ruldu Singh, district president Balkaran Singh Balli, Mazdoor Mukti Morcha leaders Gurjant Singh and Sukhwinder Singh Heerewala, youth leader Kamaljeet Singh, women leader Jasveer Kaur Natt and Iqbal Kaur also spoke at the meeting and assured full support.

Sriganganagar/Abohar, May 17
A multi-storeyed wholesale grocery shop located near the busy Sabzi Mandi in the sub-divisional town Suratgarh of Sriganganagar district was gutted in fire on Sunday morning. The Army played a key role in controlling the fire.

As per the information available, some persons noticed flames emanating from the shop owned by Kundan Lal Bhateja, a member of the local seven-member Dera Sacha Sauda Committee, at 7 am.

They informed the local administration, besides the owners. The devastating fire caused panic not only among the families owning the shops in the same market but also in the Sabzi Mandi.

People had started manual efforts to control the fire even before the arrival of the local fire tenders. As it continued to spread endangering the entire markets, help from the Army was also sought.

Fire tenders from the Super Thermal Plant and Peelibanga town also rushed in on the repeated requests made by the local authorities. Local legislator Ganga Jal Meel also reached the market.

An eyewitness Manoj Swami rued that the police led by the circle inspector rushed in but acted as mute spectator.

A jawan from the Truck Fire Fighting Unit of the Ministry of Defence, Poonam Chand, sustained burn injuries during the operation that lasted for four hours approximately.

As the flames had touched each part of the shop, the top floor roof collapsed but the onlookers escaped unhurt.

Initially, the loss was estimated at Rs 30 lakh and the whole of the shop will have to be reconstructed, the owners said.

The exact cause of fire is yet to be ascertained and it is suspected to have been caused by a short-circuit, sources said.

Abohar, May 17
The suspect, who had reportedly fled leaving behind six cases of wine on May 13 near Gobindgarh village on the Abohar-Malout road has been arrested, the CIA staff claimed today.

While identifying him as Raju of Basant Nagar here the police said the culprit revealed during the interrogation that the consignment had been smuggled from Chandigarh as liquor and wine was cheaper there.

Meanwhile, three persons including Sheela Devi, her son Surjit Singh Toti and Santro Bai, all residents of village Sukhera Bodla of Jalalabad sub-division, had been arrested under the NDPS Act upon the recovery of 15 kg of poppy husk during patrolling near the local military station, the police said. They had allegedly smuggled the poppy husk from Rajasthan.

Bathinda, May 17
Bathinda keeps grappling with the problem of pollution at many levels but nothing substantial to check it is visible yet.

Whether it is the problem of fly ash, groundwater contamination or sound pollution due to use of pressure horns by buses and trucks, no check appears to be in place.

The pollution in the canals flowing here is also all too visible. There is no ban on washing cattle, utensils and vehicles in the canals.

What is to be kept in mind is that with the pace of development accelerating in the city, the problem is only likely to get worse in the days ahead.

The attitude of the enforcing authorities is also a cause for worry. “If one can tolerate the pollution of thermal plant, then one can also tolerate vehicular pollution. Moreover, we are not authorised to intercept heavy motor vehicles as we are here just to regulate the traffic and can issue challan only to two-wheeler riders," said a group of three cops standing at the Hanuman Chowk.

The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) officials also passed on the buck.

Executive engineer, PPCB, Bathinda, GS Majithia, recently said, "It is not our duty as controlling such pollution falls within the jurisdiction of the district administration. If they say then we can help them with the meters we have."

District Transport Officer Moneesh Kumar, who is additionally working as Municipal Commissioner, said, "I was busy with election related duties so I have ordered my subordinates to check the menace. They must be performing their duties."

Bathinda, May 17
Rural doctors told The Tribune today that before the Lok Sabha polls, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal had promised that their jobs would be regularised after May 20. Doctors said they would be meeting Sukhbir after May 20 in this regard.

Doctors all over Punjab were offered contractual jobs in 2006 in rural areas to promote healthcare in rural areas.

These doctors were posted in rural dispensaries under the Zila Parishad. Doctors, however, said they were given a similar promise before the Vidhan Sabha election in 2006 but it has been two years and the promise remains unfulfilled.

There are 1193 doctors in Punjab who are on contract. These doctors are working
for Rs 30,000 per month which includes the maintenance, electricity, water and
sanitation charges.

They have to pay salaries out of this money to a para-medical employee and a class IV employee. Seeing this, the doctors had started their agitation in front of the Mini-secretariat in Bathinda.

The 72-day dharna was finally lifted following assurances by Sukhbir before the Lok Sabha polls on the promise that he would regularise their jobs after May 20.

The Rural Medical Services Association said that after Harsimrat's win in the Lok Sabha elections, they expect Sukhbir to keep his word.

Doctors said they have made efforts to save the rural dispensaries, many of whom were on the verge of closure as there was no awareness among the villagers about a dispensary existing in their village.

The Association, imposing its faith in SAD win, said the rural doctors are in the age bracket of around 25-35 years and they hope that the young MP from the area fulfills the long awaited promise.