Jalandhar, June 19
Adding a twist to the ongoing Makkar-Kalia tiff, the former has claimed that he had never abused the minister and the state had never granted any concessions to him and his family. Local Bodies officials, however, insist that relaxations had been given at the government-level in plans of his two buildings.

SAD MLA Sarabjit Singh Makkar rather claimed that he had gone to Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia’s residence in regard to the issue of unrest among the masses over the non-delivery of services to them.

“I apprised him of the fact that voters of the area were unhappy with him, as it had been reflected in the recent general elections and that he needed to introspect on certain issues. He, probably felt offended, and gave the whole episode a different slant,” he said. “Being an MLA he deserved to talk to the minister of his alliance party,” he added.

The MLA also denied having taken an undue advantage from the government for his buildings. He rather pointed out fingers at Town Planning officers of the MC for having sent a wrong draft of his brother’s hotel building.

“We presented them a draft which showed the height to be 70 ft, but the one sent by the MC staff put it to be 59 ft. No amendment was made in the draft in my favour. It was rather a corrective measure that the staff had taken at its own level,” he said. “The minister should check the functioning of the MC staff,” he added.

The Town Planning staff contradicted Makkar’s stand saying that he had availed of the concessions for they had received a letter dated June 9 in this regard. “As per the permissible height, he could not have been allowed a height of more than 59’-6” inch for the road width was less than 100 ft. As per the bylaws, the building could have touched 70 ft height only in case the road was 100 ft wide,” they specified.

The building’s existing height does not conform to the fire safety regulations. Though a completion certificate has not been issued to the hotel, yet it carries a hoarding indicating that it is going to open shortly.

Chandigarh, June 19
The political crisis in Punjab is set to deepen with the state BJP unwilling to accept a simple “sorry” from its SAD alliance partner and choosing to troop to Delhi to put its case before the high command rather than wait for a meeting with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

The BJP ministers, none of who attended work at the Secretariat, met for a four-hour meeting at the party office here today, along with core committee members. The party apparently chose not to respond to the peace overtures made by the Chief Minister, who has reportedly promised that legislator Sarabjit Singh Makkar will apologise to Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia for his inappropriate behaviour. The CM told the BJP leaders that Makkar was in Srinagar presently and had been called back.

The core committee noted that despite being given information about the “incident” by Kalia within minutes on June 17, the CM did not take any action and rather proceeded on tour to Ferozepur yesterday.

Apparently the BJP has moved beyond the sorry bit and is now aiming to open issues of governance and even the issue of Deputy Chief Ministership, a post that was denied to it earlier when the SAD nominated its president Sukhbir Singh Badal to the post.

The party has also come on record on its relations with the SAD. Following a meeting of the party core committee, BJP state President Rajinder Bhandari handed out a note saying the party rank and file was “totally” disillusioned.

“In spite of repeated assurances no concrete action was ever taken against the culprits,” said the BJP state president. Ministers Swarna Ram, Laxmi Kanta Chawla and Master Mohan Lal, besides Deputy Speaker Satpal Gosain and senior leaders Balramji Das Tandon and Madan Mohan Mittal attended the meeting. Kalia could not attend as he is on a personal visit to Haridwar.

Jalandhar, June 19
The PSEB’s claim with regard to the supply of power to the farm sector for 8 hours was “bogus” as it was hardly supplied for four to five hours daily.

Asserting this, BKU president Balbir Singh Rajewal said the PSEB and the state government had been given 15-day time to ensure 8-hour uninterrupted power supply to the farm sector daily, otherwise an agitation would be launched in the state.

In case there was no improvement in the power supply after two weeks, Rajewal said the BKU would force the PSEB to shut down air-conditioners installed in government offices and also cut the power supply to official residences of senior officers of the PSEB.

Seeking a high-level inquiry into the own-your-transformer (OYT) scheme launched by the PSEB, Rajewal said under the scheme a big fraud was being played with farmers. Private companies were given contract to install transformers under the OYT scheme. Many of these companies had further allocated the contracts to small contractors violating the conditions of the main contract.

Rajewal said farmers were being made to do all labour work, including transportation and installation of poles, and also to buy the equipment required for the purpose.

“The way in which the PSEB and contractors have exploited farmers under the OYT, it requires a high-level inquiry,” said Rajewal.

The 6.3 KV power transformer, which was available in the market for Rs 29,000, was being provided to farmers by the PSEB at a cost of Rs 33,400 and for 10 KV transformer Rs 44,300 were being charged, whereas it was available for Rs 36,500 in the market, said Rajewal.

New Delhi, June 19
The Supreme Court (SC) ensured the admission of a doctor, perhaps the last candidate who was facing a problem despite securing the 63rd rank in the entrance test for the All-India quota, in the Government Dental College, Amritsar, for doing a post-graduate course (MDS) in peridontia.

The vacation Bench, comprising Justices B Sudershan Reddy and Aftab Alam, issued the order today directing her admission.

“This is not the end of the matter. If we reopen the past, many things may come out. The matter is very serious,” the Bench remarked in its observations during arguments. The judges were apparently referring to the reports of corruption in the admission process, as they had expressed their inclination for ordering an inquiry at the time of the last hearing on June 17.

Principal of the Government Dental College, Amritsar, Dr Vimal Sikri “is directed to forthwith admit” the petitioner, Dr Ruchika Arora, for the MDS (peridontia) course under the state quota and permit her to pursue her studies “without causing any interruption whatsoever,” the Bench said in its order today.

The apex court also directed the Principal and Assistant Director General in the Directorate General of Health Services Prof Mangala Kohli to be personally present in the court on July 17 and “explain as to why our order dated June 17 was not complied with”. Through the June 17 order, the court had directed the Centre and the Principal to ensure Ruchika's admission.

The Bench noted that even the Punjab government had asked the Principal to comply with the apex court order. However, the Principal had apparently expressed inability in the absence of any direction from the Baba Faridkot University of Medical Sciences under which the college functions.

The Bench said it would “consider what further steps are required to be initiated against the respondents” for non-compliance of its earlier directive. Making the Faridkot university a respondent in the case, the court issued notice to the university seeking its response within four weeks.

Amritsar, June 19
With most of the roads in the holy city getting jammed, tourists thronging here to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple are at the receiving end as the police, district and civic administration are yet to come out of their deep slumber to take corrective measures.

The construction of an elevated road, which has already been delayed for a considerable period, is going at a snail’s pace. This has resulted in prolonged traffic chaos, especially on the main GT Road, 100-ft road and around the Inter-State Bus Terminal.

Even though the police administration had marked specific routes for the buses and trucks coming in and going out of the city, yet private bus and truck owners tried to take shorter routes by greasing the palms of the traffic police present on the spot.

The huge number of three-wheelers, which are plying without proper documents, have made the conditions worse for the traffic police. Even teenage boys can be seen driving autos on the GT Road from the bus terminal to Chheharta and other parts of the city. Whenever the police takes action against the erring drivers, they have to buckle under the pressure of unions backed by political parties.

A large number of auto-rickshaws have made several entry and exit points around the bus terminal and the railway station their parking lots, which adds to the frequent traffic jams.

It is the collective failure of the police, district and civic authorities which failed to implement any plans formed time to time to tackle the traffic problem. Gammons India, which is entrusted with the task of the elevated road, has come under flak from several NGOs as they have started the construction of the elevated road to the Golden Temple from the Sheranwala Gate side without completing the main elevated road on the GT Road.

On an average 50,000 new vehicles add to traffic every year and of these, about 65 per cent are two-wheelers while the number of unregistered new vehicles is almost double.

Putlighar, Railway Station, Crystal Chowk, Bhandari Bridge, Hussainpura, Hall Gate, Ram Bagh chowk, Hall Gate and Chatiwind Gate are the other most critical intersections where visitors to the city often witness traffic jams.

The fact of the matter is that the holy city in recent years has become a victim of rampant encroachments and unplanned constructions, which are the main reasons for the traffic chaos. Various NGOs have taken up this matter with the authorities concerned time and again, but nothing concrete has been done so far.

Jalandhar, June 19
Starting of the pension scheme for farmers, framing of the national agriculture policy, nomination of their representatives to Parliament, imposing a ban on fickle programmes being telecast by visual media, preservation of water and reservation in jobs are among a charter of demands submitted by the Bharti Kisan Union (BKU) to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahaluwalia and others concerned.

President, BKU, Balbir Singh Rajewal here today said like employees, farmers also work for the country. They produce food for the nation. On the pattern of the employees, the government should provide pension to the farmers when they attain the age of 58 years.

“We took up this issue with Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar at a meeting with him,” said Rajewal. Pawar took a keen interest in this demand. A provident fund scheme should also be announced for farmers and installment of provident fund should be collected from farmers on half-yearly basis, he said.

Rajewal said one person from each farmer family should be given job in the government. Training in various skilled jobs should also be provided to their families. As landholdings had become very small, farmers could not survive on agriculture alone, he added.

Rajewal said indebtedness in farm sector, dwindling landholdings, rural unemployment and rural-urban disparities call for a comprehensive agriculture policy.

To address the problem of indebtedness and suicides in the farm sector, all loans in this sector should be waived. Agriculture should be made viable by fixing the minimum support price (MSP) on the pattern suggested by the Swaminathan Committee. The MSP of vegetables, fruits, commercial crops, Basmati, potatoes, onions, milk, poultry and fishery products should also be fixed.

Recommendation made by the Commission on Agriculture Costs and Prices with regard to the fixing of MSP should be made legal binding on the government. Agriculture loans should be given at 3 per cent rate of interest and farmers should be given direct subsidy on fertilisers, pesticides, agriculture equipment etc.

A special package should be given to the state which provides free power to farmers and expands its natural resources to produce more food for the country.

Nangal, June 19
Residents of Punjab National Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited (PNFCL) Colony here are panicked. The company’s liquidator has asked around 400 occupants of houses to vacate the place after PNFCL was liquidated eight years ago.

Dharampal Bangar, one of the residents, said the company was liquidated in 2000 on the orders of Punjab and Haryana High Court. The court directed that all 428 employees of company be paid their dues.

Employees approached the then officiating liquidator DP Ojha and pleaded that they be allowed to retain possession of their housing quarters till government clears their pending dues. They were allowed to live and government also did not wind up the water pump house or colony.

“Twenty two employees have already died waiting for pending dues to get cleared. Now we are being evicted from our houses, whereas government has not paid us even a single penny till now,” he said.

He added they were served notices on Thursday, which mentioned it had come to the notice of liquidator on May 27, 2009, that former employees were still retaining the quarters. “Most of us are financially not very sound and barely manage to make both ends meet. We had pleaded to the government that during the settlement of our dues, it could deduct the rent of quarters from it,” he added.

A meeting of area residents was convened on Thursday wherein it was decided to approach the High Court to allow them continue living in their quarters.

Another resident Ajmer Singh Kahlon said the Punjab State Industrial Development Corporation (PSIDC) had cleared dues of other bankers but not of PNFCL employees. People added that PSIDC did not own land of the colony and instead had taken it on lease from National fertilizers Limited (NFL).

Chandigarh, June 19
In a landmark order, the Punjab State Human Rights Commission (PSHRC) has asked the SSP of Ferozepur to compensate one Varinder Kumar with Rs 25,000 for illegally detaining him.

Also, the PSHRC has issued show-cause notice to ASI Jalour Singh as to why a cut of one year’s service on permanent basis is not imposed on him.

Taking cognisance of a case registered against the cop on the complaint of Kushalya Devi on May 22, 2007, the PSHRC had called for a report from the SSP. The complainant had levelled allegations of human rights violations against ASI Jalour Singh, Police Station Ghalkhurd, Ferozepur, and Gurpreet Singh, alias Gopi.

While passing the orders, the commission held, “As regards the case of ASI Jalour Singh, he has been held guilty by the ADGP (Crime), Punjab, of illegally detaining Varinder Kumar son of complainant Kushalya Devi on May 12, 2007, when no case was registered against him at Police Station, Ghal Khurd, district Ferozepur.

It has also been proved that the ASI was instrumental in forcing Kushalya Devi and Varinder Kumar to pay the money to Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi, whereas it was not the duty of the police to interfere in money disputes.

In his reply to the show-cause notice, ASI Jalour Singh has not been successful in assailing the findings of the Crime Branch against him.

Therefore, under Section 18 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, the commission recommended the state to pay the said amount to Varinder Kumar within a month of the receipt of a copy of this order.

Further, the State Government is at liberty to recover the amount of compensation from the ASI, the indicted police officer, or not.

Patiala June 19
In its bid to conserve and replenish water resources in the state, the Punjab government has made it mandatory to make prior arrangements for setting-up water recharging systems at time of building of any house, factory or any complex.

Also, the state government has planned to divide Amritsar city into two parts to provide it with complete water and sewage system facilities at a cost of Rs 660 crore. The outer city would get sewage system facilities at a cost of Rs 550 crore, while the inner part of the city would get an amount of Rs 29 crore for supply of potable water in these areas. Besides, the holy city would get an additional Rs 36 crore for repair and replacement of old sewerage lines.

Punjab has already postponed the date for initiation of paddy cultivation to June 10, which, according to Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board Chairman Dr Baldev Raj Chawla, has shown good results in respect of water conservation in the state.

“Water conservation is now a priority for the government. No person would get his or her plan for house, factory or any complex, sanctioned till the premises is installed with a water recharging system. Moreover, the state government has decided to set up water conservation organisations with local people as their conveners to create awareness among public about importance of water conservation. Every person should save at least one litre of water every day so as to prevent Punjab turning into a desert in the long run,” said Dr Chawla, adding that Punjab was going to spend Rs 4,400 crore to provide water and sewerage system facilities in 131 cities or townships.

Dr Chawla, who inspected the ongoing water supply and sewerage projects in Patiala under Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s sangat darshan programmes, said the holy city was going to get a complete facelift in the coming days.

Chandigarh, June 19
Taking up a petition filed by candidates for 280 posts of canal patwaris in Punjab advertised way back in 1995, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has held they would not acquire indefeasible right to appointment, with the state pleading financial crisis being the reason for not filling up the posts.

In a 10-page judgment on a petition filed by Lakhbir Singh and others, Justice MM Kumar observed the advertisement was issued on May 15, 1995, and in August next year the subordinate services selection board held a screening test, which the petitioners qualified.

As the election process commenced on December 31, 1996, the code of conduct prevented the interviews from being conducted and the selections could not be completed.

A petition initially filed by the petitioners was disposed of in May 1997 with the direction to the state and other respondents to consider and decide their claim.

It was, subsequently, pointed out that the state government had decided to supply free water and electricity to the farmers. In the wake of the decision, canal patwaris already appointed had become surplus and the appointment of new patwaris was not essential.

The petitioners then claimed water charges were restored on November 12, 2002, and also 52 persons were appointed as canal patwaris on compassionate grounds.

Justice Kumar asserted: “I am of the considered view that the claim made by the petitioners is wholly misconceived and cannot be sustained in the eyes of law….

“The case of the petitioners is without any substance. The petitioners participated in the screening test held by the board and were shown successful in the result declared on December 23, 1996.

“The selection process, however, came to standstill on account of imposition of code of conduct issued by the Election Commission of India. Although the board was reconstituted on May 15, 1997, but the requisition stood withdrawn and the result was cancelled by the board….

“We would hold that the respondents/writ petitioners had not acquired any indefeasible right and the decision not to fill up all the vacancies had been taken on bona fide reasons and directions as sought for by the respondent cannot, therefore, be issued.”