However, the proposal did not find favour with the SAD as it would have resulted in an increase in petrol and diesel prices in rural areas. The BJP has also similarly called for levying octroi on liquor at the entry point in the state instead of at city limits, which was also not accepted.

Amritsar, July 6
Even as the Jathedar of Akal Takht, Giani Gurbachan Singh, has convened a meeting of Sikh clergy on July 8 here, the SGPC president directed Dalmegh Singh, secretary of the committee, to convene an emergency meeting of the five-member fact-finding committee to check the authenticity of the Kalgi brought by two-member research committee here on June 30 in a “hush-hush manner”.

An unsavoury situation has been created in the Panthic circles due to the diametrically opposite stands taken by both the SGPC president and the Jathedar of Akal Takht. The SGPC president told The Tribune that being a supreme Sikh body, it was the fundamental duty of the committee to get the authenticity of Kalgi checked.

He alleged that Kamaljit Singh Boparai, one of the two members of the research committee, was in the office of the committee on June 26, but he did not inform him that he was bringing the relic in a chartered plane from New Delhi on June 30. However, the Jathedar claimed that the Kalgi was genuine and anybody could check its record available with him.

Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha member Tarlochan Singh, who had visited England in 1975 in search of the Kalgi worn by Guru Gobind Singh, alleged that the relic brought on June 30 did not seem genuine.

The Rajya Sabha member said it was on April 6, 1849, that Punjab was annexed and Maharaja Dilip Singh was deposed. Dr John Logan was appointed Superintendent and Lady Logan was to look after Maharaja Dilip Singh. A list of the artifacts lying in Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Toshakhana was prepared in Persian language by Misr. The English translation of the list was done by Dr Logan. The Kalgi, Kach (the plume of Guru Gobind Singh) figured in the list. All artifacts were taken to Kolkata and then to London.

In 1965, Dr WC Archer found the holy weapons of Guru Gobind Singh, which were also taken from Toshakhana and these weapons were purchased by the Indian government and were brought to India. These are at present preserved in Anandpur Sahib. He said he had visited London in 1975 and met Kunwar Natwar Singh, who was Deputy High Commissioner.

Natwar Singh introduced him to Dr WC Archer and both had dinner at his home with Lady Archer who was in charge of India Office Library. I discussed with Dr Archer about the trace of the Kalgi. Tarlochan Singh claimed that during his visit he met Dr Robert Skeleton, Head of Asia Section of Queen Albert and Victoria Museum.

“Later on, Dr Archer informed me that he met everyone connected with the Lord Dalhousie family and all British families but failed to get any clue about the Kalgi. He was very emphatic that the word Kalgi, Kach could not be retranslated since it was very well examined in 1849 by both Punjabi and English officers.”

Jalandhar, July 6
A Model Town-based couple, who, along with 11 others, returned from Thailand on July 3, was tested positive for swine flu at the local Civil Hospital. The group had visited Thailand in June-end.

Yesterday, the couple complained of fever and was examined by members of the rapid action team constituted by the district health authorities to keep a tab on suspected swine flue cases. The team has also sent blood samples of 11 other members of the group.

Talking to The Tribune, Dr Roop Lal, district health officer (DHO), said the couple was tested positive for the swine flu virus and had been hospitalised. He claimed that those who came in contact with the couple were also being examined and their blood samples were sent to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD), New Delhi.

The DHO claimed that the blood reports of three of them were received last night and those were not carrying any adverse remarks. The three suspects belong to Ludhiana and have been hospitalised there.

The rapid action team has been observing the other suspects at their respective homes. These suspects came in contact with the group members in one way or another, claimed Dr Lal.

It seems that city residents have learnt no lesson from previous incidents when virus caught students of a school in NASA, the US, and the entire region was in panic after they were tested positive for the disease. The government even advised general public to take precaution and put off their visits to foreign countries, especially those hit by swine flu. 

Chandigarh, July 6
Union Finance Minister Parnab Mukerjee’s annual general Budget has come as a dampener for the Punjab government. Its hope that with the introduction of the Food Security Act, Punjab would enable it to pass off the Rs 400 crore Punjab spends on the atta-dal scheme to the centrally sponsored scheme saving it this huge amount. In fact, the Punjab’s Budget that was initially scheduled to be presented on July 6 was postponed by a day for this to happen.

The Central government has now said it would seek opinion on its proposed Food Security Act wherein it would advance 25 kg at the rate of Rs 3 per kg to qualifying families. But the entire process of putting up the proposed Act on the Internet and eliciting people’s response will delay the implementation of the Central Budget by at least a year. Something Punjab was hoping would happen sooner.

Punjab’s Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department distributes over 8866.9 MT of wheat and 4353.7 MT dals to 14.13 lakh beneficiaries (families with income less than Rs 30,000 annually) under the target public distribution system (TPDS) and atta-dal schemes (ADS). The state government had initially sanctioned Rs 250 crore as subsidy for the atta-dal scheme for the financial year 2007-08 which is drawn in monthly instalments of Rs 31.25 crore.

Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal described the Budget as “mixed”, while admitting that there were good initiatives in the Budget, including enhanced allocations for centrally sponsored schemes like the National Urban Rural Mission, NREGA and Bharat Nirman. He said the centrally sponsored schemes must be made state specific. The state must be given the flexibility to implement them.

He said he was worried over the proposed steps to rationalise fertilizer subsidy and give them directly to farmers. He expressed an apprehension that since Punjab was the largest user of fertilizers, Punjab's farmers might have to bear the brunt in case the fertilizer subsidy was curtailed in any way.

The agriculture sector too is disappointed wit the Budget as both the Punjab government as well as the farmer were hoping that the Finance Minister will increase the scope of the of the debt waiver for farmers announced in the last Budget. But this has not happened, though the date for payment of the loan has been extended.

Bhartiya Kisan Union president Balbir Singh Rajewal said, “The Budget fails to meet expectations of the agriculture sector. There is nothing to sustain or facilitate another Green Revolution. There are not enough funds for farm research”. Further, the farmers have not taken too kindly to the proposal for 1 per cent interest subvention in case of crop loans.

Punjab is also disappointed because the Union Finance Minister has paid no heed to the state’s plea for waiving the loan incurred by Punjab while fighting “the nation’s war against terror”. Repeated promises have been made by successive governments that it would waive off the loan taken by Punjab during the era of militancy in the 1980s. But Punjab still needs to pay back this accumulated sum.

The Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) in the region is also very disappointed with the Budget on account of its failure to come up with any “new policy initiative to push the sector towards growth trajectory”.

Dandae (Amritsar), July 6
Security on the 533-km Punjab border along Pakistan was beefed up today even as Director-General (BSF) ML Kumawat visited the affected border villages where rockets lunched by Pakistan-based terrorists landed on Saturday night.

The Director-General asked the Pakistani Rangers to identify the terrorist group responsible for the attack. He warned that India would give a befitting reply if Pakistan failed to investigate the matter to the satisfaction of our country. He, however, said the Pakistani Rangers had denied having their hand in the attack. 

However, the BSF, which had lodged a protest with its Pakistani counterpart following the attack, is still awaiting a proper reply from the Rangers.

Meanwhile, Kumawat assured villagers that such incident won’t be allowed to recur.

The BSF is also contemplating making arrangements to intercept rockets fired from the Pakistan side. Talking to mediapersons, the Director-General said Pakistan had been strongly told to check such incidents in future. He said a befitting reply would be given if rockets were fired from the Pakistani soil again. However, DIG, BSF, Jagir Singh said they were expecting the status report or an official reply from Pakistan side in a day or two.

The security has also been on alert at the Attari-Wagah check post.

Jalandhar, July 6
The Congress has written to the Governor, Gen SF Rodrigues (retd), demanding a judicial probe into resolutions passed against “illegal” and “unconstitutional” working of Parkash Singh Badal-led state government by the BJP executive meeting held at Jalandhar last month.

In a letter written to the Governor, Congress spokesperson Sukhpal Singh Khaira has stated that the BJP reiterated the charge of political violence in the state, an issue the Congress had been consistently charging the Badal government with.

Taking the instance of assault on a tehsildar GS Benipal, the BJP accused Akali goon’s of creating terror in the state, he said, adding that the BJP in its resolutions also decried the emergence of sand mafia besides the already existing land and liquor mafia in Punjab operating with the blessings of the government.

Khaira alleged at present the Badal family, through its frontmen, has virtually taken over the trades of sand quarrying, transportation, bulk liquor and cable network in Punjab. Had there been a proper and transparent auction of the sand mines in the state, it alone could have generated over Rs 500 crore to the state exchequer. Mafia had taken over this trade for a very meager amount, he alleged.

The assault on the tehsildar in Ludhiana had serious ramifications since he had raised the issue of sale of fake stamp paper in the state. The racket was not only limited to Ludhiana district, but also was operative in the whole of Punjab.

The Congress spokesperson further stated though the BJP had buckled under pressure from the Badal family and had been in an old habit of double-faceted policy of “running with the hare and hunting with the hound” and preferred to work under same pay, same conditions after raising serious issues, yet the Congress felt that as a responsible opposition party there needed to be a thorough judicial probe into serious allegations slapped on the SAD by none other than its alliance partner. 

Sangrur, July 6
Strong resentment against the BJP high command over the selection of chairman of the Sangrur Improvement Trust (IT) has taken a new turn as no function was organised today in protest against the BJP launching a mass membership drive in the district. The launching of the drive in the district was earlier planned for today by organising a function at Khanauri in as decided by the state executive meeting of the party two weeks ago.

The decision (regarding the selection of the chairman of the IT) of the BJP high command is being opposed by a group of the party, led by district president Jatinder Kalra, from the date of the appointment of BJP leader KK Maudgil as chairman of the Sangrur IT.

The district president and his supporters are reportedly annoyed with the party high command as the party has not taken the district unit into confidence before the announcement of the chairman. This was the reason that Kalra, along with his supporters, stayed away from the charge-assuming ceremony of Maudgil 
in protest.

As per the proposed launching of the mass membership drive, more than 500 persons were to be made members of the party by organising a function on July 6 at any place in a district. Kalra chose Khanauri town for the purpose, but after the appointment of the chairman of the Sangrur IT without taking him into confidence, the drive was not held in Sangrur district today.

District president Kalra confirmed that no drive could be launched at Khanauri today as party workers were of the view that the appointment of the chairman of the Sangrur IT without taking district unit into confidence was against the principles of the party.

He further said he had already written to the state’s party high command about his “anti-party” activities, besides taking disciplinary action against him. Despite this, he had been appointed chairman of the IT, which was not liked by party workers, he added.

Bathinda, July 6
There has been a mixed response from people to the Budget presented by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Parliament today. While farmers have a reason to feel happy over the credit incentives, most of the businessmen feel that the Budget has been below their expectations.

“When the government had a clear mandate, we expected the Budget to be revolutionary given the expectations the Congress-led UPA government had raised, but unfortunately we are quite disappointed,” said Bhushan Garg, a prominent businessman of the city.

Even employees are not feeling any better. They maintain that the meagre relief in the income tax limit from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 1.6 lakh is too little, rather it is negligible. Leading trade and employees unions said the basic exemption limit must have been enhanced to Rs 2 lakh at least. They pointed out that employees remained the worst hit since they could not conceal or downplay their income.

However, farmers seem to be relatively happy saying the government seemed to have seriously taken the issue of agriculture. But farmers in the region rued that the Finance Minister had provided incentive to debt-ridden farmers of Maharashtra only, while the farmers in rest of the country, including Punjab, were left out.

They said the loan waiver without involving private moneylenders would hardly serve any purpose. “If they could do it for farmers of Maharashtra, why not for all farmers all over India,” asked Shingara Singh, president, BKU unit of Bathinda.

The common refrain from people is that this government, which had assumed power with so many great expectations, has not been able to do much. “People wanted a good Budget like income tax relief and massive investments in the infrastructure development, but the Finance Minister seems to have only fiddled with the figures,” remarked Ajay Sharma, a senior executive in a multinational bank.

The investors were also worried in the region as the Bombay Stock Exchange sensitive index came down by a huge 869 points. “This was the worst that could happen in the recent months, particularly when the new government had raised so many hopes,” remarked Jugal Kishore Jindal, an investor, who had hoped it to be a good Budget. He said given the situation when the government had no pressure, it was expected to be an investor-friendly Budget, but it has not been like that.

And last, but not the least, even lawyers and doctors are upset as their services have been brought under the ambit of the service tax. “Ours is too noble a profession and medical profession should never have been taxed,” said Dr GS Nagpal, a prominent physician. He said medicine was not like any other service, and it should certainly have been exempted from service tax, as the ultimate burden would fall on patients only.

Chandigarh, July 6
The Punjab cabinet today approved the enactment of the Punjab Special Economic Zones Act, 2009, to provide a comprehensive framework for establishment, operation and sustainability of SEZs in Punjab.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the Council of Ministers held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal this evening.

Chief Minister’s media adviser Harcharan Bains said Punjab would be the fifth state in the country to enact the SEZ Act after Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana. The Council of Ministers also approved a tentative draft of Punjab Special Economic Zone Bill, 2009, to be placed before the Vidhan Sabha in the Budget session.

A grant of Rs 3.59 crore was approved for compensation to the owners of the properties/vehicles who suffered loss during violence in the wake of the assassination of Sant Ramanand of Dera Sach Khand, Ballan, in Vienna (Austria). The payment of compensation would be made a ‘one-time measure’ and not become a precedent. Besides damage to private property in districts, damage to central government’s property worth Rs 26.20 crore and state government properties worth Rs 2.42 crore had also been reported.

The Council also approved the regularisation of 42 lecturers/fashion designers/programmers working on a contract basis in the Technical Education Department with immediate effect. These incumbents would also be entitled to pensionery benefits from the date of regularisation.

Chandigarh, July 6
If Indian students are feeling the heat of racial discrimination in Australia, so do migrant labourers working in Punjab. They detest being derisively called “bhaiya”, “Ramu”, “Shamu” and other names by the locals and half of them are dissatisfied with their present jobs.

In spite of this, over half of them, like most of the Indian students in Australia, would like to settle down permanently in Punjab as they are convinced they have a much better future here than in their villages back home.

A sample survey of migrant labourers by Punjabi University, Patiala, has dispelled many myths. Though many people arrive from outside the state to work as labourers during the wheat and paddy harvesting seasons, an increasing number of them are staying on more or less permanently.

The survey revealed almost three-fourth (73 per cent) of the migrant labourers had been residing in Punjab for over five years. These people visit their homes once every nine to 12 months, but are keen to settle down here.

Researcher Saurabh Sethi of Punjabi University, who conducted the survey, noted that migrant labourers have to undertake tiresome jobs with four to six of them living in one room and sharing the rent. Though almost half (49 per cent) of them are dissatisfied with their present jobs, 55 per cent of the labourers wish to settle down permanently in the state.

Explaining this dichotomy, migrant Sohan Lal, who comes from near Patna, says when he thinks about satisfaction it is always relative vis-a-vis the situation of his friends and relatives back home in Bihar. “I feel I’m better off than them and so am satisfied, never mind if I have to deal with rude behaviour and know I cannot be assimilated into the Punjabi community”.

Sethi said 54 per cent of the labourers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were unemployed before coming to Punjab. Fiftyeight per cent of them belonged to Backward Castes and another 38 per cent to Scheduled Castes, which indicated that social unrest was also responsible for migration.

Besides this, he said nearly two-fifths of the migrants who travel outside their villages or towns for the first time were in the 20-25 age group. However, at the time of the survey nearly one-third of the respondents were aged between 30 and 35 years, indicating many labourers stayed on in Punjab for long periods.

Migrants primarily comprise male individuals rather than families. As many as 91 per cent of the labourers were married and 77 per cent of them were living in the state without spouses. Their average monthly earnings were Rs 3,100 per month, one-fourth of which were remitted back home and spent on the purchase of tractors, bullocks and farm implements.

Prof Ranjit Singh Ghuman of Punjabi University, who supervised the survey, says the state could improve the lot of migrant labourers by making quality education available to them, besides creating job opportunities for them back home.

Chandigarh, July 6
Union Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal will be meeting the staff of the Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology (SLIET) Sangrur to sort out problems the institute is fraught with.

The staff has contacted the Union Minister explaining him that the SLIET is a deemed university and has been established by the Government of India in 1990 under the Rajiv- Longowal accord and is under the MHRD. Since 1990, the SLIET has had only three regular directors and is currently without a regular director. Irregularities have crept into the functioning of the institute.

The staff has stated that the memorandum of association of the institute do not allow the chairman of the board of management of the institute to be a bureaucrat. However, the bureaucrats at the Ministry of Human Resource Development have “managed” to put an IAS officer as the chairman of the board after the death of the last chairman (who was not an IAS officer) in September last year.

The rules of the institute clearly state that the chairman would be “an eminent scientist/technologists/industrialists connected with technical education in the country to be appointed by the central government in the Ministry of Human Resource Development, New-Delhi.”

The institute is also embroiled in a host of controversies regarding the appointment of faculty members and financial irregularities during the tenure of one of the directors, pointed one of the staff members.

In a communication to the Principal Secretary, MHRD, last year, the Indian Audit and Accounts Department has stated that the SLIET has not settled outstanding paras worth Rs 2990.25 lakh since 1998-1999

These include misuse of grants in the organisation of international conference, landscaping and facelift of the main entrance, irregular retention of the government money, irregular retention of SLIET entrance test money out of the main account of the institute, non-recovery of study leave period emoluments and bond money, loss due to irregularities in investment of funds, irregular purchase of computer equipments, recoverable advances, outstanding audit fee, blockage of funds due to ill planning, irregular expenditure on pay and allowances on the continuation of the post of civil engineering professor in 2006-2007 alone.

The staff added that the board of management also did not meet regularly and in their last meeting held on February 6 this year they admitted the fact and decided to be more regular in the future. The last meeting of the BoM was held in May 2007.

The communication to the minister added that several matters in the agenda of the meeting were cleared without much thought having been put into the issues. The “Career advancement scheme is applicable only for teachers but this was offered to physical instructors and librarians,” stated one of the staff members. The staff members said the minister had agreed to meet them and the meeting had been fixed for next week. 

Morinda, July 6
Three hundred doctors will be recruited this year and as a part of a programme aimed at health infrastructure augmentation, 11 hospital buildings are being constructed.

This was stated by Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla while laying the foundation stone of a rural hospital at Morinda.

She said machinery worth Rs 30 crore had been bought for upgrading of these hospitals.

She added that the building was being constructed under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and a sum of Rs 3.5 crore would be spent on buying machines for this 30-bedded hospital.

She said the building would be commissioned on July 31, 2010 and would have five OPDs, an emergency block and other facilities.

Seven doctors, including three specialists, would be deputed here.

Giving details about the government’s campaign against the drug menace in the state, she said during the BJP-SAD regime, intoxicants worth Rs 6 crore were confiscated.

Chawla urged people to stay away from the menace. 

Chandigarh, July 6
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today ordered judicial probe into the immolation by four of a family allegedly due to the harassment and humiliation by the police in Bathinda district.

The Bench of Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur and Justice Kanwaljit Singh Ahluwalia asked Bathinda District and Sessions Judge (DSJ) to look into the matter during the resumed hearing on a public interest litigation by the World Human Rights Protection Council through chairman Ranjan Lakhanpal.

The Bench asked the DSJ to complete the probe within six months and submit a report before January 14, when the case would come up for further hearing.

Lakhanpal has been asked to appear before the DSJ as and when called in connection with the probe.

The petitioner had sought a CBI probe into the incident alleging foul play by the police.

Gurjant Singh and three others of his family, residents of Behman Jassa Singh village, were allegedly hounded by the police.

This was after, it had declared Gurjant Singh a proclaimed offender in an allegedly false case registered at the behest of his rivals.