Amritsar, August 22
Expressing concern over the use of “excessive force” without the knowledge of senior police officials, it has been decided to take disciplinary action against DSP, Civil Lines, and station house officers (SHOs) of two police stations, who lathicharged the agitating junior doctors outside the OPD of Guru Nanak Dev Hospital here yesterday.

An inquiry was conducted by SP (Headquarters) Surinder Singh Sidhu in this regard on the directions of the district police chief, Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh, who was out of station for a meeting at the time of the incident.

Talking to The Tribune, the SSP said the police officials did not inform him and took the decision to lathicharge on their own without assessing the situation properly. He said they should have informed the seniors before taking any such decision. Disciplinary action was likely to be initiated against DSP, Civil Lines, Naresh Kumar, besides Davinder Singh and Tarsem Lal, SHOs of Civil Lines and Majitha road police station.

Continuing their agitation against the Punjab government, the junior doctors today burnt an effigy of the medical superintendent of Guru Nanak Dev Hospital (GNDH), Dr RPS Boparai, and Principal, Government Medical College (GMC), Dr Jagdish Gargi, for 
their negative role in yesterday’s incident.

Meanwhile, the services at the GNDH and its allied hospitals were paralysed today as senior doctors had to work overtime to examine the patients. A doctor on condition of anonymity said work was greatly hampered in the operating theatre, emergency ward, OPD, etc, as they were unable to attend to calls from other allied hospitals attached to the medical college.

The Punjab State Medical and Dental Teachers Association (PSMDTA) today held a general body meeting, condemning the lathi charge and manhandling of junior doctors. The association also came out in support of the demands of junior doctors.

Ludhiana, August 22
“Were Akalis blind to the consequences when they demanded a separate Punjabi suba for themselves, more than four decades back? Now they are making unnecessary noise over the proposed Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (HSGPC). I think the demand for a separate HSGPC is the natural and consequential right of Haryana Sikhs”.

This was stated by Capt Amarinder Singh, former Chief Minister, while talking to reporters following his appearance in a local court in connection with an an ongoing trial.

The former Chief Minister said the leaders making noises over the proposed HSGPC were the same who had led the agitation for creation of a separate Punjabi suba.

He said, “Today, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and the SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar are comparing the creation of a separate gurdwara committee to a dividing force that could lead to separation among the Sikhs. The language of these leaders was different when they wanted a separate state. In fact, they had divided the Sikhs and the Punjabis when they launched the Punjabi suba movement decades ago”.

Rapping Badal and the SGPC, he said, “Who are Badal or Makkar to decide about the preference of the people? It is the democratic right of every Sikh to decide which body they should form to watch their interests”.

Capt Amarinder Singh said, “It was unfortunate that certain excellent officers wanted to go on deputation outside Punjab. The development is a reflection on the "goonda raj" of the current government”.

Amritsar, August 22
Realising that more than 90 per cent of the granthis and pathis rendering services at about 56 SGPC-controlled gurdwaras lack formal training in performing religious duties, the SGPC is contemplating to impart training regarding Sikh religion, traditions and history to their new generation.

However, it has ruled out the possibility of revocation of services of pathis and granthis, who are less than 30 years of age, merely on a suspicion that they might not have been well-versed with the Sikh religious practices.

To avoid the possibility of “error” on part of young granthis, the SGPC authorities are, however, in the middle of a process to collect database about their background and ability to pronounce gurbani clearly.

Under-30 pathis and granthis constitute about 10 per cent of the total number of granthis and pathis working in SGPC-controlled gurdwaras.

“We have asked managers of several gurdwaras to furnish a list of young pathis, along with other details,” said Avtar Singh Makkar, chief, SGPC.

For this, they could be trained in SGPC-run training institutes at Sultanpur Lodhi, Anandpur Sahib, Dera Baba Nanak and Takht Damdama Sahib, the official added.

Ludhiana, August 22
Former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s plea for deferring the proceedings of framing charges against him in the alleged multi-crore City Centre scam was declined by the court of Sessions Judge GK Rai here today.

Alleging violation of the mandatory provisions of Sections 173 and 207, CrPC, at the hands of Vigilance Bureau, he had moved an application seeking the case be put off from hearing till the prosecution complies with the mandatory provisions of the CrPC.

Amarinder’s lawyer stated that the Vigilance Bureau was dutybound for properly indexing the case file and provide them with the complete list of all documents upon which they rely upon.

Special Public Prosecutor Mitter Sain Goyal refuted the allegations. 

Chandigarh, August 22
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today decided in principle not to re-employ retired employees against any vacant post except in extraordinary circumstances and non-availability of experts with rare talent in a specialised field.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting by Badal with a delegation of the employees wing of the SAD here this morning in Punjab Bhawan. Badal categorically said preference must be given to unemployed youth and the practice of giving extensions or re-employment must be discouraged.

He also announced the setting up of an ‘anomaly committee’ immediately to remove pay anomalies in the recommendations of the Fifth Punjab Pay Commission. The committee will submit its initial report on the main issues within four months and the final report in six months.

He also agreed to the proposal of the delegation to give due representation to the employees in this committee to safeguard the interests of the employees and extended the last date of giving option for new pay scales by another one month.

Badal also directed the chief secretary to work out the modalities to regularise the services of nearly 3,500 work-charged staff and the daily wagers, a majority of whom were in the departments of Public Health, PWD (B&R), PSEB and Education. 

The Chief Minister also directed the personnel department to make this entire procedure time-bound so that the services of such employees could also be regularised at the earliest. He also asked the personnel department to re-deploy the employees in the Cooperative Banks, who had been rendered surplus due to the winding up of the cooperative sugar mills in the state.

The CM also decided to waive the condition of 12 years of service for the promotion to draftsman from junior draftsman and recommended to relax the same to 10 years. He also assured the delegation that the vacant posts of 1,537 principals and 750 headmasters in government schools would be filled soon.

Badal asked the chairman, PSEB, to immediately clear the backlog of cases of employment on compassionate grounds and also examine the cases of the work charged and daily-wage employees up to the year 2000.

Badal reiterated that the state government was committed to protect the interests of its employees at all costs as they were the backbone of the state administration. The delegation also raised other issues, including separate agreement for pharmacists and peons in the rural dispensaries under the service-provider scheme, release of pension to the employees of PRTC through treasury, approval of Cabinet for the change of designation from veterinary pharmacist to veterinary inspector, resumption of diploma in veterinary science and technology in Punjab Agricultural University and promotion to the employees of corporations on the basis of seniority.

Moga, August 22
The lawyer defending the Indian-born Canadian citizen Jagdev Singh, facing charges of allegedly murdering former MLA Nachattar Singh Gill, who was the father of Paramdip Singh Gill, the present DGP of Punjab, is allegedly facing threats to his life with constant interference in his professional conduct.

Perturbed over the threats, defence counsel Ramesh Grover has moved an application before the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), stating that his professional conduct to defend his client in the court was disliked by the DGP due to the sensitivity of the case and personal involvement of the top cop.

The NHRC has registered a complaint against the state government and the DGP and sought a reply from the state government.

Grover had stated in the complaint, “I have an apprehension that the threats being issued not to do my professional duty might result in physical or other harm to me or my family members at the hands of the police or anti-social elements under the directions of the local police or the DGP”.

Talking to The Tribune, Grover said some local residents, close to the DGP and his family, and some cops had been pressurising him to abandon this case as the DGP was personally involved in it.

Sangrur, August 22
The Punjab State Human Rights Commission (PSHRC) has been receiving a maximum number of complaints against the Police Department as compared to other departments.

Talking to The Tribune here today, a member of the PSHRC Avinash Rai Khanna said most of the complaints against the department were related to inaction by the police in various cases. However, the number of complaints related to police atrocities were less, he added.

The commission also received cases related to pensions and social aspects like dowry, matrimonial affairs, he added.

Khanna said at present about 6,500 cases were lying pending with the commission, while the commission received about 120 new cases daily. He said the commission had five members while one member disposed five to 10 cases daily. He asked people to approach the commission, as it was an easy way to get justice. He said any person could approach the commission even by sending a postcard, fax message, letter or telegram to get his/her problem redressed.

Regarding custodial deaths, Khanna said it was mandatory for the administration to send a report to the commission in every custodial death case. He also said in 99 per cent cases government departments acted upon the recommendations of the commission.

Khanna also visited the local Government Ranbir College and took stock of the situation there. He said the college building was in a dilapidated condition. Besides this, the urinals and toilets were not cleaned properly. Acute shortage of staff was also found. He said after discussion, the commission would send its report to the Education Department. The action taken report would also be sought from the department, he added.

Khanna also addressed a meeting of district officers. He asked them to resolve complaints at their own level and send reply to the commission without any delay on the report, sought by it.

Chandigarh, August 22
Punjab government’s ambitious plan of setting up new court complexes in the state is in the danger of being bulldozed because of its own apathy.

In the absence of adequate funds being released for the purpose, the possibility of the construction work taking a direct hit cannot be ruled out.

In all, the work of constructing and upgrading 15 court complexes in the state is in progress. So far, the government has released just Rs 35 crore, against a demand of Rs 102 crore for 2009-10. The failure of the state government to release the full amount has once again brought to the fore the government’s indifference towards court-related issues.

Only recently, the issue was taken up by Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur during the conference of Chief Justices and Chief Ministers in Delhi.

Chief Justice Thakur had expressed his anguish over the government’s indifference, following which Punjab Advocate-General Hardev Singh Mattewal had, on Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s behalf, said it would not happen again in the future, and every pending project would be completed in 15 days.

Available information suggests, out of Rs 35 crore sanctioned, Rs 20 crore have gone into the payment of contractors for the work carried out so far. Another Rs 6 crore, of the released amount, has been spent on payments.

With this, it is clear that the executing agency, the public works department’s buildings and roads wing, has been left with just Rs 9 crore for carrying out the work of setting up 15 court complexes.

These are at Bathinda, Rampuraphul, Abohar, Jalalabad, Samrala, Muktsar, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Ferozepur, Kapurthala, Nakodar, Ludhiana, Mansa, Nawanshahr and Kharar. 

Ludhiana, August 22
The UK government has not agreed to ex-gratia payment and recognition to World War-II veterans who fought on the western front and were captured by the Japanese.

Col Chanan Singh Dhillon (retd), patron, Ex-Servicemen’s League, said motion by 57 British MPs was pending in the House of Commons. Colonel Dhillon has been meeting British MPs for three years and was back from the UK recently.

In 2007, he was invited for discussion by John McDonald, MP and chairman, Punjabi Group in the UK, who got support of 57 MPs on the issue. In the UK, Colonel Dhillon received a letter from Kevan Jones, MP and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Defence, and Minister for Veterans, Ministry of Defence, which says, “I am sorry that former servicemen held as prisoners of war (POWs) in western Europe have been treated unfairly on ex-gratia payment made to the Far East Prisoners of War (FEPOW).

“The FEPOW ex-gratia payment scheme by the UK government was for those captured by Japan in the Far East. The conditions under which prisoners of war and civilians were held by Japan in World War-II were exceptional, as death rate among the prisoners of war was high.

“The government feels sufferings of those linked to the UK have been ignored. Modest payments were made from Japanese assets to former FEPOWs in the 1950s under Article 16 of 1951 San Francisco Treaty of Peace with Japan”.

Kevan Jones adds former old Indian army POWs were not included in the UK lists for Article 16 since India and Pakistan came into being in 1947. Pakistan signed the 1951 peace treaty with Japan on its own. India was not party to tit, but had an arrangement with Japan on matters arising from World War-II. Kevan stated, “The FEPOW scheme applies to those captured by Japan in WW-II and the UK has no plans to introduce similar schemes for those captured elsewhere”.

Colonel Dhillon on July 13 sought clarifications: “Why the gunners with the Royal Army of Hong Kong and other units serving in the Eastern Front fall short of the criteria of ex-gratia payments, has not been answered”.

Colonel Dhillon asked for yardsticks applied to the Far East Front. Deaths due to starvation among the POWs in North Africa from 1939 to 1943 (till Americans and our forces from El Alamein landed) and wreckage of ships carrying allied POWs on the western front form harsh treatment.

Colonel Dhillon said: “It is arbitrary to treat one front and its POWs with preference. Applying different rules for British POWs on the eastern front and colonial troops in the same battlefield, amounts to disjointing soldiers fighting to defend the British Empire”.

Patiala, August 22
The Senior Punjab Civil Medical Service Association(SPCMSA) has alleged that the Fifth Punjab Pay Commission has misled the state government doctors on their pays. The commission in its report stated that “there was a parity of the pay scale of doctors with their counterparts in Central Government Health Services (SGHS) and this parity should continue so that the state can attract and retain best talent”. 

However, according to the association, there was neither any parity earlier, nor it has been granted now.

The SPCMSA feels the Punjab Pay Commission should have noted that there existed three distinct pay scales - senior administrative grade, higher administrative grade and apex scale - in the pre-revised pay structure of central health services whereas none existed in the Punjab.

Now the Union government has extended the Dynamic Assured Career Progression Scheme for medical doctors up to the senior administrative grade with grade pay of Rs.10,000 in Pay Band-4 for medical doctors with 20 years of regular service. Whereas, the Punjab Pay Commission has failed to clearly recommend this scheme for Punjab doctors, thus increasing the disparity.

Dr DC Sharma, general secretary of the SPCMSA, stating this here today alleged that the drawing and disbursing officers (Accounts Wing) of the Health Department were deliberately creating confusions and trying to create unrest among the doctors by misinterpreting the words rates and quantum of non-practicing allowance to the PCMS doctors.

They insisted on not to pay NPA even at the pre-revised rates of 25 per cent at the basic pay from January 1, 2006 which would incur a loss of up to Rs 12,000 per month to most of the doctors.

Patiala, August 22
If you face problem in translating from Hindi to Punjabi, fret not. Punjabi University has developed a web-based translation system to solve your problem. The system has made it easier for persons to translate Hindi into Punjabi.

Vice-Chancellor Dr Jaspal Singh of Punjabi University said with this software, Punjabi readers who do not know Hindi can read any Hindi book or article in Punjabi easily. 

The developer of this software, Vishal Goyal, Senior Lecturer, Department of Computer Science of the university said the backbone of this software was a large dictionary which was in its first stage. He claims that at present approximately 80 per cent translation accuracy is there.