Bathinda, August 23
All wards of the city would be equipped with RO (reverse osmosis) plants, stated MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal during her visit here today. She visited nine wards of the city and listened to the grievances of the people.

After inaugurating RO systems in two wards, Harsimrat said there were 12 RO plants already functioning in Bathinda and 23 more such plants would be installed soon, for which land has been identified.

Other wards would also get the facility soon and the land where the RO plants would be set up was being identified, the MP added.

Apart from this, she released a grant of Rs 1.10 crore for repair work of the water works on the Bhagu road. Phases one and two of Model Town area would also be benefited with the Bhagu road water works apart from the adjoining areas.

Some residents apprised her that there were many families who needed ration cards, to which she ensured that she would be meeting the minister of food and supplies and discuss the matter.

The MP also said that the left out families, which were eligible under the atta-dal scheme, would soon be identified and cards would be given to them.

Harsimrat said she would be visiting Bathinda more frequently and the development of this city was her prime motive.

Meanwhile, during the rally, Congress workers staged a protest against the power cuts the state was reeling under. The workers were holding fans in their hands and raised slogans against the SAD-BJP government. They said Sukhbir Badal had stated that Bathinda would be a power cut-free zone but the residents had been facing long power cuts.

Teachers from the B. Ed Teachers’ Front also apprised Harsimrat of their problems when she visited ward number 25 at Guru Nanak Pura Mohalla.

Karamjeet Singh, district president of the front, also informed her about their demands, which included the new pay commission be made applicable to newly-appointed teachers also and that the leave system should be the same for all the teachers.

They also demanded inter-district postings of B. Ed teachers in Punjab and that 18,000 posts of B. Ed teachers should be advertised.

Harsimrat told the teachers that the matter would soon be taken up with the Chief Minister of Punjab, Parkash Singh Badal.

Bathinda, August 23
Reacting to the report regarding stoppage of grants to the drug de-addiction centre here, Harsimarat Kaur Badal, Member of Parliament, has sought intervention of the Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Mukul Wasnik, in the matter.

In a letter flashed to Wasnik, Harsimarat has sought early release of funds for the de-addiction centres at Bathinda and Mansa. These centres are facing closure as Union Ministry has stopped their annual grants.

Harsimarat has pointed out that both de-addiction centres were effectively managed and over the years have successfully rehabilitated 24,317 drug addicts in Bathinda and 21,000 in Mansa.

She has said in the letter that drug addiction in Punjab is alarming. There is a growing trend among school and college students to take to drugs. These centres in Bathinda and Mansa, run by the Indian Red Cross, were quite useful and valuable. Central grants have not been released to these centres since 2007.

Muktsar, August 23
Though Muktsar is said to be an educationally backward town of Punjab, yet the fascination among the youths for computers is fanatical. Here, in scores of cyber cafés dotting the town, romance seems to be spreading like jimson weed in the vast virtual plains of cyberspace.

Cyber cafés are a hit among hundreds of students of prominent educational institutions like Desh Bhagat Dental College and Hospital, Bhai Maha Singh College of Engineering, Adesh Polytechnic College and St Soldier's Convent School.

A quick survey revealed that 90 per cent of students visiting Muktsar’s cyber cafés click on to the world of cyber romance. At various cyber cafés, they can be seen cruising the boulevards of a virtually non-existent world for companionship.

"In today's world of cutthroat competition, where workload transforms into stress and everybody prowls tirelessly for that better deal, few get the time to romance. It is easier just making it out on the net," said a cyber café owner.

Similar views were echoed by another cyber café owner. He said that on any given day countless teenagers from various educational institutions engage in intimate conversations, chatting endlessly.

Students, particularly from professional colleges make a beeline to cyber cafés once their classes are over. "With every passing day the number of students visiting cafés is showing a sharp increase," he added.

A lot of people are figuring out as to why this phenomenon has become so compelling an addiction here in a district known for its illiteracy than anything else.

"In some ways it is good to see students coming in droves to the cyber cafés. At least, they would be weaned away by drugs this way. It is encouraging to see the students at cyber cafés instead of roaming the town in search of their daily dope," said a Punjabi University psychologist.

Drug counsellers are happy at this development, said an owner of a drug de-addiction centre.

"Earlier, we used to receive reports from the parents that their college going wards used to take drugs, particularly poppy husk. However, ever since the opening of several new cyber cafés in the city, drug menace has come down sharply," he mentioned.

Vikram, an institute professional, who is waiting for Shailja, his London-based friend, said almost all his seniors are into this. "This way I keep myself away from the bad company. What's bad in visiting these shops for chatting?" he questioned.

Bathinda, August 23
Scores of farmers in the region on Saturday rued Centre’s decision of increasing the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for paddy by Rs 100 per quintal and said it came as a rude shock to the farmer fraternity.

As per the Centre’s decision, the MSP of common paddy, which was Rs 850 per quintal last year, would now be Rs 950 per quintal, and that of grade ‘A’ paddy, which was Rs 880 per quintal last year, would now be Rs 980 per quintal. It sums up to a rise of 11.76 per cent for common rice and 11.36 per cent for grade ‘A’ rice.

Joginder Singh Ugrahan from the Bharti Kisan Union, Bathinda, told this correspondent that as per the report tabled by the Kheti Baari Commission, it was necessary to give 50 per cent of the amount spent on irrigation of the crop as MSP to a farmer. At least 50 per cent profit was needed to save farmers in the state.

Joginder said, “We have refused to accept Rs 100 given as MSP from the government. This time vast amount of funds had to be put in to sustain the paddy crop due to poor monsoon. Erratic monsoon led to increased demand of diesel to water crops as electricity too played a spoilsport.”

With farmers deriving very little or no profit from their profession, the number of suicides was on a rise, Andhra Pradesh being an example.

Financial crisis was driving farmers to take extreme steps, Joginder added.

The union also reported that an MSP of Rs 1,500 per quintal of paddy was demanded.

Muktsar, August 23
Will the Punjab government ask the Central government for yet another extension for unbundling the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) or will it go ahead and separate the power utility into three companies, which will take care of transmission, generation and distribution as envisaged under the Central Electricity Act-2003?

The Central government, acting on a request made by the Punjab government, had granted time till September 15 this year to unbundle the PSEB. If, the state government wants to seek another extension, it will have to file an application at least three weeks in advance with the Union Power Ministry. 

Sources in the Punjab government claim that though time is running out for the state government to make this request yet the government is quiet on this issue which has, over the years, snowballed into a major controversy among engineers, employees and the state government. 

Sources in the Punjab Civil Secretariat claim that nothing much was being done till date though they admit that the September 15 deadline was fast approaching.The PSEB is bound to lose central grants and other reform related incentives if the state government does not adhere to the Central government's deadline of September 15 to unbundle the Board.

The Board management and the PSEB Engineers Association have been at loggerheads ever since the Central government asked all stategovernments to comply with the electricity Act-2003, which calls for trifurcating power boards across the country.

Under this Act, all State Electricity Boards (SEBs) were to unbundled by 2004. However, political exigencies of both the Congress and the SAD led governments has meant that Punjab has repeatedly been asking for extensions from the Central government on this issue. Moreover, the PSEB has about 70,000 employees on its rolls and no political party is keen to displease them.

PSEB Engineers Association and other unions have opposed unbundling since they say it is a step towards privatisation and possible job losses. However, this has not happened in states where state power boards have been unbundled. Senior engineers disclose that if PSEB is unbundled Plant Availability Factor and Plant Load Factor (PLF) of thermal and hydro power generating stations will improve considerably. 

Preferring anonymity, a chief engineer said, "Once unbundled, transmission and distribution losses will come down from 24 per cent to 15 per cent in a period of three years.”

Meanwhile, the PSEB Engineers Association has said that it is possible to retain the present set up to meet the legal requirements of Electricity Act 2003. This can be done by creating a new company to trade power. There are seven states where the State Electricity Boards still exist due to pressure by Board employees.

Fazilka, August 23
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has decided to introduce evening courts in Punjab soon. It was declared by the chief justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court recently.

Retired judges will be re-employed to settle the old pending cases for the evening courts.

There is also a proposal to enhance the salaries of the judges working in the courts of Punjab. All these proposals and efforts are being made to liquidate the old cases and to provide speedy justice to the litigants.

Besides, the Supreme Court had few years back laid down the principle of delivering justice to the people at their step.

Both the efforts to open the evening courts and to provide justice at the door seem to have failed as far as the Fazilka and Abohar areas are concerned.

The litigants and other residents have to cover the distance of about 150 kilometers from Abohar areas and more than 100 kilometers from Fazilka area to Ferozepur district headquarters to attend courts and for their day-to-day works.

To travel such a long distance is relatively expensive and very difficult for the public to fight for their rights. The principle of providing justice at the door step is also defeated due to long distance.

Angi has pleaded that Fazilka is geographically suitable for making Additional District and Session Judge court here because it is situated at an equal distance from both the sub-divisions of Abohar and Jalalabad.

Angi has again demanded the chief justice of Punjab and Haryana high court to set up the court of Additional District and Session judge to meet their 60 years old demand. 

A small tea stall and provision store owner running his shop in the name of Shaheed Bhagat Singh in Bathinda. Tribune photograph: Pawan Sharma

The function with colourful food stalls, flower-bedecked 'jhoola' ended on a sensitive note with girls resolving to protect the rights of the girl child and stop female foeticide. Samriti was adjudged as the ‘Teej Queen.’ — Anirudh Gupta

Herbal nursery in shambles in Fazilka

Herbal nursery set up at village Rampura on outskirts of Fazilka about 10 years back is proving to be a white elephant for the Forest Department.

Surjit Kumar Jyani, MLA Fazilka, who was then forest minister, had initiated an ambitious project of setting up herbal nursery in 10 acres of land to grow herbal trees.

The purpose of growing these trees was to use them for producing Ayurveda medicines. The department had grown the trees like neem, jamun, tulsi, haradh, amla, aloe vera and others. But the trees did not come up. Instead, the Congress grass over-shadowed the herbal plants.

Even the laboratory for research on trees could not be established reportedly due to paucity of funds. It is stated that the groundwater of this land is brackish and is not fit for growing herbal trees there.

Later, Hans Raj Josan, forest minister from the adjoining Jalalabad area in Congress regime also did not show any interest in completing the project.

About six months back, forest minister Tikshan Soon had visited Fazilka town. The residents had raised the demand for providing Rs 20 lakhs for the all-round development of nursery. In turn, he had assured to provide Rs 9 lakhs for the nursery and setting up of a laboratory. However, this assurance could not get a practical shape. Presently, a very few herbal plants have come up.

These plants are not being brought up carefully as there is only one forest guard, who is reportedly ‘taking care’ of the nursery only on paper. — Praful Chander Nagpal

Here, martyr’s name draws people

It is usual for the government to start ventures invoking the name of Shaheed Bhagat Singh but here at Tungwali, a dusty village in Bathinda district, a Dalit man and his son have invoked the name of the martyr to run their small tea stall and provision store.

The name of the shop is enough to make people spend time at this shop to learn the reason behind the naming of the shop after the martyr.

"Now, villagers understand but newcomers keep asking why the shop is named after Bhagat Singh? Whether I belong to his family or had he visited the place? Did the martyr himself run a tea stall or a provision store?" said Gurjant Singh, the owner of the shop.

"In reply, I ask whether gods or goddesses used to engage in any trade? Still, people name their business ventures after the deities. It is similar to that," he said.It is just to mark his dedication to the principles that the martyr stood for that this Dalit man and his son Sonu have named their shop as Shaheed Bhagat Singh Tea Stall and Karyana Store. Inside the shop, a number of cut-outs and posters of Bhagat Singh have been pasted on the walls. At the entrance of the shop is a board hanging from a tree on which is the martyr's principles which serves as an inspiration for the owner and his customers. — Rajay Deep 

Ferozepur, August 23
Inflated egos and one-upmanship amidst the local Congress leaders, juxtaposed with their own vested interests had led to the debacle of the Congress in this border district, which hitherto used to be its bastion once upon a time.

In the recently concluded by-election in Jalalabad, Congress lost by a huge margin of over 80,000 votes as due to internal strife, as none of its leaders actively canvassed for its candidate. Leave alone the senior party functionaries from New Delhi, even the state leadership was found wanting when they were needed the most in this crucial by-election, which if won, could have turned the tables against the present SAD-BJP regime.

CLP leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal did not even bother to visit once whereas PPCC chief Mohinder Singh Kaypee made a token presence as did the former CM Captain Amarinder Singh, who attended just one public rally, which too failed to galvanise the party cadre.

No one had thought that the Congress would give in so tamely to the Akalis, who have all the reasons to celebrate as they got more votes than the Congress in 171 out of 172 polling booths in Jalalabad, with Congress leading only at one booth, which too belonged to Josan's own village.

Poor Josan was left to fend for himself, ploughing a lonely furrow against the might of the Akalis, whom he took on single-handedly with little support from colleagues. When contacted, Josan though was not quite vocal against the party due to obvious reasons.

However, he admitted that he did not get much support from the party on expected lines. The huge defeat has also put a question mark on his career prospects, more so if Sukhbir further decides to adopt this constituency with 2012 Vidhan Sabha polls in his mind.

If Sukhbir settles here, the neighbouring constituencies of Fazilka and Guruharsahai will also be benefitted from his presence in the district, admits the Congress leader hailing from the district.

Brave enough, Josan hopes to fight under better circumstances in 2012, when the character of the constituency will change in the delimitation process as the Rai Sikh population, which amounted to almost 50 per cent of the total electorate, will decrease by as much as 25,000 votes.

Earlier, during the Lok Sabha polls also, the Congress failed to put up a united show and break the jinx of losing this parliamentary seat again.

Even the Prime Minister's visit saw unpleasant notes exchanged amidst local Congressmen over petty issues, which resulted in another defeat for its firebrand ‘Jatt Sikh’ leader Jagmeet Brar.

DCC president Gurnaib Brar, while admitting differences amidst the local Congress leadership, added that the party allocated ticket to the wrong person.

“It is not that the Congress has lost, more so, it is the defeat of the candidate, who turned out to be too weak," said Brar, while referring to Jalalabad by-poll adding that some Rai Sikh leader should have been chosen. About the Lok Sabha polls, Brar said no one supported Jagmeet, rather leaders took money from him and sat at home leaving the party's candidate in the lurch. 

Abohar, August 23
Former president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) Virendra Kataria has urged the Railway minister Mamata Banerjee to put 3007/3008 Udyan Abha Toofan Express, the train that connects Sriganganagar with its home turf Howrah, on regular monitoring.

Giving details of his recent meeting with Banerjee, he informed during a visit to his home town today that the minister was told that the infamous express train runs like an ordinary passenger train after crossing Delhi and had never been late by less than 6-7 hours. There has been persistent demand for increasing the number of A/C sleepers but the authorities had withdrawn AC 2-tier after attaching AC 3-tier.

This has resulted in a whopping waiting list and even the MPs of the Malwa region seldom get a berth. Rats can be found roaming in some of the II-tier ordinary sleepers but the authorities had not bothered to replace the outlived coaches. On return journey from Howrah, water is not refilled in most of the coaches at Delhi resulting in inconvenience to hundreds of passengers.

In the memorandum that was submitted to the minister, the former Rajya Sabha member Kataria also listed problems faced by the passengers in the Inter-city trains that run between Sriganganagar-Delhi and Sriganganagar-Haridwar. He resented that one of the two poorly maintained A/c chair car coaches in both the trains had been withdrawn by the authorities under wrong presumptions.

Both trains cover scores of important towns and occupancy had been up to the mark. He reminded Mamata of her budget speech that read "development should not be restricted to a few people.”

The old mindset of economic viability should be substituted by social viability" and urged her to improve railway services in the Malwa region besides getting construction of the Abohar-Fazilka rail link and railway over bridges completed before the end of this year. 

A bout in progress at the State Wushu Championship in Bathinda on Sunday. A Tribune photograph

Bite in bout!

Mansa, August 23
No resolution has come up yet regarding Rose Garden of Mansa despite various inquiries, complaints and writ petition in the courts.

As per the information, Municipal Council, Mansa, had received a grant of Rs 47.41 lakhs in 2002 under integrated development of small and medium towns scheme funds. As per the MC record, the construction of the Rose Garden had been completed in September 2005 and also funds were divided on different works.

According to the map, Rose Garden was constructed in place of a pond. But, people can witness heaps of garbage instead of roses on this site. Regarding this, Shiv Charan, son of Sant Ram, Amrit, son of Milkh Ram, both residents of Mansa, filed a public interest litigation in Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chandigarh, in March 2008.

On the basis of this petition, the HC had issued directions in January 2009 to Vigilance Bureau and asked to complete inquiry regarding scandal till July 30, 2009 after registering a case against 18 persons. But neither any challan had been presented against the alleged accused nor any of them had been arrested yet even after the passing of six months.

It is being said that Vigilance Bureau was not taking action due to political pressure. When, DSP, Vigilance, Amarjeet Singh was contacted in this regard, he did not receive the phone. Meanwhile, DC Kumar Rahul said this case was referred to Finance Department for recovery. 

Abohar, August 23
The Brahmakumaris organisation plans to organise its next mega event titled "Vedant Sammelan" in ‘Guru-Ki-Nagari’ Amritsar in Punjab. Dadi Janaki, chief of the Brahmakumaris, revealed this in an exclusive interview to The Tribune during the five-day seminar that was organised by the Religious wing of the NGO.

The seminar concluded at Gyan Sarovar complex in Mount Abu on Saturday.

Sharing her Punjab connections for the first time, during a 60 minute interaction, the 93-year old Dadi, world-renowned spiritual leader, said such function was held last in 1957 in Amritsar when she worked for about five years in Punjab and remembers holding satsang in the famous Seetla Mandir besides visiting Ludhiana, Patiala, Harbogindpur and Jalandhar many a times.

A delegation from Ludhiana that also included senior office bearers of some Sikh bodies, had requested her to visit the industrial capital of Punjab but deep reverence for the city of Golden Temple, Durgiana Mandir and Jalianwala Bagh has prompted her to plan mega event at Amritsar. The dates will be finalised soon in consultation with senior functionaries of Punjab zone.

In 1937 Dadi Janaki joined the Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya founded by Prajapita Brahma when its head dada Lekh Raj impressed her by his teachings.

Since 1974 she was based at London to look after divine services in 100 countries and took over as chief of the Brahmakumaris after demise of Dadi Parkashmani in August 2007.

Speaking about the tolerance-power during the interview in her cottage, in the presence of BK Ram Nath coordinator of the religious wing at Mt Abu headquarters and national coordinator Manorama Behan, Dadi said "tolerant stands for truth, openness, loyalty and love, easy nature, rich in experiences, accepting, noble in action and trustworthy”.

“Enjoying recognitions as an NGO by the UNO we teach a practical method of meditation that helps individuals understand their inner strengths and values,” she said.