Amritsar, August 31
Prime Minister’s Scholarship Scheme for minority community students has proved a harrowing experience for hundreds of Christian students and their teachers who had a tough time in depositing scholarship forms on the last day for submission of these forms today. They have alleged bureaucratic indifference towards them.

The principals and teachers of over 12 Christian schools, offering education to students in border areas of Punjab, were made to shuttle between offices of the District Welfare Officer, District Education Officer and that of the Deputy Commissioner. All this mammoth exercise failed to yield any result for Christian teachers till late this evening as the office of the District Welfare Officer allegedly refused to accept forms without putting forth any explanation to the teachers and principals. The District Welfare Officer was, however, not available for comment.

DEO (Secondary) Neelam Bhagat said she was sitting in her office and anybody could come to her and deposit the forms. On the contrary, teachers rued that their forms were not even accepted at the offices of the DEO or the District Welfare Officer despite repeated assurances given by DC KS Pannu. “Nobody listened to us. The officials at the DEO asked us to go to the Welfare Officer’s office where nobody accepted our forms. We met the DC, who directed the officials at the District Welfare Office to accept our forms. Still nobody took forms from us,” said Father Jose, Principal, Sacred Heart School, Chuchakwal.

Father Roby, Principal, St Francis School, Amritsar cantonment, and chairman, United Christian Forum for Human Rights, said the officials defied the very objective of the scheme. “We will be holding a protest tomorrow. The officials at the District Welfare Office did not give any reason for not accepting the forms and simply turned us away. It is nothing but humiliation of the minority communities,” he said, adding that over 300 students would be deprived of the benefits of the scheme if their forms were not accepted.

Amritsar unit president of the Pendu Mazdoor Unions Paramjit Singh Bachoa and other teachers, including Rajina and John from two schools based at Kadial and Ajnala, also criticised the administration for today’s episode. The affected Christian schools of border areas included Sacred Heart School, Chuchakwal, Convent School, Kadial, St Agne’s School, Pakharpura, St Mary School, Othian, near Ajnala, All Saints’ Convent School, Ajnala, Sacred Heart School, Chaugavan, St Thomas Convent School, Rajasansi, St Mary Convent School, Chamiari, and the Sacred Heart School, Majitha.

Ludhiana, August 31
Two-child norm can’t be forced upon the people who have two daughters as it is the individual’s and family’s choice. This was stated by Harsimrat Kaur Badal, MP, when she was asked about the missing realisation of the “two-children slogan” given by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Harsimrat was in the Government College for Women here to attend the concluding day of Virasati Mela Dhiyan Da organised by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Punjab, and the Punjab Arts Council.

The MP said the sex ratio of 749 females per 1,000 males in Punjab further needed to be improved for which it must eliminate the vices of female foeticide and dowry system from society.

The state government has sanctioned Rs 10 crore for Nanhi Chhaan, the NGO determined to transform social attitudes of the region by actively campaigning against female foeticide as well as against mindless destruction of trees.

Harsimrat termed accessibility of schools and separate timings for boys and girls as the only way to check the dropout rate of girls in middle and senior secondary schools in the state. However, she was unable to make a satisfactory reply on the issue of women unemployment in Punjab. “It is not just a matter that concerns Punjab, but the nation at large and I, in my capacity of a parliamentarian, am trying my best to raise my voice in favour of women empowerment through employment.”

Vocational courses in classes VIII, IX and X will make a substantial difference as this will give them an option to run their own ventures, added Harsimrat.

Referring to the Virasati Mela Dhiyan Da, she said it was a commendable effort on the part of the organisers. “Girls/women are the vital element of the heritage of Punjab as is evident from the mela and the message should be propagated with the help of NGOs and print/electronic media,” she added.

Ludhiana, August 31
President of the All-India Anti-Terrorist Front Maninderjit Singh Bitta said today that by having a separate gurdwara management committee, Haryana was digging its own grave. He said Haryana was on the path of a fast development and interfering in the matters of Sikhs would cast doom for the state.

Bitta said Punjab had suffered for 15 years due to militancy after the Congress hurt sentiments of Sikhs. The development in the state was put on the back burner all those years.

“Now Haryana is flourishing. They should not take any such chances,” he added. Coming down heavily on intelligence agencies, Bitta said they were not taking threats of terrorism seriously. They were not able to detect what was in the offing.

He alleged former militant DS Bittu, Jathedar Jasbir Singh Rode, DSGMC president Paramjit Singh Sarna and SAD (Amritsar) president Simranjit Singh Mann were potent threats to a peaceful environment in Punjab. He demanded an inquiry into the credentials of Sarna as most of the former militants were using the DSGMC Bhawan for stay. He suspected a connection of former militants with Sarna.

Stating that he held the DSGMC in high esteem but was against the terrorists, Bitta said, “We have to watch out for if militancy returns to Punjab, it would be difficult to curb it again,” he said.

Bathinda, August 31
Coming to the rescue of train passengers of Malwa, hitherto largely marginalised by the Railways in terms of fast and better connectivity, MP from Bathinda Harsimrat Kaur Badal has written to Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee for making residents’ train travel a convenient and pleasant experience.

Giving voice to the long-pending demand of commuters, the MP sought introduction of a Shatabdi/Jan Shatabdi train between Ferozepur and Delhi via Bathinda, Mansa, Jakhal, Rohtak.

Harsimrat has written that over the years, the Railways had not paid sufficient attention to developing this route. There are a few trains connecting Delhi. Bathinda and Ferozepur are very important destinations. Apart from having one of the biggest Air Force Station and cantonment, it is a major city and has large number of commuters. But, in the absence of trains, most of them are forced to commute on private vehicles. Introduction of a up/down Shatabdi/Jan Shatabdi train had been a long-standing demand of Bathinda residents, she adds.

There is no superfast train between Bathinda and New Delhi during the day time.

The Bathinda MP has also drawn the attention of the minister towards another demand of the passengers for additional AC chair car in the Sriganganagar-Delhi Inter City (2482/2481).

She writes at present there is one AC chair car coach that is insufficient to accommodate passengers, hence long wait list. She also demanded allocation of VIP quota for Bathinda AC chair car and HQ quota on the train.

The Railways had withdrawn one of the two AC coaches from the Inter City Express citing economic unviability and lack of passengers as the reasons.

Meanwhile, Harsimrat has also urged the minister for the restoration of service of the 2BD/3BD train between Bathinda and Dhuri.

Harsimrat writes that on the demands of local passengers of Bathinda, the train was introduced and it was the most convenient train but it was abruptly withdrawn in November, 2008.

Even railway officials are of view that the area needs a train between Bathinda and Dhuri. “A diesel multiple unit (DMU) between Bathinda-Dhuri is the need of the hour,” a railway official said.

Amritsar, August 31
The state government has removed Dr Jagdish Gargi from the post of Principal of Government Medical College, Amritsar, on administrative grounds.

Gurdeep Kalsey, Head, Department of Anatomy, has been ordered to hold the additional charge of principal replacing Dr Gargi till further orders. However, Dr Gargi will continue to work as professor and head of the Department of Forensic Sciences, said orders issued by Minister of Medical Education and Research.

Sources said Dr Gargi was removed in the case of demolition of a wall on June 29. The wall was being constructed to merge rooms of the Surgery Department into the blood bank as per the requirement of the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) for establishing the state’s first model blood bank by upgrading the existing one at GNDH. The orthopedic and surgery departments were at loggerheads over the merger of rooms.

Meanwhile, the Junior Doctors Association (JDA) today reiterated its demand for action against Dr Boparai, MS. In a statement to press, Dr Vishal Garg, president, JDA, said the removal of Dr Gargi as Principal was merely an eyewash as the real culprit for the police action, as admitted by the SSP, should be brought to book and action should be initiated against him.

Dr Boparai said when the minister had given assurances to implement the revised pay scales within a few months, they should have patience. Meanwhile, the strike by junior doctors entered the 11th day today. The junior doctors distributed free medicines to around 1,000 patients, besides conducting free tests. 

Sangrur, August 31
Two sisters from Dhuri today allegedly committed suicide by jumping in front of a goods train on the Dhuri-Patiala rail track, near Harchandpura railway-level crossing, 4 km from Dhuri.

An official of the Dhuri Railway Police said the deceased had been identified as Anjali Tayagi (17) and Meenal Tayagi (15), daughters of Neeraj Tayagi, an officer in the Bhagwanpura Sugar Mill, Dhuri. He said the police had also recovered a suicide note in which they had not held anyone responsible for their death.

The official further said as per the suicide note Anjali could not pass her XII examination recently. She had been feeling insulted and disheartened, so she decided to commit suicide. Knowing about her sister’s suicide plan, Meenal also decided to commit suicide, along with Anjali, saying that she could not tolerate the death of her sister.

The official added as both sisters had not held anyone responsible for their death.

Ludhiana, August 31
Drought-like conditions have had a massive socio-economic impact on Punjab even though the conventional meaning of drought in terms of its impact on agricultural productivity and production does not apply to the state as 97 per cent of its crop area is under assured irrigation throughout the year.

This was stated by Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) Vice-Chancellor Manjit Singh Kang during a recently held meeting of experts to discuss the impact of drought on state agriculture.

Dr Kang added that even though foodgrain production in the state was not affected during the past drought years when the entire country was facing a sharp decline in the same, the social and economic impact of drought has been quite substantial.

“The impact is apparent this year too,” remarked Dr RS Sidhu, Head, Department of Economics and Sociology.

“Most importantly, it puts a heavy drain on the ground water resources of the state which normally goes down by more than a metre during such drought years. The production costs, especially for paddy and other kharif crops, increase due to greater use of electricity and diesel for pumping out ground water,” he said.

The estimates of PAU show that in the current year farmers have had to spend additional Rs 1,300 per acre to irrigate their fields with the help of diesel-run pumps. “The diesel consumption up to July 10 for irrigation of kharif crops has increased by 15 litre per acre and by August 20, about 40 litres per acre compared to last year, which was a normal year,” remarked Dr Sidhu.

The total cost incurred on diesel is around Rs 325 crore. This is expected to increase further in the coming days to maintain the productivity of paddy and other kharif crops, he said.

“Besides, power subsidy given to the agricultural sector is estimated at Rs 2,800 crore this year compared to Rs 2,472 crore last year, resulting in an additional burden of Rs 328 crore on the state exchequer,” said Dr Sidhu.

PAU scientists also pointed out that in the wake of a poor rainfall, farmers had had to incur an additional investment of Rs 650 crore on deepening of wells and installing submersible pumps due to lowering of the groundwater table. “Many a time, such investment is beyond the capacity of small holders which put them under severe economic distress, often leading to suicides,” observed the experts.

The drought also has a social impact in terms of higher use of electricity in farming sector leading to lesser availability of power to domestic and industrial sectors, said Dr Sidhu. “While the farm sector benefited, industrial sector suffered a set back as in order to ensure adequate power supply to the former long power cuts were imposed on the industrial and domestic sector, hitting state’s industrial growth,” remarked Dr Sidhu.

Jalandhar, August 31
The Parkash Singh Badal-led SAD-BJP government has completed half of its five-year tenure. Badal and his cabinet ministers took oath on March 2, 2007, 30 months ago at a cricket stadium in Mohali. However, there is no word from the government on initiating any exercise to take stock of its performance or non-performance during the period.

A look at the performance of the government reveals it has failed to make any difference to the dipping fortunes of Punjab. Since its taking over the reins of the government, the SAD-BJP leadership, especially Sukhbir Badal, has only been talking big. Badal Junior has been talking about expressways, metros, airports etc, forgetting in the process to address the basic concerns of people like bringing about drastic improvement in the functioning of schools, colleges and universities, health services and water supply etc. Though being signs of development, expressways and airports cater to hardly 5 per cent of the people.

Actually, the state has gone down further on various fronts. Its economy is in a shambles. Its educational institutions are in a bad shape. Its health services have become almost non-existent in the countryside. Its urban life, marred by shabby sanitary conditions, traffic hazards and poor infrastructure, has become more chaotic and lousy.

For the past about two decades, procrastination, half measures, expediencies at the political level have pushed Punjab down from a No. 1 state to the last one among main states in the country. Punjab’s rural and urban economy sustain on agriculture that is known as an economy of medieval period in the developed world. In developed countries only 5 to 10 per cent people do agriculture, while others work in factories, service sector and other new modes of economy. There is no effort to give new direction to the agriculture sector. Unfortunately, the Badal government is promoting paddy in the state at a huge cost to its environment, land and water resources, its industrial sector and over-all well-being of the state.

The time has come to link Punjab’s agriculture sector to the requirements of the middle-class that has the paying capacity and needs fresh vegetables, organic foodgrains, quality milk and milk products, etc.

It goes to the credit of Sukhbir that he has made power a major issue in the state.

At the political level, Punjab has witnessed a lot in 30 months. It has seen the emergence of Badal Jr to the centre-stage politics and becoming a most powerful politician. His elevation to the post of Chief Minister appears to be not very far. But Badal has not become irrelevant as yet. With his passion for politics, he has maintained his unmatched persona of people’s politician. In fact, he is far ahead of Sukhbir as far as acceptability among people is concerned.

Love-hate relationship between the SAD and the BJP, coalition partner in the state government, has also remained in the limelight. The state has been rocked more than once by politico-religious strife. However, there is an improvement in the overall political atmosphere, as the level of crudity among politicians with regard to taking on their opponents has gone down a bit. But what has saved the SAD-BJP government is severe divisions in the Congress. Had there been no division in Congress ranks, certainly the SAD-BJP would have faced a tough time. 

Ludhiana, August 31
Chairman of SC and ST Commission Buta Singh today said he would not resign from the constitutional post following allegations of accepting bribes on his son as the latter was innocent and was being framed.

“If I resign, that will mean I accept the allegations to be correct. While this is not the case and my son is being implicated at the behest of a vice-president of a national party,” said Buta Singh, who was in the city today.

Moreover, he said, nobody had asked for his resignation. “It was a demand floated by the media. I am serving on a constitutional post. I will resign if the court will find me guilty,” he said. He refused to name the political leaders who was trying to settle scores with his son. “I am not going to name the party. Let law take its course,” he said.

Stating that he would cooperate with the CBI in its investigations, Buta Singh also refused to say anything about the credentials of an independent agency.

Commenting on the violation of Dalit rights in the state, Buta Singh said the situation was bad in the state. During the recent recruitment of teachers by the government, the Reservation Act was not followed. Moreover, the government was demoting Dalit officials, while sycophants were being promoted. He would take up the matter with the Prime Minister and also to Parliament.

Chandigarh, August 31
The water levels at the Bhakra and Pong Dams are becoming precarious with both dams reporting a reduction in inflows even as the level of the Pong Dam has equalled an earlier all-time low.

With chief engineers of partner states of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan demanding sustained releases in September to save the kharif crop in the face of a partial monsoon, farmers of all three states could expect reduced water for irrigation during the coming wheat season.

According to sources, the water level at Bhakra is 1,613 ft at present, 60 ft less than the level recorded last year. Similarly, the water level at Pong Dam is 1,319 ft, 66 ft less than the level recorded during the same period last year. The water level at the Pong Dam has touched the same low as recorded during the drought year of 2002.

The BBMB is worried because the present levels indicate that both dams may not even reach the levels calculated during a revised survey conducted in August. A top functionary said inflows in both dams were on the wane with Bhakra recording an inflow of 58,000 cusecs against inflows of 65,000 a few days ago. These inflows are even less than those received by the dam during the dry season due to snow melt. In case of the Pong Dam, the sources said inflows were very less and a severe depletion was on.

The functionary said releases of 19,000 cusecs and 7,000 cusecs were taking place from both dams every day. He said partner states had claimed that these releases were essential to save the kharif crop, primarily paddy. These releases are, however, likely to leave both dams with water levels at least 40 feet less than their optimum.

Meanwhile, widespread rain was reported in Chandigarh and parts of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, giving a sigh of relief to farmers. The local Meteorological Department has forecast heavy rain in the next 24 hours in parts of Punjab, North Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. Rain is likely to continue for this week and the monsoon is likely to peter off by September 20.

The department has also disclosed that Punjab has had a rain deficiency of 40 per cent and Haryana 64 per cent. It said northwestern parts of Punjab and Haryana, particularly Ferozepur and Sirsa districts, respectively, have fared particularly badly, recording a deficiency of as much as 88 per cent.

Meanwhile, rainfall in different areas till this morning was Phagwara (126 millimetres), Hoshiarpur (112 mm), Nakodar (88 mm), Nangal (84 mm) and Amritsar (44 mm). Talwandi Sabo and Muktsar recorded a scanty rainfall of 3 mm. In Haryana, Neelokheri recorded 78 mm followed by Chachhrauli at 39 mm and Ambala at 24 mm. Chandigarh recorded a rainfall of 48 mm.

Chandigarh, August 31
Punjab is set to make provision in Budget for more subsidy to the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) to continue supplying free power to farm sector.

The state had provided for Rs 2,600 crore in Budget for subsidy to the PSEB on account of free power to farmers for tube wells, but now with it has gone up to Rs 3,140 crore following rise in cost of power from April this year.

Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal said on the issue though budgetary provision had been made for the PSEB; it could be revised when needed. “We have four quarterly meetings to review allocations to various departments. These could go up or down,” he added.

Manpreet, referring to the PSEB subsidy, said, “We have to jack it up whenever the Cabinet decides so,” adding “we have received a letter from the PSEB explaining the issue”. He said the government was making releases every month to the PSEB and these releases could be enhanced when needed, adding, “The PSEB is ours and will be looked after by the state”.

Though the government is keen on increasing the subsidy to ensure free power to farmers, it is yet to write to the PSERC in this connection. Commission Secretary Namita Sekhon said confirmation in this regard had not come in. It has held up its order on the tariff to be enforced this financial year because the government has not committed itself on this score.

Meanwhile, a former Chief Engineer of the PSEB today moved a petition claiming statutory provisions were required to be ensured while deciding the subsidy issue. Petitioner Padamjit Singh said the Electricity Act made it mandatory for the government to ensure budgetary provision for the subsidy due to the PSEB. He said besides this, the Act also made it mandatory for the government to provide advance payment of subsidy in quarterly instalments.

The petitioner claimed instructions for subsidy would become null and void in case the advance payment was not ensured.

Anandpur Sahib, August 31
Almost a month after the last flooding, the Swan rivulet has swollen again, creating inconvenience for those living in low-lying villages in the Anandpur Sahib and Nangal areas.

Owing to heavy rainfall in hilly areas of Himachal Pradesh, the rivulet carried 78,000 cusecs of water that reached these villages around 5.30 pm. The district administration issued a red alert just two hours before the water flooded these areas, leading to chaos and confusion among people.

People were told to move to safer places. More than 25 villages have been affected. A large number of people will have to spend night either perched on rooftops or leave their houses and find refuge in other villages.

Affected villages include Swara, Lodhipur, Chandpur Bela, Ballowal, Burj, Hariwal, Nikkuwal, Gajpur, Baddal, Swan and the villages lying downstream the Sutlej.

Last time, the villages got flooded on July 28 and the marooned villagers had lodged protest against the drainage department. Even adviser to the CM Daljeet Singh Cheema was apprised of the situation during his visit to the flooded areas.

Chandigarh, August 31
The preliminary inquiry into the payment of a whopping Rs 2.8 crore to a Chandigarh-based architect for designing buildings of government schools in Punjab has pointed towards gross irregularities in the sanctioning of work to the architect.

The inquiry report submitted by RL Mehta, Special Secretary, School Education, has pointed out that neither advertisements were given for the choice of the architect nor the regular procedure was followed while awarding the work to him. The report was submitted to GS Grewal, Secretary, School Education, who has sent it back to Mehta with certain queries.

The huge amount paid to the architect has raised many an eyebrow as normally government school buildings are designed by the office of the Chief Architect of the government and private architects are not involved.

Sources add the proposal to “employ” the said architect was moved by certain officials of the Education Department more than a year ago following an “immense” pressure of one of the top law officers in the state to involve this particular architect in the project.

Interestingly, the proposal was also sent up to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for approval, who also reportedly signed the file giving his nod to the choice of the architect.

A NABARD project scheme for schools is one of the pet projects of the Chief Minister and is being monitored on a monthly basis by him. A meeting was held on July 29 to review the status of the project in which it was decided by Grewal that the whole matter be probed.

As many as 351 schools are being built in the state under a NABARD scheme at a cost of Rs 141 crore. The private architect was taken on the board of the project and payment of 2.5 per cent of the cost of the project was fixed for him. He has already been paid the said amount. 

Patiala, August 31
Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur presented India’s perspective on “New global governance for the 21st century” while participating in leaders’ panel at the Bled Strategic Forum meeting being held at the lakeside resort of Bled in Slovenia from today.

The forum was inaugurated by President of Slovenia Danilo Tuerk.

In her presentation to the panel, Preneet Kaur highlighted global challenges facing the world, including terrorism, climate change, food and energy security and the ongoing economic crisis. She also pointed to the primary challenge of elimination of poverty in developing countries and their rapid socio-economic development.

On global governance, she said ensuring that the UN Security Council had representative of developing countries could significantly enhance effectiveness of the United Nations. Successful completion of the Doha trade negotiations could provide fresh momentum in that regard. It was important to ensure that the outcome of the trade negotiations remained faithful to the Doha mandate that placed interests of developing countries at the heart of negotiations.

On climate change, Preneet Kaur said equity should be a key consideration while the world seeks to lay down a long-term vision and a plan of action for the period beyond 2012. She emphasised that this should be in line with the agreed principle of common but differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities. She also dwelt on efforts being taken by India to minimise carbon dependence while delivering on the development front.

Other participating in the panel were the Slovene Foreign Minister, the Prime Minister of Macedonia, the Speaker of Czech Republic, the Deputy Prime Minister of Luxembourg and the Foreign Minister of Turkey.

Chandigarh, August 31
Harcharanjit Kaur Brar will not get the retiral benefits, at least for the time being.

As she retired on attaining the age of superannuation today, the Punjab and Haryana High Court made it clear that her retiral benefits will not be released till the next hearing in a contempt case.

The petitioner, Saristi Pal, through counsel GS Bal had earlier alleged non-compliance of the high court order dated November 27, 2008.

Elaborating, Bal had asserted that the petitioner and nine others had filed a writ petition for the grant of pensionary benefits by taking into account their entire service, including service rendered against aided post.

The petition was disposed of with a direction to the respondents to decide the legal notice within six months.

As the matter came up, it was brought to the Bench’s notice that “the respondents were adopting a pick and choose method in implementing the orders of this court as similar benefits had been given to many of the other similarly situated employees, whereas the petitioners had been denied the same.”

Justice Rakesh Kumar Garg asserted: “It is also brought to the notice of this court that the respondent is retiring today on attaining the age of superannuation. Punjab is directed not to release the retiral benefits of the respondent till the next date of hearing”.