Chandigarh, September 9
Unbundling of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) has been put off again following protest of farmer organisations led by the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta).

The government claimed the decision to give more time to the state for the unbundling of the PSEB was taken on September 4 by the Union ministry of Power. However, the state government claimed the Union ministry conveyed this decision only today through fax to the state’s Chief Secretary.

The state, which was given time till September 15 to unbundle the electricity board, has been given extension till December 15. According to official communication, the extension had been given “to enable the state government to complete the unbundling process”.

Sources added a show of strength by BKU (Ekta) activists and the Kirti Kisan Sabha, mazdoor unions and employees of the PSEB, which led to violence and death of a farmer here yesterday, had forced the state government to put off unbundling. The Union Power Ministry was approached for another extension to cool off emotions and give the state time to achieve consensus on the issue by reaching out to major stakeholders.

The sources said unbundling of the board was imminent following a meeting on the issue by the Chief Minister recently. The government had exhausted all excuses for putting off the unbundling exercise and was under pressure to go ahead with it in view increasing losses. Earlier elections to the Panchayati Raj institutions and the Lok Sabha had come in the way of the unbundling exercise.

Farmer organisations, however, want the government to shelve the unbundling exercise permanently failing which they will go ahead with the rail roko slated for for September 15. Kirti Kisan Union president Prem Singh Bhangu said the government should come out with a statement on the issue to assuage feelings of stakeholders who apprehend the unbundling was a prelude to privatisation of the PSEB.

Meanwhile, Harchand Singh Barsat, chief patron, Punjab Pardesh Employees Federation, claimed the SAD-BJP government was moving towards “selling government property” as it had failed to steer the economy of the state. He also condemned what he referred to as “brutal action” on “peaceful protesters” yesterday. NS Gill and Col Angad Singh (retd) of the Consumer Protection and Awareness Council, Mohali, have called for levying power tariff announced yesterday by the Regulatory Commission from the date of issue of the tariff order and not from April 1.

Chandigarh, September 9
The BJP will urge its coalition partner, the SAD, to give relief to the lowest category of domestic consumers who have been adversely affected by a 17.5 per cent increase in power tariff announced by the State Electricity Regulatory Commission yesterday.

The saffron party is also on way to making a “transparent” report on “where power is being spent”. Industries Minister Manoranjan Kalia has been entrusted with this responsibility following a closed-door meeting of the party this evening. State party president Rajinder Bhandari and senior leader Madan Mohan Mittal participated in it.

According to sources, the BJP has decided to first collect data about the total power availability in the state and also identify where it was being spent. The party noted that domestic consumers did not get sufficient power supply during the entire summer as well as monsoon period even though the PSEB tried its best to purchase power from all available sources.

Bhandari said the party was “concerned” at the burden put on domestic consumers, particularly the low-income group, which included those who consumed up to 100 units of power every month. He said the core committee of the party would take up this issue in all seriousness once data regarding the reasons why the power tariff hike was necessitated were put before it.

Mittal said the party would press for relief to the lower category of domestic consumers and approach Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in this connection. He also claimed that the severe power shortage was largely due to the failure to increase power generation as well as limited buying opportunities due to drought-like conditions in other states also.

However, the sources said the BJP was likely to put forward the case that both urban and rural areas were equally affected by the hike in domestic tariff and that steps should be taken to subsidise part of the hike. The subsidy, they said, could offset the arrears due from domestic consumers from April 1 from which the power hike would be implemented with retrospective effect.

Jalandhar, September 9
Up in arms against about 10 per cent hike in power tariff for the industrial sector in Punjab, various organisations of industrialists and traders have convened a meeting in Ludhiana on Saturday to launch an agitation against the government.

“We have decided not to pay the hiked tariff and launch the agitation against the government,” said Narinder Singh Bhamra, convener of the All-Industries and Traders Forum, Punjab. There was a lot of resentment against the state government in the industry as it had got almost no power supply since April this year and the increase in the tariff had further fuelled the anger against the government,” said Bhamra.

He said the SAD-BJP government had actually deceived industrialists and traders. “Before the last assembly elections, the SAD leadership did a lot of sweet talk. It wrote to us very tempting letters giving assurances that it would involve industrialists and traders in decision-making process and provide all facilities to the industry and trade. We supported the SAD-BJP combine, but now we feel cheated,” said Bhamra.

“We had told Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal that instead of giving free power to farmers, their total consumption of power on operating tube wells should be rationally tabulated and the cost of power should be reimbursed to them at the end of year,” he added.

Gursharan Singh, president of the Federation of Jalandhar Industrialists and Traders Associations, said the government was discriminating with industrialists. “It has shifted the fiscal burden of the power consumed by other sections of society on to industrialists,” said Gursharan. He said the government, which could pay the power bills of farmers, should also do the same in case of industrialists who had invested crores of rupees in the state”. Gursharan said during the SAD-BJP government, the industry and trade had suffered big set backs.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, September 9
Though Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal has assured policemen from sports quota of ‘clemency’, a majority of them seemed to be upset as their demand to withdraw notices served on them was not conceded. They impressed upon their seniors to organise a march to Delhi to return their awards to the President instead of begging for mercy before state leaders.

A delegation of policemen from sports quota, who had been served notices regarding demotion, met Sukhbir at the SAD office in Chandigarh yesterday. Sukhbir assured them that he would do something to stagger decision to revert 177 cops who had brought laurels to their department and the nation by performing well in various sports events at national and international level.

“Let us discuss technical law points with the DGP and other officials, then we will do something to save your present position,” a DSP quoted Sukhbir. He said the Deputy Chief Minister assured the cops of ‘clemency’. Terming the response to be positive, the DSP expressed hope of early solution to the case.

However, a section of NGOs was still upset an apprehended completion of process of demotion on the expiry of the notice period.

“How can we sit cool till notices served on us are withdrawn. We have suggested our seniors to finalise a programme to return awards and citations to the President as decided earlier. This will bring a logical end to the case. The President will either accept that these awards were only pieces of wood and metal or will direct the authorities to restore our esteem by withdrawing notices,” said a world police games athlete.

Chandigarh, September 9
The coming alive of the “murdered” man has brought to life the murkier side of vendetta politics.

Nachhatar Singh, sentenced to life imprisonment for “murdering” a man who is still alive, yesterday muttered in a voice punctuated with emotion that he was framed due to political malafides - an action which eventually culminated in his only son’s suicide.

Leaning against the railing outside the court of Justice Mehtab Singh Gill in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Nachhatar Singh mumbled that two MLAs were behind his implication, as he was village sarpanch belonging to the Congress.

Clad in white, Nachhatar moaned that he complained to the police that “murdered” Jagsir Singh was still alive, but an SP and a DSP were hell bent upon wreaking vengeance. The cops also recorded the “confessional statements” after torturing them.

He asserted they came to know about Jagsir’s whereabouts during their incarceration. After their release on bail, he and his son went to Morinda in his search. They found Jagsir changing tyres while working as a mechanic, but luck eluded them as he escaped. After that, his location remained a matter of surmises.

His only son could not take the pressure and humiliation attached to the stigma and ended his life. “I have nothing left, we have been uprooted,” he said breaking down.

As the case came up before Justices Gill and Jitendra Chauhan, Jagsir affirmed he was the same man, but denied any knowledge of Nachhatar Singh’s implication. As Justice Gill got his statement recorded in Punjabi, Jagsir said Nachhatar was cultivating their fields on contract.

His son took him to the fields that evening some 13 years ago, where they had a fight over watering the ground. Jagsir said he then escaped and boarded a truck; and remained on the road for the next five to six years. All the while, he did not get in touch with either his family or any relatives.

The Bench said the top brass of the state would be liable for compensation, the quantum of which would be decided after hearing the National Human Rights Commission and other affected parties.

Amritsar, September 9
The police today arrested five of the Punjab Students Union (PSU) activists who were protesting against the registration of a case against their state leaders and withdrawal of free bus pass facility to students. The PSU had given a call for a statewide protest.

District police chief SSP Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh said Dharminder Singh, resident of Patran (Patiala), Rajinder Singh of Tarn Taran, Mohinder Singh of Ferozepur, Harpreet Singh and Manbir Singh, both residents of Tarn Taran, were arrested for causing inconvenience to public.

The activists blocked traffic on busy Bhandari Bridge. They held a sit-in for over an hour against their scheduled blockade of two hours as the police swooped on the agitators.

They said the cases registered against Gurmukh Singh and Rajinder Singh, president and vice-president of the state unit of the PSU, respectively, for delivering inflammatory statements be quashed.

Student leaders Sandeep Kaur and Dharminder Patra alleged that there was a nexus between private transporters and police officials to deprive students of their legal right. Private transport companies were being run by wealthy persons, a majority of them politicians, but they were not ready to extend them their legal dues.

Withdrawal of free bus pass service to the students coming from economically weaker sections, especially from remote areas and villages, would force them to discontinue their studies, the student leaders added.

SANGRUR: Students blocked roads at Mastuana Sahib, Malerkotla, Dhuri and Sunam in the district. The traffic at the ITI Chowk, Sunam, was also blocked. In Malerkotla, students blocked roads at Jarag Chowk and the Malerkotla-Patiala road. District president of the PSU Kulwinder Singh Sekha demanded the implementation of student concession bus pass facility in all private buses.

BARNALA: Students of local SD College and Guru Gobind Singh College, Sangherra, blocked traffic at the Kachehri Chowk here for about one and a half hours.

State-level leader of the PSU Pardeep Kasba said students of two local ITIs also observed a strike. A rally was held at the local SD College. Kasba said they had served an ultimatum of 72 hours on the owners of private buses to lift their illegal nakas from the roads otherwise they would be compelled to intensify their agitation.

Chanarthal (Bathinda), September 9
The cremation of 28-year-old farmer Jagsir Singh, who was killed on Tuesday in Chandigarh while participating in a protest against the unbundling of the PSEB, was held at his village today.

All roads leading to the village were cordoned off. The SSP, Bathinda, remained on vigil to make fool-proof arrangements against any violent protest.

The farmers termed Jagsir as martyr, claiming he had sacrificed his life for a larger issue.

Farmer leaders sought Rs 10-lakh compensation for the deceased and Rs 50,000 each for around 70 farmers who sustained injuries in the police action. They also demanded unconditional release of around 40 farmers, who were arrested during the protest.

They sought registration of cases against the civil and police officials of Chandigarh for assaulting them.

Shingara Singh Mann, district president of the Bharti Kisan Union Ekta (Ugrahan), demanded debt waiver for the family of Jagsir.

Jagsir is survived by wife and a one-and-half-year-old daughter.

About the reason of his death, the farmers said: “After the rally was over, all of a sudden, the police started beating us up with lathis. In an attempt to save himself, Jagsir tried to to get on a moving bus. But due to a tear gas shell, he fell on the road and another bus crushed him to death.”

Jalandhar, September 9
The Senior Punjab Civil Medical Services Association today served an ultimatum of one week on the Punjab government to resolve all controversies regarding non-practising allowance (NPA) of government doctors, pay fixation formula and dynamic career progression failing which the government doctors will hold a protest in Chandigarh on Wednesday.

All doctors of the Health Department will join the protest. The association has demanded an end to all controversies on the NPA and to treat it as pay for calculating other allowances and retirement benefits. Its nomenclature should be changed to non-practising pay. The Senior PCMSA has sought the intervention of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in the matter.

Dr DC Sharma, general secretary of the Senior PCMSA, said despite the personal efforts made by Health Secretary Satish Chandra and his categorical assurance to the joint deputation of the representatives of doctors associations on September 1 to get the necessary clarification regarding the NPA issued in a day or two, no instructions had been issued by the government to settle the issue.

In the pay fixation fitment tables issued by the Punjab government, the dearness pay and dearness allowance of the doctors on the NPA component of pay, had not been taken into account. As such, the Punjab doctors will lose Rs 2,000-5,000 of basic pay during pay fixation.

The association has reiterated its demand for the dynamic assured career progression (DACP) after 20 years of regular service, with grade pay of Rs 10,000 per month as has been granted by the government of India to its doctors. The Punjab Pay Commission has recommended the pay parity between the PCMS doctors and the central government doctors.

Chandigarh, September 9
Punjab government would be upgrading over 3,000 middle schools in the state to high schools to avail funds from the Government of India under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Sikshya Abhiyaan (RMSA).

A proposal for the RMSA was finalised by the government during a meeting of the chief secretary with officials of the Education Department here today.

The Centre launched the RMSA in June last year to widen access to secondary education with emphasis on enrolment of girls, SCs and STs, particularly in science, commerce and vocational streams.

“The objectives of the scheme is to achieve a gross enrolment ratio of 75 per cent for classes IX-X within 5 years, by providing a secondary school within a reasonable distance of every habitation and to improve quality of education imparted at secondary level by making all secondary schools to follow prescribed norms,” states the notification of the Centre.

Punjab has a gross enrolment ratio of about 50 per cent in classes IX and X and would have to ensure 75 per cent enrolment ratio till 2011. “This means that currently only 50 per cent of the total population of children between the age group of 14 to 16 years are going to school. This number has to be increased to 75 per cent,” said a highly placed official.

Punjab’s proposal also includes setting up of over 90 new high schools. “New schools would be needed to meet the requirement of the scheme, which lies stress on complete access of every child of this age group to a government school. The scheme lays down that there should be a government middle school within 5 km distance,” added the official.

Over 7,400 teachers, majority for computer teaching, would be employed in the state under the scheme.

These include over 400 teachers in math, over 650 in science and another 300 in English.

Another 2,400 non-teaching staff would be employed as lab technicians, chowkidars, sweepers etc.

The up-gradation of schools would include improving infrastructure, including construction of new classrooms, staff rooms, science labs, libraries computer rooms, sports facilities and indoor games facilities.

Kharar, September 9
More than 7-lakh metric tonne of paddy stock worth Rs 1,200 crore is lying at various rice mills across the state, raising doubts over availability of space for the kharif crop that is soon to hit the markets by October 1.

The Rice Millers Welfare Association of Punjab has demanded earliest clearance of pending stocks with the warehouses to make way for new crop.

President Vishnu Mittal said every month only 3-lakh tonnes of paddy moves from Punjab to other states. “If we continue to move paddy at this rate, stocks will not clear even within next 10 months, the backlog won’t get cleared. The government should start picking it at the rate of 7 to 8-lakh tonnes per month,” he suggested.

In the new season, on October 1 around 1.50-crore MT tonne of paddy will arrive in the state and around 80 lakh of this will go to the Central pool.

Damaged and discolored rice content is the reason why many procurement agencies have shied away from picking up the booty. With the passage of time, the crop is suffering more damage each day.

The rice millers said as per rules, the government agencies should not procure more crop having more than 17 per cent moisture content. But in its race to please farmers ahead of the election season, the politicians and bureaucrats pressurised the government agencies to buy crop having moisture content as high as 21 per cent.

“Most of the crop stored now has a high moisture content and poor quality. Moreover the paddy was stored under great political pressure,” the millers added.

They warned that if the pending stock was not picked soon, it would leave almost no space to store the new arrivals. Millers have demanded that the Government of India should increase acceptance period of crop till December 2009 to clear backlogs.

“If no step is taken, we will be forced to bring our agitation on roads. Its not only the traders’ community that will suffer, but ultimately the farmers will be the greatest sufferers. There will be no space to store the produce of farmers,” said patron Harish Devgun.

Ludhiana, September 9
The court of Additional Sessions Judge Munish Singal today reserved order for tomorrow on the bail plea of SAD youth wing president and councillor Simarjit Singh Bains and six co-accused facing accusations of stripping and attacking tehsildar GS Benipal.

Opposing the bail plea, Additional Public Prosecutor Rattan Singh said all accused had committed a heinous offence by stripping the teshildar in full public view when he was discharging official duty. They launched a murderous attack with common intention to kill him.

He said the stick used by Bains to hit the tehsildar under the eye has already been seized. Apart from this, one revolver was recovered. Thirtyone accused were still at large.

A battery of lawyers represented respective accused. One of the defence lawyers said officials took advantage of political rivalry between factions of the SAD and framed Bains in a false case. He was not present on the spot, he added.

The defence lawyer said none of the injuries to the tehsildar was declared to be “dangerous to life” by doctors. So, Section 307, IPC, relating to attempt to murder was not applicable in this case.

The tehsildar had indulged in malpractices. That’s why he was beaten up by public but not by their client. There was no independent witness in the case. Both witnesses were having close relations with the complainant, added the defence lawyer.

Another defence lawyer claimed that the different applications moved by the complainant seeking protection and apprehending danger to life were enquired into by the Deputy Commissioner and found to be baseless.

Chandigarh, September 9
The Punjab & Haryana High Court today asked the Moga senior superintendent of police to explain why Chamkaur Singh was not released from custody even after his wife whom he “murdered” turned out to be alive.

Even as the state counsel informed the bench that a special investigating team had been set up on August 31 to look into the matter, Justice LN Mittal asserted: “It’s surprising that in spite of the fact the allegedly deceased woman is alive, her husband is still behind bars for her alleged murder”.

Ordering Chamkaur’s immediate and “unconditional” release from custody in the instant case, “if he is not required in any other case”, Justice Mittal said: “The Moga SSP shall file an affidavit as to why steps were not taken for Chamkaur’s release from custody in spite of the matter having come to notice that his allegedly deceased wife is alive”.

Mittal also directed the SSP to provide protection to Chamkaur as well as his wife and father. The directions followed the assertion by counsel for the petitioners that the latter were being “threatened by police officers”.

As the case came up this morning, the girl’s father, Sukhdev Singh, also the complainant in the case, identified Charanjit Kaur as his daughter for whose murder he had filed the FIR. The case will now come up for further hearing on October 10.

Less than a fortnight after her husband was booked for her murder, the “deceased” Charanjit Kaur of Jalalabad had appeared before the high court.

Charanjit and her father-in-law, Jora Singh, had asserted Chamkaur was “cruelly tortured” after being picked up by the police a day before Independence Day. SHO Bhupinder Kaur and DSP Gurdarshan Singh had allegedly demanded Rs 4 lakh for his release and threatened he would be implicated in case of nonpayment before the warrant officer appointed by the high court found him detained illegally on August 20.

After being discovered, Bhupinder claimed an FIR for murder had been registered under Section 302 of the IPC against Chamkaur for his wife’s murder.

Moga, September 9
Indian-born Canadian citizen Jagdev Singh, facing charges of murdering former MLA Nachattar Singh Gill, the father of Paramdip Singh Gill, DGP of the state, surrendered before a local court here today.

He was released from the jail on September 3 after Amarjot Kaur Bhatti, Additional District and Sessions Judge had granted him supplementary bail in the case of fraud registered against him on August 4.

In the third case of corruption registered against him under Sections 7, 13(2), 88 of the Prevention of Corruption Act-1988, SK Aggarwal, Additional Sessions Judge, had declined to grant him anticipatory bail.

Meanwhile, his mother Pritam Kaur died in the DMC Hospital, Ludhiana, and he filed a petition before the Punjab and Haryana High Court to get anticipatory bail. The court, while dismissing his plea, granted him just two-day arrest stay for September 7 and 8 for the cremation of her mother. It had directed him to appear before the local court on September 9.

Ramesh Grover, counsel of the NRI, said CJM Karunesh Kumar Kakkar had sent him to one-day judicial custody and asked the SHO (city-1) to file a reply if they wanted to arrest him or not by tomorrow.

Anandpur Sahib, September 9
A resident of Mataur village here has been sentenced to a year’s imprisonment and Rs 5,000 fine for killing a sambhar.

The court of Subdivisional Judicial Magistrate, Jeet Inder Kaur Walia awarded the sentence to Doman, son of Prayag, resident of Mataur village. . He was booked under Wildlife Protection Act 1972.