Ferozepur, September 11
Gates set-up on the fencing along the Indo-Pak international border in the state opened up with women guards positioned on duty today morning. It was a day of new dawn in the golden chapters of the BSF.

For the first time, in the history of the country, as many as 178 young and energetic women recruits of the BSF had taken up their assignment of guarding international borders of the country.

Out of these, 118 women personnel had been deployed along the 553-km-long fenced Indo-Pak border in Ferozepur, Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts in the state and the rest 60 on the Indo-Bangladesh border in West Bengal and other states.

These women, aged between 18 to 22 years, had passed out from a training camp of the BSF at Kharkan, near Hoshiarpur, on July 25. However, they had to undergo a specialised training of another six weeks to get more tips on advanced combat operations before joining on border duties.

A senior official of the BSF told The Tribune that the BSF women personnel would make foolproof body frisking of the local women at border check posts whose farms were across the border fence. Almost as a daily routine, a large number of women cross the fencing through the gates to carry out farming activities. Earlier, it was difficult for BSF men to carry out frisking exercise.

The official further revealed that among the new recruits, 14 were postgraduates, 22 graduates and 128 had studied up to Class XII and include 25 sportswomen and 11 NCC volunteers.

The BSF had constructed private living quarters, independent recreational areas and even washrooms reserved for the women personnel in every unit, he added.

A majority of the women recruits were from the state, but a few of those having passed out include young women from West Bengal and Assam also.

Along with their male counterparts, they would carry out search and frisking at check posts, immigration points and trade routes along the borders in Punjab, besides, facilitating spectators in the retreat ceremonies at Hussainiwala and Attari-Wagah borders in Ferozepur and Amritsar districts, respectively.

Roranwali (Attari), September 11
The first-time deployment of women officials by the BSF on the Indo-Pak border has brought along a feeling of relief for hundreds of women-folk in villages situated along the Indo-Pak border as now they would not only be able to enter their fields on the other side of the fencing after 18-19 years, but they would also be able to contribute to their family income by helping their men-folk in farm operations.

The fencing was put in place in border areas of Amritsar in the year 1989-90. From then onwards, the farming families had never been able to send their women-folk to their fields across the fencing as the mammoth fencing gates were manned by male BSF officials who, allowed only men-folk to cross the fencing by subjecting them to exhaustive frisking. What apparently made women to be reluctant in crossing over to their fields on the other side was the fear of frisking by the male officials at gates.

Their long-pending demand of deployment of women constables and officials has been implemented with female BSF officials’ first batch taking over reigns of fencing gates at some places and exhaustive border guarding exercise. “The deployment will be helping us in more than one ways.

Emotionally, it has a lot of importance for us as we will be able to see our land holdings across the fencing for the first time after 1990. Then our families will be saving money as we will be able to contribute to farm operations and our men folk will not have to rely upon costly labour,” said Raj Kaur of Roranwali village. Joginder Singh had a different reason to smile. 

There is a ray of hope for border farmers who were awaiting compensation for their land taken over by the government for setting up Zero Line during Partition as the Union Home Ministry and the state government have finally initiated a joint survey for the giving of relief.

The Tribune had highlighted the plight of the border farmers in its September 9, 2009, issue.

“The process has taken off and the issue will be resolved shortly.Many departments are involved, but things have started moving,” said DIG Mohd Aquil.

Chandigarh, September 11
The field of otology (ear) in India has seen a paradigm shift due to the implementation of several new cutting-edge techniques in surgical management as well as diagnosis techniques.

This was stated by Dr SK Kacker, former director and head of ENT department, AIIMS, Delhi, who was the chief guest at the 33rd Annual Conference of Association of Otolaryngologists of India (North West Zone) held here today. Over 300 doctors from across the state attended the first day of the conference conducted by the ENT Department at Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32.

Hearing loss is not a “visible disability” and thus is difficult to be diagnosed, particularly in case of children, at an early stage. But, after introduction of oto acoustic emission, a screening test, the problem can be identified at even early stages, said Dr Kacker. Those with confirmed hearing loss are then fitted with hearing aids and enrolled for speech- language therapy immediately, he added.

The guest faculty included Prof Achal Gulati and Dr Sanjay Sachdeva. 

Ludhiana, September 11
Jagmeet Singh Brar, a member of the All-India Congress Working Committee, said today that he was in the race for the post of the PPCC president.

Claiming that he would bring changes in the PPCC if trusted with this responsibility, Brar said he would honour the decision of the Congress high command.

“I will support the candidature of former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and PPCC president Mohinder Singh Kaypee, but I have my own ambitions,” he said.

Commenting upon the Chintan Baithak of the SAD at Shimla, Brar maintained that the conclave should be termed as ‘‘Sukhbir chintan baithak’’, as it was aimed at creating an acceptance for Sukhbir Badal so that he could be crowned as a Chief Minister.

He said instead of wasting money for his projection, they should have discussed issues related to the withdrawal of subsidies floated by Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal.

“He put his career at stake by these proposals. He should have been appreciated for this step. They should have kept the issue on the top of priority list to be discussed at the conclave,” he said.

Chandigarh, September 11
A new aggressive kisan movement has occupied the centre stage in Punjab and is set to up the ante to get its demands met, never mind the consequences. The movement, referred to as a return of Naxalism by its opponents, has, however, entrenched itself firmly in the state, particularly in Malwa and Doaba. Its followers in turn refer to other unions as “sarkariya”.

Be what it may, the new conglomeration of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta), the Kirti Kisan Sabha and various labourers unions has not only forced the state to put off the unbundling of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) till December 15, but has also raised the ante by demanding the state assembly passes a resolution deferring the unbundling exercise indefinitely.

The BKU (Ekta) and its allied organisations yesterday announced their resolve to hold a rail and rasta roko on September 15 if this demand was not accepted besides other demands, including compensation of Rs 10 lakh each and a government job for the next of kin of three farmers who died following a protest in Chandigarh two days ago.

Economist Ranjit Singh Ghuman of Punjabi University, says the BKU (Ekta) and its allied wings have radical elements, including former Naxalites. He says it is attracting farmers because two other factions of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) have turned pro-government. Prof Ghuman says the beleaguered peasantry, which is witnessing a decrease in its per-hectare income and collapse of the health and education system, is grasping at straws to come out of the situation.

Prof Suchha Singh Gill, also of the same university, who has worked on farmer movements, says the reality is that the government does not have any solution to the ongoing agrarian crisis. He said in such a situation a faction of farmers was feeling that their very existence is in danger. “Call it a peasant movement, Naxalism or caste war, but a definite phase of struggle is beginning,” he added.

Meanwhile BKU (Rajewal) leader Balbir Singh Rajewal, who has been referred to as “sarkariya” by the Ekta faction, claims it is difficult to sustain agitations centred around violence and that people will get disillusioned with the activities of the Ekta faction.

BKU (Ekta) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokri Kala says his group has people of all shades, including former Naxalites. He, however, says the movement is not Naxalite in nature and that all it has done is to unite the farmers and the Khet Mazdoors into one force.

Amritsar, September 11
An 11-member delegation of the Samaj Bachao Morcha, representing a section of the Ravidasia community, has put forth seven suggestions at a meeting with Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh to normalise strained relations among Sikhs and Dalits post murder of Sant Rama Nand in Vienna.

The Jathedar has assured them of his cooperation in resolving the contentious issue and said he would also consider their demand of setting up of a committee by the Takht to probe the murder of Sant Rama Nand and the violence erupted in Punjab in its aftermath. The delegation met Giani Gurbachan Singh at his residence.

The morcha head, Gian Chand, said on behalf of a section of Ravidasias that they would do whatever they could to restore the warmth of relations between the two communities. Expressing its concern over the alleged removal of Birs from around 100 gurdwaras named after Guru Ravidas, the morcha leaders and members of delegation assured the Jathedar that they would be leaving no stone unturned to restore the “Birs” in the gurdwaras with full respect.

The seven suggestions put forth before the Jathedar included the SGPC should be celebrating “Purabs” of all Saints and Gurus whose “Baani” has been included in Guru Granth Sahib and that there should be common cremation grounds for Sikhs and Dalits as the Sikhism has always shunned the casteist approach prevailing in society. “We feel the “Baani” of Guru Ravidas and other Saints is perfectly in line with the philosophy of Guru Granth Sahib,” said Gian Chand.

Jalandhar, September 11
Bharati Kisan Union (BKU), Rajewal, leaders, led by Balbir Singh Rajewal, Labha Singh Kaitel, Nek Singh Khakh and Onkar Singh Augol, met AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi today. They were invited by Rahul for a meeting and had a lengthy interaction on issues related to agriculture and education with him.

After returning from Delhi, Rajewal said they had requested Rahul to set up a scientific mechanism to determine the MSP of paddy and wheat. Rajewal told Rahul that last year, the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices had recommended Rs 1,080 per quintal as a MSP of paddy. However, the Union government fixed Rs 880 as a MSP and paid Rs 50 per quintal as bonus on it.

“This year the commission recommended Rs 980 per quintal as a MSP when the cost of production of paddy has gone up substantially this year due to a drought-like situation. Is it justified on the part of the commission to recommend the MSP of paddy for the current year less than that of last year? he asked.

Rajewal said Rahul was also apprised of findings of the Johl Committee and Ranjit Singh Ghuman committee, which had come to conclusion that farmers had suffered a financial loss of several thousand crores since 1967 due the non-remunerative fixing of the MSP of paddy and wheat by the Union government.

The Ghuman committee had pegged the loss at Rs 62,000 crore.

“We have told Rahul that there should be one type of neighbourhood school where wards of rich as well as poor can study,” said Rajewal.

Sangrur, September 11
No tentative dates for carrying out spray and other insecticide operations have been conveyed by the state Health Department following which no such spray/ fumigation/ sprinkling of oil exercise has been done since January 1, 2006, in Longowal village.

Dr Amandeep Aggarwal, an RTI activist from the village, said today that this had been revealed by the Longowal senior medical officer (SMO) a few days ago in reply to an application filed by him under the Right to Information Act.

He said the department’s website mentioned various sprays and other measures to control insects and their larvae. It even claimed that these measures were undertaken every year. However, residents of the village had not seen any insecticide spray/ fumigation, sprinkling of oil operation for the past many years.

He added that they had approached the authorities concerned various times in this regard, but to no avail.

Chandigarh, September 11
Cotton in Punjab and neighbouring Rajasthan, which has witnessed stunted growth this year due to prolonged dry weather, may be adversely affected by the ongoing rain spell, which hit cotton-growing areas in Bathinda, Mansa and Ferozepur districts today.

Agriculture experts and farmers are keeping their fingers crossed and hoping the rain spell does not last as it has in Himachal, east Haryana and parts of Punjab over the past three days.

This is because the prolonged dry spell this season has resulted in the premature bursting of pods due to which cotton started arriving in state mandis in the last week of August even though official procurement is to start from October 1. Farmers are currently selling their produce at around Rs 2,400 to Rs 2,600 per quintal even though last year’s maximum support price was Rs 2,800 per quintal.

Bhagwan Dass, a commission agent in Bathinda, said around 3,000 quintals of cotton was arriving in the town every day and that 20,000 quintals had arrived in the local market till now. He said compared to this only 7,000 quintals had been purchased on the same date last year. Sources said the situation was similar in the Mansa, Maur and Abohar mandis in the state.

State Agriculture Director B. S. Sidhu said the cotton yield would go down in the case of a prolonged spell of rain. Cotton expert and Markfed official M. S. Brar said while nothing could be done about the plants which had bursted prematurely, the cotton crop could benefit by today’s rain if it did not continue any further. Persistent rain would result in a drop in yield, he added.

Jalandhar, September 11
Officials of various government procurement agencies, who met here today, informed the Punjab Government authorities that they would not enter the grain markets on October 1 to procure paddy. The officials held a meeting under the banner of the Foodgrains Agencies Coordination Committee and handed over a representation to the Deputy Commissioner for forwarding it to the government.

A spokesman of the committee told The Tribune that Food and Supply Minister Adesh Partap Singh had assured them at a meeting held with him on March 31 that all issues and problems regarding the procurement of foodgrains would be redressed. But none of the issues had been sorted out.

First of all, there was a huge shortage of staff for procuring paddy in various government agencies. One inspector had to move about in four or five markets to procure foodgrains. Besides procurement, he had to ensure its storage, etc, and also verify the bills to make payment to the farmers in time.

The committee urged the government to fix responsibility for the non-milling of about 10 lakh tonnes of paddy for which the state government would have to pay a heavy price. The milling of paddy was delayed because covered space was not available to stack the rice. The committee wanted that there should be uniformity in applying the criteria of weight gain in the case of stacked foodgrains in godowns.

The exemption of 10 per cent damage in the case of old stocks of foodgrains should be applicable to all procurement agencies..

Officials of the procurement agencies said they had the apprehension that the government would put pressure on them to procure paddy with a high moisture content. 

Chandigarh, September 11
In compliance with the Punjab and Haryana High Court directions, secretary-cum-school principal of Patiala-based Yadavindra Public School Association Stanley Vinod Kumar today undertook not to transfer the school property.

The association, certain that the Patiala municipal corporation would proceed with the auction of the main campus, had moved the court.

It had sought directions to the state of Punjab, the municipal corporation and the divisional commissioner against “coercive steps” to recover the alleged house tax. Acting on the petition, the court had stayed the operation of house tax sub-committee’s order, while asking the school to file an undertaking.

In the undertaking placed before Justice Permod Kohli this morning, it was stated that the school “shall not transfer property number 8160/511 of Yadavindra Public School, Patiala, in any manner whatsoever to any other party or third party during the pendency of the writ petition”.

It was further added: “The school shall not create any further lien, charge or alienate the property in any manner during the pendency”. The case will now come up for further hearing on September 23.

In its petition, the school had sought directions to the municipal corporation not to recover Rs 16,48,095 as “house tax” for the staff houses property adjoining the main campus during the pendency of the matter.