Amritsar, September 18
The six Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (HSGPC-Ad hoc) leaders, summoned to the Akal Takht on September 19, have alleged that Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh was working “under pressure” of the SGPC. They also said there was no violation of the Sikh “maryada” at the gurdwara on September 13.

The HSGPC leaders have also accused the SGPC chief Avtaar Singh of issuing threats to them during his September 13 visit to Kurukshetra, against which they are set to lodge a police complaint.

“There are glaring discrepancies in the allegations. Out of the six leaders, Bibi Ravinder Kaur was not present at the gurdwara on September 13, still she has been asked to appear before the Akal Takht,” alleged Kanwaljit Singh Ajrana, president of the HSGPC youth wing and one of the six leaders who have been directed to appear before the Akal Takht on September 19. “The Akal Takht Jathedar should have verified facts before issuing any diktats. It seems he is working under pressure of SGPC chief Avtaar Singh,” he added.

Earlier, HSGPC (Adhoc) president Jagdish Singh Jhinda and his associates - Kanwaljit Singh Ajrana, Bibi Ravinder Kaur, Avtaar Singh Cheeka, Hazoor Singh Nambardar and Joginder Singh - were summoned to the Akal Takht on September 19.

The Jathedar, Giani Gurbachan Singh, who had asked the six leaders to explain “their act that violated the Sikh ‘maryada”, had also alleged that these leaders and their followers had prevented entry of Sikh devotees into the gurdwara premises and had even forced the “Granthi Singh” to leave from “Hazoori” of Guru Granth Sahib.

On the otherhand, the leaders claimed that they had done not indulged in any violent act.

“We were there to undertake the “Sewa Sambhal” of the gurdwara till 8 p.m. It was a symbolic act to express our resentment against the SGPC leaders’ attitude towards Sikh “sangat” of Haryana, which has been demanding the right to perform the “Sewa Sambhal” of Haryana-based gurdwaras. No one indulged in hooliganism,” the leaders claimed.

“The allegations against us are a bundle of lies. If anyone proves that I was there, I would be quitting my membership,” said Bibi Ravinder Kaur.

Asked whether HSGPC leaders would approach Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda for withdrawal of cases against them, Nambardar said they had no such plans.

Chandigarh, September 18
The Food Corporation of India (FCI) intends to procure 20 per cent of the paddy produce in Punjab this year.

Out of the total anticipated paddy procurement of 127 lakh metric tonnes by government agencies in the state, FCI would procure approximately 26 lakh MT. FCI had procured only 1.45 and 2.13 lakh MT paddy during 2007-08 and 2008-09, respectively, which was about two per cent of the total produce in those years.

Addressing a press conference here yesterday, the regional manager FCI and president of the FCI Officers Association (FCIOA) Harish Chander said the corporation would use its 123 depots across the state as procurement centres.

“One of the reasons why the FCI is not able to achieve its procurement targets is that the state agencies do not allot us proper ‘mandis’. We intend to bypass that process and use our own infrastructure,” he said.

“We intend to procure the produce from the farmers through the ‘arthiyas’,” he said adding that the FCI would ask the state agencies to waive off various fees that are collected at the ‘mandis’ during procurement.

Chander added that Punjab alone could rescue the entire nation from the food crisis caused by the slack monsoons this year.

While admitting that the movement of wheat and rice stocks from last season had been delayed by the FCI, he pointed out that in many cases the wheat procured by the state agencies did not prescribe to the quality specifications laid down by the corporation.

“The discolouration of wheat stored at many places is not due to a delay in their movement but due to the fact that quality standards of FCI were not adhered to when it was procured,” he said.He added that the FCI would also have more storage space available with it. “The state agencies have planned to have an additional covered storage capacity of 71.25 lakh MT.

“This is being done by Pungrain in the public private-partnership mode,” added MS Sarang, working president of the FCI officers association.

He informed that the FCI Officers Association would hold a regional conference in Jalandhar on September 20, where apart from local members of the association, delegates from all over India would deliberate on issues relating to FCI policies and functioning, and their impact.

Soon, digital system to scan trains at Attari
GS Paul
Tribune News Service

Attari, September 18
The Customs and Central Excise Department has mooted a proposal to introduce a specially designed searching pit at the Attari railway station to comb the incoming trains from Pakistan, especially the goods trains.

If everything goes according to plans, the state-of-the-art pit would soon be built at a cost of Rs 8 crore. The move would enable safe, efficient and foolproof search of incoming trains and check the import of prohibited items.

The Central Custom’s office has communicated to the DRM, Northern Railways, Ferozepore Cantt, to take up the matter with the Ministry of Railways at the earliest. “The pit would be equipped with electronic searching gadgets and light systems. Though the expenditure is a bit on the higher side, safety at Attari, which is a very sensitive station, should always be the prime focus,” said VK Mahajan, Assistant Commissioner, Customs and Central Excise Department, Attari.

Elaborating the significance of “under the train search”, Mahajan said most prohibited items are concealed in “cavities” in the floor of train compartments.

“Sometimes it becomes difficult for our men to scan these “cavities”, which would be possible after the new system is put in place,” he said.

Notably, a digital search system would be later installed in the pit. Equipped with an LCD screen, this system, which costs nearly Rs 30,000, would scan the trains and anything suspicious would be displayed on the screen.

“This system would work through sensors and help in making search operations more efficient,” said Manish Berry, inspector, Customs.The department’s search staff has recently been provided jungle shoes, helmets, dragon lights et al, which would help increase their efficiency.

POLITICS

Kaypee demands financial emergency in state
Varinder Singh & Gurbax Puri
Tribune Reporters

Khadoor Sahib, September 18
Holding the state government responsible for the ongoing “financial mess” in the state, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief Mohinder Singh Kaypee has demanded imposition of “financial emergency” in Punjab to make it a prosperous state once again

“In fact, it is an anarchy-like situation prevailing across the state. The fiscal situation is so bad that people of the state are reeling under a huge debt of Rs 64,000 crore. The state government has mishandled the situation so badly that it has not been left with even a single penny to spare for the state development. All projects that are in progress are the ones that were sponsored by the Centre, ” Kaypee said. Kaypee alleged that the objective of the SAD-BJP combine was to harass Congress workers at the grass-root level. “Congress workers are being implicated falsely. Corruption is spread to such an extent that it is impossible to approach government officials,” Kaypee added.

Other Congress leaders who addressed the party’s political conference included former MP Rana Gurjit Singh, Sukhwinder Singh and Harminder Singh Gill.

On the other hand, the CPI conference was addressed by a number of leaders, CPI’s national secretary Amarjit kaur, Bhupinder Singh Sambar and Jagroop Singh. The leaders accused the Central government of giving shelter to hoarders and traders. Meanwhile, the Bharti Sangharsh Dal and the “Pachhrian Shreniyan Sangharash Committee” also held their conferences.

Chandigarh, September 18
Promotee deputy superintendents of police (DSPs) today asked the principal secretary, Home, to state whether any changes had been made in the tentative seniority list circulated by the government in January this year before asking them for their objections on the same.

Principal secretary, Home, A R Talwar, who visited the police headquarters here, gave a personal hearing to more than 100 officers who will be affected once the new list comes into play. The officers met the home secretary in four groups with promotee IPS officers, who have been affected, also meeting the officer.

According to sources, some promotee DSPs, who feel they are being given a raw deal by the government, which is allegedly overlooking some rules in this regard, pointed out to a state government circular of April 1991 which states “confirmation is delinked from the availability of permanent vacancy in the grade.

In other words an officer who has successfully completed his probation may be considered for confirmation”. The officers cited this rule to prove that their non-confirmation in a particular post should not be held against them.

Promotee officers also pointed out to the May 1994 notification which states “seniority of persons appointed to posts in each cadre of a service shall be determined by the length of continuous service on such post in that cadre”. The officers said length of continuous service should be taken into account while settling the issue of seniority.

Earlier the Punjab and Haryana High Court, while adjudicating on the issue of seniority of directly recruited and promoted DSPs in the State, had directed the Punjab government to finalise the seniority list within three months and to eventually assign seniority between promotees and direct recruits in the ratio of 4:1.

Following this, a tentative list was prepared by the state government and also released for filing of objections. Promotee DSPs have since raised objections about the manner in which the list was prepared. 

Ludhiana, September 18
In recognition of the contributions of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, to agriculture, Cabinet Minister, Finance and Planning, Manpreet Singh Badal, today announced an additional grant of Rs 10 crore to the university for dedicated research in the next fiscal.

Manpreet made the announcement after inaugurating the two-day Kisan Mela that kick started at the PAU here yesterday.

He said for the past many years, the PAU had been receiving a grant of Rs 100 crore, which seemed insufficient to sustain the ongoing research and other programmes.

He added that despite the financial constraints, the university had continued to address the farmers' needs in the state.

Addressing a huge gathering of farmers, hailing from different parts of Punjab and adjoining states, Manpreet said the present- day agriculture was knowledge-intensive and biotechnology held the future of agriculture.

The Finance Minister added that the PAU had contributed tremendously to the welfare of the nation. He said it was PAU scientists’ hard work that led to the fulfilment of the requirements of national food security. He said water conservation would be the challenge for the next 15 years.

Dr M S Kang, PAU vice-chancellor, said the depleting water table was a serious issue linked with the rampant rice-wheat cropping sequence, especially in the central districts of Punjab. He said the PAU had evolved some water-saving technologies such as use of laser leveller, tensiometer-based irrigation in paddy and growing less water-consuming crops.

Moga, September 18
District Magistrate (DM), Moga, Satwant Singh Johal has asked the Social Security Department to cross-check lists of old age, widows and other social security pension beneficiaries to bring transparency in the distribution system. He has directed the department to report to him within 15 days.

There have been complaints that in some villages old-age and widow pensions were being drawn from the government treasury under the names of persons, who had expired before the distribution of money. The last pension was disbursed among beneficiaries in February.

Chandigarh, September 18
Giving press statements is one thing and performing is another. The grand announcements made by Punjab Minister for Industries and Commerce Manoranjan Kalia about the state becoming a major information technology (IT) destination sounds more of a joke, when one goes through the official website of the Punjab government.

The website Punjabgov.nic.in has a lot of information on the state, but most of it dates back to 2004! Some parts of the website talk about the state’s achievements in 2002.

For an investor interested in Punjab, this site is the first point of contact but it is a shame that the “consultant heavy” Punjab Infotech Limited has failed to maintain the state’s portal website.

Starting with Punjab’s education facilities, technical colleges, the number of industries or the agriculture produce, the entire information pertains to more than five years back. Information about the power generation plants is outdated. Several of the projects listed as “pipeline” projects have already been implemented. Even the map of the state does not have most of the new districts carved out in the past few years.

MD Punjab Infotech Rakesh Verma said they had not been responsible for the content on the website and had only been there to provide technical support. “It is for the departments to send us updates about the information on the Punjab website. Moreover, every department and district has its own website and these are regularly updated,” he said.

But then who is responsible for the centralised portal of the Punjab government website. “With each department having its own website, the state portal is not that important,” he added.

Some department heads, however, pointed out that the updated information has already been sent to the Punjab Infotech, but it is for them to integrate that information on the portal. “The portal is updated in terms of press notes and tenders, but all else is ages old,” pointed out an officer.