Talwandi Sabo (Bathinda), September 23
Catching the district administration here unawares, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today made a ‘surprise’ visit to check the status of the development projects for which he had laid the foundation a year back.

His visit sent tremors through the administration as many of the officials left to accompany the CM leaving their office work pending.

It may be mentioned that Badal had laid about a dozen foundation stones for beautification and development projects in Talwandi Sabo on September 26 last year after the Union government sanctioned around Rs 100 crore to mark the celebrations of Gurutta Gaddi Divas.

He landed at Talwandi Sabo in the afternoon and straightway visited the Takht Damdama Sahib. After paying obeisance there, he moved towards the under construction project related to water supply augmentation. Officials concerned informed the CM that about 85 per cent of the Rs 168 lakh worth project had been completed.

Then he took stock of the sewerage system for which Rs.16.58 crore were sanctioned last year. Officials informed that 38 per cent of the total work had been achieved and the project would be completed by February 2011.

He visited the under construction drug de-addiction centre (worth Rs 156 lakh), where officials disclosed to him that 52 per cent of the total task had been completed. Badal termed the project as a necessity for the region as a large number of youth of this belt was addicted to drugs.

He took a round of the under construction building of Yatri Niwas and community toilet (worth Rs 229 lakh). He expressed satisfaction after observing that 75 per cent of the total work had been completed. Some political leaders and farmers met him and apprised the CM of their suggestions.

Before leaving for Bathinda, the CM inspected the construction work of a senior secondary school premises (worth Rs 107 lakh), for which he was informed that about 80 per cent work had been completed.

Though he expressed satisfaction about the pace of the ongoing development projects in the town, he inquired about those projects also where not even a single brick could be laid till date. After some confidential discussions with senior officials of the district, he left the town.

The CM also inspected the Institute of Hotel Management (IHM) which is to be inaugurated by Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal tomorrow. Badal also visited the makeshift complex of the Central University that is functioning from the now defunct spinning mill complex here.

Jalandhar, September 23
The Punjab Education Department authorities today cancelled the orders with regard to the shifting of lecturers from government senior secondary schools where the number of students was less than 10 in the 10 plus one and plus two classes.

The department had relieved a good number of lecturers from such schools yesterday.

Sources said the District Education Officers concerned were today directed by the department to inform the relieved lecturers to rejoin at the schools where they were posted earlier. Some of the lecturers rejoined their previous place of posting this afternoon, it is learnt.

Many lecturers had rushed to Chandigarh immediately after they were relieved. The sources said lecturers from Sangrur, Mohali, Kapurthala and Ludhiana districts had reached there. Many more arrived there this morning and started a demonstration against the government before the lunch break.

Relieving of the lecturers from the schools had created confusion among students as well as their parents. A senior government official said yesterday that the decision to relive the lecturers had been taken to make the optimum use of the services of such teachers.

He had stated that there was a proposal to post the relieved lecturers in schools where the number of students was more than 10 or in the range of 20 to 30.

He said there were schools where the number of students in the science and commerce streams at the plus two level was between 20 and 30 but there was no lecturer to teach the subject.

However, what made the government’s decision questionable was who would have taught the students in the institutions from where the lecturers were withdrawn. And withdrawing of the teachers at a stage when half the academic session was almost through had virtually left the students in the lurch.

Meanwhile, sources in the Education Department said the process of rationalisation of teachers in schools would continue.

Bathinda, September 23
In a clear departure from the past, mercury has been hovering above the normal in Bathinda and its adjoining areas for over eight days.

Interestingly, the weather conditions prevailing in the areas nowadays has never been a characteristic here in the third week of September at least for the last three years.

The mercury has been nearly 3 to 4 degrees Celsius above the normal at the minimum level while it has been around 1 to 2 degrees above normal at the maximum level during the past week, said that Agro-Met Advisory Services, PAU Regional Station, Bathinda.

The normal temperature during the third week of September at minimum level had been 21 to 22 degrees Celsius while at maximum level it had been around 35 to 36 degrees.

The maximum temperature recorded on Wednesday is 37.6°C. The day’s low was 25°C, said that Agro-Met advisory services here.

As far as the behaviour of mercury here during the period of retreating monsoon between 2006 and 2008 is concerned, it recorded 32 to 36°C and 17 to 19°C at maximum and minimum level respectively in 2006. In 2007, the mercury remained 32 to 34 degrees Celsius and 19 to 20 degrees Celsius at maximum and minimum levels respectively. Similar temperatures were recorded by the Agro-Met Advisory Services also in the year 2008.

Dr Gurmeet Singh Buttar, director of PAU, Regional Station, Bathinda, attributed effects of drought conditions witnessed in some parts of the country and change in climate to the main reasons behind the change in the mercury’ mood and resultant change in average temperature in the region.

Talking about the effects of present weather conditions on crops, Dr Buttar said the conditions might not have any adverse effects on crops. If the conditions continue for some more time than there might be some chances of adverse effects on crops, he added.

He explained the minimum temperature has more influence on green yield grain of any crop. Although it varies from farm to farm, present was the stage of grain filling and ripening for paddy, he said, adding that if the crops was undergoing filling stage, there were chances of yield reduction due to hot weather. And there would be no effect, if the crops had already been ripened.

As far as the cotton is concerned, the conditions were more or less favourable for the crop as the cotton picking was going in several areas and rain in this stage might add moisture in the crops, he added.

According to the weather forecast made by the IMD, Chandigarh, for Bathinda region on Tuesday and received by the Agro-MeT Advisory Services here, the weather is likely to remain clear and dry in the next two to three days. The temperature is also likely to increase in the period, weather men added.

Bathinda, September 23
Despite the efforts of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, farmers of this district could not be attracted much towards investing in Agro Service Centres set up to lend agro-equipment. The scheme was reportedly launched for two reasons. First, to help poor and marginal farmers take the benefit of costly farm machinery and second, to provide a source of income to the unemployed youth. For the promotion of the scheme, Badal had asked people to come forward during various public meets.

After the launch of the scheme, the agriculture department had sought applications from farmers ready to invest about Rs 10 lakh. To magnetise entrepreneurs, 35 per cent subsidy was also offered. Five equipment were short-listed — a tractor with 50 horsepower, a machinery shed, a laser leveller, a rotavator and a disc harrow.

Initially, the scheme attracted a number of farmers and the district agriculture office received about 25 applications. Later, farmers started backtracking citing the high rate of interest (about 14 per cent) on the loan amount as a reason.

According to details gathered from agriculture office, only seven farmers have set up their Agro Service Centres in the district, one each at Jhumba, Bhai Rupa, Bazak, Ram Nagar, Bangi Ruldu and two in Bathinda. Sensing a poor response of farmers to reach the final stage, the agriculture department, in an attempt to check the frivolous applications, stopped receiving further applications till September 30.

Confirming the facts, Chief Agriculture Officer, Bathinda, Paramjeet Singh Sandhu said, “The scheme was launched in an ambitious way but we could not see the positive response from individual farmers. There could be some modifications in the scheme, which can make it successful.”

Faridkot, September 23
A nagar kirtan lead by Panj Piaras was taken out on the final day of Baba Farid Agman Purab, in which more than one lakh followers took part.

The kirtan bhog of Shree Akhand Path at Gurdwara Tilla Baba Farid was also held in the presence of VK Meena, Deputy Commissioner, Faridkot and S. Inderjit Singh Khalsa, chief sewadar of Tilla Baba Sheikh Farid and a member of Gurudwara Godri Sahib management committee. Prominent personalities of the area were also present on the occasion.

As the nagar kirtan was passing through the streets of town with Shree Guru Granth Sahib Palki Sahib covered with roses, people showered flowers petals on the palki standing on both sides of the streets.

The city was decorated with colourful flags and langar was held at many places.

Sangat sang the Baba Farid Ji “bani” in their respective vehicle through loudspeakers. Hundreds of men and women were cleaning the roads in front of the Palki Sahib.

As the nagar kirtan reached the residence of Deputy Commissioner, DC V.K.Meena and other officials paid their respects and prayed for peace and harmony.

The DC distributed sweets among the sangat.

Before the SSP residence, S. Surinder Singh Sodhi, the incumbent SSP Faridkot, along with his officials welcomed the palki.

The nagar kirtan reached the Gurudwara Godri Sahib after covering a distance of four kilometres on foot where it converted into a big religious Diwan.

LK Yadav, SSP Ropar, was honored with Baba Farid award for Honesty by the management of Gurudwara Tilla Baba Farid and Godri Sahib.

Dr Harshinder Kaur, MD, president, Harish Trust, Patiala, got the Bhagat Puran Singh Award for service to humanity. This award carries a cash prize of Rs one lakh each with siropa and a memento. 

Ferozepur, September 23
The state government has decided to constitute grievances redressal committees for every procurement centre so as to ensure smooth and undisrupted procurement of the paddy brought by the farmers to these centre, said Kamal Yadav DC, while presiding over the meeting of heads of various procurement agencies here on Wednesday.

Yadav said representatives from food and supplies department, concerned procurement agency, commission agent, farmer's side and market committee will comprise the five member team thus constituted for every procurement centre.

Yadav said the procurement drive will start from October 1, in all the 157 procurement centres falling under the district, for which, control rooms have been set up at all sub-divisional levels.

Yadav said special flying squads have also been constituted to monitor the procurement process. Yadan said the paddy with 17 per cent or more moisture content would not be purchased by the government agencies.

All arrangements in the procurement centres have been completed, he added.

Yadav said the farmers should ensure that they take "J" form from the commission agents while handing over their crop. He said the paddy would be purchased as per minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 950 per quintal as decided by the government and the cost for superfine quality will be Rs 980 per quintal. — OC

Abohar, September 23
Finding that the employees of the PSEB had started disconnecting power supply to the houses located in the ancient Mud Fort area, the Punjab, police have started patrolling the streets to mount pressure on the occupants for eviction. The Kisan Majdoor Mulajam Talmel Sangharsh Committee has resolved to mobilise more people to participate in the dharna and demonstration scheduled for September 25.

The ASI had served notices to the Abohar Municipal Council for having pocketed off millions of rupees on the construction of streets and drains besides getting streetlights fixed through the PSEB in the colony named Jammu Basti that had been developed by the alleged encroacher by dismantling a part of the ancient monument. However, the MC reportedly threw the notice into the dustbin. There was no follow up. The ASI had recently come under fire during hearing of a petition for not initiating action against the illegal occupants of the Mud Fort. Only then the ASI started serving notices and sought help from the district authorities to get the encroachments removed.

The administration had reportedly given September 24 as the last date to the encroachers for voluntarily demolishing over 250 houses and remove valuables besides debris. The members of the action committee submitted a memorandum to the sub-divisional authorities again on Tuesday to express resentment over the eviction. The committee members rued that the state government had not so far come out with any rehabilitation plan for the affected families. — OC

Abohar, September 23
Imposing a token penalty on the Abohar based SDO of the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board (PWSSB) of Rs 5,000 for the delay of 294 days in providing the information, state information commissioner, Rupan Deol Bajaj, significantly observed that the RTI Act had been enacted to give information held in the custody of public authorities to the citizens, in order to promote transparency in decision making by the government, has proved to be a two-way tool, wherein citizens have been providing information to the government authorities in addition to seeking it.

Where the executive authority of that office also happens to be the PIO (Public information officer), it is possible for him to take note of such applications by way of a a wake-up call.

It would be in the interest of the government to initiate suo motu action to redress the grievances of the public rather than going by the niceties of the Act.

The observations were made while disposing off the complaint made by sat Pal Khariwal, chairman of the Consumer Movement. The head of the NGO had vide application dated October 20, 2008 sought information from the PWSSB regarding poor sanitation conditions in Abohar.

The Commission said in the orders during the past week, copy of which was made available to this correspondent today, that the SDO totally ignored the notice be neither appearing himself nor represented by anyone else during two hearings till July 2009.

Now, he said only one JE was provided by the government against the sanctioned strength of 3-4 JEs. The government was not recruiting the staff now-a-days. 
— OC

Mansa, September 23
Mansa police seized a large quantity of drugs and arrested a woman in this regard on Wednesday. As per the information, police raided a house in Nidhan Nagar near Nehru Memorial College Mansa on Wednesday and arrested Beant Kaur, wife of Balwinder Singh, a resident of Bainiwal, with a large quantity of drugs.

SHO Sulakhan Singh said a police party of Mansa had recovered capsules, injections and tablets from her house during the raid. About 17,856 capsules of Proxivon, 16,440 tablets of different salts and 2,362 injections of Morphine have been seized.

A student of Nehru Memorial College, BA (final), who was allegedly purchasing drugs from Beant Kaur, was also arrested by the police, SHO added. After registering a case against Beant Kaur and Harpreet Singh, son of Balkar Singh, student of Nehru Memorial College, police have started investigation in this case. 

Bathinda, September 23
It was an emotional moment at the special ladies’ meet organised by the Ranbankura Brigade to bid farewell to Sudha Chauhan, chairperson of the family welfare organisation and president of the Chetak Ladies Club, who would be leaving the Bathinda Military Station soon. She had a stint of over 10 months here.

Senior officers’ wives present said the chairperson took keen interest in upgrading the military station for the welfare of the families residing there.

Herself a teacher for several years, she also took regular feedback from Army schools here to improve them.

In her farewell speech, she said, “Words are not enough to thank the ladies of the 10 Corps. Words are not enough to express my feelings for the warmth I got here. I wish you all the very best in life.”

Among other senior officers’ wives present included Pali Gujral, Payal Sharma, Anupama Panwar, Jyotika Singh and Nishi Prasad. — TNS