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Financial Crisis
Procurement: BKU plans protest
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Rajasthan ‘owes Rs 80,000 cr’ to Punjab
Devotees throng Golden Temple on Gurpurb
Call for bandh today
Tribune Impact
Appointment of PCMS Doctors
Fake invoices: Six agro firms under scanner
SIs plan to sue top brass for ‘ruining’ their careers
Construction of Judicial Complexes
Cops facing criminal cases deputed on election duty
Punjab geographers’ meet ends
38 jail inmates get baptised
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Financial Crisis
Chandigarh, November 2 Some cases of non-payment have invited penal interest on the government, making it liable to disburse much more than what was originally due. A case in example is that of the Department of Irrigation and Power that has written to Principal Secretary, Department of Finance, Karan A. Singh, virtually begging him to release Rs 51.17 crore pending in different treasuries for payment to various contractors who have undertaken work for the Irrigation Department. The letter written on Thursday is the second such letter within a month. Though the government claims that there is no dearth of funds, the internal communication within government departments proves otherwise. The letter to the Finance Department dated October 29 reads “refer to letter No 9269 dated October 8, regarding pending payments. Chief Engineer, Canals, Punjab, has again reported that bills of Rs 51.17 crore are pending in different treasuries of the state (in eight districts). It goes on to say, “As stated earlier, a number of contractors/payees have approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court for their payments. The courts have passed interim orders stating that these payments be made within a given time frame. Unfortunately, the department has been unable to clear pending payments in many cases; as a result the court has taken a serious note.” The department has further pleaded, “In order to avoid any embarrassment to the government, it is once again requested that pending bills in the different treasuries (Patiala, Sangrur, Mansa, Ludhiana, Ferozepur, Jalandhar, Bathinda and Faridkot) should be cleared on priority so that the interest payment ordered by the court could be avoided.” Similarly, there are many other departments that have to make payments for work undertaken on behalf of the government, but there is no cash available with the government despite its claims of being in a comfortable position. Interestingly, on the day when the Irrigation Department was asking money to be released by the Finance Department, Punjab raised yet another Rs 200 crore as state development loan by selling off its securities.
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Procurement: BKU plans protest
Ludhiana, November 2 Talking to mediapersons here, BKU president Ajmer Singh Lakhowal said in the first phase of the protest, dharnas would be held at the district headquarters on November 5 and the 1121 paddy variety, which was being sold at Rs 1,200-1,300 less than last year’s amount, would be burnt by farmers to lodge their protest against “injustice” being meted out to them. He added that a memorandum would also be given to the Union Government in this regard which would be handed over to the Deputy Commissioners. Lakhowal said if even then the government ignored the farmers’ welfare, they would be forced to march to Delhi to lodge their protest. The BKU chief said the Centre’s decision to import paddy was against the interests of the farmers as they were being made to suffer massive financial losses due to this. "In spite of India being self-sufficient in rice production, its import from outside is not justified. Rice shellers across Punjab have huge stocks of unprocured paddy from last year, which the Centre is not lifting. This is unfair," Lakhowal remarked. He said the MSP of the 1121 variety should be fixed at Rs 4,000 per quintal and measures taken for the procurement of the 201 variety. "Standards should be relaxed for 201 as this variety is beneficial to farmers due to its lower requirement of water and higher yield as compared to other varieties," the BKU president said. The BKU demanded that like Haryana, the Punjab Government should also ask Markfed to procure the 1121 variety because traders were exploiting the farmers by buying the variety at lower rates.
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Rajasthan ‘owes Rs 80,000 cr’ to Punjab
Chandigarh, November 2 Besides the huge expenditure in supplying free water to Rajasthan, he says, the state has to extract this much extra ground water for its own use, affecting the fertility of its land. There are more than 13 lakh power and diesel-operated tube wells in Punjab that pump out about 2.50 crore acre feet of water every year. The electricity consumed by these tube wells annually is more than 1,000 crore units. The value of this electricity at Rs 2.50 per unit comes to about Rs 2,600 crore. However, since Punjab purchases electricity from other states for Rs 7 to Rs 8 per unit, power used to energise these tube wells costs more than Rs 7,000 crore. Diesel-operated tube wells cost four to five times more. Owing to the shortage of electricity many farmers use generators as well. Even if the cost of power were taken to be Rs 5 per unit, 1,000 crore units of electricity would cost Rs 5,000 crore. Since Punjab is supplying one crore acre feet of canal water to Rajasthan every year, it has to use 400 crore units of electricity worth Rs 2,000 crore for extracting this much ground water. The total amount spent by Punjab for pumping out 40 crore acre feet of water during the past 40 years would thus come to Rs 80,000 crore. Had Punjab used its river waters, there was no need to extract this much ground water. This annual loss of 400 crore units of electricity is all due to free canal water to Rajasthan. Punjab would have become the top-most industrial state of the country if it had used this additional 400 crore units of electricity (free of subsidies) for its industry, says Kumedan. He adds that a decision taken on January 29, 1955, to build the Rajasthan canal could not be treated as an “agreement” between Punjab and Rajasthan. Incidentally, the proceedings are marked “secret” and intriguingly even the present Punjab Council of Ministers, the media and even the people of Punjab were not aware of it. Rajasthan, being a non-riparian state, has no legal right or any share of the waters of the Ravi or the Beas. It was decided by the Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal that
non-riparian Rajasthan had no right even in the Narmada waters. Even if, for the sake of argument, decisions of the 1955 meeting were admitted to be an “agreement”, it is a void agreement as Punjab, being the sole owner of the waters of the Ravi and the Beas, did not get anything in lieu of the water supplied to Rajasthan. Section 25 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, says an “agreement without consideration is void”, concludes Kumedan.
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Devotees throng Golden Temple on Gurpurb
Amritsar, November 2 The celebrations virtually took off with the “Parkash” of Guru Granth Sahib at 1 am. Lakhs of devotees prayed before the “Guru” in the sanctum sanctorum. The celebrations continued till late in the night with the “sangat” reciting “baani” in the Parkarma. One of the biggest attractions for visiting devotees was “jalau”, the display of valuable historical Sikh artifacts, most of which belong to the golden era of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The famed “Naulakha Haar”, “Sehra of Kunwar Naunihal Singh,” and a diamond-studded “Chattar” were part of the “jalau”. Jaswinder Singh Jassi, information officer of the SGPC, said nowadays, “jalau” was arranged on six occasions in a year-the birth anniversaries of Guru Nanak Dev, Guru Ramdas, Guru Gobind Singh, the martyrdom day of Guru Arjan Dev, “Meeri Peeri Diwas”, and the first “Parkash Purb” of Guru Granth Sahib. Person in charge of the publicity wing of the SGPC Bhai Ram Singh said devotees also lit candles and lamps in the evening when “deepmala” and “aatishbazi” were organised at the Golden Temple. The spectacular ‘aatishbazi’ was with a difference this year as no “ground-based” firecrackers were burst and only “air-bound” crackers were used.
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Pilgrims visit Nankana Sahib
Amritsar, November 2 Meanwhile, the Government of Pakistan, it was learnt, has assured the visiting pilgrims that their pending demands, particularly the preservation of the original Sikh architecture and renovation of the Sikh shrines, have been accepted and work on implementation of these projects would be started soon. More than 2,000 India-based pilgrims were currently on a visit to Nankana Sahib and other shrines as part of jathas organised by different Sikh bodies like the SGPC, the DSGMC, Khalra Mission, Bhai Mardana Kirtan Darbar, Haryana Sikh Society, Baba Jagtar Singh Karsewa Wale and Khadoor Sahib-based Baba Sewa Singh. The celebrations were supervised by the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) and former office-bearers of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC). The ETPB chairman Syed Asif Hashmi assured the visiting Sikhs that the Pakistan government had already accepted the pending demands of the Sikhs like better preservation of the shrines. “Hashmi has said there will be no laxity on this front. He said extra care would be taken to preserve the unique Sikh architecture while carrying out repairs, etc of the Sikh shrines,” said Dr Pritpal Singh, convener of the American Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, while talking to The Tribune from Nankana Sahib over the phone. Besides India, Sikh pilgrims visited the shrine from the US, Canada, UK, Italy, France, Spain, Australia, New Zealand and other western countries to take part in the celebrations despite a deteriorating law and order situation in the neighbouring country. What overwhelmed the Sikh sangat this time was that they were accorded a very warm welcome by people who waved at them in the streets and even participated in the celebrations in Gurdwara Nankana Sahib where ardas was also held this evening. On the other hand, they were also greeted by a tight security cover thrown around them inside the gurdwara by the Pakistani security agencies, particularly the Pakistani Rangers. The vehicles of the devotees were also covered by commandos. A confident Pakistan government, it was learnt, had given a go ahead to the Sikh sangat to take out the nagar kirtan procession in the city. But, after holding a meeting with the PSGPC, Jathedars, leading the jathas of devotees, decided to organise and limit the nagar kirtan procession to the vast Gurdwara Nankana Sahib premises to avoid any possibility of breach of their security.
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Pak boy appeals to Indian Govt to release him
Faridkot, November 2 The boy told this to Jarnail Singh Gill and Harjit Singh Gill, both members of the District Juvenile Justice Board, and former Education Minister Avtar Singh Brar, who went to the juvenile home on Monday morning to distribute sweets and fruits among the minor prisoners and undertrials on the occasion of Guru Nanak Dev’s birth anniversary. Sunil Khan, the 15-year-old Pakistani boy, who is a resident of Bahawalpur, was taken into custody by the BSF personnel in May 2008 for illegally entering the Indian side in the Hussainiwala area of Ferozepur district. He was handed over to the Ferozepur police after a formal interrogation and investigations. The Ferozepur police lodged a criminal case under sections 3 and 5 of the Passport Act and various sections of the IPC against him. Later, he was sent to the juvenile home here on the orders of a local court. Sunil, while appearing before the members of the juvenile board, stated that fencing along the border on the Indian side was damaged leading to confusion and he unknowingly entered this side of the border. “I’m innocent and there was no motive behind this act,” he added. Sunil further stated that another Pakistani teenager, Naseer Sultan, was arrested by the Indian police a few months after his arrest, but he was released within two months and handed over to the Pakistani authorities. “Naseer is back at his home because he belonged to an influential family and I am here because I belong to a poor family that cannot plead by case,” he cried. It was learnt that a decision on his trial was pending for the past few months due to which he could not be repatriated to Pakistan. Last year, at the intervention of the juvenile board, the Indian authorities also arranged a telephonic conversation between him and his parents so that they could know that their child was lodged in the prison here. For the past few months, Sunil was trying to learn the Punjabi language in the juvenile home, but he was worried that if he was not repatriated to Pakistan immediately, he could face problems because he would be overage for education.
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Call for bandh today
Amritsar, November 2 Even as the leadership of the Dal Khalsa has given a call for the Punjab bandh for November 3 to lodge its protest against the delay in delivering justice to the victims of the 1984 riots, all factions of the All-India Sikh Students’ Federation, Khalsa Action Committee, Damdami Taksal, Shiromani Akali Dal (Panch Pardhani), SAD (Longowal), a group from within the SGPC, and veteran Akali leader Kuldip Singh Wadal have supported the call for the bandh. The Dal Khalsa general secretary, Kanwar Pal Singh, said the success of the bandh would prove to be a verdict against “politics of genocide” allegedly adopted by some main political outfits like the Congress and the BJP. “Justice delayed is justice denied. And it has been proved in the case of 1984 riot victims. I want to ask top leaders of the SAD whether the call for the bandh is a democratic tool or not? Have they not been giving calls for bandhs as and when they were
in the opposition,” said Kanwar Pal Singh. He clarified that only trains and government-owned buses would be stopped and no hospital or emergency service organisation would be made to shut their doors during the bandh. Schools and government organisations would, however, be made to close down, he said.
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Tribune Impact
Kapurthala, November 2 A visit of Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Badal to Kapurthala turned things around for the district and its music lovers as one hears that the much-needed funds have now been given a green signal by the Finance Minister himself. Talking to The Tribune, Kapurthala Deputy Commissioner Raj Kamal Chaudhary said, “The Finance Minister has given us a clear go ahead and assured us the clearance of the paperwork regarding the funds as soon as he joins office next. The festival will be held on November
20 and 21.” On being asked what had caused the funds to be delayed as late as mid-November for an event which usually takes place in October-end, the Deputy Commissioner said, “Basically, we work through the Culture and Tourism Department, which was supposed to forward our request for funds to the Finance Ministry. The department told us that they had forwarded our request to the Finance Department but awaited clearance of paperwork
from there.” The Finance Minister said, “Initially there was some miscommunication but things have been sorted out now and funds will be cleared for the festival.” The cultural organisations, which had recently sent a memorandum for the release of funds to the Finance Minister, lauded the speeding up of the efforts for fund clearance and expressed happiness and relief over the fact that the chain of the festival would remain unbroken.
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Appointment of PCMS Doctors
Ludhiana, November 2 The Department of Health and Family Welfare had given appointment letters to 68 doctors while the letters of 38 had been kept pending in the general category as per the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, following a civil writ petition filed by some candidates who had completed their Diploma in Medicine from Russia. The PPSC had declared the diploma doctors from Russia ineligible after receiving their applications against the vacancies, advertised by the commission in 2009. Thereafter, these doctors had filed a civil writ petition against the PPSC in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Chandra while speaking to The Tribune today said the department would issue appointment letters to the remaining 38 doctors at the earliest. "It will not be a contempt of court as the department has vacant posts to accommodate the diploma doctors from Russia once the case is decided," he added. On the other hand, Dr Sukhpreet Singh, secretary of the Association of Russian Graduate Doctors, said, "The Department of Health and Family Welfare is taking us for a ride as the posts had to be kept vacant in the first phase of 100 PCMS posts. But the Department of Health and Family Welfare stated that the posts would be kept vacant in the next phase of 212 appointments and now the department was again letting us down by not doing so," added Dr Sukhpreet Singh. Dr Hardilpreet Singh Chahal, an ex-serviceman and a member of the association, accused the Health Department of having taken the decision in connivance with politicians and bureaucrats. "The PPSC was not fair and transparent in its selection, which is why we were kept out of the interviews and now the Department of Health and Family Welfare, too, is playing into the hands of influential people who have used every unfair means for the selection of their undeserving wards in the interviews," alleged Dr Hardilpreet Singh.
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Fake invoices: Six agro firms under scanner
Bathinda, November 2 During initial investigations, officials have traced six agro firms of Fazilka and Muktsar and many firms have come under scanner for allegedly running illegal trade on fake invoices to evade crores and other fees. The officials accused Rajasthan Trading Company, Ganesh Trading Company, Rajdhani Agro Overseas, Mahaveer Foods, Mittal Agro Overseas and Sagarmal Shivratan Agro Company, of issuing fake bills. Earlier, fake transactions of about Rs 2.33 crore were traced, in which the companies had evaded Rs 4.67 lakh as market fee, Rs 4.67 lakh as RDF and Rs 9.34 lakh of VAT along with lakhs of rupees of CST and income tax. Soon after, the chairman of the market committee, Gurteg Singh Jodhpur Romana and secretary Darshan Kumar lodged a complaint against the firms in question. Acting on the complaint, the police booked Rattan Nagouri of Muktsar and Naresh Mittal of Fazilka for running the trade in the name of fake agro-firms. Conducting raids, Mittal, proprietor of Mahaveer Foods, was arrested yesterday. A special team impounded a car and seized some cash and fake documents from Mittal. Appreciating the work of district mandi officer Narender Singh Sidhu and his subordinate Vijay Sharma, chairman of the Punjab Mandi Board Ajmer Singh Lakhowal said yesterday that they were the first ones, who detected fake bills of the firms, which did not exist in the official record of the mandi board. “Investigating the case in details, we have recovered documents showing fake transactions of about Rs 35 crore. The investigation has just been started and till the completion, various firms and major transactions worth hundreds of crores are expected to be exposed,” claimed Lakhowal. Lakhowal said, “It is possible that some of our officials would also have lent their connivance in the illegal deeds, but no one will be spared as the Chief Minister has given us a nod to go ahead.” Bathinda SSP Ashish Chaudhary said, “As of now, a case is registered under various sections of the IPC, but as soon as any of the government officials detected in the crime, he will be booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act.”
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SIs plan to sue top brass for ‘ruining’ their careers
Ludhiana, November 2 They have decided to file a case in the high court against former DGPs and other IPS officers, serving or retired, who allegedly made a mockery of the Punjab Police rules by giving back-door promotions to cops selected under the sports quota. “Now, we have no interest in promotions. We have spent our precious years facing humiliation hoping that our honour will be restored. But now we have resolved that we will not spare those who played with our careers,” said
an SI. The affected personnel (all SIs) declined to air their grievances outside the department though they had been allegedly made to work under those who are junior to them. “If cops selected under the sports quota are facing the axe of demotion, there is no one whom they can blame except the then IPS officers, who gave them a back-door entry,” said an SI. “Can you justify the logic behind recruiting an illiterate youth in the police force who did 200 push-ups at a sports mela?” said a policeman, awaiting promotion for 18 years. While a former DGP and serving IPS officers have been facing allegations of giving out of the way promotion to sports quota cops, no one has ever been taken to task for allegedly flouting the rules. On the other hand, cops, who were selected under the sports quota, have also expressed their views. A sprinter, who has won many gold medals, alleged that cops recruited under the quota were being “victimised” at the fag end of their careers.
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Construction of Judicial Complexes
Chandigarh, November 2 Commenting on the observations made by the Punjab & Haryana High Court on the issue, she said it was extremely disgusting that the court complexes in the districts were not being constructed due to paucity of funds and the state government was trying to put the blame on the Centre for its weaknesses and follies. She underscored the need to provide similar facilities and infrastructure in the judicial complexes as provided to the ministers and bureaucrats. She alleged that the present SAD-BJP government had failed to live up to the aspirations of the people and if it could not provide even basic facilities to the people, it had no right to be in the office. Lambasting the SAD-BJP regime, she said the people could not be satisfied by mere rhetoric and castles in the air to which the present SAD leadership was resorting to, but the public wanted ground work and development in the state.
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Cops facing criminal cases deputed on election duty
Patiala, November 2 With the bye-election for two assembly constituencies in Rajasthan scheduled for November 7, five companies of the PAP and a company of the India Reserve Battalion (IRB) have been sent to the state for election-related duty. Those deputed on the election-related duty include RP Anand, who is currently posted as DSP 27th Battalion, PAP Jalandhar, and GS Bedi, posted as DSP, 36th Battalion, PAP Bahadgarh. It is learnt that cases
of criminal nature are pending against both these officers in different courts. Sources revealed that a case under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code is pending against DSP RP Anand in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Similarly, a criminal
case against DSP GS Bedi is pending in the District and Session Court, Patiala. Despite this, both these officers have been deputed on the election-related duty. Despite repeated attempts, IG Police PAP Jalandhar, GS Sahota, was not available for comments.
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Punjab geographers’ meet ends
Patiala, November 2 The delegates deliberated upon the World Development Report - 2009, with a view that geography is not only based on economy but also is dependent upon the geographical boundaries of the countries, their culture, language, technical development, education, and as a whole the co-existence of the nations. They added that this report must take these aspects into consideration. Prof. BS Sokhi of the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun, said geography should be inoculated in the curriculum of school, college and university education in such a way that every student must see all developments with a geographical perspective to make them eco-friendly.
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38 jail inmates get baptised
Amritsar, November 2 The inmates, including six women, lodged in the Amritsar Central Jails (1and 2) were not only baptised but they also vowed to lead a clean life in future by shunning any activities that could bring them disrepute or harm society. The baptism exercise continued in the jail for over three hours between 1 pm and 4 pm. It took place in the presence of the entire jail staff, including Jail Superintendent G S Sidhu. Interestingly, the “change of heart” of the alleged hardened criminals had started taking place over an year ago when these inmates had started praying in their barracks. “In fact, the inmates have been expressing their fervent wish to get themselves baptised for a long time. It has happened with their consent,” said Sidhu and Balbir Singh Beesla, Deputy Jail Superintendent. Eight of the 38 inmates, baptised yesterday by a team of Paathis of the SGPC, came from the central jail (no.2). Most of them were undergoing imprisonment for gruesome crimes like murder or drug trafficking.
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