Chandigarh, November 21
A recent study has revealed that the Punjab Nirman Programme (PNP) that was launched on the pattern of the Bharat Nirman Programme (BNP) by the previous state government failed due to improper implementation and unspent funds besides being flawed due to a bias in the favour of areas with a higher rural population.

The study conducted for the state’s Department of Planning concluded that the programme, which aimed at strengthening basic infrastructural assets and improving living conditions, favoured the Malwa belt by allotting more funds to the area than required.

Conducted by Dr HS Shergill in collaboration with the Institute for Development and Communication (IDC), the report evaluated the two years that the PNP remained operational (2005-07) and the manner in which the amount of Rs 1092.76 crore sanctioned for carrying various schemes in villages and towns was utilised.

The study stated that despite the proposal, the government was unwilling to implement the scheme, as the first instalment of Rs 137.89 crore was released in February 2006, while the last one amounting Rs 141.01 crore in December, 2006.

The programme was halted in early March 2007, and the funds not withdrawn from treasury till that date were asked to be deposited back. The evaluation has been done on the basis of data and information supplied by the planning department, and a field survey of 25 villages and 10 towns of the state. The villages and towns were selected from five districts of Amritsar (Bari Doab region), Jalandhar (Bist Doab region), Hoshiarpur (foothills region), Bathinda (eastern Malwa region), and Ferozepur (western Malwa region).

The districts that got more funds than their population share were Mukatsar (43.57 %), Nawanshahar (40.25%), Mansa (39.58%), Bathinda (30.45%), Hoshiarpur (20.26 %), Sangrur (17.85%), Barnala (14.82%), Patiala (13.71%), and Faridkot (10.62%).

While the districts that got fewer funds than their population share were Ludhiana (37.74%), Jalandhar (22.08%), Amritsar (21.01%), Moga (10.08%), Tarn Tarn (7.53%), and Fatehgarh Sahib (6.79%).

The overall utilisation of the funds for the state was 81.56 per cent, which can be called just satisfactory.

This means that the Rs 201.51 crore sanctioned under the PNP was not utilised, despite a large number of villages and towns in the state lacking basic facilities.

Bathinda, November 21
The financial health of the state seems to be in a poor shape as the Badal government has failed to release funds even for the beneficiaries of the Shagun scheme of the district for 2009-10 as well as for five months of the financial year 2006-07 so far.

It is learnt that an amount of Rs 3.58 crore is yet to be paid by the Department of Welfare, Punjab, to about 2,390 beneficiaries of the Shagun scheme in three subdivisions -- Bathinda, Phul and Talwandi Sabo -- of the district.

Interestingly, among the total 2,390 beneficiaries of the Shagun scheme, there are 1,243 such beneficiaries who are still awaiting the amounts of the Shagun scheme for November and December 2006 and January, February, March 2007. It is learnt that the SAD-BJP alliance, which came into power in March 2007, had allegedly declined to release funds of the pending cases of the Shagun scheme as these cases belonged to the Amarinder government’s regime.

The Bathinda district welfare office needs an amount of Rs 1.86 crore for clearing 1,243 cases of 2006-07 and Rs 1.72 crore for clearing 1,147 cases of the current financial year.

Sources in the department told The Tribune that the district welfare offices sent the lists of pending cases of the Shagun scheme regularly to the office of the Director, Welfare, Punjab, for releasing funds to make the payment of the Shagun to the beneficiaries. Despite this, the funds were not being released by the government on a regular basis.

The Shagun scheme is applicable to all members of the Scheduled Caste (SC) communities, daughters of widows of all castes, and the Christians. The successive governments have announced several times to cover the Muslims under the scheme, but a notification to this effect is reportedly yet to be issued by the state government.

The Shagun scheme was introduced by the Badal government during its previous term (1997-2002) with a Shagun of Rs 5,100 while the amount was later enhanced to Rs 6,100. However, the Amarinder Government enhanced the amount of the Shagun scheme to Rs 15,000.

Moga, November 21
President of the All-India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) Karnail Singh Peer Mohammad and New York-based attorney Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, also legal adviser of Sikhs for justice, today wrote an open letter to US President Barak Obama to press upon Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to provide justice to the victims of the 1984 riots. Singh today left for the US on an official visit and will meet President Obama on Tuesday.

In the letter, which has also been e-mailed to The Tribune, they had apprised Obama that certain leaders were directly or indirectly responsible for the massacre of over 3,000 Sikhs across 14 states in the country.

“While the claims by the Indian governments of its commitment to democracy, human rights, justice and equality grew louder and loftier, actions of the successive governments, especially in the past three decades, contradicted these claims,” they stated in the letter.

The organisations also mentioned about incidents of atrocities on other minority communities and the Dalits in the country. They appealed to President Obama to press upon Singh to ensure respect for human rights and justice for all minority communities and the Dalits.

Amritsar, November 21
Though Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (HSGPC-adhoc) chief Jagdish Singh Jhinda and his four associates did sewa on the first day of their tankha (religious punishment) at the Golden Temple, they hit back at the Sikh high priests saying they had been humiliated allegedly under a political conspiracy.

“We are satisfied by doing sewa here but we are far from being satisfied with the way a stern 20-day tankha has been pronounced in our case. We feel that we have been punished with an intention to humiliate us. We have accepted the punishment only to preserve maryada,” said Jhinda and four of his associates---Avtar Singh Chakku, Kanwaljit Singh Ajrana, Joga 
Singh Yamunanagar and Hazoor Singh Nambardar.

They started their sewa at the Golden Temple by listening to the kirtan at the sanctum sanctorum between 7 am and 8 am, followed by the cleaning of shoes of sangat and langar sewa at the Langar Hall. It was their first day of the five-day sewa at the Golden Temple and after this they will move to Takht Kesgarh Sahib.

“We still feel that all allegations levelled against us that we had usurped the control of Gurdwara Chhevin Patshahi in Kurukshetra on September 13 are baseless. The tankha is politically motivated and it was first such harsh decision of the Sikh high priests, who have been choosing to ignore serious violations committed by leaders of the ruling SAD (Badal),” Jhinda alleged .

He said, “Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal say that the Congress has been interfering in religious matters of the Sikhs, but we want to ask him as to how dharam has come in the way when we are just talking about handing over the control of Haryana gurdwaras to the Haryana Sikhs as per the 1966 Reorganisation Act.”

He alleged that the Sikh high priests had chosen to decide their case in a haste under “political pressure” and had been dilly-dallying on the issuance of edicts regarding old and serious complaints involving SAD leaders and its sympathisers.

Ropar, November 21
With two bridges at Ropar closed partially for repair and the new ones coming up at a sluggish pace, respite from traffic bottlenecks remains a distant dream for people here.

The bridge over the Sutlej has been closed by the Central Works Division for repairs. While lightweight vehicles are allowed to ply over the bridge, heavy vehicles like buses and trucks are diverted via Anandpur Sahib. The bridge is expected to open by November 25.

Similarly, the old bridge over the Sirhind canal has been closed for heavy vehicles as the structure has aged around 125 years and can no more support heavy vehicles. The old bridge is the easiest and the shortest way to access main markets of the town.

Residents of the area, especially traders, have been demanding that instead of closing the old bridge, the government should undertake its repair.

Traffic bottlenecks inconvenience students and daily commuters the most. “During peak rush hours, it takes over 20 minutes to cross the stretch,” rued a school van driver.

Meanwhile, a new bridge is under construction over the Sirhind canal, but the slow pace of work has left little hope for any respite. No work has been going on at the new bridge (being constructed at a cost of Rs 8.50 crore) for the past around one week. The bridge is 134 m long and 40 m wide.

Meanwhile, XEN, PWD, SS Dhindsa said the work had not been stalled at the bridge. “This is not a usual cement-mortar bridge. At present, some steel structures are being weaved in its basement. The pace of work is normal,” he said.

Jalandhar, November 21
A member of the Punjab State Human Rights Commission, Avinash Rai Khanna, today took a serious note of jail inmates chained to their beds while undergoing treatment at the local Civil Hospital. These patients were referred from the local Central Jail to the Civil Hospital.

Terming this act of the hospital and the jail authorities as “violation of human rights”, Khanna said he would forward the matter to the five-member commission, including the Chairman that would give required directions to the department concerned.

Handcuffing and putting prisoners’ legs in chains is prohibited unless permission is granted by the court and the authority concerned.

While terming this as a blatant violation of Article 21, the Supreme Court in its ruling prohibited handcuffing and putting prisoners’ legs in chain in DK Bose versus West Bengal government in 1997 and Charles Sobhraj versus Delhi Administration in 1998. Back in 1980, the bench of VR Krishna Iyer also prohibited handcuffing of prisoners. As per a Supreme Court ruling in 1996, handcuffing and putting prisoners’ legs in chain would be considered as contempt of court.

We have just got the information about the entire episode. The matter is being probed, said SP Headquarters, who is also in charge of the security in the prison ward.

During his surprise visit, Khanna also found there was no cardiac monitor or a ventilator in working condition in the ICU ward and the equipment in the gynaecological operating theatre was also not according to the norms. There was no facility of temperature regulation in mortuary rooms and only a few of the freezers, used to keep bodies, were working.

He also found gross anomalies in the functioning of the X-ray unit as no dosimeters that measure radiation exposure were provided to radiographers and walls of the unit were not shielded with lead to control unwanted exposure. He also pointed out the underutilisation of the Telemedicine Department of the hospital.

Sangrur, November 21
When 19-year-old Raju Singh, a college student, was released from a de-addiction centre, he was told to keep away from drugs. However, ignoring the advice, he continued to take drugs and died last month.

This is not only a single case. Nowadays, a number of youths in the Malwa belt, especially in Sangrur and Barnala, are taking to drugs.

Sources at a local district hospital here said the problem was acute in Lehra Gaga; Dhuri; Sangrur city and the Malerkotla area of Sangrur and Barnala, as maximum cases were reported from these areas. What was more shocking was the fact that out of 10 patients, 30 per cent were girls, they added.

The record of patients undergoing treatment at the Red Cross drug de-addiction centre here for the past four years showed that there had been an increase in the number of cases.

According to the record, the centre received 3-4 cases on a daily basis in 2005. At present, the centre receives 8-10 cases on a daily basis, marking an increase of more than 250 per cent.

“When we had started this centre in 2005, we used to receive 3-4 patients on a daily basis . But at present, the number has swelled to 8-10. And majority of those seeking de-addiction at the centre are youth in the age group of 18-25 years,” says Mohan Sharma, project director of the centre.

Dr DV Parashar, medical officer at the centre, said there had been a marked change in the nature of drugs used by addicts over the years.

“Earlier, they used to take alcohol, bhukki, opium or smack, but nowadays, they have switched to painkillers or cough syrups as they are easily available and are cheap,” Dr Parashar added.

Chandigarh, November 21
Members of the International Sikh Confederation today called upon all the non-SGPC gurdwaras in the state to use at least 5 per cent of the golak money for the education of Sikh youth. Members of the confederation had met here today for their annual general meeting.

The members deliberated on several issues pertaining to Sikhism and speakers exhorted Sikhs to focus on the education of their children and encourage them to follow the Sikh rehat maryada.

Several speakers highlighted the importance of the Punjabi language as the mother tongue. "Other than being able to read and write Punjabi, a Sikh should be aware of his identity. He should be able to answer the question: Who is a Sikh? We should ensure that our children know about our history," said Dr SS Johl, convener of the confederation.

Lt Col Jagtar Singh Multani, executive member and CEO of the confederation, told the members that the Punjab government had not bothered to disburse almost Rs 8 crore worth of scholarship money given by the Government of India to Punjab for minority students. He said till this money was spent, the Government of India would not be able to continue with its grant, which amounts to over Rs 30 crore for the coming year.

NRI members pointed out that at some places in Canada, the Sikh community had ensured that the Punjabi language was taught even in government schools. "If it can be done in Canada, why cannot it be done in schools in Chandigarh?" said Multani.

Dr Johl said the Sikh religion had been a religion of challenges. "Whenever there has been a challenge to our identity we have bounced back and asserted ourselves. But the aim is to ensure that the identity of our religion continues to be strong," he said.

The members of the confederation felt that there was a need to unite the various Sikh organisations working in various fields so that collaborative efforts could be put forward.

In his vote of thanks, Lt-Gen Kartar Singh Gill, CEO of the confederation, highlighted the role of the media in spreading the message.

It was decided during the meeting that Dr Johl would continue to be the convener of the confederation while Raj Mohinder Kaur would continue to be its patron. The new executive members include Amar Singh, Gurkirpal Singh, Mohinder Singh, Harvinder Singh, Karamjit Singh, Sukhdev Singh, Mohan Singh, Inderjit Singh Gogiani and the president of the Kalgidhar Gurudwara Mohali.

Bathinda, November 21
A radio programme started for government primary schools in the state, which proved to be a big fiasco last year, is now all set to be relaunched from November 23.

Director-General of School Education (DGSE) Krishan Kumar said efforts were being made to make the project successful by rectifying last year’s mistakes.

Giving details on what hampered the scheme, an official, who handled the project last year, said there were various shortcomings in the project that led to its failure. The official added that CDs of lessons that were aired proved them as poorly-drafted radio lectures.

Teachers had sent a positive feedback regarding the project allegedly under the DGSE’s pressure, the official added.

Jasdeep Singh Jass, a lecturer, who was involved with the project said, “The programme duration was too long, making programmes monotonous. They were beyond the level of primary children.”

Jasdeep added that he was paid only Rs 750 for writing two scripts, whereas radio paid between Rs 1,200 and Rs 1,300 per script of less than 10 minutes.

Officials from the AIR, Jalandhar, said the contract was signed only for broadcast. They were not paid any studio charges.

However, teachers involved in the project alleged that they ended up paying extra than they got for recordings.

The DGSE agreed that the quality of the radio programme last year was not up to the mark. For upgrading the programmes, the education board planned to take guidance from IGNOU, Delhi, and Doordarshan.

Ludhiana, November 21
The chance seizure by the Ludhiana police of 3.6 kg of heroin worth Rs 18 crore in the international market on November 19 has exposed a chink in the Indo-Afghan trade, which is being used for drug peddling in the country.

Rajinder, owner of Manjit Fruit store at Kailash Cinema chowk, who had ordered for 40 boxes of Kandhari pomegranates, had never dreamt that he would receive contraband from a Delhi-based fruit dealer, who is an Afghan national.

Rajinder had received a consignment of pomegranates on November 17 from New Delhi in wooden crates. When he emptied a crate on November 19, he found it to be very heavy even after that. He tried to remove the newspaper at the bottom and was shocked to find two packets of heroin underneath.

He immediately called up the police. According to SSP, Dr Sukhchain Singh Gill, they sent the seized contraband to the Narcotics Bureau and the report confirmed it to be heroin.

Dr Gill said investigations revealed that the pomegranates consignment was supplied by an Afghan national from Kandahar. But he fled from the scene. The police has registered a case and started a probe.