Amritsar, January 7
Glaring discrepancies in the appointment of female teachers under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota have surfaced in an investigation carried out by the Punjab Human Rights Organisation (PHRO), headed by Justice (retd) Ajit Singh Bains, which has alleged that certain selections were made on basis of fake certificates and that the selection list was also fudged.

The appointments in question were made from 2006 onwards and the norms laid down for the selection of teachers under the quota were allegedly thrown to the winds under “political pressure”.

In his report, Justice Bains has alleged that even the basic qualification, according to which a candidate must have cleared the compulsory Punjabi paper at the matriculation level, had not been adhered to in the case of 22 appointments that were subjected to investigation by the PHRO.

The organisation has already submitted its report to Punjab Education Minister Upinderjit Kaur for further action. Justice Bains alleged blatant misuse of power had surfaced during the PHRO investigation. “We have asked the department to bring the guilty to book. The probe was conducted on the basis of complaints from people and in the public interest,” he said.

“Besides, the fake documents, the final list of qualified candidates was tampered with,” alleged PHRO investigator Sarbjit Singh Verka, adding that certain officials were trying to hush up the case by resorting to practices like “misplacing” of the records.

Ludhiana, January 7
Giving impetus to a move initiated against quacks practising in Punjab, Rural Medical Officers (RMO) working in village dispensaries under the Department of Rural Development and Panchayats, Punjab, have sent lists of the quacks to the respective civil surgeons.

The Department of Health and Family Welfare, Punjab, following the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, in August 2009 had ordered all Deputy Commissioners and civil surgeons to make lists of the quacks and put an end to their practice.

President of the Rural Medical Services Association (RMSA), Punjab, Aslam Parvez said, “These quacks are playing havoc with the lives of people in the rural areas, as they have complicated the cases of heart patients and are responsible for adding to number of tuberculosis, hepatitis B and C patients.” Also, these quacks were responsible for an increase in the number of drug addicts in rural Punjab, as they were supplying habit-forming drugs to youth, added Parvez.

On other hand the officials of the Health Department, including the SMOs, have failed to take any concrete action against the quacks practising in cities. Thousands of self-styled doctors are practising allopathy, homoeopathy and ayurveda in absence of degrees in every nook and corner of small and big cities of the state.

Opposing the step-motherly treatment, the Medical Practitioners Association, Punjab, has alleged that the Department of Health of has adopted a pick-and -choose policy. Vice president of the association Balkar Singh said, “The department is targeting only the medical practitioners in villages, while thousands practising in big cities have not even been questioned.”

He further alleged that many medical practitioners in cities were bribing department officials, whereas the ones from villages do not have enough “income” to do so.

Balkar Singh further said the medical practitioners have the support of villagers, as they cannot afford expensive treatment of the qualified doctors, who charge hefty consultation fees. “We are planning to initiate a mass protest against the government’s move,” Balkar added.

Secretary Health, Punjab, Satish Chandra said, “We have chalked out a plan to deal with quackery in cities, for which the civil surgeons will get instructions in the next 15 days. Everything will be reviewed by Punjab Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla,” the Secretary said.

Bathinda, January 7
The Bathinda Municipal Corporation (BMC) today demolished about 35 buildings situated on the Barnala bypass road from Rose Garden to Bibi Wala Chowk here. These properties were reportedly constructed by the people after 1995 by “violating” the PUDA Act, 1995, which prescribes no construction zone within 5m from the boundary of the scheduled road on both sides.

The drive was led by BMC superintending engineer BD Singla. BMC executive engineer Tirth Ram; SDO, PWD (B&R) Prem Pal and forest range officer Tejinder Singh were also present. As a precautionary measure, about 100 commandos and policemen also accompanied the demolition team to prevent any untoward incident.

Barring one or two places, no opposition to the demolition drive was reported from anywhere. However, some persons were seen arguing with Singla that why other shops, adjoining their properties, were not being demolished. On this, he told them that all those properties, which as per the BMC records had been constructed after 1995 by “violating” the scheduled road norms, were being razed today.

Bathinda, January 7
The General Samaj Party (GSP) will file a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Punjab and Haryana High Court in a week against the proposed demolition of buildings situated along the scheduled roads by the Bathinda Municipal Corporation and the PUDA.

This was stated by the founder of the GSP Suresh Kumar Goyal in a press note issued here today.

Goyal said that the people who had purchased lands and had got the sale deeds of the properties registered should not be displaced without being compensated.

He said that on the one hand, the administration was demolishing the houses of poor while on the other it was silent on the issue of encroachments by influential persons over the public land, like parks and roads.

Goyal said if the state government could not pay compensation of the purchased lands then it had no right to gain control over the lands or demolish the properties of the poor.

Amritsar, January 7
Accusing former Akal Takht Jathedar Darshan Singh, who is in the midst of a storm over his alleged blasphemous remarks against Guru Gobind Singh during a controversial Rochester (USA) gurdwara discourse, of trying to “mislead” the Sikhs, the five Sikh high priests today directed him to appear at Akal Takht up to January 29.

Earlier, the Sikh clergy had directed Prof Darshan Singh to appear at Akal Takht on November 17 and later on December 5. Prof Darshan Singh had appeared at Akal Takht but his appearance was not accepted and he was declared a tankhaiya by the high priests on the grounds that he should have come out with his explanation before them at the Akal Takht secretariat.

This was, however, opposed by Prof Darshan Singh who had presented a letter of explanation at Akal Takht. He had been asserting that he was duty bound to bow to the Guru but not to any person and that as the Jathedar of Akal Takht he had never decided anything on the basis of ”closed-door” meetings.

The Sikh Panth, it seems, has got divided over the Darshan Singh issue which has also initiated a war of words between the SGPC and India and foreign-based supporters of Prof Darshan Singh.

Both sides are coming out with advertisements in newspapers sticking to their stance and blaming each other. SGPC chief Avtar Singh has accused Prof Darshan Singh of indulging in blasphemy and asked him why he did not stop the “parkash” of the “Dasm Granth” in gurdwaras during his tenure as the Takht Jathedar if he had any objection to it.

On the other hand, supporters of Prof Darshan Singh are alleging that the latter was being targeted at the instance of the ruling Akali leadership and have asked why the Sikh clergy had failed to implement the Akal Takht hukamnama that no Granth could be placed parallel to Guru Granth Sahib. Charanjit Singh Channi and Sukhwinder Singh, representatives of Prof Darshan Singh, turned up at Akal Takht with two letters---one written to the Jathedar, Akal Takht, by Charanjit Singh and the other addressed to “Sache Patshah” by Prof Darshan Singh.

While Charanjit Singh’s letter supporting Prof Darshan Singh clarified that the latter’s controversial discourse was based on certain books authored by well-known Sikh scholars, Prof Darshan Singh alleged that certain “people had formed a parallel Akal Takht” and were “misusing” its name.

In their edict, pronounced after a three-hour -long meeting, the five high priests led by Akal Takht Jathedar Gurbachan Singh said though Prof Darshan Singh was trying to challenge the authority of Akal Takht at the instance of some “anti-Panthic” forces, Akal Takht was giving yet another opportunity to him to appear at the Takht up to January 29 and seek pardon for his controversial speech.

“If Prof Darshan Singh fails to do so, action will be taken as per the Sikh tenets,” said the edict.

Chandigarh, January 7
After winning a “victory” for its core constituency, the BJP is set to go back to the people in an effort to recover lost ground in the state, even as the PSEB is on the verge of collapse with the government in no position to subsidise the withdrawn power hike.

The BJP, which was on a downward spiral in the state with the party doing badly in the parliamentary elections, is planning a comeback wave riding on the withdrawal of the power hike. The party’s national President, Nitin Gadkari, is scheduled to attend a function to unveil a statue of Dr Baldev Prakash on January 15 and 16 in Amritsar where he will also address a public rally. Punjab is the first state being visited by the national President after taking over the reins of the party.

The BJP has a lot to thank Gadkari for as the start of the latter’s tenure has seen a paradigm shift in SAD-BJP relations. Gadkari has at his meetings with CM Parkash Singh Badal refused to be persuaded to snub his state unit. In fact, he has called a spade a spade and told the SAD that agreeing to their request would virtually result in closing down the state unit in Punjab.

BJP state unit president Rajinder Bhandari accepted the role of the BJP central leadership in resolving the stand-off over the power hike rollback today. In a release here he thanked the BJP central leadership for “providing” support to the state unit. This is a far cry from earlier instances when the state unit used to be silenced into acquiescence by the central leadership, which gave the utmost importance to the CM.

Meanwhile, the PSEB is in for difficult times. This is because the government is finding it difficult to pay the Rs 3,100 crore subsidy to it on account of free power to the agricultural sector as well as BPL families. Now with the withdrawal of the hike effected on the domestic sector as well as a 50 per cent rollback of the commercial and industrial hike, the government will have to pay an additional subsidy of Rs 380 crore to the PSEB. The government, which does not have this money at its disposal, would have to levy taxes, which could result in an increase in VAT, or other taxes. It is in no position to borrow more money to offset the decrease in revenue from April 1 next year when the extra money collected due to the power hike is adjusted in monthly bills.

Bathinda, January 7
Dr P.Ramarao, Director of the Mohali-based National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), has joined the Central University of Punjab (CUP), Bathinda.

A spokesman of the CUP today said the joining of Professor Ramarao had not only added a feather in the cap of the newly established university, but his presence was also expected to facilitate the setting up of well-equipped laboratories and establish a strong research base in the university. It would also help the university create a centre for chemical and pharmaceutical sciences.

Renowned for his leadership, excellence and innovation internationally as well as nationally in the fields of research and development, scientific excellence in the country in the area of chemical sciences, biological sciences and drug research, Professor Ramarao has won many prestigious pharma awards.

The ChemTech Foundation and the Indian Society of Chemicals and Biologists, Lucknow, honoured him with the Pharma-Bio award for the year 2009 and the ISCB award for excellence in the field of biological sciences, respectively.

Jalandhar, January 7
In an ambitious project to study the changing trends of the bird population, migration and biodiversity besides a proper documentation of the Harike wetland and sanctuary, the Punjab Wildlife Department has decided to conduct a survey of the birds.

This is for the first time that the government has taken up such a project in the state. This venture is also aimed at attracting eminent ornithologists besides bird watchers of the country here.

In this context, the department has roped in a Chandigarh-based NGO, the Avian Habitat and Wetland Society (AHWS), and members of Chandigarh Birds to conduct the survey from January 30 to February 1. A function would be held at Harike to mark World Wetland Day on February 2, said Narbir Singh of the AHWS.

Talking to The Tribune, Chief Wildlife Warden RK Luna revealed that ornithologists from the Wildlife Institute of India, Bombay, Natural History Society (BNHS), World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and birdwatchers of repute would also participate.

The main objective of the survey would be to identify the exact number of avians, both local and migratory ones, their species, feeding, nesting roosting and migratory patterns. An effort would also be made to ascertain their arrivals at the wetland in relation to the weather and water level in the reservoir.

The sanctuary has been divided into nine sections for the survey and each person would be covering at least three sections by boat during the survey. To avoid large groups moving together, group size would be restricted to five persons only.

The Harike wetland is situated at the confluence of the Beas and Sutlej and is known for some interesting birdsThe wetland is also home to Indus river dolphins, otters, three species of turtle. 

Chandigarh, January 7
Former Punjab DGP K.P.S. Gill today stated that the police in India had become the favourite whipping boy of everyone. In an interview to The Tribune on the ongoing S.P. Rathore case and the stripping of medals of convicted policemen, the super cop said there had been a systematic “maligning” of the image of the police over the past decade.

“It began with Bollywood films showing the police arriving at the scene of a crime last, or some corrupt and power-drunk commissioner. Later, with the politician-mafia nexus becoming stronger, the design was to ensure that people lost faith in the police. The general impression that has been created is that the police is high handed and unreasonable. Any allegation against a policeman is as a result easily swallowed by the public,” he said.

Reacting to the Home Ministry’s move of stripping convicted officers of their medals, Gill said this move could not be implemented retrospectively. “The ministry should take all related factors into consideration and not take a decision just to please the media. Some parts of India are notorious for the registration of false cases against police officers, many times inspired by brother officers. There can be a plethora of cases and an odd one also leads to conviction,” he said.

“We faced such a situation during terrorism in Punjab when the human rights people became very active. All that was required was a human rights activist to send a telegram to a certain Supreme Court Judge who would then treat it as PIL. My officers were left with no defence. Most of them wanted to return their medals,” he recalled.

“Personally, I believe that in a democracy there should be no decorations for anyone. But whatever has been happening as a system of awards has worked except for one or two wrong decisions, but that does not mean that you throw the baby out with the bath water,” he said.

“Talking of my medals, they mean nothing to me. I never asked for them and anyone is free to take them back. I have had such a career that all this does not bother me. If I had been bothered about such things I would not have been alive today,” he said.

Criticising the emergence of “media trials” Gill said, “There have been certain developments in journalism which are not in keeping with the basic laws of our country. There was a time when the mere registration of an FIR meant that the matter was sub judice. But now crime reporting has become obtrusive and is acquiring didactic overtones where journalists try to influence the course of the trial,” he said. “In fact, the way things are going we would reach a stage where the guillotine would be out at Matka Chowk and there would be public beheadings,” he said.

Gill also blamed politicians for not taking a strong stand on several issues. “Politics is a game of winning elections. Most of the political parties are little mafias having their individual spheres of influence. They along with the bureaucracy have brought the nation to such a pass that we are in a state of war perpetually. Almost 1,000-1,500 policemen are killed in India every year,” he pointed out.

Patiala, January 7
Chairman of the District Planning Committee, Patiala, Surjit Singh Rakhra has said that the district administration would ensure that villagers got access to all basic civic amenities.

Addressing residents of Passiana, Shermajra and Gujra villages during a “Sangat Darshan” programme, he said the state government was committed to ensure all-round development of villages.

Accompanied by Deputy Commissioner Deepinder Singh and other officials, Rakhra listened to the problems being faced by inhabitants of these villages and assured them of speedy disposal of their complaints.

“It has come to our notice that development works in villages are being undertaken without proper planning. I have instructed the administration that it must be ensured that roads are not dug up every now and then. If the sewerage or water pipelines have to be laid, roads in that particular areas should be laid after the completion of sewerage and water works,” Rakhra told mediapersons.

He said instructions had been issued to the administration to accelerate the pace of development in villages. Surjit Singh Rakhra said it was extremely unfortunate that even after 60 years of Independence, villages lacked basic facilities, including that of potable drinking water and proper sewerage.

“We will ensure that besides potable water and proper sewerage facilities, the villagers also get good roads,” he said. The state government was working hard in the direction of improving the standards of primary education in the state, he claimed. 

Patiala, January 7
The Punjab Education Department has decided to introduce biometric system of attendance by teachers in government schools. The step aims at checking absenteeism by government school teachers across the state.

The project is being introduced on experimental basis in around 100 schools in Bathinda, Moga and Faridkot districts. Depending upon the success of the scheme, it will be later extended to all schools in the state.

Stating this to The Tribune here today, Krishan Kumar, Director of School Education, Punjab, said tenders for the installation of biometric machines had been called and a pre-bid was scheduled for tomorrow. The tenders would be opened on January 15. The scheme was expected to become functional by the month-end.

The server of the biometric attendance machines would be installed at Chandigarh and details of teachers’ attendance, including the time of arrival and leaving the school, would be available at the click of a button in Chandigarh and also at the offices of all district education officers. These machines will use the fingerprint identification method to record arrival and departure time of teachers and school heads.

The project was conceived following reports of late arrival by teachers and school heads. There were also complaints of teachers bunking duty and marking attendance in the backdate. With a view to overcome such problems, it had been decided to devise a foolproof method to discipline the erring employees, Krishan Kumar said.

He expressed optimism that the new scheme would help tackle the menace of late coming by school heads and schoolteachers and would also ensure that there were less cases of absenteeism. Once successful, the arrangement would be extended to all government schools in the state later, he said. 

Patiala, January 7
A team of United Nation World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) officials today visited Patiala and held discussions with the district administration regarding the development of the city, provision of basic civic amenities, finding solution to the problem of traffic congestion and beautification. After having deliberations on these issues, the team gave a list of proposals to the district administration.

Notably, the UNWTO and the Punjab Government had signed an agreement to develop a master plan for tourism. Under the memorandum of understanding (MoU) inked between the two, the UNWTO will prepare an extensive 15-year tourism development master plan for the state. At present, the UNWTO is carrying out restoration work in historical buildings like Qila Mubarak, Sheesh Mahal, Baradari Gardens, Rajindra Tank, Mohindra Kothi and Sunami Gate.

During today’s meeting with Deputy Commissioner Deepinder Singh, the chief technical adviser, UNWTO Roger said there was an immediate need to have a bypass so that heavy vehicles heading towards other cities were not required to pass through Patiala city. Besides, the team underlined the need for decongesting city roads, especially those leading to the heritage buildings.

“Clean drinking water, proper drainage systems, parking facilities and basic civic facilities are some of the requirements for putting Patiala on the international tourism circuit,” asserted Roger. Responding to the proposals of the UNWTO team, the DC has assured that the district administration would coordinate with other government departments, including the Municipal Corporation, to ensure implementation of the suggestions made by UNWTO officials.

Patiala Mayor Ajit Pal Singh Kohli said they had already drafted a master plan for the smooth flow of traffic in Patiala. 

Chandigarh, January 7
The spiralling prices of raw material for manufacturing steel has hit the steel, auto parts, hand tools and nut bolts industry in the region. In the past 10 days, the prices of special and alloy steel have shot up by Rs 5,000 per metric tonne and of MS ingot by Rs 4,000 per metric tonne.

The prices of steel have been on the upswing since December 15, 2009. The steel prices were increased by the main steel producers on December 24 last year by Rs 3,500 per metric tonne and have been increased by another Rs 1,200 per metric tonne yesterday. Since the price hike is a result of a hike in basic raw material used for manufacturing steel, mainly iron ore, coke iron, imported scrap and coke and metallurgical coke in the international market, another hike in prices is expected shortly.

It is learnt that the price of melting scrap (which is imported) have gone up from $ 290 per metric tonne to $ 380 per metric tonne. Even the prices of pig iron and sponge iron have gone up by Rs 4,000 per metric tonne in the past 10 days.

This has adversely affected the small-scale industry in the region, especially the steel induction units and steel rolling mills in Mandi Gobindgarh and Ludhiana.

Amarjit Goyal, chairman of Modern Steels, said such a sharp hike was totally unjustified and was making business totally unviable for them. “We cater to the automobile, defence and railway sector, where the contracts are signed on a long-term basis. As a result, we cannot pass on the hike to them and are forced to absorb the hike in raw material, thus shrinking our margins,” he rued.

A leading steel induction unit owner in Mandi Gobindgarh said suddenly they had been forced to set aside a huge portion of the capital to buy the raw material. “Since the working capital is limited, we have to cut costs elsewhere. If the same situation were to continue for long, we will be forced to lay off our daily wage labour in order to make both ends meet,” he added.

Chandigarh, January 7
Taking suo motu cognizance of news report “1,175 Punjab schools sans principals”, carried in The Tribune on January 6, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asserted it cannot “close its eyes” to such issues, and has put the state of Punjab on notice.Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal has also asked the Education Secretary to furnish the details, while directing the issuance of notice to the state of Punjab for January 22.

In the two-page order, Chief Justice Mudgal asserted: “In the scheme of Constitution of India, creating a welfare state, Right to Education of a child has been made a fundamental right under Article 21-A. Education here refers to quality education and it is evident that quality of education imparted by an educational institution, not having a principal, would be unsatisfactory.

“There is news item on front page of late city edition of The Tribune, published from Chandigarh, on January 6, 2010, about 1175 Punjab schools to be there without principals for a decade.

“It is reported that the appointment of the principals in the schools in Punjab was being delayed for last one decade for one reason or the other, the main reason being failure of the departmental promotional committee to have its meetings.

“This court cannot close its eyes to such issues. If the news item correctly portrays the facts, it demonstrates apathy on the part of the state towards the fundamental right of the children and in providing proper and effective education in government schools to a vast majority of children coming from families with limited incomes.

Jalandhar, January 7
Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal today said he was “sad over the decision with regard to the paying of the enhanced power tariff from the state treasury”.He said,“ I don’t know how it will be implemented”.

Bowing to pressure built by the BJP, the Badal government announced today to off-set the enhanced power tariff for the domestic, commercial and industrial sectors. Whereas the revised tariff for the domestic sector would be paid for the whole fiscal year (April 1, 2009, to March 31,2010) from the state treasury to the PSEB, in the case of the commercial and industrial sectors, the state would pay the revised tariff of six months.