Bathinda, January 20
Sensing some lacunae in the investigation of the Rs 2-crore stamp paper scam, which was exposed in the Phul treasury office last year, the state government has now transferred the case to the Vigilance Bureau (VB).

If sources in the VB are to be believed, the shifting of the case to them may also bring the then DSP Phul under the scanner.

At the time of exposing the scam in April 2009, it was said that subdivisional treasury officer Vijay Kumar Singla had filed a complaint with his department that 1,000 stamp papers of Rs 5,000 each were mischievously replaced with denomination of Rs 5 and the originals were missing from the office. Since that day, the whole department has been on the toes to ascertain the facts.

During the inspection of around 12,000 stamp papers, the probe team claimed to have found another 2,682 stamp papers of Rs 5,000 each of fake origin. The “counterfeited” stamp papers had then been sent to the Nasik-based press for a laboratory test. Meanwhile, the records were also found tampered with.

Launching the probe, state-level sleuths of the treasury and accounts branch had found subdivisional treasury officer Vijay Kumar Singla and assistant cashier Varinder Kumar guilty of negligence as to check the quality and control was their liability. Acting upon their complaint, the Phul police had booked the duo along with senior clerk Mahinder Singh under the PC Act.

Giving details, sources in the VB said there were various lacunae in the investigation and proceedings like the police booked three persons, but while filing the challan, it named only Varinder Singh and the court sent him to jail.

Further, the VB official said, “There are many questions unanswered like from where the stamp papers of the denomination of Rs 5 were purchased. Where were the missing stamp papers of Rs 5,000 denomination were sold? Why the stamp vendors, who further sold the stolen stamp papers, were not booked? All this led to suspicions over the investigation report.

The question over the role of the Phul police was raised when VB officials received a complaint in this regard. In reply, the VB officials brought the matter to the notice of higher authorities. Taking a serious note of the situation, chief director of the VB recently shifted the case to the VB, Bathinda.

SSP (VB) Chaman Lal said, “The case has been shifted to us and we have been investigating it in depth. No one would be spared, if found guilty.”

Chandigarh, January 20
Punjab may still be burdened with a huge subsidy on account of agriculture power supply with the power charges recommended by the two-member resource mobilisation committee only meeting a fraction of the total power being consumed by the farm sector.

The recommendations will also have to pass muster with the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC), which is yet to decide on the power tariff petition for the next financial year.

According to sources the two-member committee has made a political point by imposing nominal charges at the rate of Rs 50 per BHP on farmers, which will be reimbursed at a later stage but has failed to come out with any plan to take the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) out of the red. In fact, from what can be gathered from the recommendations of the committee, the PSEB will continue to be dependent on the government for its survival.

Though government sources claim that Rs 621 crore will be collected by way of charging farmers Rs 50 per BHP biannually, All-India Power Engineers Federation chairman Padamjit Singh says the board will collect Rs 494 crore only through this exercise. He says the total agriculture subsidy comes to Rs 2,797 crore and that the government will still have to pay the board Rs 2,303 crore if it does not want the farmers to bear this load.

Explaining the logic behind the calculations, Padamjit said in the tariff order for 2009-10 the PSERC had calculated the average price of one unit supplied to the agricultural sector at Rs 2.85. He said the same when converted per horsepower because agriculture supply was unmetered came to Rs 283 per HP per month. He said with the PSEB getting only Rs 50 per HP biannually, the remaining gap would have to be filled by the government.

However, all this will have to be put before the PSERC and the subsidy bill of the government could go up in case the PSERC increases the average per unit price. The PSERC has been increasing this price annually with the aim of eliminating cross-subsidies in a gradual manner.

Former Vice-Chancellor S. S. Johal said he approved the steps taken by the two-member committee to give relief to farmers, as the state would now be able to get funds from international bodies like the World Bank. He, however, said steps should be taken to ensure big farmers alone did not usurp the productivity bonus as they were the ones who did the proper paperwork upon getting their produce to the market.

Bharatiya Kisan Union (Rajewal) president Balbir Singh Rajewal said the government should ensure prompt reimbursement to farmers when they got their produce to the market. 

Fatehgarh Sahib/Samrala, January 20
With no arrangements made for the winters, students of the government schools in the region are forced to brave the biting cold and attend classes without any substantial studies due to the absence of electricity in the rooms.

Studies in these schools are totally dependent upon sunny days so that the teachers can take classes in the open.

Because of the biting cold and dense fog that has engulfed the region, they are left without this option. Even windows cannot be opened to let in the light due to the severe cold wave.

“It’s so dark inside the classrooms due to lack of electricity. But we have no other option than to stay inside,” said Mithu Singh, a student in government school at Fatehgarh Sahib.

A visit to the schools revealed that in spite of the power cuts, teachers are forced to take classes in order to complete syllabus for the up-coming examinations.

About 88 primary schools in Machhiwara, and most of the schools in Rajgarh, Mubarkpur, Manewal and adjoining villages do not have the facility of electricity.

While most of the private schools manage to get all basic facilities, including generators, government schools have to bear the brunt of power cuts.

Teachers, on basis of anonymity, rued the lack of basic infrastructure in the schools, and added that despite repeated requests to senior officials, nothing had been done in this regard.

Students said they got some respite during the recent holidays, however, the situation had worsened due to dense fog these days.

Teachers said severe cold conditions have also led to less attendance and the students who still come to study are left helpless due to the power cuts.

They said they faced similar problem in the summers as well, but manage to take classes under tree canopies and sheds but there was no option in winters. 

Patiala, January 20
In what may be termed as a much needed respite for the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), the state government has decided to pay back its pending subsidy, for supplying free power to farmers and domestic consumers in SC and BPL categories, in two installments.

According to highly placed sources, the government has already assured the board that the first installment would be paid within a week’s time.

Notwithstanding the latest tariff orders of the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC), which mentioned that the state government should pay an advance monthly subsidy of Rs 294 crore to the PSEB for the free power supply to various categories, the board did not received any funds from the government for the last three months. Currently, the amount due towards the government is Rs 1,040 crore.

The decision to clear the pending subsidy was taken by the Chief Minister’s office after the board sounded an alert to the state government that its functioning would come to a virtual standstill, in case the pending subsidy amount was not paid.

In wake of the fact that the PSEB does not have sufficient funds to meet its financial obligations, including power purchase, loan installments and staff salaries, the top brass of the board unanimously decided to shot off a communiqué to the state government in this regard during the board meeting held last week.

It was for the first time that the board categorically conveyed to the government that it might have to stall its operations, if the government did not clear off its pending payments.

Without the clearance of the pending monthly installments, the board would not be able to pay loan installments, following which it would not get the financial help from banks and other financial institutions. 

Chandigarh, January 20
The Punjab two-member committee report on resource mobilisation has got the thumbs up from Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal who, today, said he was happy the state had at last started the process of resource mobilisation. The state Congress, however, wants the report debated in the Vidhan Sabha.

Manpreet, when questioned on the committee report, said, “Anything which adds to resources and cuts down on subsidies is very welcome.” He said for the last eight years, nobody was thinking on the lines of resource mobilisation and how such resources could be used.

The Finance Minister said he had been fighting for a cut in subsidies for the past three years and he still felt that the government should charge for every facility offered to the people. Speaking about the fresh taxation proposed by the committee, he said taxes went into nation-building. “We need to educate people that the taxes paid by them will be used for their welfare in a most effective manner,” he added.

PPCC President Mohinder Singh Kaypee and general secretary Parminder Singh Pinky, in a joint statement here, said the report was not only anti-farmer but also put an extra burden on the common man. Kaypee and Pinky said the report recommended collection of ‘abiana’ or tax on canal water at the rate of Rs 150 per acre while the ‘abiana’ earlier was only Rs 41 per acre. They said similarly the increase in VAT and entry tax on sundry goods would hit traders in the state. Pinky said it was ironical that the report had recommended an increase in the retirement age at a time when the need of the hour was to provide jobs to the youth.

Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal said the SAD-BJP government had reneged on the promises made to the electorate and was now trying to fill the coffers that had been emptied by its mismanagement and mis-governance. She averred that it was evident from the 2nd status report of "Punjab Governance Reforms Commission", that inefficiency of the government was a problem and it required "governance fix" and not merely a "fiscal correction" to reduce the ills facing the state.

Congress leader Jassi Khangura, meanwhile, claimed that mobilising additional resources of Rs 4,000 crore was tantamount to a supplementary budget that could only be sanctioned by the Vidhan Sabha.

Chandigarh , Janaury 20
One day after the release of the Punjab two-member resource mobilisation committee report, certain BJP ministers and leaders want to seek clarifications about some of the recommendations of the committee.

According to senior BJP sources here, certain sections of the party are worried about recommendations concerning house tax, property tax as well as those related to the Transport and Scheduled Caste Welfare departments. The party also wants to seek a clarification regarding the rationale adopted while charging farmers Rs 50 per BHP for tube well connections, which are to be reimbursed later.

The state BJP is likely to hold a party meeting here either tomorrow or day after before the recommendations are put up for approval to the Cabinet on January 22.

According to sources, the BJP leaders are particularly concerned about house tax and property tax issues which, they feel, might affect their core constituency. The sources said there was a feeling that there was ambiguity on both matters. The state BJP wants to know whether the house tax is confined to the municipal limits only.

Similarly in the case of property tax, the party wants to know whether it will be in addition to the house tax or is a replacement for house tax.

There are certain reservations regarding the increase in bus fares also and the party wants to know whether the Transport Department had recommended the same or not. There is also a feeling that recommendations made with regard to issues which affect the Dalit community should also be understood better.

Sources said the state BJP also wanted to understand the rationale behind charging Rs 50 per BHP from farmers for tube well connections.

According to sources and as admitted by the two-member committee, it has taken 1997 as the base while recommending this charge

Chandigarh, January 20
Recommendations of the Sukhbir Badal-Manoranjan Kalia committee may have spared the ruling alliance blushes by the partial withdrawal of subsidies to the farm sector, but not without the wrath of the common man.

Opposition parties may not take the recommendations well. By reading between the lines, they have been provided with an argument to bash the ruling alliance for supplementing inflation by projecting the common man as its worst victim.

Incidentally, this report marks a sad day for those who had no ideas on fiscal management beyond the abolition of subsidies.

Burdening of the common man with higher bus fares, increased taxes on items of his daily use besides the imposition of new duties may drive yet another nail in his inflation-shredded, gasping household budget.

Not many would benefit from extending the life of building plans for execution or lowering the per seat tax on private vehicles being used for the transport of people. The beneficiaries of other initiatives would also be limited or restricted as no such recommendation has been made that will benefit the common man.

Even the argument advanced for the replacement of power subsidy with productive bonus corroborates the Union Government’s theory that the upward revision of the minimum support price of agricultural produce has been fuelling inflation.

If the thesis of the Badal-Kalia report is taken at face value, next time when the Agricultural Costs and Prices Commission takes into account various farm inputs, it will have to include abiana and power bills besides costlier lubricants and generators because of the proposed entry tax on them.

Till now, the power and water bills were not taken for calculation because of inherent subsidies. Farmers can definitely hope for a steep upward revision in the MSPs but not without inflated costs of inputs.

The Badal-Kalia report has attempted to dilute the impact of resource mobilisation by quoting other states which have already gone in for the upward revision of one or more slabs of value added tax. The committee has tried to touch only the 4 per cent slab by proposing to recast it as a 5 per cent slab. Ten per cent surcharge on VAT may again be a direct hit on the common man.

It could have done better if it had touched items that are covered under higher slabs of taxation i.e. 12 per cent and 20 per cent. Those items may have generated an equal amount, if not more, by 1 to 2 per cent upward revision. At the same time, it would have spared the government the criticism of making the common man a target of its resource mobilisation drive.

Other items that many thought would get the immediate attention of the committee for generating a smooth and unquestionable flow of finances would have been the luxuries, including lavish weddings and parties, besides the ever-increasing sale of luxury vehicles, including SUVs, in what is otherwise identified as debt-torn Punjab.

Intriguingly, the committee also failed to take cognisance of immovable property lying unutilised in the state. Most of these belong to the local bodies with Improvement Trusts being the main culprit. Even other government departments, too, have a long list of incomplete and unoccupied property on which huge public funds have been used without ever benefitting either the state or its people.

An overall audit of public property, including those belonging to local bodies and public sector undertakings, should have been undertaken to channelise a good flow of funds. In all possibility, a Cabinet subcommittee that may be asked to study the recommendations before their complete or partial implementation.

Ludhiana, January 20
The Punjab government has finalised a comprehensive package to provide compensation to victims of violence against migrants workers and their families here recently and a specific announcement to this effect will be made soon.

This was stated by Punjab Minister for Jails, Tourism and Cultural Affairs Hira Singh Gabria after a meeting with chairman of Parvasi Kalyan Board RC Yadav that was also attended by city mayor Hakam Singh Giaspura.

Gabria said a cash compensation of Rs 1 lakh would be granted to the kin of Amir Hassan, a migrant worker, who had died allegedly after being injured in police firing. The migrant families which had suffered loss of property or bodily injuries in the arson and mob violence will also be compensated adequately. After the authorities had made assessment of the loss of property, the government will provide funds for payment of compensation, he added.

Reiterating the commitment of the state government for the safety and security of migrant workers, Gabria said Punjab was the only state in India to have set up a Parvasi Kalyan Board with the sole objective of restoration of a sense of security among the migrant population and providing conducive working conditions for them in the state.

Yadav said the incidents of violence against migrants in the mega city were most unfortunate but the state government had taken a step in the right direction by setting up the Parvasi Kalyan Board, which would strive to maintain harmonious relations between migrants workers, their employers and the local population to effectively curb recurrence of such incidents in future.

Mayor Giaspura made a special mention of the contribution made by the migrants in the industrial and agricultural sectors in the state in general and in the city in particular. He said the migrants had become an integral part of Punjab and any attempt to create fear among them or disturb their relations with the local population would be foiled.

Ferozepur, January 20
In a tragic incident that struck this border town on the occasion of Basant, one person died while 11 others got grievously injured following a blast in a balloon-filling cylinder near Namdev chowk here. The blast was so powerful that out of those seriously injured, two children lost their legs while another woman lost her hand. The balloon-seller identified as Makhan Singh also lost his leg, while his wife Chando Devi, daughter Meenu and son Vinod are also stated to be critically injured.

Jugraj Singh, 58, a retired teacher and a resident of Icchewala road, who had come to buy balloons for his grandson Sukhman, died on the spot.

The injured were admitted to the Baghi hospital and the local Civil Hospital. Dr Harsh Bhola, who treated the injured, said that several patients out of those injured had suffered segmental bone limb loss. Bhola said that two children, identified as Sukhmanpreet (aged seven years), who lost his right foot, and Meenu, who had a major vascular injury on the left thigh, had been referred for reconstructive surgery to Amritsar. Another injured, identified as Sandeep Tiwari, also suffered amputation below the right knee while one more victim, Harish Madaan, suffered a fracture in the leg.

Eyewitnesses said the blast had such an impact that the limbs could be seen scattered up to a long distance from the spot where the balloon-seller was standing. Deputy Commissioner Kamal Yadav said he had ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident, which will be conducted by SDM Gurtej Singh Pannu. Yadav said the entire expenditure on the treatment of those injured would be borne by the Red Cross Society. About paying compensation to deceased Jugraj Singh, Yadav said it would be announced by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal shortly.

Meanwhile, Pannu reached the spot and started investigating into the tragic episode. He said the administration had immediately arranged for blood units and medical aid was being provided to the injured persons. Pannu said as per the preliminary reports, it appeared that since there was a lot of rush of the people to buy balloons, the balloon- seller had overfilled the cylinder with gas due to which the blast occurred.

Jalandhar, January 20
To enhance the quality of cancer care, the Association of Surgeons of India will launch a nationwide registration of cancer patients on the World Cancer Day on February 4. The idea is to generate a database of cancer patients in the country.

This was stated by association general secretary and surgical oncologist Dr RK Karwasra here today. He was here to attend a camp organised for cancer patients by a charitable trust.

“Due to unavailability of any data of cancer patients, we are failing to develop an effective research methodology and treatment modalities. Most of our studies and treatments are based on the database generated in western countries. However, prevalence and nature of different types of cancers varies in our and western societies”, said Dr Karwasra, also the HoD, Surgical Oncology, PGIMS, Rohtak.

“Every cancer patient reports to a surgeon during the course of treatment. We have floated the idea of registration, as nearly 15,000 surgeons across the country are members of the association. All we need is just to make available a single-page registration form to surgeons. We will have recognisable database in next four to five years,” he claimed.

He said though hospital-based database of cancer patients was available in the country, that was only from a few big cancer hospitals. 

Anandpur Sahib, January 20
Doctors and teachers working under zila parishads will not be brought under the wings of respective state government departments.

Minister for rural development and panchayat Ranjit Singh Brahmpura said this while addressing mediapersons here today. Brahmpura was here to preside over the closing ceremony of the national rural games that concluded today.

Brahmpura asserted that the government would make regular appointments in the Panchayati Raj Department soon.

Talking about the proposal to impose VAT and other taxes on the common man, Brahmpura said the state’s finances had almost emptied and taxes were the only source to bail it out from the present economic crisis. “Earlier octroi was the primary source of income for state. With its abolition, the state has lost its major income and, now, taxes are the best way out,” he said.

Agreeing with the proposal of raising the retirement age of government employees till 60 years, Brahmpura added that this, too, was the need of the hour, as delayed retirement of employees meant lesser burden on state exchequer. 

Chandigarh, January 20
The Government School Lecturers Union, Punjab, will hold a rally in Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s home constituency at Lambi on January 30. Stating this here today, union president Hakam Singh said lecturers had been forced to resort to this step after the government “turned a deaf ear” to their legitimate demands.

The union is demanding the reversion of 183 vocational lecturers who have been promoted Principals, even as the question of their eligibility for the said post is still under review before the apex court.

The union, which represents lecturers teaching Classes XI and XII in state government schools is demanding an amendment to the service rules that were amended and put into place in 2004.

Besides other demands, it is demanding that 25 per cent posts should be kept for the direct recruitment of lecturers as Principals. Further, they are seeking that promotion from among lecturers, headmasters and vocational masters should be based on the ratio of the strength of each cadre.

“There are 10, 590 posts of lecturer, another 1,300 for NABARD schools, 1,742 headmasters, 213 vocational lecturers and 1,000 vocational masters. With cadres that have less strength, the avenues of promotion are much quicker as compared to the lecturers, some of whom are yet to be promoted despite 20 years of service,” Hakam Singh said.

The union had organised a rally in the constituency of Education Minister Upinderjit Kaur on January 9, but the union said there was no response from the minister, who did not even bother to meet the delegation from a department she headed. Therefore, the union had now been compelled to announce a protest at Lambi.