Sultanpur Lodhi, February 21
Within a fortnight of self-immolation by EGS (Education Guarantee Scheme) volunteer Kiranjit Kaur of Faridkot in Kapurthala, three Elementary Teachers Training (ETT) passed teachers tried to set themselves on fire in front of Punjab Education Minister Upinderjeet Kaur’s local residence Guru Kirpa Niwas located on the Ber Sahib road today.

The agitators, who tried to set themselves on fire, belong to ETT Union (Punjab group). State committee member of the union Harjit Singh Uppal, its active members Sunil Kumar and Gurjeet Singh were going to set themselves on fire, but the police personnel present there saved them. Later, all the three protesters, belonging to Patiala district, were taken into custody.

Earlier, several members of the union reached outside Education Minister’s house in the shape of a protest march and started a dharna in favour of their demands, including recruitment of 45,000 teachers as promised in manifesto of the ruling party during elections and cancellation of the recognition of those persons who had passed their ETT from Jammu.

Interestingly, ETT union (Jammu group) has been agitating for past some time demanding their appointment after properly recognising their course. So much so, Harjit Kaur (24) of this union has already been on fast unto death since February 15, whereas ETT union (Jammu group), started chain hunger strike since January in favour of their demand. Now, it has become very difficult for the Education Department to satisfy both the unions.

Policemen whisk away an unemployed linemen, who tried to disrupt the foundation stone laying function of a college, at Ghudda village near Bathinda on Sunday. A Tribune photograph

Ghudda (Bathinda), February 21
Sixteen activists of the Unemployed Linemen Union got arrested today, when they attempted to disrupt foundation stone-laying ceremony of a college, being established jointly by the Centre and the state government at Ghudda, the ancestral village of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

The protestors started raising anti-government slogans when the CM was addressing the gathering. The incident emerged as a total failure of intelligence agencies, as the senior officials did not have prior intimation about the protest.

However, a large number of policemen tried to stop them. Several protesters lost their turbans, when they were being dragged out of the rally ground. Besides hurling abuses to the protesters, some of the cops did not even mind in pulling the Sikh youths from their hair. The protesters, who were adamant in leaving the rally ground, kept on raising slogans “Punjab Sarkar Murdabad” and sustained mild lashing of canes from the cops, before being pushed into the police lorry.

Residents of Chandi Wala village narrate their tale of woe to one of the local leaders at a village gurdwara, which also houses a school and a panchayat ghar. Photo by writer

Chandi Wala (Ferozepur), February 21
Ignored by the successive Centre and state governments, the fate of residents of villages falling in the border belt of this district is apparently being ‘dictated’ by Pakistan and the Sutlej.

While any mischief of the Pakistan’s army on the border or the swollen Sutlej triggers off their uprooting from their native places within no time, the Centre or state government have been “failing” miserably to make enough arrangements for them to live comfortably even during peace times.

Devoid of better roads, bus connectivity, medical facilities, educational set up and job opportunities and facing repeated harassment while tilling their lands situated across the cobra fencing on the Indo-Pak border, the situation has made them to curse themselves for their birth in that particular area.

“Should we take pride to be Indian,” asked a section of resident of 22 villages falling in Gatti group rubbing its shoulders with Pakistan.

A section of resident, who are in their late 60s or early 70s, pointed out that ever since their birth, they had been facing problems every year. Most of the times, they were forced to make struggle for days together when the Sutlej was in spate. Any misadventure by the Pakistan’s army on the border also made them to suffer and shift to other places for security reasons, they added.

Though the Sutlej had been eroding away soil and has been cutting their land holdings into pieces for the past many decades, the state government is yet to take notice of it. Not only this, piped water supply had become a distance dream for them and the people here had to use underground water for consumption, said Raj Kumar, a resident.

The residents alleged that the state government even could not make arrangements to drain out dirty water from inhabited areas of these villages to nearby ponds.

“In which era, we have been living when we have to use local-made boats to go to our fields, to shift patients in case of emergencies and to caste our votes during the elections,” asked Kashmir Singh of Habib Ke Panchayat, adding he was not sure whether their plight would move any ruling politician to come to their rescue.

A survey to these villages has revealed that the Punjab Government is yet to set up a high school in the area and private schools have been mushrooming to cash in on the situation. The state government, it seems, is more serious in opening liquor vends in the border villages instead of setting up schools to impart education to the children of this backward area.

“The development of Chandi Wala village can be evaluated from the fact that panchayat ghar, gurdwara and primary school have been running on a plot of less than 1,000 square yards for the past many years,” said one Makhan Singh.

(To be continued)

Nabha, February 21
Police investigations into the planting of the bombs by terrorists of Khalistan Libration Force (KLF) in different parts of Punjab have led to a startling revelation that Punjab terrorists are frequently visiting Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad via Thailand, Malaysia, Kathmandu and Bangladesh. It has also come to light that hardcore terrorist Harminder Singh, alias Mintu, accused in the above-mentioned case, currently hiding in Malaysia, is also responsible for the Shingaar Cinema blast in Ludhiana on October 14, 2007, in which six persons were killed. Besides, the Special Investigating Team (SIT) constituted to investigate the matter has claimed that attempts to revive the KLF are on. Based on the investigations, the Punjab police will be sending a dossier to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

Speaking to The Tribune, Patiala SSP Ranbir Singh Khattra said, “The direct movement of terrorists from India to Pakistan is extremely difficult. We have specific inputs that terrorists are frequently going to Pakistan but adopting alternate routes. They first manage to enter into Thailand, Malaysia, Kathmandu, Bangladesh and then head for Pakistan. After staying in Pakistan for some time, they come back with a mission to create disturbance in Punjab.” The investigations have also revealed that Mintu, at present operating from Malaysia, is one of the prime accused in Shingaar Cinema blast in Ludhiana. “Mintu is very active these days and issuing instructions to a particular group of terrorists led by Bakhshish Singh to conduct a series of blasts in various parts of Punjab,” said SSP. Confirming that Bakhshish is still in India, SIT officials said they have reliable information that Bakshish had stayed in Karnal, Ambala, Patiala, Sunam, Sangrur, Raikot and Batala in the recent past. “We have got information that Bakhshish has changed his appearance and is now moving in India in the guise of a person without supporting any turban and a long beard. Today, we have released the sketch of Bakhshish and are trying to arrest him at the earliest,” Khattra said.

There are currently 28 cases registered against Bakhshish in Punjab, Haryana, UP and Delhi. “The KLF, which was active in Punjab during terrorism in Punjab from 1982 to 1995, is at present defunct. Now, Bakhshish’s main objective is to become the head of the KLF by reviving it and series of blast is the best way to do that,” said Patiala Zone IG Paramjit Singh Gill, while speaking to TNS.

Police officials, however, neither denied nor accepted the involvement of Pakistan’s ISI in this matter. “We will also inform the Union Ministry of Home Affairs about the entire matter through a dossier,” said an SIT senior official.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal lays the foundation stone of a college at his native Ghudda village near Bathinda on Sunday. A Tribune photograph

Ghudda (Bathinda), February 21
“Capt Amarinder Singh and Rajinder Kaur Bhattal are not only harming their party but the state also, so instead of pressing each other to move to the Centre, both should take the step jointly and let the state grow in peace and harmony,” said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal here today.

Accusing the Congress of having a suspected role in the fresh incidents of communal riots that took place in the state, Badal urged all to understand the “wicked” political tactics of its leaders, who did not want the state to grow in peace and harmony.

Commenting on the tension in the Christian community, the Chief Minister said the main accused had been arrested and assured that all others, involved in the incident, would be dealt with a heavy hand.

The CM was here to lay the foundation stone of a recently approved college that would be established jointly by the Centre and the state government at Ghudda, his ancestral village.

When asked about the fate of a large number of foundation stones of prestigious projects, the CM said, “We are committed to complete all projects.”

During his long speech, the CM flayed the Union Government for not allocating deserved grants to the state. But when questioned about the status of a number of grants returned to the exchequer as the state did not complete formalities, he parried the query and denied any such happening.

Harsimrat Kaur Badal, MP, Vice-Chancellor of the central university of Punjab, Dr Jairup Singh, senior SAD leaders Balwinder Singh Bhunder and Sikander Singh Maluka were among others who addressed the gathering.

Patiala, February 21
The employees working in the defunct sugar mills have threatened to launch an agitation in case the state government fails to disburse salaries, which have been kept pending for the past 23 months. Employees of the sugar mills rue that the attitude of the government towards this important issue is extremely casual. Leaders of the Sugar Mill Workers Union (Regd), Rakhra (Patiala), have threatened that in case the government fails to look into their problems, they would be left with no option other than to commit suicide.

“Our families are dying of hunger. We are extremely shocked that how can this government be so inhuman that salaries of the past 23 months have been withheld on flimsy grounds,” said Gurmeet Singh Assemajra, general secretary of the Rakhra Sugar Mill Workers Union. He further said that around 250 regular and about 400 seasonal employees of the Rakhra Sugar Mill were facing extreme difficulty in managing their household expenses. He rued that it was sad that despite repeated assurances from Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and departmental officials, their salaries have so far not been disbursed.

The union leaders further said that they were struggling for their survival while the government had adopted a completely ignorant approach towards them. “When the employees of the Fardikot Sugar Mill resorted to the extreme step of committing suicide, the government immediately released funds amounting to Rs 1 crore for the disbursal of their salaries. If the government understands only in this manner, then we won’t hesitate to do the same. After all we need salary to survive,” said president of the union Surjit Singh Mann.

Notably, some of the union leaders had recently gheraoed SAD (Badal) general secretary Prem Singh Chandumajra and District Planning Committee chairman Surjit Singh Rakhra. "We have been doing nothing except being ditched by the politicians. In reality nothing has been done to redress our genuine demands,” said union leaders, while adding that the present government had fulfilled the promise made in their election manifesto regarding the reopening of around half a dozen sugar mills, which were closed at present.

Ludhiana, February 21
Punjab has recorded an increase of Rs 200 crore in excise revenue during current financial year, thanks to huge consumption of liquor in the state.

Punjab is expecting to touch the excise revenue to Rs 2,000 crore against anticipated income of Rs 1,800 crore from the excise duty. According to official information gathered by The Tribune, the state has consumed more than 29 crore bottles of liquor in last 10 months. This includes Punjab made liquor (PML) and Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL). As a matter of fact, the state is emerging as the heaviest consumer of liquor with 6,000 shops that sell liquor in the rural and urban areas of the state.

According to the official sources, the annual quota of PML for Punjab is 1.5 crore cases (each case contains 12 bottles) and 15 lakh cases of IMFL. “Besides the sale of beer and scotch whisky, there has been an increase of 30 per cent in the sale of beer and 15 per cent increase in the sale of IMFL,” said the officials of the State Excise And Taxation Department. The total consumption of liquor in the state during 2008-2009 was 21 crore bottles.

The increase in the consumption of liquor in the state has been attributed to the serving of the same in the marriages and other functions. Besides, the political parties distribute free liquor to the people to get votes during the Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha elections. Liquor is now even served during the SGPC elections, which is a religious body, and the members of the SGPC are prohibited from consuming liquor.

Tendency is growing now to serve scotch whisky at the highly affluent marriage parties. Even in the rural areas, scotch whisky is being served. The Punjab government has done away with the auction policy of the liquor vends and the license system was introduced by Amarinder Singh. The state government has fixed licence fee ranging from Rs 15 lakh to Rs 80 lakh per shop and even Rs 1 crore depending on the size of the town.

The state government is yet to announce the new excise policy for the next year. The sources said not much change is contemplated in the policy and the present policy may be retained.

Jalandhar, February 21
In connection with the case of allegedly hurting religious sentiments of the Christian community by depicting Jesus Christ in bad taste in a hoarding, the district police succeeded in arresting an accused, Pritpal Singh, from Ludhiana on Saturday night, whereas the other accused, Raj Kumar Bawa, of Glow Sign of the Cantonment area surrendered in a local court on Sunday.

Confirming this, DSP Naresh Kumar told The Tribune that Bawa was remanded to one-day police custody whereas Pritpal Singh was sent in judicial remand by the court. The controversial hoarding was allegedly put up by Pritpal Singh, while Bawa allegedly prepared it.

An FIR under Sections 295 A and 120 B of the IPC had already been registered at police station number four in this regard.

Meanwhile, Bishop of Diocese of Jalandhar Anil Couto urged the Christians to remain calm as the accused had already been arrested, so they should let the law take its own course to unearth the conspiracy behind depicting Jesus Christ in bad taste.

Soon after a meeting of religious leaders of the community at Bishop’s House here, he also demanded from the state government to ensure security of the religious places as well as the general public in the entire state.

Following appeal by the Bishop, the convener of the action committee of the Christians Youth Punjab, Vinod Bhatti, asked the state government to stop arresting the Christians. 

Sunam, February 21
Not all killings of Indians in Australia are because of racism. The two brothers from Sunam, who were pursuing Diploma in Hotel Management and were also working there, were killed by the youths from their native state of Punjab under the garb of racial attacks on Indians in Australia.

Swaran Singh, father of the brothers Navdeep Singh Dhaliwal (20) and Kawaldeep Singh Dhaliwal (19), who was in a state of shock after performing the last rites of his deceased sons at Sunam today, after the bodies of the duo were fled from Australia to India on 19 February, told TNS that he cannot tell anything except the fact that his sons were allegedly murdered by three youths from the native state of Punjab, after they failed to return the money they had borrowed from his deceased sons. He added that duo were his only ray of hope for a happy life, as he had literally sold off his land and house for sending his sons abroad, who would have later earned the livelihood for the family.

“When my elder son, Navdeep, went to Australia in June 2008, I had to sell my land for his better future. Again in June 2009, when my younger son Kawaldeep wished to go to Australia, I sold off my house for financing his studies with a hope that the brothers will return from there to sustain the family, as I cannot do much work because of my health problems. They were not only meeting our expenses, but also sending us money so that we live a prosperous life. Whosoever killed them did great injustice to us and humanity,” said Swaran Singh, who along with his wife and daughter lives in a rented house in the Chouhatta Bazar area of Sunam. Meanwhile, sources in the government claimed that the state government is likely to grant the family a compensation of Rs 10 lakh. 

Hoshiarpur, February 21
Punjab’s kinnow has become popular in the south and east regions of India. It has a ready market in Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata. As the weather remained favourable to it, it fetched a good price in the national market except for a brief period when the fog had enveloped the region for some days in January. Kinnow is preferred over Nagpur’s orange, which held sway over the markets for several years, now in most parts of the country.

“As temperature remained low this year, it helped in improving the quality of the kinnow especially its look and also the sweet content in it tremendously,” said Sushil Kumar Periwal, a leading citrus fruit grower of Khipawali village near Fazilka.

He said there was a good return from the crop. Periwal’s citrus fruits had won three first prizes and two second prizes at a state-level competition organised by the Punjab Horticulture Department here recently. His blood-red malta, Jaffa malta and mausmi had won the first prize. He has planted citrus fruits, including kinnow, malta and mausmi, in about 100 acres.

Because of the favourable weather conditions this year, there has been a substantial increase in the yield of kinnow this year. According to an official estimate, the total production in the state was pegged at 7.5 lakh tonne. The area under it has also gone up. “Earlier, the yield was in the range of 10 to 15 tonnes per hectare. However, it was near 19 tonnes this year,” said a local kinnow grower. The local belt is also known for producing high-quality kinnow.

A national award winner farmer Sukhpal Singh Bhullar from Ghuman village near Mansa said the price in the wholesale market was not very encouraging. However, it was good in the retail market. “But I would say that kinnow growers had a good time this year,” he said.

Siddarath Periwal, who markets the kinnow, said there was a return of about Rs 10 per kg to kinnow growers of his Fazilka-Abohar area after excluding all input costs on its production. “Some farmers, having old orchards, even earned up to Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.40 lakh per acre. Other farmers having new orchards earned Rs 30,000 to Rs 75,000 per acre,” he added.

At one stage, market witnessed a glut. That was in mid- January. It led to a fall in its price in the national market.

Chandigarh/Hoshiapur, February 21
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal yesterday described the Centre’s decision to hike fertiliser prices as “shocking, incredible and against all ground economic realities. The government had already dealt a cruel blow to farmers by raising diesel prices and now comes this additional shock.”

Badal said the farmers of the state were already facing problems due to financial liabilities and the new decision would further add to their troubles. The cost of agriculture inputs has increased and the farmers were not getting cost of their production.

Instead of giving any relief to them, the new fertiliser policy would put an extra burden of Rs 170 crore on them. The CM further said he would take up the issue with the Prime Minister for getting relief to the farmers of Punjab.

The Chief Minster said the decision would hit the farmers of the state who produced bumper crops through liberal investments on inputs like fertilisers. “The fact of the matter is that in this year following a season of drought, the farmers should have been given some relief by the government. But on the contrary, each announcement from Delhi seems to push the farming community into the darkness of poverty, indebtedness and despair,” said Badal.

Meanwhile the Deputy Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal said here today that his party would seek a review of this decision of the Centre. He said a delegation of party leaders would meet the representatives of the Centre to press for immediate withdrawal of the decision.

He said the decision ran against the Centre’s declared assessment that the farm sector needed to be given incentives for a second push to agriculture and ensure food security in the country.

Nawanshahr, February 21
Accusing the state government of insincerity in implementing schemes meant for the welfare of the SCs, former MP and president of the Bahujan Samaj Morcha Satnam Kainth has sought a White Paper on the status of different schemes for the SCs in this financial year.

“Though the financial year is coming to an end, the state has still not utilised funds under most of the SC component schemes”, said Kainth.

He alleged there were 31 schemes for the welfare of the Dalits and backwards, but in most of the schemes, funds had not been released till now.

Kainth said as per the 2001 census, 3,368 villages out of the total 12,428 had over 40 per cent of the population belonging to the SC category. The percentage of the SC population in Jalandhar district is 54.80 per cent, Nawanshahr 44.73 per cent, Hoshiarpur 38.83 per cent, Muktsar 43.40 per cent and Faridkot 35.58 per cent. — OC

Patiala, February 21
With the recent spurt in theft and robbery incidents in the city, functioning of the Patiala cops has come under a scanner. Though top brass of the Patiala police had been claiming time and again that their success rate in solving criminal cases is “satisfactory” but the recent increase in number of incidents has left the city residents high and dry.

Many said they lived under constant fear of being robbed. Notably, during the past two weeks there had been 30 incidents pertaining to theft and robbery. The dismal performance of the Patiala police could well be gauged from the fact that in the assessment report of 24 police districts for September, October and November last, Patiala was at 11th position.

But, information gathered by The Tribune indicated that there had been no noticeable change in the functioning of the Patiala police. Since January 31, about 30 cases pertaining to theft and robbery were registered in the district. FIRs pertain to the theft of motorbikes, cars, computers, LPG cylinders and cellphones but so far, there had been no headway in most of the cases. 

Khamano, February 21
Cases of cheating through mobile phones, SMS and unsolicited e-mails are on rise in Khamano, Khanna and adjoining areas.

People are falling prey to fake phone calls and e-mails claiming to distribute fortune of a millionaire, congratulating people of hitting a jackpot and inviting them to purchase a gold brick at low price.

Officials at a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) branch say they are receiving complaints of online fraud but in most of the cases investigating agency hits block due to lack of evidence against the accused.

“Some residents of Khanna had recently lodged complaint with us wherein they claimed that an unknown person had called up on their mobile phones claiming to deliver a prize. The caller demanded Rs 5,000 and then Rs 7,000 in lieu of the prize — a luxury car,” said an official on the condition of anonymity.

The money demanded in lieu of prize is not directly deposited to some bank account or handed over to some person. Cops investigating the matter revealed that accused had asked its gullible customers to purchase re-charge coupons of Dish TV from various outlets in Khanna and nearby areas of the district

While most of such customers were asked to destroy return slips issued in lieu of recharge coupon, one or two of them managed to save it and produced before the police. “These slips may work as evidence or clue,” said the police officials.

Another resident of Samrala fell prey to an SMS recently that claimed him as winner of a BMW car. Accused directed him to purchase a re-charge coupon at a cost of Rs 5,000 to get the car.

After spending Rs 5,000, the sender of SMS again called up victim and directed him to purchase more recharge coupons worth Rs 7,000 and next time they demanded Rs 10,000 but could not get the luxury car. The victim then lodged a complaint in this connection.

The police said they were looking into the matter and most of the phone calls have code numbers of Dubai or Pakistan.

A resident of Samrala road at Khamano, Gaurav Bajaj, said he too had received similar e-mails and SMS alerts. He said the cheaters send e-mails, make phone calls and send SMS alerts in bulks to thousands of people and at time a few get caught in the net.

Senior police officials has urged the people to ignore such calls, SMS alerts and e-mails that announce prize money or any kind of other attractions.