Chandigarh, March 19
The Punjab Vidhan Sabha’s move to look for ways to let politicians facing court cases off the hook, has not gone down well with most people. This includes a cross section of people, ranging from the common man, legal luminaries and politicians themselves. The reaction, a day after the reported move, can be described as mixed. There are more people who are for “punishment to the guilty”, and exoneration, if any, should be done by a judicial mechanism, they say.

Former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Capt Amarinder Singh (expelled from the Vidhan Sabha for alleged tempering of House records), is one of the first ones to react. “I have faith in the judiciary and will prove my innocence in the courts. I do not require any charity from this government.” Claiming that his stand has been vindicated, he said the cases against him were filed out of political vendetta.

Since the government now admits that political vendetta is prevalent, it should withdraw the “wrong cases” filed against 14,000 Congress workers, he added.

Legal experts are also divided on the legality of the issue. Constitutional experts in the Punjab and Haryana High Court did not wish to be quoted till they had all facts of the proposed move. However, a senior judge said there was no way the Vidhan Sabha could grant a “pardon” by itself.

Harbhagwan Singh, former Advocate-General during the previous Congress regime said, “The Vidhan Sabha decision of any kind only has a moral value and is not legally binding.”

In all likelihood, before the end of the Vidhan Sabha on March 26, the House will form a committee that will go into each case and then make its recommendations.

Simranjit Singh Mann, President of the SAD (A), is one of the most vocal. He said, “These politicians, after indulging in corrupt practices, have come together to bail each other out. The move is not only unacceptable, but also illegal and unconstitutional”.

Congress leaders who supported the move in the House have publicly expressed displeasure over the issue. A senior Congress leader, Sukhjinder Singh, who is not a member of the current House, has said, “The proposed move is a great mistake and would have adverse repercussions. It would open another option for corrupt politicians to save themselves by using the power of Assembly”. 

Chandigarh, March 19
Former Union Minister of State for Industries Ashwani Kumar (Congress) has created a record of sorts following his third consecutive and unanimous election to Rajya Sabha here this afternoon.

He has become the first politician in Punjab to be elected for the third time to the Rajya Sabha without a contest. Incidentally, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, is enjoying the fourth consecutive Rajya Sabha term from Assam.

Both Dr Manmohan Singh and Ashwani Kumar also share another common feature. Both come from the Majha belt of the state.

Ashwani Kumar, who is a member of both the Public Accounts Committee and the External Affairs Committee of Parliament, is the son of a former Punjab Speaker, Dr Parbodh Chandra.

“I am humbled,” says Ashwani Kumar, pledging “to vindicate the faith reposed in me by the Congress President Sonia Gandhi for serving the country and Punjab in the best traditions of democracy.”

He said that major initiatives of the successive UPA governments on food security, right to education, Women’s Reservation Bill, NREGA and RTI Act would alter the face of politics of the country besides its economic and social structure.

Also elected to the Rajya Sabha without a contest are Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and Naresh Gujral (SAD), Avinash Rai Khanna (BJP) and Dr Manohar Singh Gill (Congress). Since there were no withdrawals -- today was the last day for withdrawals -- all the five candidates were declared elected unopposed.

While three of the sitting members -- Dr Manohar Singh Gill, Naresh Gujral, and Ashwani Kumar -- have retained their seats, the remaining -- Dharam Pal Sabharwal (Congress) and Varinder Singh Bajwa (Shiromani Akali Dal) -- did not contest this time.

Both Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and Manohar Singh Gill will have their second term each in the Rajya Sabha. Avinash Rai Khanna (50) is the youngest in the new group of RS members from Punjab, while Ashwani Kumar (58) is a little younger to Naresh Gujral (62).

Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa was also a member of the 14th Lok Sabha, Naresh Gujral represented Jalandhar in the 13th Lok Sabha. He is the son of former Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral.

Avinash Rai Khanna was a member of the 14th Lok Sabha before serving a term in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha. He did not contest the last general election.

Jalandhar, March 19
Now, it is the turn of the Punjab government to ‘use’ the assets of the Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS). The state government, through its Department of Medical Education and Research, has sought to draw Rs 30 crore from the accounts of the PIMS Society.

Though the memorandum of the association and rules and regulations of the PIMS Society have no clause or article to transfer any amount to any government department or to the state government, PIMS authorities seem quite eager to transfer this amount to the department.

The issue was included in the agenda of the latest meetings of the governing body and the steering committee of PIMS. Besides this amount, the Department of Medical Education and Research also demanded Rs 9.9 crore for the “upgradation” of Government Medical College, Amritsar.

Interestingly, Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) Jalandhar in his order clearly pointed out, “The memorandum of the society does not contain any provision for the transfer of its income or funds to the government, even after the management of society is taken over by the government.

The decision further reads, “The society is not part of the government.”

Asked about the latest updates regarding the transfer of the amount, the Director, Research and Medical Education, Dr Jaikishan, said the medical colleges concerned and the PIMS Society would sign a memorandum of understanding and the amount would be transferred only after signing of the memorandums.

“We have demanded Rs 30 crore for Government Medical College, Patiala,” he added.

As per section 12(A) of the Income Tax Act, if the PIMS Society transfers this amount, it will have to pay an additional tax to the tune of Rs 9 crore. 

Chandigarh, March 19
Punjab is passing through a lull before the storm. Amidst its small land holdings is the largest dump of wheat in the country. Part of it is rotting but the state, which supplies 90 per cent of its wheat to the national pool, can do nothing but twiddle its thumbs waiting for the Centre to act.

Exporting the wheat out of the state is an option that is closed to the state. With Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar ruling out wheat export as of now farmers in Punjab may face problems in smooth procurement of their produce next month.

This is because as of March 31 around 57 lakh tonnes each of wheat and paddy are still expected to lie in storage in the state. Most of this is in the open. The state is expected to procure around 110 lakh tonnes of wheat in April, all of which has to be put into storage.

Though the government has nothing on paper as to what part of the crop is rotting, this is a hard fact. The state at present has 12,500 tonnes of wheat from the April, 2007, harvest lying with it. It has 11.39 lakh tonnes from the April, 2008, harvest and 50 lakh tonnes from the last harvest. Punjab State Farmers Commission Chairman GS Kalkat says there is a damage rate of 3 to 4 per cent in the case of movement of stock by one year. He says the damage could be much more for longer periods of storage in the open.

The situation seems hopeless, says BKU ( Rajewal) president Balbir Singh Rajewal, who claims 30 per cent of the total wheat stored in Punjab falls in the damaged category. He maintains this trend can be reversed only if the state takes trading of foodgrain in its hand. Rajewal thinks another way to make the Union Government listen is to reduce the production of foodgrains by giving subsidy for diversification to farmers.

These demands include a right to export, which Food and Supplies Minister Adesh Pratap Singh Kairon stands for but wants to be done as part of a long-time strategy rather than a knee-jerk reaction. He maintains farmers will get a better deal if the state handles exports itself even as he feels better handling and management of the produce needs to be in place first.

Kairon wants infrastructure for capacity addition urgently but the state is finding it difficult to create it. The reason again is the small land holdings as well as the high cost of land whereby projects for godowns and silos will cost much more than they would say in Orissa or Bihar.

The state government had got its storage needs evaluated by the Food Corporation of India, which has recommended creating an additional capacity of 79 lakh tonnes. The government floated tenders in this regard seven months ago but was asked to float revised tenders by the Centre.

Jalandhar, March 19
The Punjab Government has sought permission from the Centre to recycle used gunny bags to stock wheat in the state during the procurement season starting on April 1.

Punjab had placed an order to purchase 3.68 bales (each bale containing 500 bags) of gunny bags for storing fresh wheat. Instead it has got 1.26 lakh bales. In such a situation, there will be a huge shortage of bags.

“We have approached the Centre to seek its nod to reuse 1 lakh bales of gunny bags available in the state. I hope the permission will be given before the beginning of procurement operations”, said DS Grewal, director, Food and Supplies Department. Besides, the government has arranged plastic-sheet bags to fill the gap.

The filling of wheat in sheet bags is opposed by officials of government procurement agencies. As the jute industry witnessed a prolonged strike, it failed to meet its commitment to supply gunny bags to the state.

Besides the shortage, adequate space is not available to stack fresh wheat as old stock of wheat and rice is lying in huge quantity in the state. “We have about 67 lakh tonnes of old stock of wheat and about 80 lakh tonnes of rice and paddy. We need space to stack 115 lakh tonne of fresh wheat in April”, said a senior official of the government.

“Most unfortunate aspect is that the Centre has not helped in shifting the wheat and rice to deficient states from Punjab”, said the official.

The Centre has also been sitting on the issue of the PAU 201 variety of paddy for the past 6 months. Several meetings with the Union Agriculutre Minister and officials of the PMO have failed to resolve the issue. About 30 lakh tonnes of paddy of this variety is lying with rice millers, who have refused to shell it till the specifications with regard to the damage, broken rice etc are relaxed. On the other hand, farmers have started procuring fresh certified seed of the 201 variety.

PAU has already announced to sell the seed at Kisan Melas to be held during the next 15 days. “Once the farmers transplanted it in June, there will be bigger trouble for the state government. It will have to procure it during the next procurement season. Otherwise, farmers will resort to agitation”, said the official. Punjab is facing virtually problem of plenty whereas the country is facing foodgrain-related inflation. 

Kotla Bhaika (Fatehgarh Sahib), March 19
More than 5 lakh bags of wheat procured by four government procuring agencies are rotting in different blocks of Fatehgarh Sahib for more than two years.

The officials of the procuring agencies are in a fix over storage of fresh arrival in coming days as the backlog is not cleared yet.

The procuring agencies have stored the rotting wheat on rented plinths in nearly 15 acres land of the district.

Besides spending lakhs on rent, chowkidar’s have also been deployed round-the-clock to take care of the rotting wheat. The chowkidar’s spray medicines and take other precautions to keep insects at bay.

“The plastic sheets to cover wheat bags were purchased two years ago and have got damaged now. To save the rotting wheat we have been told to spray medicines on rotting wheat,” said a chowkidar in Kotla Bhaika village at Sirhind.

He said the wheat stacked on plinths at low-lying areas got damaged completely due to water-logging in the rainy season. More than 50 per cent of 3 lakh bags stored in three acres land here would have got damaged completely. Wheat stored at other places is also rotting similarly.

“As the entire labour would get busy in the coming harvesting season government would not be able to remove this wheat in coming months as well,” he said.

As per government officials, Punjab Agro has stored 42,543 metric tonne (MT) wheat in rented godown, , Punsup has 29,907 MT, DFSC 3500 MT and Markfed has stored 32,906 MT of wheat.

Agriculture department officials said this year the wheat arrival would increase in Fatehgarh Sahib. Chief Agriculture Officer Sarabjit Kandhari said last year the wheat arrival was 3.74 lakh metric tonne whereas this year they expect 4.8 lakh metric tonne of wheat arrival in the district.

District Food Supply Controller HS Mokha said the matter of wheat rotting in open godowns is a matter of concern and officials of procuring agencies have been told repeatedly to get the backlog cleared at the earliest.

Patiala, March 19
As many as 501 liquor vends were allotted for the financial year 2010-11 for Rs 118.39 crore through a lottery system here today. This year, Department of Excise and Taxation will raise Rs 18.21 crore more as compared to the last year. The department had received 3,542 applications through which Rs 6.40 crore was collected.

Assistant Commissioner, Department of Excise and Taxation, Navdeep Kaur Bhinder said the draw of lots were carried out in a transparent manner today under the supervision of ADC APS Virk, SSP Ranbir Singh Khattra and Additional Commissioner, Excise and Taxation, Surinder Kaur.

She further stated that out of 501 liquor vends, 363 vends were of Punjab Medium Liquor (country made) and 138 were of Indian Made Foreign Liquor. “In Patiala city, six groups were formed, with each group having seven liquor vends. Every group went for Rs 6.16 crore,” she said. 

Jalandhar, March 19
Alarmed at high-level of pollution in various water bodies, especially drains, the Punjab Pollution Control Board today served an ultimatum of 15 days on industrial units asking them to bring down the level of pollution. A team of board officials, led by its chairman Rajat Aggarwal and accompanied by environmentalist Baba Balbr Singh Seechewal, today took samples of water from various water bodies to check the level of toxic metals.

Aggarwal and Baba Seechewal, who is also a member of the board, interacted with industrialists to make it clear to them that there would be no compromise as far as stopping the flow of toxic effluents and other pollutants from various industries to water bodies was concerned.

He told industrialists that they should be aware of the fact that highly toxic effluents flowing out from industries fell in various drains such as Kalsangian drain and Chitti Bein, which flow into the Sutlej from where various canals had been drawn.

The industry sought help from the board to decrease the level of pollution and to bring it within the prescribed parameters. However, some of the industrialists said the board should not target the industry alone. There were other major sources such as municipal bodies that caused pollution. Aggarwal told them the board had initiated action against municipal bodies which released about 95 per cent residues in various water bodies.

He said earlier 66 samples were drawn from various industries in this region. While the result of 10 samples was being awaited, 29 samples failed to the meet the prescribed limit of pollutants. Other samples were found within prescribed specifications.

Chandigarh, March 19
The courts cannot be used as an arena to settle political scores, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asserted, while imposing a fine of Rs 1 lakh on Shiromani Akali Dal’s senior leader Balwinder Singh Bhunder.

He had filed an election petition against Congress candidate Ajit Inder Singh Moffer’s victory from Sardulgarh Assembly constituency in February 2007. After initial arguments, Bhunder failed to pursue the matter. Such a heavy penalty has been imposed on a politician in an election matter for the first time in the high court’s history.

As Bhunder’s petition came up, Justice Mahesh Grover asserted: “Counsel for the petitioner states that he has no instructions from the petitioner. He is not present in the court to express his wishes either to prosecute the petition or to engage any other counsel.

“The court has no option, but to dismiss the petition for the want of prosecution. However, before parting with the order, the court expresses its anguish as to how for more than two years the precious time of the court has been unnecessarily wasted on a petition regarding whose prosecution the petitioner was not serious.

“A person, who sets into motion the wheels of justice, can withdraw from the proceedings in a court of law only with the permission of the court. He cannot be permitted to play truant with the court. The precincts of the court are not meant for playing a game of ducks and drakes.”

“The court spends precious time to examine the grievance of the parties before it, and its time is the time of the public, which cannot be squandered wastefully in addressing a grievance, which is perceived, imaginary, or merely an extension of a diabolical game of settlement of political scores.

“The petition is, therefore, dismissed with a cost of Rs 1 lakh, which shall be recovered from the petitioner. The money is to be deposited with the Punjab State Legal Services Authority. 

Amritsar, March 19
The parents of 17-year-old gangrape victim Kiran Kaur (name changed) fear a threat to their lives, even as the police arrested the main accused, Sona, last night. Eight other accused are still absconding.

Kiran was gangraped by nine youths, led by her boyfriend Sona of Naushehra Pannuan, for eight hours at a tubewell near here yesterday.

“We fear that our entire family might be eliminated as we have decided to stand up against the ordeal of our daughter,” said Jasbir Kaur and her husband Raj Kumar. They pleaded that since they had no money to pursue the case, some NGO should come forward to provide them with a free legal aid.

“Sona had been promising for long that he would marry me and he had even vowed to do so at a village temple. I don’t understand why he humiliated my family and me so badly,” rued a sobbing Kiran while talking to The Tribune.

Though the incident took place in a broad daylight, residents of the town were not ready to talk about it. “Don’t write our names. They (the accused) have been of such a bullying nature that all of us dread them,” said one of the residents of Naushehra Pannuan when enquired about the crime and background of the accused. Villagers recalled Sona and others as a “group of goons”. Investigation officer Sushil Kumar said the main accused, Sona, was arrested from the village last night.

Amritsar, March 19
Having kept their parents and the police on their toes for over 32 hours, five “missing” kids finally surfaced in Bal village late tonight.

The kids, identified as Sakhi (5), Sofian (4), Armaan (7), his brother (Arbaaz) and Mukesh (7), had gone “missing” from their homes in Devi Nagar locality here yesterday afternoon when they had gone to play at a nearby private school.

However, they were found sobbing at the bus stand of Bal village, 7 km from Devi Nagar locality, by one of the residents, who later informed the village sarpanch, as he had heard the news of the “missing” kids on a TV channel. 

The sarpanch took them to his home, where the kids went to enjoy their bout of sleep after having food.