J A L A N D H A R    E D I T I O N

Khangura wants Sukhbir to lead mission rescue to UAE
Jalandhar, April 6
Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal should personally lead mission rescue for the release of 17 Indians on death row in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) rather than enjoying kabaddi. Stating this Kila Raipur MLA Jassi Khangura today condemned Badal Jr for his lack of compassion towards the plight of those awaiting the hangman on alien shores.

Cong leader visits Sachin’s family

After HC order, Punjab to switch on hiring button
Hoshiarpur, April 6
Keeping in view the recent order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the state’s decision for granting one time one year extension to its employees retiring on or before December 31, 2010, the Punjab government has directed its departmental heads to start fresh recruitment of their required staff to fill all the vacant posts.

Kabaddi Craze

Spectators catch a view of a kabaddi match during the Kabaddi World Cup in Hoshiarpur on Tuesday. Tribune photo: Malkiat Singh

Agri technocrats lambast govt
Hoshiarpur, April 6
The executive committee of the Punjab agriculture technocrats in its meeting discussed the negative attitude of the state government towards their problems due to which new and latest agriculture technology had not been introduced caused heavy losses to the farmers. As a result many of the farmers had committed suicide due to the financial strain. According to a press release issued here today, General Secretary of Agriculture Technocrats Action Committee, Punjab, Dr Avtar Singh said it was a dire need to make awareness among the farmers about the modern and latest agriculture knowledge so that they could follow the same and earn more.

King-size Loddoo

Devotees help pack prashad during Hanuman Jayanti in Amritsar. The Balajit Sankat Mochan Samittee claims to have formed a laddoo weighing 11,000 kg to mark the occasion in the Katra Baggia locality. Photo: Vishal Kumar

40 years of sleep leaves FCI tackle mutation worries
Tarn Taran, April 6
Forty years back, the local depot of the Food Corporation of Indian (FCI) purchased a piece of land measuring 40 kanal and 13 marlas to construct godowns to store foodgrains. Surprising it forgot to get the land registered in its name.

Ad hoc PWD staff demand regularisation
Tarn Taran, April 6
Hundreds of employees of the Public Works Department (PWD) working on adhoc basis held a demonstration in front of the office of the XEN Water Supply and Sanitation here today demanding regularisation.

PSEB privatisation: Govt’s effigy burnt
Tarn Taran, April 6
On the call of the 22 agitating farmers and the labour organisations burnt the effigy of the Punjab government against the state repression and privatization of the PSEB.

Khangura wants Sukhbir to lead mission rescue to UAE
Amarjit Thind
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, April 6
Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal should personally lead mission rescue for the release of 17 Indians on death row in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) rather than enjoying kabaddi. Stating this Kila Raipur MLA Jassi Khangura today condemned Badal Jr for his lack of compassion towards the plight of those awaiting the hangman on alien shores.

Despite assurance of the UAE government for an appeal in the matter, Khangura said the inaction by the state was absolutely unacceptable to the people. Sukhbir should leave the kabaddi in the hands of those who knew the game better than him and rush to the UAE so that efforts were made to free our innocent brethren at the earliest, he pointed out.

“How can Sukhbir justify his indifference to the families of these 17 men, especially when 16 of them hail from Punjab,” he questioned.

Khangura added that Badal, as Deputy Chief Minister, has sufficient authority to be in contact with the UAE on a matter concerning a life and death situation.

Ideally, Badal should either be camping at Delhi interacting with the Centre or in the UAE working towards review of the death sentences, he added. The legislator said that Sukhbir should avoid the blame game and instead clearly state what he or his government had done in the matter, if anything.

He added, “It is an insult not only to those on death row but is truly tragic for their families back home. Sadly, Sukhbir prefers to promote kabaddi rather than work for their release.”

Taking a dig at the Deputy CM’s jaunts to the Middle East, he said owing to his frequent outings abroad, surely the former would have strong contacts in the region that could be tapped for fellow Punjabis, he added.

Cong leader visits Sachin’s family

Phillaur, April 6
Former Congress minister Chaudhry Santokh Singh visited Mahal village to express sympathies with the family of Sachin Sharma who, along with 16 other Indians, has been sentenced to death by a UAE court on the charge of killing a Pakistani. Santokh Singh assured the family members of Sachin of all possible steps to save the innocent lives of the Indians, including Sachin. He also spoke to Union Minister for State Perneet Kaur in this regard. — OC

After HC order, Punjab to switch on hiring button
Ravinder Sud

Hoshiarpur, April 6
Keeping in view the recent order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the state’s decision for granting one time one year extension to its employees retiring on or before December 31, 2010, the Punjab government has directed its departmental heads to start fresh recruitment of their required staff to fill all the vacant posts.

Stating this while talking to mediapersons at helipad at local Police Line here this afternoon, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said after relieving the staff on their retirement, due promotions of government employees would be done and vacancies thereafter would also be filled up after fresh recruitment. This would provide employment to thousands of jobless youths.

When asked to comment on the scrapping of Power Bill 2003 for unbundling of Punjab State Electricity Board, he evaded the reply. But he said there was a great shortage of electricity in all over the country, however, the state government would initiate all necessary steps to procure the power from all sources to regularise it during summer and for the ensuring sowing of paddy crop in the state.

Referring to the fresh procurement of forthcoming wheat crop, he said that all necessary arrangements for its procuring, lifting and payments to the farmers had been done. Many of the godowns of the state government were piled with wheat stock belonged to the Central government. The concerned departments of the Central government had been asked to lift their wheat stock at the earliest so that procured wheat could be stored there.

He said the ongoing Kabaddi World Cup, a heritage sport of Punjab, had been receiving a big response not only from the rural youths but their urban counterparts had also showing their great interest in the game.

Keeping in view the success of World Cup, it had been decided to organise kabaddi tournaments on international level like IPL matches of cricket.

In summer, IPL like kabaddi tournaments would be organised in Europe, America and Canada whereas in winter it would be held in India.

To further popularise kabaddi, block to state-level tournaments would also be organised. It would not only promote sports among the youths but would also discourage them to indulge themselves in intoxication.

Agri technocrats lambast govt

Hoshiarpur, April 6
The executive committee of the Punjab agriculture technocrats in its meeting discussed the negative attitude of the state government towards their problems due to which new and latest agriculture technology had not been introduced caused heavy losses to the farmers. As a result many of the farmers had committed suicide due to the financial strain.

According to a press release issued here today, General Secretary of Agriculture Technocrats Action Committee, Punjab, Dr Avtar Singh said it was a dire need to make awareness among the farmers about the modern and latest agriculture knowledge so that they could follow the same and earn more. Though more than 65 per cent of the Indian population was depending on agriculture, the government had not formulated any policy on national level to promote this sector.

Some of the anti-agriculture elements in the government machinery were trying to create hurdles even in the smooth working of agriculture technocrats. All of their demands were lying pending since long. The action committee demanded restoration of professional pay parity from 1998, formation of service rule on the pattern of veterinary department lying pending since 1992, filling up all the vacant posts, formation of a national level policy. Technocrats would stage dharna before the office of Commissioner Jalandhar division on April 15, Faridkot division on April 29 and Patiala division on May 13, 2010. — OC

40 years of sleep leaves FCI tackle mutation worries
Gurbaxpuri

Tarn Taran, April 6
Forty years back, the local depot of the Food Corporation of Indian (FCI) purchased a piece of land measuring 40 kanal and 13 marlas to construct godowns to store foodgrains. Surprising it forgot to get the land registered in its name.

The Corporation woke up only after realising that one Bhajan Singh has registered a portion of land in his name. So the FCI got the land registered in its name last year. But it faces mutation worries as Bhajan Singh has got the mutation of 3 kanal, 19 marlas.

These interesting facts came to fore as Avtar Singh Deol, a social activist, wrote letters to the higher authorities and filed an RTI application on the matter.

Deol claimed that when the FCI purchased the land in 1968, it made the payment to the owner on the spot but the authorities failed to get this land registered in FCI’s name. In 2007, Bhajan Singh possibly in connivance with the Revenue Department got a chunk of FCI land registered in his name and got the mutation also.

When Deol brought the matter to the higher authorities, the corporation hurriedly got the land registered in its name last year. But the mutation of the land could not be done to the FCI as out of the total land, Bhajan Singh has got registered a piece of land to his name. SDM Bakhtawar Singh in a reply to Deol under RTI said, “The FCI would have to move to the Civil Court to cancel the mutation of Bhajan Singh.”

Ad hoc PWD staff demand regularisation
Our Correspondents

Tarn Taran, April 6
Hundreds of employees of the Public Works Department (PWD) working on adhoc basis held a demonstration in front of the office of the XEN Water Supply and Sanitation here today demanding regularisation.

Balkar Singh Varpal, Zonal President of the employees union, demanded regularization of the services of the employees who have been serving on an adhoc basis for the last more than 20 years. The union in a unanimously passed resolution condemned the government for handing over the water supply system to the private parties calling it a cruel joke for the adhoc employees of the department.

Employees of the B&R, Canal & Sewerage and Water Supply the wings of the PWD participated in the demonstration.

Pathankot: Members of the PWD Field and Workshop Workers Union held a rally against the Punjab government and to demand regularisation of the services of daily wagers here today.

Union secretary Rajinder Dhiman urged the government to accept the long-pending demands of the union, otherwise the union would stage a protest in the constituency of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal at Lambi on April 15. He demanded that those daily wagers who had completed at least 10 years of service must be regularised without any delay. He denounced the move to private waterworks schemes, canals and roads.

PSEB privatisation: Govt’s effigy burnt
Our Correspondent

Tarn Taran, April 6
On the call of the 22 agitating farmers and the labour organisations burnt the effigy of the Punjab government against the state repression and privatization of the PSEB.

The farmers and the workers organised a protest march in the town and shouted slogans against the state government before burning the effigy of the state government at the local Chauk Bohri.

Sawinder Singh Chutala, senior vice-president of the Kisan Sangarash Committee, warned the state government against its anti-farmers policies.