Rs 592 cr for civic amenities in 19 towns
Chandigarh April 8
In a significant decision, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today gave in principle approval to sanction Rs 592 crore for providing facilities of 100 per cent drinking water supply, sewerage, including installation of sewage treatment plants, roads and street lighting in 19 towns of Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Mohali districts.

Mattewal backs probe panel advice
CM asks DGP to register case
Chandigarh, April 8
A media war over the alleged malicious writings related to various aspects of Sikhism has prompted the state government to invoke various provisions of the law to initiate action against those found guilty.

Chandigarh, April 8
The much-awaited unbundling of the PSEB, which is expected to receive Cabinet approval on Thursday next week, could well turn out to be an anti-climax with little or no change in the status quo barring in the account books.

With the next Assembly election due two years later, the SAD-BJP government in the state appears in no position to take tough decisions. So, even after unbundling, the government, which has ruled out privatisation at least for the time being, will continue to own the companies created after the bifurcation. There will be no reduction in the number of employees, no change in either subsidies or tariff and the same set of people will continue to be at the helm of the two new companies, who have so far been managing or mismanaging the PSEB.

So, why unbundle and create two new companies? The cosmetic changes apparently are at the insistence of the Central government and the Planning Commission, both of which have been serving ultimatums to the state government to initiate power reforms. The state government was given as many as 14 extensions and the current deadline expires on April 15. Thus, the urgency to set the ball rolling lest the state government loses out on central grants and plan allocation.

The officials closely associated with the process refuse to say anything on record. Since the unbundling is yet to take place, they express their inability to say anything officially as yet. But off the record they have plenty to say. Consumers need have no fear because post-unbundling, the electricity bills will not be higher and the subsidies will continue. Service conditions of employees will also remain the same, they claim.

Gujarat, one of the first states to unbundle its electricity board, continues to attract private investment in generation and distribution companies, which compete with each other and bring in greater efficiency in operations. The Gujarat government had also come up with a five year financial package when it undertook unbundling in order to restructure the utilities.

What’s more, Gujarat created distribution companies for each region. The companies were promised total support in dealing with electricity theft, for which lodging FIRs and arrests were made mandatory.

The Punjab government has been expressing its inability to bear the huge financial burden of writing off its loans to the PSEB and taking over its liabilities. The government, say officials, has no money to wipe the slate clean.

The worst flaw in the state government’s plan is said to be its decision to bundle generation and distribution together with one of the two companies, wholly owned by the government. This would defeat the purpose of allowing multiple companies to generate power and take care of distribution, which would ideally have ensured better and more efficient service and led to rationalisation of rates.

Political interference is cited as one of the key reasons for PSEB’s failure to reduce power theft in Punjab. Directions, it is alleged, are issued routinely and verbally to desist from surprise checks in the constituencies represented by the members of the ruling coalition. Even after an unbundling of sorts, the situation is unlikely to change, admit the officials.

While government sources rule out the speculation that the present PSEB chairman, HS Brar, and Member (Transmission) SC Sabharwal are tipped to head the two new entities after unbundling, there can’t be smoke without fire. Officials, however, insist that both the companies will be headed by professionals. With the rest of the structure remaining virtually intact, the professional heads are unlikely to make much of a difference though.

The present PSEB chairman is actually credited with ensuring that the parliamentary constituency of the Chief Minister’s daughter-in-law is supplied uninterrupted power supply during the entire period of the election campaign, when the rest of the state was reduced to darkness. He also went out of his way to shower allotment of tubewells out of his discretionary quota to Bathinda and surrounding areas, the pocket borough of the Chief Minister. He was “righting a previous wrong” , he said.

Only time will tell if the exercise turns out to be a cruel joke with the people or the beginning of something better. Chances are that after the unbundling it will be a case of “ PSEB is dead. Long live the PSEB”.

F Punjab sought and received 13 extensions from the Centre to complete the process of unbundling.

F The last extension was granted on February 15 this year for two months.

FINANCIAL POSITION OF THE PSEB

The PSEB’s financial position is such that insiders say it is a miracle, it has not collapsed till now. The board has accumulated losses of Rs 8,000 crore and has an outstanding loan of Rs 16,000 crore. Its working capital loan, which was Rs 900 crore in 2005-06, is now Rs 6,500 crore. What is most worrying is that the board will pay an interest of Rs 1,600 crore on loans taken by it in 2009-10. 

Chandigarh April 8
In a significant decision, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today gave in principle approval to sanction Rs 592 crore for providing facilities of 100 per cent drinking water supply, sewerage, including installation of sewage treatment plants, roads and street lighting in 19 towns of Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Mohali districts.

Chairing a meeting here at Chief Minister’s residence this morning, Badal reiterated that on one hand the SAD-BJP government was committed to provide basic civic amenities to the people in the urban areas and on other hand to ensure planned and integrated development of these towns.

It was informed in the meeting that out of 19 towns, these development works would be executed by the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA) in 10 towns of Ludhiana district, namely Machiwara, Doraha, Jagraon, Khanna, Maloud, Mullanpur Dakha, Payal, Raikot, Samrala and three towns of Jalandhar district, namely Phillaur, Goraya and Nurmahal at a cost of Rs 382 crore. Besides, development projects worth Rs 210 crore would be carried out by the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) in six towns of Mohali, Kharar, Zirakpur, Banur, Dera Bassi and Kurali (Mohali) district.

The Chief Minister directed both the Chief Administrators of GLADA and GMADA to get these development projects completed on priority basis within 18 months. He asked them to regularly monitor the progress of the projects with the other agencies such as local government, PSEB, local municipal committees and Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board to have better coordination and synergy for completion of entire project in a holistic manner.

Chandigarh, April 8
A media war over the alleged malicious writings related to various aspects of Sikhism has prompted the state government to invoke various provisions of the law to initiate action against those found guilty.

Acting on the recommendations of the Advocate-General Hardev Singh Mattewal, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has asked Director-General of Police PS Gill to get a case registered at Amritsar and get proper investigations conducted.

It all started on April 2 when the SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar accompanied by a delegation of the Sant Samaj and chief of Damdami Taksal met the Chief Minister to demand action against a Punjabi newspaper published from Mohali for its “alleged malicious writings about Sikh Gurus, Guru Granth Sahib, and various institutions of the Sikhs”.

On the memorandum submitted by the delegation, the Chief Minister observed that since it was a serious issue, an in-depth study of the writings from a legal point of view be conducted and report given in two days’ time.

A three-member inquiry committee comprising three Additional Advocates-General — AS Jattana, Uttam Singh Dhaliwal and Baljinder Singh Sra — was constituted by the Advocate-General.

The committee went through the memorandum as well as the alleged malicious writings. It observed that the “author has consistently, deliberately and maliciously questioned some of the very basic principles, practices and beliefs of the Sikh religion and its institutions, namely the five Takhts, Banis of the Nitnem and Sikh Ardas, etc, etc.

“All this is grossly offensive and provocative being an attempt to insult and outrage the feelings of the Sikhs by questioning their religion and religious beliefs. It is the basic article of faith of the Sikhs that Guru Granth Sahib is the living Guru of the Sikhs and embodies a divine message.”

The committee held that these publications comprehended within the meaning of the offence as defined in Section 295-A of the IPC and suggested that the matter should be sent immediately to the Director-General of Police for taking necessary action forthwith. And since the main complainants are the SGPC chief Makkar and the Damdami Taksal chief Baba Harnam Singh, the committee also recommended that a case be registered at Amritsar.

The Advocate-General besides endorsing the recommendations also quoted the Supreme Court in SGPC vs Som Nath Dass case where the holiest book of the Sikhs, Guru Granth Sahib, compiled by the fifth Guru, Guru Arjan Dev, has been described as the Bible of the Sikhs. It also says that Sri Guru Granth Sahib is a living Guru of the Sikhs.

The Chief Minister reportedly sent the recommendations to the Director-General for immediate action.

Moga, April 8
Protesting against price rise and anti-people policies of the Centre and the state government, members of the CPI, CPI (M) and its allied trade unions held a mass demonstration outside the office of the district magistrate here today.

They forcibly tried to enter the District Administrative Complex, but the police force prevented them from entering the complex by locking the main door. The protesters also had a minor scuffle with the security forces, but no one was reportedly injured in the clash.

The left leadership demanded to court arrest the protesters amid the, but the police pacified the situation by just ignoring them when they tried to take advantage of the situation.

Member state executive of the CPI Randhir Singh Gill lashed out at the Centre and the state government for its flawed policies against poor people, highlighted plight of the poor and marginal farmers and the landless labourers.

Surjit Singh Gagra of the CPI (M) opposed the move of the state government to unbundle the state electricity board for paving the way to privatisation, which he said would affect the career prospects of thousands of employees.

BATHINDA: In protest against the rising prices, a large number of CPI and the CPM activists, including women, today presented themselves for arrest in front of the office of the SSP here. Later after some time they were let off by the police.

They were raising slogans against the state government and in favour of their demands while observing non-cooperation day today. Earlier, they also held a dharna near the Mini Secretariat here. 

Jalandhar, April 8
The CPI has strongly opposed raise in pay and perks of MLAs and ministers.

Member of the national executive of the CPI Joginder Dayal here today said the increase in pay and perks would put an additional burden on the state, which was already reeling under heavy debt burden of Rs 63,000 crore. There appears to be move to issue an Ordinance to raise the pay and perks of MLAs and ministers.

He said, moreover, enhancing the pay and perks of MLAs and ministers was an unproductive expenditure, which the state like Punjab, struggling to stay on path of development, should avoid in any case. Instead, the government should cut down its unnecessary expenditure.

Dayal, who was here today to lead a demonstration against the rising prices, poor state of food security, nexuses between Maoists and Trinmool Congress in West Bengal and other issues, said the unbundling of the PSEB was a wrong step being taken by the state government. Already the unbundling of the electricity boards in other states had failed to give any positive result.

“It is an established fact that unbundling of the state boards has failed to change the power scenario in the country,” he added. “We feel that unbundling of the PSEB was a first step to privatise the power sector that would ultimately become a big burden on the people of the state,” he said.

The CPI leader said the Punjab government was neck deep in corruption. Many scandals have come to light. There was a scandal with regard to diversification in agriculture sector. Besides, recruitment of doctors has also ended in a scandal. Another scandal regarding seed subsidy had also come to light. Farmers were facing bad times. 

Sangrur, April 8
Acting on the complaint of some RTI activists that the Improvement Trust Sangrur had purchased interlocking tiles to be used in its various schemes at inflated rates, a team of officials on the directions of the technical adviser to the Chief Minister took the sample of the tiles from the Improvement Trust.

The RTI activists who made the complaint told TNS that after they had lodged the complaint, a team of officials comprising officials from the Local Bodies Department raided the office of the Improvement Trust and collected samples of 10 interlocking tiles from there.

The RTI activists said that these tiles were used by the Improvement Trust in its various schemes for constructing pavements, parking area, etc.

The Improvement Trust had purchased 4,62,000 cement interlocking tiles of thickness 50 mm costing Rs 48.97 lakh at the rate of Rs 10.59 per tile. The purchase was made in five months. When we got the rate of each tile of standard quality from market, the rate we got for the tile of same thickness was about Rs 7, which is quite less as compared to the rate at which the Improvement Trust purchased these tiles,” said Kamal Anand, who along with other RTI activists had lodged the complaint.

Confirming that a team collected the samples from the Improvement Trust, SDO Baljit Kansal of the trust said they had handed over the samples of tiles to the team. However, he maintained that the tiles were purchased in a transparent way and tenders for these were advertised in newspapers also.

Fazilka, April 8
The border town witnessed a complete bandh today as business establishments, public institutions, private schools and other educational institutions remained closed in protest against reduction of the territorial jurisdiction of this subdivision. The residents, members of the Bar Association and politicians, cutting across party lines, also staged a dharna at Ghanta Ghar Chowk.

Residents also stopped rail traffic by staging a dharna on the rail track at the local railway station. Those who participated in the agitation included Surjeet Jiyani, local MLA of the BJP, Mohan Singh Phallianwala, former MP, Ferozepur, and senior leader, BSP, Jaspinder Singh Jakhar, Congress leader, Ranjit Singh Dhaliwal, Charan Singh (both SAD leaders), Ashok Jairath, chairman, market committee and Anil Kumar Sethi, president, Municipal Council.

The call for the bandh was given jointly by various political and social organisations, which have been organising dharnas for the past many days.

The residents have been protesting that instead of elevating the status of this subdivision to the district level, the state government had now attached 46 villages of this subdivision with Arniwala police station of Jalalabad subdivision and Abohar subdivision.

The functioning of local offices was affected adversely due to agitation.

Jiyani while talking to TNS said that Fazilka deserved to a district. He added that three districts, namely Moga, Faridkot and Muktsar had been carved out of Ferozepur district but Fazilka had not been elevated to the district level despite the fact that it was one of the biggest subdivisions of Punjab when the country was partitioned in 1947.

Jalandhar, April 8
Former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh will start work on a new book pinpointing who were responsible for the deterioration of Punjab from pre-Partition till the assassination of former CM Beant Singh. He said the book would expose how the leadership of the state failed to strengthen Punjab and allowed the state to deteriorate.

He was in the city late last night to promote his fourth book, “The Last Sunset: The Rise And Fall of The Lahore Durbar”

“Over 35,000 persons were killed during the period of militancy and someone must be responsible for their deaths. My book will answer this burning issue,” he pointed out.

“I will try that the book is completed before the next Assembly elections and preparatory work on it is almost complete. But I need to talk to some people who had a ringside view of the happenings in those dark years,” he added.

He said one of the main sources of reference would be his personal diaries that had recorded events on the political sphere for the past over 30 years.

He said the Punjabi version of his fourth book would be released soon. 

Ludhiana, April 8
Budding Sufi Singer Satinder Sartaj has landed in midst of a controversy with Punjabi writer Tarlok Judge. Tarlok has levelled allegations of plagiarism against Sartaj.

Tarlok, a Ferozepore based Punjabi writer has alleged that Satinder has used one of his couplet "Aasan aag de vastar paune ne, nazdik na ho" published on page 24 of his book Ehsaas de Zakham- n his song. In this song, he has used couplets by various writers, claimed Tarlok.

Tarlok has given time till April 12 to Sartaj for making a public apology, failing which, he would be forced to take a legal action against him. The controversy has snowballed into a major debate with numerous social-networking sites and internet portals being dragged into it.

Narrating the tale of events, Tarlok, while talking to The Tribune said, "One day, I wrote the lines from the said song on my profile at one of the social networking sites, after which I received a message from my friend mentioning that it was Satinder Sartaj's song. Various people commented on it and after that the issue was published at one of the internet portals," he added.

Tarlok said he had even received a call from Satinder Sartaj regarding this issue. "I asked him to tender an apology publicly. After that day, I did not receive any communication from his side. The whole incident has turned into a virtual war, as his and my supporters are publishing their comments on the internet portals," he added.

Commenting upon the whole incident, Tarlok said it is very sad that the young singers use other's creation to gain fame and even forget to give due credit to them. "He should have at least given the credit by mentioning my name against the song on his album," he added.

Singer Satinder Satraj could not be contacted. His close associates said he was abroad and would respond to the allegations after coming back. 

Chandigarh, April 8
A school, Punjab Public School, Nabha, that has done the state and the country proud is all set to celebrate its golden jubilee on April 11 and 12 with none other than President Pratibha Devisingh Patil coming to preside over the celebrations on Monday next.

The school plans to put up a spectacular horse show and a band display. With 80 per cent students coming from the rural areas, it has the lowest fee among all residential schools in the country. Not only defence forces, alumni of the school have made a mark in industry, judiciary, journalism, academics, medicine and other areas.

The school could rightly claim itself to be the nation's sword arm as out of seven Army Commanders one belongs to this prestigious institution. Incidentally, two others have retired recently. Besides the largest naval command, the Western Command, was until recently commanded by an ex-Nabhaite, said headmaster of the school Commodore (retd) IL Syal.

Vice Admiral Satish Soni, another alumnus has been heading the National Defence Academy, Kharagwasla. One of the former Commandants of the Indian Military Academy also came from PPS, Nabha. Not only that the present Commandant of OTA, Chennai, is an ex-Nabhaite.

The school proudly claims to have produced 14 serving Generals, Major Generals and Lieutenant Generals and over 150 Colonels and above in the armed forces. Set up in 1961, in the erstwhile Nabha Palace, the school has maintained highest standards of all-round development of its students and has produced among others Pawan Kant Munjal of Hero Honda besides Rajeev Bakshi of ICICI Venture Fund and Managing Editor, Day & Night News Channel Kanwar Sandhu.

Other prominent alumni includes neurologist Dr Satish Jain, Wharton Business School Professor Jagmohan Singh Raju and Kellog School Professor Rajinder M. Gupta, besides Justice Rajan Gupta of Punjab and Haryana High Court. The school has produced some eminent politicians, too. They include Jagmeet Singh Brar, Partap Singh Bajwa and Harpartap Singh Ajnala.

The board of Governors of the school, headed by the Punjab Governor Shivraj V Patil, has decided to confer this years’ Roll of Honour Award upon Lt Gen, GOC-in-C, Eastern Command, Bikram Singh. At present, former Financial Commissioner of Punjab KN Singh is the president of the executive committee of the school.

Jalandhar, April 8
Jumbo Hema and her calf Rajbir (3), along with four others, who have been alluring visitors to Chhatbir zoo for the past so many years, will no longer be its attraction.

Not just them, a new circular issued by the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) will affect over 140 elephants in 26 zoos in the country. They will now be rehabilitated in camps, national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and tiger reserves. The CZA observed that the housekeeping of elephants in zoos left a lot to be desired, causing trauma to the animal. Elephant is a herbivore that likes cruising over long distances.

There are very few zoos in this country, which have adequate space to permit free movement of elephants, as a result of which they are kept chained for long hours. Moreover, there are instances of these elephants causing serious threat to visitors during their heat period. The zoo management also had tremendous financial liability for the day-to-day maintenance of elephants, the circular read.

Taking a serious note, the CZA has banned elephants from zoo collections throughout the country with immediate effect. The CZA has also asked the zoo management to strictly follow the guidelines issued for the transportation of the animals. The CZA would bear the cost for transportation of elephants in this regard, based on a proposal received through the Chief Wildlife Warden of the state.

Jatinder Kumar, Chief Wildlife Warden, Punjab, however, claimed that they had enough space for the jumbos in the zoo. “Our zoo has a history of successful breading of pachyderms. Our elephants have given birth to four calves in the last 10 years,” claimed Kumar. Providing evidences of successful breeding of jumbos, Kumar claimed to have written to the CZA for exempting Chhatbir from the ban.

TK Behra, director of Chhatbir zoo, said the zoo had six elephants, including two males. Besides Chhatbir zoo, four other zoos - Alipore Zoological Gardens in Kolkata, Mysore zoo in Karnataka, Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad, Arignar Anna Zoological Park in Chennai - too, have claimed that they had enough space for the elephants and sought exemption from the ban.

Patiala, April 8
Acute shortage of specialist government doctors in Punjab is bound to further nosedive, because of the wrong interpretation of Indian Medical Council (IMC) Rules by state medical colleges. Because of the misinterpretation of the rules,even the toppers among the Punjab Civil Medical Services (PCMS) doctors have been rendered ineligible for admission in postgraduate courses.

The PCMS Association has sought intervention of the Minister for Medical Education and Research to take a logical decision and save the career of these doctors who have served the rural areas of Punjab for years.

According to the association, the authorities concerned in the state medical colleges are wrongly interpreting the Post Graduate Medical Entrance Test (PGMET) as a mandatory eligibility test for admission to postgraduate medical courses.

Whereas, the association maintained that as per the rules of the IMC, all PCMS doctors who secured 50 per cent (qualifying pass marks) in MBBS course are eligible for admission to postgraduate courses. Moreover, 60 per cent seats in postgraduate courses in the state are reserved for PCMS doctors.

It said only two PCMS candidates had secured more than 50 per cent in the PGMET.

Take for instance the case of Anju Kansal and Pamila Bansal, who even after securing 360 and 354 marks with the 8th and 10th positions in the merit list of 60 per cent PCMS quota seats are being denied admission due this wrong interpretation of the IMC rules.

The percentage in PGMET, the test to determine ‘inter-se-merit’ of the PCMS as well as fresh graduate doctors in their respective category seats must not be considered as qualifying test, it said adding that this test is only to meant to standardise the merit of PCMS doctors who passed MBBS from different universities with different standards of marking.

The association also demanded two separate set of papers for the 60 per cent PCMS and 40 per cent fresh graduates in future. Justice demanded separate set of paper for in-service doctors to judge their clinical knowledge instead of academics, the association added.

Patiala, April 8
Soon after the Patiala Municipal Corporation handed over the task of water supply in the city to private contactors, they have started using various techniques to manage this task in an efficient way. The first step taken by them is the use of electronic timers on tubewells instead of operators to regulate the supply.

It is pertinent to mention here that on the day the contractors were given the charge of tubewells, there were some areas that did not receive water, as some operators did not reach their respective tubewells in time to switch it on. As a result, many people raised their voice against the MC decision saying this system would not be bad for city residents, but for the MC in the long run.

However, the operators have now decided to set timers on all tubewells in order to make things systematic. It will also save the money being given to operators each month.

Sirhind/Rajpura, April 8
With harvesting season in full swing, the government schools in Sirhind and adjoining Rajpura are registering drastic dropout rates.

Teachers at these government schools revealed that despite counseling and repeated requests, the students hardly pay attention for studies during the month of April as most of them help their parents in harvesting wheat crop during this season.

“Students of all age groups are missing classes with the onset of harvesting season. They are supported by their parents who do not insist them to be regular with classes,” said Ravinder Joshi, principal of Ashoka Senior Secondary School in Sirhind.

He said out of 1,400 students in his school, less than 100 had attended their classes today. Results of Class VIII board exams is awaited, and the students who have passed Classes VI, VII, IX and XI have been told to attend classes regularly to cover up 40 per cent syllabus under the pre-admission classes.

Students, who have appeared for board exams, including VIII and X, will attend classes after their results. However, none of the students are attending their classes now.

“Shortage of labourers for harvesting this season has increased the dropout rate as compared to the previous year,” said Charanjit Singh, a teacher in Rajpura.

He said younger children failed to do any hardwork in fields. However, they are deputed to perform mundane tasks like taking care of wheat stock in grains markets, serving food to labourers and little girls are asked to lend helping hand for preparing food and taking care of other routine chores. “These are hectic days and children help us a lot. Our annual financial situation depends on this season,” said Mokham Singh, a resident of nearby Chanarthal village.

Some government teachers said strict orders from the Education Department had forced them to fetch children from their houses.

Amritsar, April 8
The state’s Adarsh Scheme to set up model schools in the state finally saw the light of the day as its first school Government Satya Bharti Adarsh Senior Secondary School was inaugurated in Chogawan village, near here, today.

State Education MinisterDr Upinderjit Kaur, who inaugurated the school, said schools under the scheme would have the CBSE curriculum, innovative teaching aids, sports facilities and teacher training facilities.

The state government in collaboration with Bharti Foundation, a philanthropic arm of Bharti Enterprises, will set up six senior secondary schools for underprivileged children in rural areas.

Vice-Chairman and MD, Bharti Enterprises, Rakesh Bharti Mittal, said his foundation would be responsible for teacher training processes and innovative teaching methodologies.

Sangrur, April 8
Holding the State Bank of Patiala (SBoP) responsible for deficiency in service, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has ordered the SBoP to credit Rs 1,037 in the account of Surinder Kumar and his wife Bimla Devi. The amount was deducted from their account several times on account of minimum balance charges.

The forum also directed the SBoP to pay Rs 5,000 to the complainants in lieu of consolidated amount of compensation within 60 days.

On November 5, 2009, the complainants had filed a complaint before the forum that the SBoP had deducted nearly Rs 1,037 from their account on account of minimum balance charges.

The forum observed that the SBoP failed to bring on record either any document that the complainants were made aware of any such rules of deduction on minimum balance charges at the time of opening the account.