Chandigarh, April 9
Punjab will get four to five paramilitary battalions to foil any disruption in power supply in case of strike calls by a section of employees or farmer unions protesting against the proposed bifurcation of the PSEB into state-owned companies by April 15.

It is also contemplating invoking the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA), which prohibits strikes and allows arrests without warrants. It has brought the Punjab Villages and Small Towns Monitoring Act in force that aims at voluntary patrolling by citizens to protect transmission lines. Village heads will be associated by the district administration for this purpose.

The government has also constituted district and subdivisional monitoring committees today. These committees will include representatives from the civil administration, PSEB and the police. Control rooms are being established in each district for this purpose.

Special emphasis is being laid on the thermal plants in Ropar and Bathinda districts for which special force has been deputed. More than 20 companies of the Punjab Armed Police will be guarding the grid stations in the state, which supply power to big towns to ensure there is no blackout in case of a strike call.

Meanwhile, sources said the government wants to follow a policy of being flexible towards mainstream employees and at the same time isolate Leftist organizations, who might launch a protest against the unbundling exercise. Leaders of these organisations, including the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta- Ugrahan) may face preemptive arrests.

During a meeting presided over by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal here today, some concerns were expressed that the district police force did not have requisite equipment to control riot-like situations. District police chiefs were asked to purchase any equipment needed, including riot sticks and teargas shells. The Chief Minister also ordered that night patrolling be intensified to instill confidence in the public.

In a separate development, BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan said 22 kisan and khet mazdoor organisations affiliated with the group had prepared themselves for a struggle against the unbundling of the PSEB. He claimed the bifurcation was the first step towards privatisation. He said the group would announce its formal decision to launch a “people movement” against the unbundling exercise in a day or two.

The Chief Minister, meanwhile, held meetings with various employee unions of the PSEB today. Sources said most mainstream unions might be brought around though the Technical Services Union (Bhangal group) might go on strike.

Gholia Kalan (Moga), April 9
Up in arms against the proposed cement plant coming up on the green plains at Gholia Kalan village in Moga district, the rural folk outrightly rejected this proposal during a public hearing on objections organised by the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) in association with the district administration on Friday.

The panchayat and residents of the village had passed a resolution against the project and gave a memorandum to NS Mansahia, executive engineer of the PPCB, and Mahinder Singh Kainth, Additional Deputy Commissioner of the district.

Raising concern over pollution, Jagsir Singh, a member of the panchayat, said some poor people living close to the project site were making a living by sowing horticultural crops, particularly vegetables. “It will be impossible for them to grow vegetables due to the air pollution caused by the cement plant,” he said.

Harbhajan Singh, a former member of the panchayat, said the village already has another cement plant, which has ruined the hopes of poor farmers to grow vegetables.

Shavinder Pal Singh, Naib Singh and other people of the village said that there was a school within 500 metres of the proposed site and if this project was sanctioned by the government, it would have an adverse effect on children.

A consultant and other functionaries of the cement company claimed that they had prepared an environment impact assessment report and an environment management plan keeping in view the concerns of the local people. “It is a very small cement plant having a capacity of just 30 tonnes per day and all the raw materials will be purchased from outside,” they said.

The company officials further claimed that they had made a proposal to install bag filters on the cement plant having an efficiency of 95 to 98 per cent which would reduce the quantity of air pollution.

Gholia Kalan village has a population of 7,657 persons living in 1,386 households. An application for grant of environmental clearance for this cement plant was considered at a meeting of the state expert appraisal committee of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests on July 18, 2009, subject to the condition that the project proponent should submit an environment impact assessment study report for a final nod to the project.

The committee has asked the company that environment monitoring should be carried out for at least six different locations all around the project within a 10 km radius of the proposed site besides other measures.

Chandigarh, April 9
Taking cognisance of Punjab Public Service Commission Chairman Sanjit Kumar Sinha’s petition for an independent probe into the allegations levelled against the commission in the selection of medical officers, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today put on notice the state of Punjab through the Chief Secretary.

Justice Ajay Kumar Mittal “at this stage” also issued “dasti” or by hand notices to the Director-General of Police, along with Secretary, Home Affairs and Justice. Notice was also issued to the office of the state Advocate-General. The case will now come up on April 27.

Sinha has accused Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal of attacking the commission’s independence, while demanding a probe by the CBI, or a retired high court judge.

As the petition was taken up this morning, Sinha’s counsel Bar-at-Law Himmat Singh Shergill asserted PPSC chief, high court and Apex court judges, the Chief Election Commissioner and the Union Public Service Commission members were among the posts granted constitutional protection.

This, he said, was essential, as they had to perform functions “independent of the government of the day”. But Badal, under a deep-rooted conspiracy, has “put the commission under the scanner of an official, who is directly under his control, thereby violating the constitutional safeguards, which the commission has been granted by the Constitution of India”, Shergill added in the petition.

Shergill claimed “the deep-rooted conspiracy was highlighted further when the Advocate-General, Punjab, stated as per newspaper reports that when allegations are made into the functioning or charges of corruption are levelled, as has been done in the selection of doctors, the government could after preliminary investigation through the Vigilance Department headed by the Chief Secretary, order the registration of an FIR”. Dubbing the process as fair, Shergill has asserted allegations are “that close relatives of judges, ministers, MLAs, IAS and IPS officers have been selected because of their influence”.

“Just because some candidates happen to be the relatives of persons who are eminent in government service does not disqualify them from being considered for the posts of medical officers”. Allegations of an ASI-level cop seeking gratification have also been refuted as “baseless”. Similar stand has been taken on the allegations of “absurd questions being asked in the interviews”.

Describing as “preposterous” the allegation that 45 doctors were interviewed in 40 minutes, Sinha said three interview panels interviewed on an average 80 to 90 candidates in the forenoon and afternoon sessions.

Chandigarh, April 9
Disposing of a three-year-old case of custodial death, the Punjab State Human Rights Commission (PSHRC) has asked the Punjab Government to find out how jail inmates die of poisoning while inside the jail.

Foxed by a host of such incidents where post-mortem reports in cases of custodial deaths point towards death due to poisoning, a full Bench of the commission has asked the government to set up a special investigation team led by an IG-level officer to probe the cause of such deaths.

“It is a big puzzle for the commission to understand and solve as it is off and on being confronted by several instances of custodial deaths in jails, wherein the cause of death is poisoning from organic phosphorous compound. How prisoners get access to this poisonous substance? The jail authorities do not apply their mind to this problem as a result of which, it being the presumptive evidence, the commission has always awarded interim compensation in all such cases,” states the commission’s order.

The commission had asked the state government to pay Rs 70,000 as compensation to the family of an undertrial, Khazan Singh, who had died in custody in January 2007 in the Amritsar Central Jail.

Following a compliance report filed by the state, the commission disposed of the case on March 31, stating, “Human life is very precious and the relief by way of interim compensation is no substitute to it. The matter requires a deep introspection by the state authorities. Therefore, the commission also recommends to the state government to constitute a special investigating team which may determine the possible causes for such like deaths in custody.”

Jalandhar, April 9
With the rise in temperature, wheat harvesting has picked up in the state’s countryside. More than 2 lakh tonnes of wheat has arrived in state markets and today’s arrival was in the range of 1 lakh tonnes, it is learnt. Most of the wheat is being procured by state government agencies.

Government agencies have a target to procure 115 lakh tonnes of wheat in the state and its production is likely to touch a figure of 156 lakh tonnes.

The harvesting of wheat started late this year as it was sown late by two weeks. In fact, the setting up of the cut-off date for the transplantation of paddy in the state has impacted the sowing of other crops in the state.

The state government had issued orders that no one could transplant paddy before June 15, whereas it used to be transplanted earlier in May.

As now the paddy crop matures late and harvested late, owing to this the sowing of wheat is also delayed by about 15 days in the state. Moreover, there is a shortage of labour in the state.

Jalandhar, April 9
The failure of the state government to release subsidy worth Rs 3.2 crore has left hundreds of farmers high and dry.

While the Centre had contributed 90 per cent in the amount, 10 per cent was to be contributed by the state government. However, the state government failed to release the amount by March 31.

The Centre had made provision for the subsidy under the micromanagement work plan scheme to enable farmers to buy implements such as straw reaper, fodder harvester, potato digger, power sprayer, potato planter and pulverising roller. Sources said a number of farmers had enrolled themselves under the scheme and had already deposited the minimal required amount in advance with the Department of Agriculture. As the state government has failed to provide subsidy in time, farmers in all districts had to wait for months to buy the implements.

Director, Agriculture, Dr BS Sidhu, said he had started efforts to get the scheme renewed. A meeting with the officials concerned would be held on April 13 in New Delhi. Without the Centre’s nod, the scheme could not be renewed.

Fatehgarh Sahib, April 9
Flour mill owners in Punjab are encashing problems of unorganised wheat procurement sector in Uttar Pradesh. The mill owners are buying wheat at Rs 150 to Rs 200 less than Punjab and selling the same in the state as flour.

According to the mill owners, if they do not purchase wheat at a cheaper price from UP, the cost of flour would increase and nobody would purchase wheat-based products.

Availability of wheat at a cheaper price has driven the flour mill owners to purchase it from unorganised grain markets of Uttar Pradesh.

“Usually this trend is witnessed every year and even during paddy season. If we purchase wheat from Punjab, we would not be able to compete with the prices at which wheat and maida are sold in Punjab from the neighbouring states,” said Naresh Ghai, state president of Punjab Roller Flour Mills Association.

He pointed out that quality of wheat produced in UP and Punjab was the same and they make profits from transport costs.

Bhartiya Kisan Union (Rajewal) chief Balbir Singh Rajewal said in terms of marketing wheat produce Punjab was at the top in comparision to other northern states.

He said there were no grain markets in Uttar Pradesh and government agencies did not procure wheat or paddy from marginal farmers. They are left with no other option but to to approach influential farmers to sell off their produce.

The traders say they pay nearly 13 per cent tax, including VAT, market fee, cess and commission, while in UP it is about 7.5 per cent, besides bargaining for the wheat crop.

As per the flour mill owners they purchase wheat at a price of Rs 900 to 950 per quintal, however, in Punjab they have to shell out Rs 1,200 per quintal. The transport cost of wheat purchased from UP is nearly Rs 1,100.

“If we do not purchase wheat at a cheaper price from UP then the flour mills won’t be able to function here as wheat-based products will be sold in Punjab at a much cheaper price,” flour mill owners said, adding that the share of private traders in wheat purchase has reduced with the passage of time.

Patiala, April 9
Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal has claimed that Punjab has recorded the highest VAT collection growth in the country. He said during the past three years, VAT collection in the state increased from Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 8,150 crore, registering an average increase of Rs 1,000 crore annually. Sukhbir expressed these views, while speaking to mediapersons after paying tributes to former Akali Minister Jasdev Singh Sandhu, on his 10th death anniversary, at a programme held at Kauli village in Patiala yesterday.

“The economy of Punjab, which had touched the 24th position during the Congress rule, reclaimed its second position in the country,” Sukhbir claimed. He castigated the Congress-led UPA government for failing to tackle the unprecedented price rise of essential commodities. Sukhbir said during the past six months, there had been a record seizure of narcotics and large number of drug peddlers had been arrested. He said the magnitude of the problem could be gauged from the fact that out of Rs 1,500 crore seizures in the country last year, 60 per cent seizures were from Punjab alone. “The Punjab police is seeking the permission of court to seize the properties and other assets of absconding smugglers and putting them to auction,” he said.

Patiala, April 9
The PSEB has finally initiated the development of the 2,640-MW Gidderbaha Thermal Power Project on a long-term basis through competitive bidding under the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Power (MoP).

Sources confirmed that expression of interest (EoI) conference would be held on April 29 for this project. In another development, Gidderbaha Power Limited (GPL) is filing a petition with the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) for taking an approval for 30 per cent merchant power sale from power generated from the Gidderbaha project.

Chairman-cum-MD of the GPL Anurag Agawral said, “Since, the said project was earlier held up on account of lack of clarity on coal linkage but now the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has recommended for the coal linkage for the project to the MoP and this is likely to be taken up at a meeting of the Standing Linkage Committee to be held for the 12th Plan power projects scheduled to be held in the near future.”

Chairing the board meeting of the GPL, also attended by consultants on the project - PFC Consulting Limited, Agawral said, “The project was held up so far due to lack of clarity on coal linkage but now the GPL board has decided to start the 2,640-MW Gidderbaha Thermal Power Project.”

Senior officials of the PSEB said earlier, Section 4 notification under the Land Acquisition Act was issued for approx 2,300 acres of land, but Section 6 was not issued due the lack of clarity of coal linkage. “Now, since the CEA has recommended for coal linkage, the GPL board has decided to reinitiate actions for acquiring land for the project”, Agarwal added.

Patiala, April 9
ETT teachers of Punjab are once again gearing themselves up for fighting against the non-acceptance of their long pending demands. Taking their protest to the next level, they are organising a state-level meeting at Jalandhar on April 10 where they would declare their future course of action.

Elected members of the teachers’ body from across the state would also discuss various problems being faced by them. It is pertinent to mention here that the ETT teachers want to be included in the Punjab Education Department instead of the Zila Parishad and are demanding salaries as per government grades. They had put their protests on hold keeping in view the examinations.

Now, the ETT union has decided to intensify their protest. District president of ETT teachers’ body Jagpal Singh Chahal said they did not want to disturb the education process, but the government was not taking their demands seriously. Now they have decided to take the help of other employee associations and have, thus, invited leaders of various associations to attend the meeting. He state that after tomorrow’s meeting they would disclose their next line of action after mutual consent of all district unions.

Anandpur Sahib, April 9
While the lack of water for irrigation has led to almost nil income from agricultural resources, as many as 26 villages here are trying to milk livelihood from the dairy business. Every village has 4-6 small dairy farms. Exchange of milk and milk products is yet another way of keeping the kitchen fires burning for these people living in abject penury.

Balki Ram Singh owns a dairy farm with five buffaloes. Unknown to the concept of breeding, he buys a new buffalo every three years. “The yield is less than 4 kg per day. But somehow this is enough to a least manage decent meals for my family,” he said.

Dairy farmers try to arrange water from ponds created under the Kandi Project or they have to take their animals all the way down the hills towards river. As the mercury soars, milk yield decreases and battle for water increases.

With a recent government action on providing improved breed of buffaloes, things may change. Under integrated buffalo development project of the state, three areas have been identified, including Kandi, villages of Patiala, Mansa and Sangrur situated along Ghaggar river and border villages of Gurdaspur and Amritsar.

Agriculture economist with Punjab State Farmers’ Commission PS Rangi said under the programme, breed of buffaloes would be improved in such a way that their yield would increase from 4 kg to 10 kg. For this, the state government has signed agreement with Gujarat-based NGO BAIS and JK Trust. These NGOs have already been given Rs 9 crore to cover 300 villages in the earmarked area.

“It would take at least four years for the project to start showing results. This is because a buffalo takes 3-4 years to reach lactating phase, while cows mature in 2-3 years,” Rangi added.

Chandigarh, April 9
The controversy surrounding brandishing of a pistol at the court staff in Gidderbaha by a truck union president is getting murkier.

Instead of tendering an unconditional apology as undertaken earlier, Rashpal Singh has levelled serious allegations against judicial magistrate in whose court the alleged incident had occurred.

The allegations were made in an affidavit submitted to the Punjab and Haryana High Court for offering regrets. The “apology” now stands rejected by the Division Bench of Justice Mehtab Singh Gill and Justice Arvind Kumar. Directions for continuing contempt of court proceedings against him, too, have been issued.

Rashpal has already been facing contempt of court proceedings, initiated against him after Justice Mehtab Singh Gill and Justice Arvind Kumar took suo motu cognisance of news-report carried in The Tribune on the incident.

As the case had come up for hearing on the previous date, Rashpal had appeared before the high court and expressed willingness to tender an unconditional apology. Taking on record his assertion, the Bench had asked him to submit apology in the form of an affidavit.

After going through the affidavit, the Bench asserted: “We have gone through the affidavit submitted to the court today. It is not an unconditional apology. The contemnor has, instead, gone further and levelled allegations against the judicial magistrate.

“Apology is not bonafide. The affidavit submitted by the contemnor is rejected,” Justice Gill ruled, while speaking on behalf of the Bench.

Justice Gill had earlier observed: “On February 23, 2010, a news-item was published in The Tribune with the heading “Man points pistol at the court staff, flees”. Further in the news-item, it has been stated that the president of the truck union, Rashpal Singh, created a high drama at the subdivisional court (at Gidderbaha) by brandishing a pistol at the court staff, after he was asked to be taken into custody by the magistrate as he had used derogatory language against the magistrate.”

Referring to the news-report, the Bench added: “Rashpal Singh is facing a trial in a case of theft and house trespassing. On being questioned by the magistrate about the case, he threw his pen on the table of the magistrate. Taking notice of his contemptuous behaviour, the magistrate ordered his arrest on the charges of contempt of court. When the policemen advanced towards Rashpal Singh, he pointed his pistol at the staff and managed to flee. This behaviour of Rashpal Singh amounts to contempt of court.”