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Failure to lift wheat chokes mandis
Land Dispute
PSEB Unbundling |
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Labour blues delay wheat lifting
Truckers, commission agents suffer lossesRajpura, April 16 The labour shortage has taken its toll on commission agents, shopkeepers and truckers who complain losses due to delay in lifting of wheat by procuring agencies. Chaos by trucks on the Rajpura-Patiala bypass was also witnessed due to delay in unloading of wheat. Wheat stocks wait for procurement in Rajpura Grain Market on Friday. Tribune photo: JS Virdi to ensure procurement in 48 hours Ropar, April 16 
Wheat lifting at grain markets of Morinda and Chamkaur Sahib is not satisfactory. Transporters and labour unions need to solve their differences and work towards expeditious lifting of crop. Patiala commissioner Gurinder Singh Grewal said this, while talking to mediapersons here today.Patiala commissioner Gurinder Singh Grewal interacts with farmers at Morinda on Friday. A Tribune photograph
Docs against ‘selective’ raising of retirement age
New urban estates for Pathankot, Hoshiarpur
‘Torture By Cops’
Tackling Naxals
Bathinda master plan cleared
Management Quota Seats
State turned into ‘police cantonment’
RCF to roll out 1,600 coaches annually
3 killed in car, truck collision
Safety awareness camp
PM to attend Fateh Divas
Patiala college to offer Canadian courses
Frame promotion rules: HC to PSTC
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Failure to lift wheat chokes mandis
Chandigarh, April 16 The slow lifting has been reported from all over the state with Amritsar and Tarn Taran being the worst affected. Out of 90,983 mt of wheat procured in Amritsar till last evening, 94.3 per cent is still lying in mandis. Similarly, in Tarn Taran, out of 2 lakh mt of wheat procured, 92.5 per cent is still in mandis. Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur are the worst hit while the situation is as pathetic in Moga and Mansa districts. In all these places, wheat still waiting to be lifted ranges between 80 and 94 per cent. In a division-wise assessment, the Jalandhar division has overall 80.5 per cent wheat waiting to be lifted in its seven districts. In six districts of the Ferozepur division, the situation is slightly better with 68.8 percent wheat waiting to be lifted. But the Ferozepur division, comprising seven districts, is by far the best placed with 58 per cent wheat waiting to be lifted. Till last evening, various agencies had procured slightly over 40 lakh mt of wheat, which is about 5 lakh mt more compared to the same time last year. Last year, agencies had procured 35,09,415 mt by mid-April. Since procurement started on April 1, agencies have been procuring wheat at the MSP of Rs 1,100 while private traders are even offering slightly higher price. Siraj Hussain, chairman and MD of the FCI, is coming to Chandigarh tomorrow to make a first-hand assessment of the procurement process. So far, the FCI has procured 6 lakh mt of wheat and is facing an acute shortage of gunny bags as well as storage space. Farmers have been offered a small amount of 78 paise per bag to store wheat, but there are not many takers. So far, the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation (PSWC) has procured the maximum wheat of 24 per cent of the procured wheat (9,69,477 mt). The PSWC has been followed by Markfed, which has procured 22 per cent of the wheat available in mandis so far (9,15,477 mt). Sources said procured wheat was not being lifted because of the failure of transportation set up also, besides the shortage of space for storage. Interestingly, the initial arrival of wheat to mandis was very slow and there was no arrival at all on the first day of procurement on April 1. But within two weeks, mandis have experienced an unprecedented rush. Traditionally, the wheat arrival starts in the border areas of Ferozepur, Amritsar and Gurdaspur, but this year the Malwa region has received more wheat as compared to
Majha.
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Cops stop harvesting by 22 families
Chander Parkash Tribune News Service
Khunder Gatti (Ferozepur), April 16 The 22 families of small and marginal farmers, who toiled hard and braved the fury of a flooded Sutlej to produce enough grains to feed themselves, suffered a rude shock when a few policemen of Sadar police station asked them to vacate their fields, full of ripened wheat, allegedly under the diktats of a section of the ruling politicians.“We have been asked not to cut the wheat crop by the policemen on the pretext that ownership of this land belongs to Satnam Singh and his associates,” said Bachitter Singh, son of one of the victims. He added that a section of the policemen had been trying to harm the 22 families by stopping them from reaping their crop on flimsy grounds. “We are left with no option other than to make rounds of the offices of senior police and civil functionaries of the district so that we can get permission to cut the wheat crop, which has become overripe and is prone to damage due to the rising mercury,” said the other victims, adding that they would face starvation if not allowed to harvest the crop. Joginder Singh, DSP, said the police was investigating the ownership of the 58 acres of land in this village. He added that in an application, moved by Satnam Singh and others, the latter had claimed that about 58 acres of land was owned by them in this village and that they were not being allowed to cut their crop by the 22 families led by Raj Singh. The DSP said no one was being allowed to cut the crop till the dispute was settled. Interestingly, the 22 families had already been shown in possession of the 58 acres of land in the record of Sadar police station. Even the PSEB has sanctioned power connections for the tube well motors belonging to members of these 22 families. Even SPS Parmar, SSP, said that after examining the documents produced before him so far by Bachitter Singh, it was clear that the land belonged to the 22 families and hence he had asked DSP Joginder to settle the matter at the earliest. KK Yadav, Deputy Commissioner, said he had asked for the opinion of the district attorney in this matter.
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‘Chakka jam’ protest peaceful
Jangveer Singh Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, April 16 The ‘chakka jam’ programme, a call for which had been given by the BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan), BKU (Dakaunda), Jamhoori Kisan Sabha, Dehati Mazdoor Sabha, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Naujawan Sabha, Kisan Sanghrash Committee and Mulajam Action Committee, did not evoke a large-scale response in the countryside. Though cadres from these organisations came out to protest, farmers by and large kept away due to the harvesting season. The agitation was most effective in Bathinda district where the BKU (Ekta- Ugrahan) is firmly entrenched and in the Amritsar-Tarn Taran belt where the Kisan Sangharsh Committee (Satnam Singh Pannu) is quite active. It did not have any effect in Mohali district and there was only a symbolic protest in Fatehgarh Sahib district. The police detained 250 farmers from separate areas in Amritsar and Tarn Taran. About 50 farmers coming from Beas were detained at Amritsar railway station and freed later in the evening. Members of different farmer unions blocked Rajasansi road for two hours. Activists of the Mulajim Action Committee held protests in front of the zila parishad. Majority of employees remained absent from work on the second day in Amritsar-Taran Tarn. As many as 71 per were absent in the suburban circle of the city and 69 per cent from the city circle. In Taran Tarn around 82 per cent employees absented themselves from duty. In Bathinda agitating farmers blocked the Bathinda- Chandigarh highway at Gill Kalan village at noon today despite heavy police deployment. The agitators did not allow even an Army convoy to cross the spot forcing the administration to come up with alternative routes for commuters. Around 88 per cent of the total employees deployed in the west zone today absented themselves from duty. They also lodged protests outside thermal power plants and grid substations. West zone chief engineer VK Dua said power supply was maintained with the help of Army technicians as well as apprentices and contractual staff. At Patiala union Joint Forum of employees leader Surinder Singh Pehalwan claimed that 80 to 85 per cent of employees at the thermal power plants at Ropar, Bathinda and Lehra Mohabbat struck work today. The employee leaders, who later on decided not to extend the strike and accepted government assurances that had already been made earlier, condemned the government for unbundling the PSEB at protest meetings. According to the farmer organisations, around 150 persons were detained after a lathi charge in Nawanshahr. They claimed farmers were also rounded up in Mullanpur-Dakha in Ludhiana district. BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan) leader Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan and Kirti Kisan Union leader Hardev Singh Sandhu in a release here today said their organisations would continue their struggle. They said following district-level meetings on April 27, the organisations would appeal to farmers not to pay their electricity bills. (With inputs from Umesh Dewan, Neeraj Bagga and Rajay Deep)
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Labour blues delay wheat lifting
Rajpura, April 16 The truckers rued that the unloading of wheat took more than 24 hours and non-lifting of wheat stacks from the grain market had created chaos. A visit to Rajpura Grain Market revealed that a large quantity of wheat stacks had been lying in the market and arhtiyas had to wait for more than a week to get the wheat lifted. They rued that customers failed to reach their shops in the grain market as wheat heaps were not removed even from the roads leading to their shops. Wheat arrival has reached its peak today and most of the grain markets have recorded the maximum wheat arrival. Truck operators waiting to get wheat unloaded from their trucks at the Rajpura-Patiala bypass, while talking to TNS today, said a truck arrived in the afternoon would have to wait till tomorrow evening to get the wheat unloaded. The process of unloading continues till late night and early mornings. “We are unable to earn anything due to delay in unloading”, said Gurmeet Singh, a truck operator from Manakpur Khera. He revealed that only 15 labourers were deployed to unload the wheat from trucks in the godown due to shortage of labour. Around 30 trucks were parked on roadside waiting for their turn. Officials of the procuring agencies said the situation would improve in the coming few days.
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DC told to ensure procurement in 48 hours
Ropar, April 16 The successor of Jasbir Singh Bir, who resigned two days ago citing corruption in the state government, Grewal was here to visit the grain markets and preside over hearing of compensations awarded to those whose land had been acquired for the Kurali-Kiratpur Sahib fourlaning. Grewal directed DC, Ropar, Arunjit Singh Miglani to convene a meeting of labour unions and transporters, finding way to ensure lifting of the crop within 48 hours. He also suggested roping in sheller owners and using their trucks for transportation of the crop or taking tractor-trolleys on rent. Procurement agencies were directed to visit the grain markets every week and send him a report. Contractors were asked to confirm lifting within 48 hours and any lapse on this would lead to blacklisting of the contractor. The grain market authorities were directed to make adequate lighting arrangements at night and have alternate genset arrangements in view of the power cuts. Talking about the computerisation of land records, Grewal said the entire Patiala division would be computerised by March 31, 2012. He added that while work in Ropar was going on on a war footing, Sangrur would register complete computerisation by June 30 this year. The DC said till now 33,379 tonnes of wheat had been procured in the district. He said if anyone faced problem pertaining to wheat procurement, district food and civil supplies officer could be directly called at 9872422505. He urged farmers to bring wheat in the market that contained low moisture content.
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Docs against ‘selective’ raising of retirement age
Jalandhar, April 16 Dr DC Sharma, general secretary of the association, said there was a move to raise the retirement age from 58 to 60 years under the pretext that there was a shortage of specialists. He said it was a ploy to give extended tenures to certain favourites. In a memorandum to the Chief Minister and other Cabinet ministers, the association stated that there was no separate specialist cadre of doctors in the state. All doctors had a common PCMS cadre, service rules, pay pattern and same age of retirement. The raising of the retirement age of a particular group would be discriminatory. The association has maintained that shortage of specialists, if any, is at the level of community health centres and subdivisional hospitals, whereas most of the medical postgraduates near retirement are serving on higher administrative posts without any clinical work. Some of them are posted at district hospitals. “How can raising the retirement age remove the shortage of specialists at community health centres?” they ask. There are about 400 vacant posts of doctor. There is no parallel between postgraduate PCMS doctors and medical teachers with a separate Punjab Medical Education Service cadre.
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New urban estates for Pathankot, Hoshiarpur
Chandigarh, April 16 A decision to this effect was taken here today at the 41st meeting of PUDA under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal held at the Chief Minister’s Office this morning. A spokesperson for the government said nod had also been given for the acquisition of 200 acres of land at Pathankot and 140 acres of land at Hoshiarpur for the development of these urban estates. The state had decided to acquire the said land under the Land Pooling Scheme. Under this, both options (land against compensation and land against land) would be offered to land owners.The Budget estimates of PUDA for 2010-11 had also been approved. It was decided at the board meeting to allow the 1984 riot-affected allottees to sale their houses allotted by PUDA. —
TNS
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SC panel demands SHO’s suspension
Kulwinder Sandhu Tribune News Service
Moga, April 16 Expressing concern over increasing atrocities on Dalits and the violation of human rights by the police, Dalip Singh Pandhi, a member of the commission, said the panel might refer this case to the CBI for a probe. “I have written to the commission chairman requesting to refer the case to the CBI,” he said. The Tribune had highlighted that Harry Singh, a Dalit youth, was allegedly tortured, paraded naked and subjected to obscene abuses when he surrendered before the police to free his wife from illegal detention at Ajitwal police station here on Saturday, last week. He alleged that a fabricated case under Sections 15, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act by showing a seizure of 5 kg of poppy husk was registered against him. Meanwhile, the state SC commission has constituted a three-member panel comprising Moga District Magistrate Satwant Singh Johal, CMO Dr Kuldip Singh and District Welfare Officer Gurmeet Singh Karialwi to inquire into the alleged negligence of a surgeon on duty for delaying the surgery of a Dalit youth, who was injured in the firing incident on Friday. Taking a suo motu notice of a news item ‘Delay in surgery of injured patient- Moga residents stage protest against doctor, seek arrest’, Dalip Singh Pandhi also asked the state government to immediately suspend the doctor and send him outside the district so that an independent inquiry could be conducted into the allegations against him.
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Prominent citizens oppose Op Green Hunt
Sarbjit Dhaliwal Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, April 16 Making clear that they were against all kinds of violence, including killings and blasting of rail tracks, the group of writers and intellectuals said it had convened a meeting on April 18 at the local Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall to chalk out a programme to build a democratic movement to stop the Centre from giving away the natural resources belonging to tribal people to multinational companies and corporate houses. The group of writers and intellectuals includes eminent playwright Gursharan Singh, Prof Jagmohan Singh (a close relation of Shaheed Bhagat Singh), well-known economist Dr Sucha Singh Gill and social activist Amolak Singh. “We would announce our next programme on April 18” said Amolak Singh, adding that no political representative of any party would be allowed to speak at the convention. “We understand that under the name of development, the government was helping the MNCs and Indian corporate houses to take control of tribal areas that are rich in minerals, metals and other valuable resources,” said Amolak Singh. “The truth is that the tribal people, suffering for the past 60 years, have come together to save their natural resources. They have been fighting for their rights. However, the Union Government has branded them as Maoists and has launched Operation Green Hunt. We want that the operation should be stopped and paramilitary forces should be withdrawn and fake encounters stopped,” he said.
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Bathinda master plan cleared
Chandigarh, April 16 Stating this a spokesman of the Punjab Government said that under the master plan out of a total local area planning of 57198 hectares, 58.32 per cent area had been reserved for commercial purposes, 8.23 per cent for industrial and 7.14 per cent for traffic and transportation. The master plan had been prepared in view of the long-term perspective for the next 20 years by which the estimated population in the local planning area would be around 7.86
lakh.
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PTU specifies fixed schedule for admission
Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, April 16 Observing that the authorities of affiliated colleges had started the practice of accepting applications even before the conduct of CET, PTU has specified that such seats will be filled only between July 12 and 31. The situation had turned grim as some more sought-after colleges had also started the trend of accepting donations to the tune of lakhs of rupees to confirm the seat of a student in the management quota. The step is likely to curb any such malpractice on the part of colleges. In a yet another stride made by the PTU, officials have given an option to colleges to fix a cut-off percentage in Class XII result for its CET candidates. The percentage specified by the college will be incorporated into the online counselling system, barring any student with lower marks from taking a seat. “We have already received a request for the same from Chitkara Institute. They have fixed 60 per cent as the criterion for admission,” said chief coordinator of CET, Dr NP Singh. The university is also planning to assist colleges in filling management quota and left over seats by holding counselling under PTU banner at places like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and other places. The university has received a record number of 28,900 applications for CET to be held on May 2. Since the last date for filling forms with late fee is April 28, it is expected that the number is likely to touch 30,000 mark. With an increase in the number of aspirants, there has been a simultaneous increase in the number of seats as well. There were 23,406 seats last year that later swelled upto nearly 27,500 with the addition of as many as 10 new engineering colleges.
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State turned into ‘police cantonment’
Jalandhar, April 16 Instead of calling an all-party meeting to discuss the issue of unbundling of the PSEB, the Badal government had opted to exhibit its might against those who wanted to hold a peaceful agitation to oppose the unbundling. —
TNS
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RCF to roll out 1,600 coaches annually
Kapurthala, April 16 Talking to mediapersons on the occasion of the 55th Railway Week Celebrations in Kapurthala, RCF general manager Pradeep Kumar claimed that one additional bay had been added to shell and a furnishing shop and a new wheel shop had also been set up as part of the expansion projects. The first AC stainless steel double decker coach, manufactured at the factory in March-end, has been sent to Delhi for oscillation trials. The coach will soon get all certifications from the Railway board. Developed in coordination with the RDSO in a record time of just nine months, the coach has a capacity to run at a speed of 160 km/hour, claimed Kumar. The RCF will be executing an export order of four air-conditioned DEMU trains (being produced for the first time) for Senegal Railways. The coaches will be exported by October-end. Kumar claimed that the RCF manufactured highest 1,568 coaches, including 377 stainless steel coaches, last year. Besides, the RCF also exported six-metre gauge chair-car coaches to Benin Railways in Africa in 2009-10.
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3 killed in car, truck collision
Khanna, April 16 The deceased have been identified as Shyam and Babu Dubey, both residents of Wardha in Maharashtra, and taxi driver Prem, a resident of Noida. According to the police, both residents of Wardha were in their late fifties and the taxi driver seems to be in early thirties. Shyam and Dubey arrived in Delhi this morning by air and hired a taxi for Hoshiarpur from Delhi airport. According to the police, witnesses said an Indica hit the divider and entered the other side of the double-lane GT Road, where it was hit by a speeding truck. The truck dragged the car up to a few metres. Both the truck and car were said to be at a high speed. It took more than two hours to extricate the bodies of the deceased. “The divider is around 10-foot wide. We fail to understand how the taxi entered the other side of the road. Either, it was hit by some vehicle or the taxi driver slept while driving at a high speed”, said the Bija police post in charge Satwant Singh. He added that the deceased were on their way to meet some officials of a tractor agency in Hoshiarpur reportedly to get a franchise of the tractor agency in Maharashtra. The officials said some relatives of the deceased would be able to reach Khanna by late night. The bodies of all victims had been kept in the mortuary of the civil hospital and post-mortem would be conducted only after the arrival of close relatives, said the police officials. A case will be registered after recording the statements of the witnesses, truck driver and relatives of the deceased.
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Safety awareness camp
Patiala, April 16 Principal Paramjit Kaur of Adarsh College of Nursing and students of the college enacted a road play to 'Save the Girl Child'. Dr Vishal Chopra of TB Hospital delivered a lecture on anti-smoking, drug addiction and respiratory disorders. Dr Jagbir Singh, cancer surgeon, created awareness on food-habits and various types of cancer disorders. JP Singh, fire officer along with fire tender and team of blood bank demonstrated how to extinguish fire. Manjit Singh Narang, Municipal Commissioner, presided over the valedictory function of the camp and distributed certificates to the students. — TNS
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PM to attend Fateh Divas
Fatehgarh Sahib, April 16 Makkar took stock of the preparations going on in view of the Sirhind Fateh Divas. He said various Nihang outfits would also attend the function with horse and gatka sport would also be put on display by them. Sirhind Fateh Divas is celebrated to commemorate the victory of Sikhs led by Baba Banda Singh Bahadur over the Mughuls. Fateh Divas Yatra has begun from Takht Hazoor Sahib in Nanded (Maharashtra) and would reach Chappar Chiri near Kharar on May 12 and Fatehgarh Sahib on May 13.
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Patiala college to offer Canadian courses
Patiala, April 16 Kurtis Gray of International Projects Education, and Gagan, CEO, Intellectual Solutions, came here from Canada to attend the inaugural ceremony of College of Indo Canadian Education today. Kurtis interacted with the students and delivered a presentation on future prospects of Indian students in Canada. Lambton College offers bachelor programmes with various benefits like scholarship and low-fee structures, he said. “Under the agreement, the Indian students can enroll in the programme in Patiala, earn credits and then apply for visa either in second or third year of the course,” he added. Dr Baltej Singh Mann, former Dean, and Dr BB Singla from Punjabi University highlighted the importance of foreign education for Indian students. Dr AK Varma Director CMT, Dr AS Bhatia, Director General, Dr PN Chichra, Director of GHCMT, also spoke on the occasion.
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Frame promotion rules: HC to PSTC Chandigarh, April 16 Acting on a petition by Rajesh Garg, Justice K. Kannan observed: “The petitioner prayed that there are no promotional avenues and the respondent should be directed to frame rules providing for promotional avenues”. “The fact that he joined as a legal assistant and retired as a legal assistant after 28 years of service, according to him, itself shows that there has been no scope for promotion”. Justice Kannan ruled: “This court had given a direction in Captain Nirmaljit Singh Sandhu versus State of Punjab case that non-providing of promotional avenues would lead to frustration and the court directed the government to amend the rules for promotional avenues to the Class II and Class-I post. “Having regard to the fact that the petitioner is no longer in service, any direction from this court will be academic. It is not possible to create posts retrospectively or provide only notional promotions for posts that may be created in future to the petitioner to enable him to earn retiral benefits as such increase”. Dismissing the petition, Justice Kannan asserted: “Having regard to the present situation that the petitioner cannot obtain the benefit of any directions, I refrain from giving any positive directions”. Before parting with the order, Justice Kannan asserted: “I leave the case with the hope that the respondent will address itself on how the service jurisprudence has evolved that promotions spur incentives to work harder and stagnation is a curse that pulls down efficiency.”
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Leftist farmer organisations stopped vehicular traffic in many parts in the state today as part of a ‘chakka jam’ programme to protest against the bifurcation of the PSEB.
Kapurthala, April 16
