Pathankot, June 28
More than 100 BJP activists led by Punjab Transport Minister Master Mohan Lal held a protest demonstration and dharna allegedly against the indifferent attitude of SDM Sukhmandar Singh here today. The dharna was staged in front of the SDM’s office.

Master Mohan Lal alleged that BJP activists had complained against the dilly-dallying tactics of the SDM to clear the pension cases of widows and old persons under various pension schemes. He said several other complaints of harassment of the public had been received by him against the SDM.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Gurdaspur R.P. Singh rushed to the dharna venue and tried to pacify the minister. The ADC told the minister that he had not received any complaint of delay in official work and clearance of pension cases under various social schemes.

SDM Sukhmandar Singh said mandatory verification process was the cause of delay in pension cases. He said unless the verification was completed the pension benefit could not be provided to the applicants. He said to check fake applicants the verification of the applicants with regard to their residential address, age and status had been made mandatory by the state government.

Jalandhar, June 28
It is widely acknowledged that Qazi Mandi has become one of the main hubs of the drug market in Punjab. Illegal drug trade has been going on in this locality, situated behind Jalandhar city railway station, for the last few decades, thanks to the police which hasn’t acted in the requisite manner to wipe out the drug mafia allegedly due to political pressure.

When DGP P.S. Gill was confronted with a question of unabated drug trade in Qazi Mandi during his visit to Nawanshahr, where he had specially gone to a function on international day against drug abuse and illicit trafficking on Saturday, he said the police was doing its best to deal with the Qazi Mandi drug mafia.

On further queries, Gill, accompanied by Jalandhar Zone IG Sanjiv Kalra, asked journalists to suggest ways to wipe out the drug mafia from this infamous locality falling under the Jalandhar (Central) assembly constituency, currently represented by Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia.

The police has not taken any strict action against kingpins of the illegal drug trade. However, it arrested a few small drug peddlers, especially when the media highlighted the matter from time to time.

In a recent statement, BJP MLA from Jalandhar (North) constituency K.D. Bhandari admitted the presence of the illegal drug trade in Qazi Mandi. Taking strong exception to a proposal of the Jalandhar Improvement Trust (JIT) to rehabilitate several Qazi Mandi residents near the milk plant falling in his constituency, Bhandari stated about a fortnight back that criminals would not be allowed to rehabilitate in any area falling in his constituency.

Responding to the ruling party MLA’s statement, several Congress leaders, including PPCC secretary Virendra Sharma and DCC chief Arun Walia, said Bhandari had accepted the government’s failure in tackling the problem.

According to information, Qazi Mandi, particularly Mohalla Bhim Nagar in the area, has become infamous for its wholesale drug market.

Buyers not only from different parts of the city but also from other districts of the state come here to get smack, charas and hooch in bulk.

Hoshiarpur, June 28
Officials of the government’s implementing agencies for the various schemes should have awareness about ethics, morality and empathy. Only then justice could be done in executing these schemes in their true spirit.

Stating this while presiding over a workshop organised by the Mahatma Gandhi State Public Administration Institute here, in connection with spreading awareness among the public about MGNREGA, Deputy Commissioner Megh Raj emphasised on the need for transparency and honesty to implement MGNREGA to benefit all eligible persons in the district.

A sum of Rs 22.89 crore had been received for 2010-11, of which Rs 986.83 lakh had been released up to June 20 for various development works to the departments concerned. The 59-km-long Kandi canal and its water courses from Talwara to Hoshiarpur had been cleaned at a cost of Rs 21.72 lakh and water had been released in the canal for irrigation purposes.

A sum of Rs 27.86 lakh had been released for drainage and Rs 31.80 lakh to the Soil Conservation Departments for flood protection measures. Out of Rs 28.47 crore last year, an expenditure of Rs 25 crore had been made online.

As many as 66,984 job cards had been issued up to May 31, 2010, of which 7,432 card-holders sought employment and all of them had been obliged. As many as 1,358 muster rolls had been issued, of which 1,162 had been utilised in various works, including 446 made online.

Due to lack of awareness, many people had yet to gain benefit from MGNREGA. A campaign was being launched to spread awareness among all the sarpanches, panches and mates about the scheme.

Pathankot, June 28
Dinanagar is getting step-motherly treatment. The town situated on the Pathankot-Amritsar national highway, about 30 km from here, has not been given any attention so far as its development is concerned.

This has been mainly due to the indifferent attitude of the state government and non-coordination among the civic members.

The civic body authorities claim to have spent Rs 1.5 crore on various development schemes carried out in the town but heaps of filth, dirt, cow-dung and damaged roads and streets tell a different story about the progress.

The residents are also sore over the non-availability of parks, public places, public toilets and taps for drinking water.

Traffic hazards and encroachments have not only generated problems for smooth plying of vehicles but have also made the town rather congested.

The main road, railway road and bazaars, including Bala Temple Bazaar, Murgali Bazaar and Chhatti Street, often remained blocked due to chaotic traffic and encroachments by shopkeepers.

Of the eight-foot-wide bazaar, hardly two-foot space for walking is left for the people as vegetable sellers and shopkeepers have encroached upon the road on both sides.

The bus stand is in a critical condition. When Transport Minister Master Mohan Lal visited the town six months ago, he was shocked to see the bus stand in a shabby condition and had announced that Rs 3 crore would be spent to give the bus stand a face-lift under a comprehensive plan. But nothing has been done in this regard so far.

Talking to The Tribune here, Municipal Council president Vijay Mahajan said false promises made by representatives of the town and state leaders had put the town on the list of underdeveloped ones.

He said there was need for a special financial package by the state government so that the all-round development of the town and project works could be carried out.

Gurdaspur, June 28
Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa today said he would approach the Textile Minister for release of funds to revive the ailing 130-year-old Dhariwal Woollen Mills.

Bajwa said the mill was an integral part of his constituency and he would do everything to put it back on track. He said since the mill was a government-controlled unit and as it came under the jurisdiction of the Textiles Ministry, he would take up the matter of reviving itl with the Prime Minister and the Textile Minister.

Bajwa, who was here in connection with a mass contact programme, said the machinery in the mill was slowly becoming obsolete and it needed upgradation.

The MP added that over the past more than 125 years the mill had been a source of employment to people of the area. “I have already taken up the issue with the Prime Minister’s Office and bureaucrats have assured me of all help to revive the mill,” he claimed.

Hoshiarpur, June 28
Keeping in view the shortage of potable water, five new tubewells will be installed in different localities of the town for which the Punjab Government will provide Rs 75 lakh. Nine tubewells had recently been installed to improve the water supply in the town.

To drain out floodwater during rains, a storm water nullah on the Hoshiarpur-Chandigarh road would be constructed at a cost of Rs 50 lakh.

This was disclosed by Punjab Minister for Medical Education and Research, Forest and Wild Life, Parliamentary Affairs and Labour Tikshan Sud while addressing a gathering at a function organised by the Narain Nagar Welfare Society and inhabitants of Suraj Nagar to honour him here today.

Rs 22 lakh had been spent on the construction of roads, providing of potable water and laying of sewerage in Mohalla Narian Nagar. The remaining development works in the Mohalla would soon be completed, he said.

Besides development works in all 31 wards of the city were being done by spending Rs 3 crore, he said.

Hoshiarpur, June 28
To save crops of marginal farmers in the Kandi area from being destroyed by wild animals, a scheme was being framed by the state government to fence the boundary of forests and villages with barbed wire to restrict wild animals from entering the fields.

Disclosing this while addressing a meeting of government officials at Garhshankar, 40 km from here, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sohan Singh Thandal claimed that Rs 40 crore was being spent on computerisation of the Agriculture Department work and to e-connect departments at the block level.

A sum of Rs 18 crore was being spent on various ongoing development works in the Mahilpur segment.

One drum each of testified seeds would be provided by the Agriculture Department to all the villages in the state.

Supporting the demand of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for royalty for sharing river waters with Haryana, Thandal said Punjab had every right to take advantage of its natural resources.

Hoshiarpur, June 28
Inhabitants of Seena and Sasoli villages, led by president of the Social Democratic Party of India Jai Gopal Dhiman, panch of Sasoli village Jarnail Singh, Jagjivan Lal and social activist Satya Devi, staged a protest dharna and rally in front of the office of the Superintending Engineer (SE) of the Water Supply and Sanitation Circle here today to show their resentment against the incomplete work of water supply scheme NABARD-XII of their villages due to which majority of the inhabitants are not getting potable water in the hot weather these days.

In a press note Jai Gopal Dhiman alleged that the officials of the Water Supply and Sanitation Department had got laid water supply pipeline having 2 inch diameter in a street instead of 3 inch, which was totally against the rule.

The department had misled the people and collected about Rs 1.70 lakh from them through village panchayats as their contribution in the scheme which was not required, Dhiman alleged, adding that when they raised the issue before the SE, he agreed to refund the money. The SE had also assured that he would visit the village very shortly to get water supply scheme completed at the earliest so that people could get water from it.

He had further agreed to install signboards having information about the scheme before the tubewell chambers.