Chandigarh, September 19
Aping developments in neighbouring states, the newly appointed delegates of the Punjab Congress threw democratic norms to the winds and empowered the party’s national President, Sonia Gandhi, to take a decision to appoint the President of the PPCC. The delegates, who had gathered here today, adopted a one-line resolution moved by party president Mohinder Singh Kaypee unanimously. A senior party leader, who did not wish to be quoted, said, “With so many aspirants for the position, electing one through a ballot was an almost impossible task, so to it was decided in advance that the Punjab Congress would adopt a pattern similar to the neighbouring states in leaving the decision to Sonia ji.”

The meeting of the delegates moved along expected lines with the party president Kaypee moving a resolution, lauding the leadership of Sonia and expressing full faith in her capability as a leader running the party for the fourth term. He further said that the issue of appointing a state party chief should be left to the party national President. This was supported by Congress Legislative Party leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and the former Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh.

After Jagmeet Brar asked the delegates if they were with him as he, too, supported the resolution, all delegates raised their hands in support. Before the appointment of the delegates, the Congress high command had announced that the presidents in all the states would be elected by the newly appointed delegates.

By empowering Sonia, the delegates have undermined the core principle of democratic functioning of the party. The INC that led the nation through the freedom struggle built its foundation on the principles of democracy and equal voice for all. But today’s move to leave the decision to one person with the cadres having no say in the matter suggests that the party has moved away from its core principles.

Capt Amarinder Singh, however, defended the move by saying “the entire nation from Kashmir downwards is passing through difficult times. Sonia ji is doing a good job in managing things, and the states must strengthen her hands by letting her choose her team”.

Chandigarh, September 19
Recruitment of 37 drug inspectors may hit a roadblock again as serious objections about the eligibility of 70-odd shortlisted candidates for final interviews starting tomorrow have been raised.

It was on May 2 this year that the Department of Family Welfare and Health had invited applications for 37 posts of Drug Inspector, 18 of which are for the general category.

Instead of determining the eligibility of each of the applicant, the department decided to hold an entrance exam for all applicants, which was conducted on August 7 and a merit list was made public on August 23. However, on September 7, the department came out with a new merit list.

On one hand, a section of applicants are upset with the state government for including in the merit list those who do not fulfill one of the basic conditions of having 18 months’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry under Schedule C of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945. Then there is another group of unsuccessful applicants who have resented the rejection of their claim on the plea that they do not have Punjabi matriculation certificate.

“How could the department follow eligibility criteria for one of three basic qualifications while ignore the same for the mandatory qualification of experience under Schedule C of the Drugs and Cosmetic Rules, 1945?” rue candidates, who have not been called for the interview.

One group of these applicants maintain that nearly 50 per cent of the total 70 candidates for interview in the general category do not qualify for the job for lack of experience under Schedule C of the Act.

As far as proficiency in Punjabi language is concerned, the affected candidates maintain that civil service rules are clear and allow the successful candidates to clear examination in Punjabi at matriculation level within six months of their joining the position. “How can the Health Department deny us this relaxation provided in the service rules?” rue left out candidates.

Various deputations of the applicants have met both the Secretary and Director of Health and Family Welfare to convince the authorities of the flaws in the recruitment process.

“They admit these discrepancies but maintain that since the process has reached the final stages, it is difficult to undo the whole process at this stage,” add the left out candidates.

They want the intervention of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla so that selections are made on merit and in accordance with the advertised criteria of eligibility.

Patiala, September 19
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today categorically said the path of agitation adopted by ETT teachers was unjustified and they should not indulge in any activities that hamper the smooth functioning of schools.

“The demand of ETT teachers to regularise their services and to shift them from Zila Parishad to State Education Department is not feasible,” he said, adding that it was unfortunate that ETT teachers were accusing the government notwithstanding the fact that it was they themselves who joined the service under Zila Parishad after going through all terms and conditions mentioned in the contract.

Badal said this while speaking to the mediapersons after attending a seminar at Punjabi University here this afternoon.

“We are ready to look into some of the demands of the ETT teachers, but cannot bring them under state Education Department because any attempt to disturb the existing framework would be detrimental to the process of strengthening of the Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) system,” he said.

The CM also criticised the demand of rural doctors, working in the government dispensaries, coming under the jurisdiction of Zila Parishad, that their services should be regularised. He said, “We did not force them to join under Zila Parishad on contract basis. They willingly signed the contracts and are now after the government demanding regularisation.”

On a query regarding the protest demonstrations being staged by the employees of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited, he said, “Instructions have already been issued to Secretary Power to ensure the implementation of the agreement between the government and the employees at the time of unbundling of the PSEB.” On the alleged scam pertaining to a Centre-sponsored scheme in Ludhiana, he downplayed the issue stating that inquiry into the matter was on.

Regarding the likely visit of the Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, he said if the duo visits Punjab, proper security arrangements would be made.

Chandigarh, September 19
Leading farmers’ unions in the country have asked the government to implement a farmer-friendly export-import policy.

These unions from 17 states had converged here today under the banner of the Kisan Coordination Committee (KCC). They have demanded better infrastructure, financial support and raised minimum support prices to help farmers remain afloat.

The convention lashed out at the government for what it called deliberately keeping low prices of agriculture produce despite high input costs.

Organised by the Bhartiya Kissan Union (BKU), the farmers reviewed the UPA flagship schemes and deliberated on what they called anti-farmer policies prevailing in the country. They observed that export and import duties on agricultural produce had to be reviewed, so as to suit the farmers, as the nation was facing problem of food shortage and inflation. They felt that it was unfortunate that the government was hesitating in talking a clear decision on the admissibility of GM crops in food items.

The convention was hosted by Punjab and Haryana jointly. Among others, it was attended by national kisan leader from Maharashtra Sharad Joshi and BKU national president Bhupinder Singh Mann.

The farmers also discussed inflationary consequences of dependence on imported oil and why the government was not encouraging producing of bio-fuel. A lot of emphasis was laid on the need for diversification.

Both Joshi and Mann said farmers were being treated as second-class citizens in every respect and the Right to Property, which is a fundamental right for every other citizen, is taken away from the farmers by the political class and hence farmers are left at their mercy and that of the urban class. The conventional strongly recommended direct payment to farmers and doing away with the system of payment through commission agents.

Joshi said there has always been negative support for agriculture from the government. He added the Central government had given a support to Punjab to the tune of 800 crores, but the state was sitting on this amount. Joshi said companies were allowed to purchase thousands of acres of land and earn profits to the tune of crores of rupees, whereas the Land Ceiling Act was being implemented against farmers.

Chandigarh, September 19
The state government has decided to enact a legislation to curb illegal activities of people involved in organised racket of human trafficking and also to safeguard the legitimate interests of illiterate innocent persons, often cheated by travel agents. The Punjab Cabinet at its meeting today approved the tabling of Punjab Prevention of Human Trafficking Bill-2010 in the forthcoming session of Punjab Vidhan Sabha.

It gave green signal to introduce the Bill for amending Section 153-A, 295-A, IPC, and 438, CrPC. The underlying objective to make these sections more stringent was to ensure exemplary punishment to all those who flare up communal tension.

It also approved the conversion of the Punjab VAT (Fourth Amendment) Ordinance, 2010 (Punjab Ordinance No 7 of 2010) and the Punjab Entertainments Duty (Amendment) Ordinance, 2010 (Punjab Ordinance No.6 of 2010) into respective Acts through presentation of these Bills in the coming session of Punjab Assembly.

The Cabinet also approved the presentation of the Punjab Prevention of Damage to Public and Private Property Bill-2010 in the coming session of the Punjab Assembly for its conversion into an Act. The proposed Act was aimed at regulating the matters to recover damages caused to the public and private property from miscreants. Likewise, the Cabinet also gave permission to present the Punjab Special Security Group Bill-2010 in the coming Punjab Assembly session for its enactment to constitute Armed Force for providing proximate security to highly threatened persons and their family members.

Also a go ahead was given for amending section 19(1) and 20(1) of the Punjab Advocates Welfare Fund Act, 2002, by substituting the value of ticket from Rs 6 to Rs 8.

In another decision, the Cabinet also gave approval for the introduction of the Chitkara University Bill, 2010, in the coming session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha to establish self-financed private university known as 'Chitkara University' at Jhansala village in tehsil Rajpura of district Patiala. The proposed multi-domain university would impart higher education and research in professional Medical, Medical, Technical and General Education. The Cabinet also okayed to introduce a Bill for making amendments in the provision of Punjab Agricultural Produce Markets Act, 1961, in order to create a post of vice-chairman in Punjab Mandi Board.

The Cabinet also gave approval to enhance the sumptuary allowance of CM/Deputy CM/Ministers/ State Ministers/CPSs and Parliamentary Secretaries from Rs 5,000 to Rs 7500 and house rent allowance from Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000 per month.

Harike (Ferozepur), September 19
Poachers and encroachers have been targeting the Harike lake, which has been declared wildlife sanctuary and the Ramsar site, despite the fact that the water level in the lake has gone up. They have been indulging in illegal fishing in the sanctuary area, where the entry of public is banned.

Though 900 acres area of the sanctuary is under encroachment for the past many years, it has witnessed fresh encroachments and about 100 acres more area has been encroached upon in the past few months.

On September 16, the district wildlife authorities had moved a complaint in the court of the Judicial Magistrate concerned under the Wildlife Protection Act against Balwinder Singh of Shudan village for his alleged involvement in fishing in the sanctuary area.

Range officer (Harike wetland) Santokh Singh said though Balwinder managed to escape from the sanctuary area, the net and motorcycle being used by him for fishing had been taken into custody by officials of the department.

He pointed out as no money had been given to the department for arranging fuel to run motorboats, it had become difficult for them to patrol the entire area of the lake.

He said he had filed fresh cases in connection with the encroachment in the court of the SDMs of Zira and Sultanpur Lodhi in the recent past.

He added that some of these cases were filed against those persons against whom cases in this regard were already pending in different courts.

District Wildlife Officer (Ferozepur) Sanjeev Tiwari said cases of illegal fishing in the sanctuary area were expected to increase in the winter.

He said though only one motorboat was being used for patrolling in absence of proper funds to arrange fuel for other motorboats, the police had been roped in for the joint patrolling of the area.

Bundala (Jalandhar), September 19
Paying homage to the late Communist leader Harkishan Singh Surjeet on his second death anniversary in his native village here today, various political leaders flayed the recent statement of Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi in which he had stated that “Communism is a dead ideology”. Addressing a gathering, Nilotpal Basu, a member of the CPM central secretariat, said: “Rahul should have thought before giving such statement that how could dead ideology be alive as communism was surviving not only in India but also in several other countries.”

He said the CPM would construct a state-of-the-art “Harkishan Singh Surjeet Bhawan” in Delhi to impart training to budding political leaders of the party. Lok Bhalai Party chief Balwant Singh Ramoowalia said Comrade Surjeet had attained the status of world renowned Communist due to his hardship.

Meanwhile, Surjit’s wife Paramjit Kaur (85) and political leaders released a book on Surjit.

Faridkot, September 19
The five-day Aagman Purb celebrations of Sufi Saint Baba Sheikh Farid began with great festivity at the erstwhile princely town of Faridkot today.

It started with Sukhmani Sahib at Gurdwara Tilla Baba Sheikh Farid, which was attended by Dr Karuna S Raju, District Magistrate, and Inderjit Singh Sekhon, the chairman of the Baba Farid Cultural Society. A heritage walk was also organised, which started from Nehru Stadium and culminated at the ‘darbarganj’ area. The state government had declared the celebrations a heritage festival a few years ago.

Many artistic presentations related to the rich heritage and culture of Punjab were presented in the cultural walk. Artistes presented folk music with traditional instruments, besides showing the celebrations of traditional marriage ceremonies, including the funny show of “bhands”, which is performed by the “marasi” community. Elephants, horses and camels were dressed up in traditional princely dresses. An exhibition of old coins, utensils, paintings, sculptures and many other items of heritage were showcased by the cultural society, which was inaugurated by Ananditya Mitra, wife of the District Magistrate.

A painting workshop was also organised at a special school run by the District Red Cross Society. A seminar on, ‘Divinity, religion and God and his manifestations”, was also organised on the campus of Pt Chetan Dev Government College of Education here.

Dr Rattan Singh Jaggi presented a paper on the ‘Role of Sufism as enunciated by Hazrat Baba Sheikh Farid in context of today’s strife-ridden society’ while an eminent critic of Punjabi literature, Prof Brahm Jagdish Singh, read a paper on, “Has man corrupted the religion or the religion has corrupted the man?”

Bathinda, September 19
The state government has reportedly convinced the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) not to shift the 7th Battalion of the National Disaster Management Force (NDRF) from Bathinda to Himachal Pradesh.

NDRF men rescuing an elderly marooned in flood at the Sadhuwala village in Mansa district. A file photo

The battalion caters Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Chandigarh in any disaster-like situation.

At present, the battalion, comprising of 18 teams, is stationed at the Indo-Tibet Border Police (ITBP) campus located on Bibiwala road in Bathinda.

Since the whole battalion is on deputation here, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) recently planned to shift it to Himachal Pradesh and vacate the campus for the stationing of a battalion of the ITBP.

However, observing the NDRF a major helping hand during the recent floods, the state government quickly launched a move to retain them in Punjab.

It also offered the MHA to make all arrangements for the setting up of a separate regional NDRF camp.

The state government has even proposed seven sites located within 10-km radius of Bathinda city for the purpose.

Finding the proposal worth considering, the MHA has now asked the NDMA authorities to check the feasibility of all sites.

NDRF officials, on behalf of the NDMA, have started visiting the sites - of which two are located on Bathinda-Muktsar road and two on Bathinda-Talwandi Sabo road, while one each on Bathinda-Malout road, Bathinda-Goniana road and Bathinda-Badal road.

It has also been reported that the Punjab government will just assist the MHA in the land acquisition process. The compensation amount will be borne by the Union government.

Confirming the facts, Deputy Commissioner, Bathinda, Gurkirat Kirpal Singh said, “Observing the advantages of the NDRF, the state government does not want it to leave Punjab”.

Commandant of the 7th Battalion of the NDRF RK Verma said, “Before selecting any site, we will consider factors like road, air, rail connectivity, distance to schools, hospitals and other basic amenities. Once the high command finalises a location, a huge set-up would be come up there for the stationing of the battalion.”

It may be mentioned that at present the battalion is equipped with about 100 vehicles, 72 boats, six fibre boats, dog squads, inflatable lights, cutters, air-lift bags etc., to serve the region at any time of need.

Chhatbir, September 19
Seventeen ghariyals (gavialis gangeticus) born at Chhatbir Zoo in June this year, have reportedly gone missing.

While pictures of newborn ghariyal’s provided by the zoo authorities, around two months ago, showed 18 ghariyals, zoo field director Churchil Kumar today said only 12 ghariyals were born, as per official figures.

“I am not aware of the photographs, but when I joined in July, the zoo inventory report mentioned that the number of baby ghariyals was 12. Eleven of them have been missing for the past few days, but they will be traced soon,” Kumar said.

He said either the newborn reptiles had fallen victims to predators or might be hibernating in the nearby sand mounds.

Interestingly, a press note issued by the zoo authorities on June 9, 2010, said 15 ghariyals were born at the zoo. “The ghariyals came out of their eggshells and entered the water body,” said the release. The authorities later said all ghariyals were healthy and under constant monitoring. Three ghariyals were born subsequently and the photographs of all of them were released to the media. A visit to the zoo today revealed that a large number of inquisitive visitors kept on enquiring about the missing ghariyals. The zookeeper remained busy answering their queries. “I have no idea where they have gone. There is a possibility that they have been preyed upon by some predators since there is lack of basic infrastructure and even the pond water has not been changed for the past two months,” zookeeper told visitors. Zoo officials, however, refuted the possibility of theft or smuggling of ghariyals saying it could not happen amidst round-the-clock security at the zoo. At present, the pond has just four ghariyals, three females and one male.

Meanwhile, Dr Sandeep K Jain, member of the Punjab State Board for Wildlife and chief coordinator CAPE-India, has demanded an inquiry into the issue.

Patiala, September 19
“Sikhism is a secular religion. Not just Sikh but even non-Sikh scholars have admitted that sacrifices made by Sikh Gurus are beyond comparison and this makes Sikh culture not only rich but also inspiring.” This was stated by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal while speaking at a seminar on the book “Jina Dharam Ni Harya” by Prof Kirpal Singh Badungar, chairman of the Backward Classes Commission, Punjab, at Punjabi University here today.

Congratulating Professor Badungar on writing the book, Badal said: "The book not only gives an insight into the lives of various personalities who sacrificed their lives for Sikhism but also inspires today’s generation to follow in their footsteps.” Punjabi University Vice-Chancellor Jaspal Singh and former dean, GND Varsity, Balwant Singh Dhillon were the other key speakers at the seminar. Professor Badungar said the book was about legends who could not get their due share in history. “Therefore, the book was an effort to pay tributes to these heroes and also make people aware of their sacrifices.”

Fatehgarh Sahib, September 19
As many as 1,300 rice millers of Punjab have got a temporary relief from the Levy Control Order, under which they were supposed to deliver nearly 1.25 lakh metric tonnes of rice for the Central pool in 2009-2010 but failed to do so.

These rice millers were declared defaulters and now this new move of the government has allowed them to deliver paddy in 2010-2011. Secretary of the Punjab Rice Millers Association, Nakesh Jindal, said 1,300 rice shellers of Punjab out of 3,200 had purchased paddy from open market and were supposed to deliver 75 per cent of rice after milling for the Central pool under the Levy Control Order.

However, due to various reasons, 75 per cent of rice could not be delivered for the Central pool and 1300 rice millers of the state were declared defaulters.

Millers had been demanding exemption of delivery of the Levy Control Order and now the Punjab government has rescheduled it for the next year. “This will give some respite to the rice millers who are now ready to accept paddy for milling in ensuing paddy season. Or else they would have been refusing delivery of paddy by government in view of already lakhs of pending stock”, Jindal said.

Chandigarh,September 19
It is going to be a long drawn-out battle between Punjab and Chandigarh over water from Kajauli.

Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources Pawan Bansal today said he would take up the matter with Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

With both Badal and Bansal facing the electorate in the next one-and-a-half years, the battle over water is set to snowball into a major political issue between the SAD-BJP alliance in Punjab and the Congress-led UPA Government in which Bansal holds the water resources portfolio.

For the second day today, Bansal minced no words while terming Punjab’s “water denial” to Chandigarh as “unjustified”. “A majority of people living in Chandigarh are Punjabis and the Punjab Government has its offices, including the Assembly and the Secretariat, in Chandigarh,” the Congress MP said while talking to reporters here on the sidelines of a party function.

Bansal was reacting to the Punjab Government’s statement alleging that the Union Territory misrepresented facts while seeking a grant of Rs 171 crore under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) for twin phases of the Kajauli scheme. “Chandigarh being the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana had every right to Kajauli water,” said Bansal.

On the other hand, Daljeet Singh Cheema, Political Adviser to Punjab Chief Minister, denied any political motive in state’s allegations against the UT Administration.

Mohali’s claim

The Punjab Government claims that Mohali was getting 13 Million Gallons per Day (MGD) of water against a requirement of 23 MGD. In sharp contrast, Chandigarh was being supplied 87 MGD as against a requirement of 70 MGD, it says.

UT’s take

The UT Administration says after completion of the Kajauli project a total of 40 MGD would be provided.