n Renovated Vidhan Sabha Bhawan opened

Chandigarh, September 29
Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh was back in the Assembly and in the leadership saddle today. Given a rousing welcome by his supporters at the main gate of the Assembly and greeted with the thumping of tables inside the House, Amarinder prevailed upon the Speaker to accede to the party’s demand for a discussion on the proposed economic agenda for the state.

Amarinder Singh was driven into the Assembly complex by former Sangrur legislator Arvind Khanna in the latter’s Mercedez SUV. He was welcomed at the Assembly gate with slogans of “Capt Amarinder Singh zindabad” by legislators as well as senior leaders who had gathered on the occasion to welcome him back into the House after a period of two years. Those present included former MP Rana Gurjit Singh, former Minister Surinder Singla and Choudhary Jagjit Singh and several former legislators.

The former CM was expelled from the Assembly on charges of misusing his powers to benefit colonisers in Amritsar during his tenure as Chief Minister. The Supreme Court struck down the expulsion.

After marking his presence on the Assembly register, Amarinder Singh attended a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party where a resolution was passed welcoming him back to the Assembly besides condemning his expulsion.

In the Assembly the Congress legislators seemed buoyed by his presence and he did not disappoint them by getting to his feet immediately at the commencement of zero hour. Amidst the thumping of desks he requested Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon to extend the session by one day to discuss the economic agenda.

Putting across his point forcefully, the former CM said out of a total income of Rs 20,000 crore, the state was spending Rs 10,000 crore on salaries and another Rs 10,000 crore on debt servicing. He said the government wanted to recruit doctors and teachers but there was no clarity on how they would be paid.

The Speaker interrupted Amarinder Singh twice but he went on to explain that a discussion on the economic agenda was essential with the debt burden of the state increasing from Rs 48,000 crore during his government’s tenure to Rs 75,000 crore now. The Speaker in his reply maintained that it was not possible to extend the session any further but said time could be created for discussing this issue.

Amarinder Singh’s comeback is expected to re-energise the Congress and also ensure a critical appraisal of the SAD-BJP government, something that has been missing with most Congress legislators concentrating on their constituency issues only. Amarinder Singh is likely to set the ball rolling in this session itself, as he will lead the debate on the economic agenda needed for the state and the “failure” of the government to manage its finances. The issues raised in the Assembly could also give a direction to the Punjab Congress which is still to take on the SAD-BJP government in the field despite only one and a half years left for the next Assembly elections.

Chandigarh, September 29
The Punjab Vidhan Sabha today passed six important Bills in flat 50 minutes. Legislators from the ruling alliance had nothing to debate on the bills, while the opposition members raised a few points, more to mark their presence rather than debate the issue.

An important Bill called the Punjab Land Reforms (Amendment) Bill, 2010, is expected to go a long way in promoting gender equality as the Bill gives equal rights to girls, who were hitherto unequal to their brothers in terms of inheritance. The Bill that has been adopted unanimously and is now an Act overcomes the shortcomings in the Punjab Land Reforms Act, 1972, that was enacted to achieve agrarian reforms.

As per the old Act, land in excess was treated as surplus, but sons who attained the age of 18 could forms independent units in terms of land holdings. But there was no provision for selecting additional permissible area for adult daughters. The House today said that the previous Act was discriminatory against women and since this was an era of gender equality, the Act “proposes that additional permissible area may be allowed for adult daughters by making appropriate amendments in Section 5-5 (I) of Act of 1972”.

The Vidhan Sabha unanimously passed the Punjab State Legislature Members (Pension and Medical Facilities Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2010, that provides for increase in the rate of pension and family pension payable to the former Members of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha and further enhances their pensions. This Bill will cost the state exchequer Rs 3.5 crore annually.

Further the House also passed the PEPSU Townships Development Board (Amendment) Bill, 2010. Though the Bill was passed, it was opposed by Makhan Singh of the Congress on the ground that the government was using public money to appoint chairmen and vice-chairmen of boards and corporations to adjust its leaders, who could not win elections. Similarly, the Punjab Labour Welfare Fund (Second Amendment) Bill, 2010, was passed after Sukhpal Kahira and Balbir Sidhu, both of the Congress, made some objections and suggestions that were ultimately ignored.

With the objective to make punishment for petty crime more stringent, the House today passed the Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2010, and the Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2010. These Bills, proposed by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal who also holds the Home portfolio, have made snatching (Section 379-B) a cognisable and non-bailable offence that will invite imprisonment of not less than five years and may extend up to 10 years and may carry a fine of Rs 10,000.

Sukhbir said in the recent past, the cases of snatching especially in case of women and tourists were increasing, leading to a sense of insecurity. In public interest, it was important to make a stringent law that could act as a deterrent.

Chandigarh, September 29
Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal today announced that all state government personnel who had achieved superannuation would get arrears due to them following announcements made by the Fifth Pay Commission in three instalments.

Answering a question put by Congress legislator Balbir Singh Sidhu, the Finance Minister said the first instalment of Rs 500 crore would be given in November this year and that subsequent instalments would be given during the same month in the coming years.

Expressing his inability to pay the arrears in one go, Manpreet said in case of death, the next of kin of the employees would get the arrears immediately.

Meanwhile, other questions included a demand by Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi of the Congress to repair all link roads, which had been damaged due to heavy rains this season. The Chief Minister, while replying on the issue, said the government had earmarked Rs 400 crore each for new roads as well as repair of the existing ones. He said Rs 250 crore had been earmarked for the construction of new roads in the border areas.

BJP legislator from Dasuya Amarjit Singh Sahi pointed out that the Local Bodies Department was not collecting tax from various urban areas in Dasuya that had been provided with streetlights and sewerage facilities.

In another development, Congress legislator Ripjit Singh Brar created a ruckus when he insisted upon handing over a letter to the Speaker and later also heckled the Chief Minister. However Ripjit apologised for his behaviour and the situation got defused.

Chandigarh, September 29
The Congress today forced Vidhan Sabha Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon into acceding to its demand for a debate on issues facing the state. Kahlon said he would give enough time tomorrow for a debate on a dozen issues raised by CLP leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal.

Repeated pleas of the Congress legislators to accord more time for raising important issues were overlooked initially. But when the Report of the Business Advisory Committee was put to vote for approval, Bhattal got up and said she had matters to be said on the report.

After she pointed out how the session of the House was shortened leaving no time for debate, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal got up to request the Speaker to award one and a half hours to her and the same to him for the debate tomorrow. After the Speaker acceded to this, Bhattal told the Speaker many of my legislators want to raise pertinent issues, and “we don’t mind if the Chief Minister wants to use the time all by himself”.

Soon after it was decided that the Congress would be allowed to take up 12 or 13 issues tomorrow, the report of the Business Advisory Committee that calls for adjournment of the House sine die on October 1 was passed.

Later during the Calling Attention Motion Viras Singh Valtoha drew the attention of the House to deaths caused due to rash and negligent driving in the state. Transport Minister unconvincingly revealed various measures being adopted to reduce accidents. The Speaker, however, suggested that a team of the House should go overseas to see how traffic was managed in developed countries.

In two other Calling Attention Motions Balbir Singh Sidhu and Sukhpal Singh Khaira, both of the Congress, pointed out issues pertaining to the education policy and the lackadaisical attitude of the state government towards the flood protection programmes.

Several papers were also laid on the table of the House that ranged from ordinances pertaining to value added taxes to audit reports of boards and corporations. They were all passed unanimously. The legislative business of the House started at 4.52 PM and was over at 5.42 PM with the House adjourning till tomorrow morning.

Chandigarh, September 29
The Punjab Police is maintaining a high alert status ahead of the verdict on Ayodhya title suits tomorrow.

According to an official spokesman, inputs of intelligence and law and order arrangements have been provided to all districts from time to time and additional forces have been mobilised. He said the police was maintaining an active watch on all developments. It had mounted appropriate patrolling in sensitive areas, besides maintaining contact with leaders of all communities.

Sangrur/Malerkotla: The police today staged a flag march and beefed up the security in the Muslim majority town of Malerkotla. The local administration held a peace committee meeting, comprising prominent members of various communities in the town ahead of the verdict.

The civil administration led by Sangrur Deputy Commissioner Harkesh Singh Sidhu held a meeting that was attended by Sangrur SSP Harcharan Singh Bhullar and members of the peace committee in Malerkotla this afternoon.

Sangrur DC stated that the town had a history of peaceful co-existence of various communities and it should live up to the expectations. He also urged people to maintain peace and not to get carried by rumours.

The security has also been beefed up in the town and policemen were deployed near religious places, especially Hanumaan Mandir, Jain Mandir, Saint Thomas Church and also mosques.

SSP Sangrur said the police had staged flag march in in major towns of Sangrur district, including Sangrur town, Sunam, Ahmedgarh and Bhawanigarh.

According to reports received from Barnala, the police has staged a flag march in all major towns, including Tappa, Dhanola, and the security has been beefed up in the entire district. Police personnel were deployed near religious places, mainly mosques on Sanghera road and Purana Bazaar area, the reports added.

Chandigarh, September 29
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today announced that the Managing Directors of both Punseed as well as the Seed Certification Authority had been chargesheeted following an inquiry into a seed scam pointed out by Congress legislator Sunil Jakhar in the last session.

The Congress legislator had raised the issue of foundation seeds of wheat being sold to farmers are exorbitant prices and claimed that officers of both state organisations had collaborated with private suppliers to divide the subsidy available under the scheme between them. The Chief Minister had directed state Chief Secretary S C Agrawal to hold an inquiry into the matter.

Today Sunil Jakhar rose during question hour and asked about the status of the inquiry and also claimed that the same process was likely to be repeated this year also. He said wheat seed was set to be offered to farmers at even higher prices than last year.

The CM, while reacting on the issue, said two officers-- - Punseed Managing Director Ranjit Singh and Seed Certification Authority MD Mangal Singh--- had been chargesheeted. He said the government was committed to improving the entire system of distribution of seed subsidy and invited Jakhar to work with the government to evolve a right system for the same.

Jakhar, meanwhile, told the House that the officers had been found guilty of charging farmers for jute bags while the seeds were distributed in plastic bags. He said the entire issue of seed subsidy needed to be inquired into.

Later talking to TNS the Congress legislator said private traders were putting normal seeds worth Rs 700 per quintal into gunny bags, stamping the same and selling them at Rs 1,700 per quintal to state organisations who were procuring these for distribution among farmers. Jakhar said foundation seed should be procured through the PAU, Ludhiana, only. He said farmers were also being offered a subsidy of Rs 500 per quintal instead of Rs 700 per quintal at the inflated price of Rs 1,700 per quintal whereas the same seed was available for Rs 1,000 per quintal in the open market.

Jakhar said the state had already lost out due to this mismanagement on the seed subsidy front. He said the Centre had reduced Punjab’s grant for seed distribution from Rs 53 crore last year to Rs 39 crore this year.

Faridkot, September 29
Hurdles have been cleared in the way of acquiring 103 acres of land belonging to the erstwhile ruler’s airfield “Jahaz Ground” here for setting up a flying training institute by the Punjab government. The Defence Ministry has reportedly given a go-ahead for the institute.

The legal formalities for acquiring the land have been almost completed and the collector of the district has fixed a compensation of Rs 2 lakh per acre and also heard the objections of the parties concerned.

Deputy Commissioner S Karuna Raju said that taking over of 103.4 acres of land was a matter of few days whereafter the land would be handed over to the Civil Aviation Department for setting up the institute. The airfield is at present in possession of the Maharaval Khewaji Trust that looks after the properties of the erstwhile ruler.

Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal said a flying training institute of a high standard would be set up here to produce pilots capable of handling sophisticated aircrafts.

Sangrur, September 29
Following protest by students after one of them drowned in the swimming pool of the Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology (SLIET) at Longowal near here, the institute authorities had to suspend classes for two days till Friday.

About 2,500 students of various streams of SLIET gathered outside the administrative block of the institute at around 10 am today to protest against the death of their college mate. They raised slogans against the institute authorities. A student said on condition of anonymity that the deceased, Rakesh Kumar, died because of the “indifferent attitude” of the authorities. He added that the students would continue to protest till their demands were met.

“We want that the parents of the deceased should be paid a compensation of Rs 15 lakh as they are very poor. We also want that the body of the deceased, which is lying in Sangrur district Hospital, should be shifted to his native place by air. Besides we are demanding that action should be taken against the swimming pool staff for not ensuring the safety of the students coming for swimming. Action should also be taken the health centre staff for being un-authorisedly absent from duty,” the student, who lived with the deceased in hostel number five, said. He added that the institute had about 5,000 staff and students on its campus and as such there was a need of a well-equipped five or 10-bedded hospital with at least three doctors.

Media liaison officer of the institute Kulwant Singh confirmed that the authorities had suspended classes till Friday and had taken up the demands of the students at the management meeting held today. He added that the Director of the institute had constituted a committee comprising staff members and students to look into their genuine demands.

Ludhiana, September 29
Shahi Imam of Punjab Maulana Habib Ur Rehman Sani has appealed to people to maintain peace and harmony and remain unaffected by the Ayodhya verdict.

Talking to mediapersons here this evening, the Shahi Imam urged upon the people to accept the verdict as it comes and not to get carried away.

“The religion teaches us to maintain peace and love our brethren. If we disturb the peace, it means we are going against the Almighty,” he said. He added that if the verdict was not liked then another door of the Supreme Court was still open.

He asked people not to get carried away by any rumours. “All we have to do is to exercise restraint in whatever we do,” said the Shahi Imam.

Patiala, September 29
‘Haluna’, the two-day film festival dedicated to Shaheed Bhagat Singh, took off at Kala Bhawan, Punjabi University, Patiala, today.

A large number of eminent personalities, including those from the theatre, attended the event being organised by Student Organisation of India.

Former Cabinet minister and patron of SOI Bikramjeet Singh Majithia, Vice-Chancellor of Punjabi University, Patiala Dr Jaspal Singh and chairman of the Youth Development Board and state president of SOI Gurpreet Singh Raju Khanna were the special guests on the occasion.

Majithia honoured international kabaddi players Gulzari Moonak and Pritam Singh Sainspur, film actors and comedians Rana Ranbir and Binnu Dhillon and former director of Youth Welfare Department Late Dr Daljit Singh for their outstanding contribution to the promotion of Punjabi culture.

On the occasion, films on female foeticide were shown. Appreciating the effort of the organisation, Majithia said this was a unique way of paying tributes to the legendary freedom fighter, who sacrificed his life for the country. He exhorted youngsters to follow in the footsteps of Bhagat Singh.

Seconding his opinion, Raju Khanna said the festival was aimed at apprising youth about social evils. Stating that youths in Punjab had become vulnerable to dug addiction, he asked them to stay away from the menace and help in reforming society.

Dr Jaspal Singh said the youth had tremendous power and they should join hands for the betterment of the system.

Amit Rathi, a member of the Youth Development Board, said the organisation this year had decided to celebrate Bhagat Singh’s birthday in a different way and came up with this is idea of screening films with a social message.

Fatehgarh Sahib, September 29
Members of the State Government-Aided Teachers Association has decided not to go ahead with their proposed plan of holding a dharna in support of their long-pending demands.

In a press note issued here today, press secretary of the association Ravinder Joshi said the decision was taken after the government assured them yesterday that all their pending demands would be fulfilled at the earliest.

Their demands include pension, gratuity and timely payment of their salaries.

A few days, the teachers had decided to block the National Highway No. 21 in Kharar and not to allow any of the ruling party MLAs to enter Chandigarh to attend the Vidhan Sabha session.

Amritsar, September 29
During a special drive against drug smuggling in the areas bordering Pakistan, the police nabbed four smugglers and recovered 5 kg of heroin and a 30-bore pistol from their possession in two separate incidents, last night, near Ramdass area, here. The value of the seized contraband has been estimated to be around Rs 25 crore in the international market.

Giving details, SSP Gurmeet Singh Chauhan said the smugglers could be nabbed due to two separate operations already underway on the bordering areas, when the BSF jawans recently smelt some suspicious activities in Ajnala sector, bordering Pakistan.

The two smugglers, identified as Harjit Singh alias Pappu and Charan Singh alias Channa, were nabbed by a naka party, led by DSP Ajnala Tilak Raj, near Chamyari road. Three kg contraband and the pistol were recovered from them.

On another raiding point, near Talwandi Marha village, the same police party arrested a smuggler Joginder Singh alias Jinda, alongwith his accomplice Gulvinder Singh.

SI Gurpreet Singh, in charge, Ramdass Police Station, stated that both smugglers had been concealing packets of 1 kg heroin each under their clothes.

A case has been registered under Sections 21, 22, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act against the accused.

“We would seek their remand to interrogate and are hopeful of hatching the mystery of those persons who were spotted near the border a few days back,” said the SSP.

However, on the intervening night of September 21 and 22, the teams of the BSF and the Amritsar Rural Police had an encounter with three suspicious persons in the Labbe-daria village, Ajnala sector, bordering Pakistan. But, the suspects managed to escape taking the advantage of the darkness.

The SSP said it could not yet been established whether they escaped towards Pakistan or were still on the Indian side.