Assembly
Cong goes soft on Speaker
Khaira says he will take him on
Chandigarh, September 30
The Punjab Congress seems to have let Assembly Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon off the hook by not questioning his moral authority to occupy the august chair despite being chargesheeted in a corruption case.

MLAs dissatisfied with anti-dengue steps
Chandigarh, September 30
Taking on Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla on the floor of the House, legislators from the ruling SAD-BJP alliance accused the government of doing precious little to curtail dengue that “is acquiring an epidemic-like situation”. Unconvinced by the explanation offered by the minister, the members criticised the department for failing to rise to the occasion.

Malerkotla, September 30
Chairman of the Punjab Wakf Board Izhar Alam today welcomed the Ayodhya verdict and urged people not to make it a political issue. “I welcome the verdict and people should accept it as it is in favour of the country,” he added.

On the other hand, the Sunni Waqf Board and the Babri Masjid Action Committee said they would appeal in the Supreme Court against the verdict delivered today in Lucknow.

Former Mufti-e-Punjab and founder member of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board Fuzailur Rehman Hilal Usmani said they honoured the verdict but would appeal in the court against it, adding that if anybody was not satisfied with the judgment, they had option to move the court.

The police had made tight security arrangements at sensitive places here today. Sangrur SSP Harcharan Singh Bhullar said the intelligence network was on high alert to monitor the movement and activities of anti-social elements.

He said as a preventive measure, security forces were deployed at sensitive places, including temples and mosques.

Several shops and business establishments, which were open earlier in the day, downed their shutters as the time of the verdict advanced.

Police personnel in large number were seen near Kali Mata Mandir, Hanuman Mandir, Sirhandi Gate, Kullar Wala Chowk, 786 Chowk and other sensitive areas of the city.

Earlier, a meeting of a peace committee was called at Milan Palace near the railway station by the local administration under the presidentship of Sangrur DC Harkesh Singh Sidhu. Hundreds of Hindu and Muslim leaders participated at the meeting and assured the administration that peace would be maintained at any cost in the city.

Chandigarh, September 30
The Punjab Excise and Taxation Department has detected major irregularities in Best Price, a joint venture between Bharti and Walmart that is costing the state government losses to the tune of several crores of rupees in the form of Value Added Tax (VAT) refunds or VAT adjustments. In a raid conducted on the Best Price premises at Jalandhar today, the Excise Department found huge evasions of tax.

Based on a cash-and-carry model, Best Price is licensed to carry out only wholesale activity.

Sources in the Excise Department confirmed that the raiding team comprising Jalandhar’s Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioners (AETCs) I and II, Harbir Singh and BK Birdi, raided the premises of the multinational and discovered that the outlet had issued membership cards, violating norms under the VAT Act.

Best Price has been issued a notice and asked to produce all records on Tuesday. It is estimated that in the sale of Rs 7 crore to 10 crore per month, Best Price was allegedly evading VAT payments to the tune of Rs 1 crore every month. Best Price, sources said, was detected to be indulging in retail sales for which it did not have a licence.

The Excise Department had decided to serve a notice on Best Price as well as all clients who have made a purchase of over Rs 5,000 in the recent past.

Allowed to interact on a “business to business model” that facilitates sale of goods to a person who has a valid VAT number, the raiding party found that Best Price had violated the clause of enrolling only those with a valid VAT number.

While the Jalandhar VAT Department has issued only 23,000 VAT numbers, Best Price has made 30,000 members and many who are not wholesalers and do not hold VAT numbers.

The business model provides for a VAT refund to Best Price as VAT on the products sold by them will be paid by their buyers from their sales. But since Best Price is making sales to individuals who do not pay VAT, the government will not receive any money from them in the form of VAT. Yet Best Price will claim a refund or adjustment of VAT from the government, thereby causing revenue loss to the government.

Sources in the Excise Department said that Best Price could sell only those items to a particular buyer which is specified in the buyer VAT number. But Best Price has been selling all commodities to all members.

Even many of those who were given add-on cards did not have VAT numbers. It was found that instead of wholesale, Best Price was indulging in 90 per cent retail sales.

Sources in the Excise Department said similar evasions were also suspected in the Amritsar and Zirakpur outlets of the company.

Chandigarh, September 30
The Punjab Congress seems to have let Assembly Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon off the hook by not questioning his moral authority to occupy the august chair despite being chargesheeted in a corruption case.

Earlier, acrimonious scenes were witnessed in the December 2009 Assembly session when Congress legislators protested against the state government decision to refuse sanction to the CBI to prosecute the Speaker. The CBI had moved on its own in July to initiate prosecution proceedings against Kahlon in a case pertaining to the recruitment of panchayat secretaries during his earlier stint as Rural Development and Panchayats Minister.

The Punjab Congress had given an impression that it would target the Speaker during the run-up to the session. Former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had even gone on to say that sitting with Kahlon in the chair would amount to acceptance of his position. However, Amarinder Singh in a statement yesterday was quoted as saying the party would not like to raise any issue which would disrupt the Assembly proceedings.

Apparently Amarinder Singh was in effect speaking on the stand of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP). The CLP did not even include discussion on the Speaker in the agenda of the meeting held to finalise the party strategy prior to the commencement of the session. The party at the meeting of the CLP decided to focus on flood relief, cancer deaths in the Malwa region and problems being faced by state government employees besides other issues.

Congress legislator Sukhpal Singh Khaira, while speaking on the issue during an interaction outside the Assembly, said it was unfortunate that the party did not deliberate on what stand it would take vis-a-vis the Speaker now that the CBI had initiated prosecution proceedings against him. Khaira claimed the Speaker would have to answer as to how he was still occupying the august chair despite being chargesheeted in a criminal case. “I will take him to task”, he said.

Khaira alleged that the Speaker was conducting the Assembly proceedings in an arbitrary manner because he needed the support of the Badals (Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal). He went on to claim that Congress members raising local issues were allowed to speak at length by the Speaker while persons like him who wanted to talk on macro issues were gagged.

Meanwhile, during question hour, Congress legislator Ajitinder Singh Mofar raised the issue of the stray dog menace, which dragged on for so much time that the Speaker was forced to interrupt and ask members not to continue to ask meaningless questions. Mofar had even advocated exporting the dogs out of the state.

Congress legislator Sher Singh Gagowal wanted to know whether a complaint had been received against the sarpanch and panchayat secretary of Joga for fraudulent withdrawal of panchayat funds. Former Minister and Congress legislator Amarjit Singh Samra vociferously demanded that a 4 km stretch of a link road be repaired.

Chandigarh, September 30
Taking on Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla on the floor of the House, legislators from the ruling SAD-BJP alliance accused the government of doing precious little to curtail dengue that “is acquiring an epidemic-like situation”. Unconvinced by the explanation offered by the minister, the members criticised the department for failing to rise to the occasion.

Taking up the issue during the Calling-Attention Notice served on the minister, Sarabjit Singh Makkar of the SAD said several people were dying every day for failure to receive treatment for dengue. He wanted to know what the government had done to curtail the spread of the mosquito- inflicted fever and special arrangements that had been made to cater to the additional rush of patients coming to hospitals with fever.

Chawla said 92 cases had been reported in the state and these figures were being sent to the Union Government on a daily basis as part of monitoring dengue. She said Sangrur and Bathinda districts had not reported any cases, so the equipment from Civil Hospitals there had been transferred to other districts.

Makkar was joined by KD Bhandari, also of the ruling alliance, who rubbished the Health Minister’s utterances saying that he had attended over 10 cremations in the past one week, so to say only five people had died was anything but the truth. Bhandari said Jalandhar alone had over 160 cases of dengue and he sought the Chief Minister’s intervention to ensure that those suffering from dengue received proper treatment in government hospitals.

Makkar asked the government to subsidise the treatment as the blood transfusion itself cost Rs 16,000 per patient. He, too, said that the number of condolence meetings he had attended far exceeded the number of dengue victims mentioned by the minister. Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon suggested that Makkar and Bhandari hold a meeting with Chawla and bring her up to date with reality in case her department had misled her.

Chawla assured the House that she would personally update herself through a meeting with the ruling alliance legislators and rush additional supplies, manpower and equipment. The CM, who paid full attention to the calling-attention notice, however, preferred not to intervene.

Chandigarh, September 30
Punjab’s poor performance under NREGA came into focus today with Congress legislator Sunil Jakhar claiming during zero hour that the state was failing to take due benefit of the scheme and had even chosen to ignore Union Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister CP Joshi during his recent visit to the state.

Taking up the issue, Jakhar claimed that the minister had during his visit held that Punjab was not doing enough to spread the scheme. He said neither any officer nor minister had chosen to extend due courtesy to the minister who had asked the state to reorient itself to take advantage of the scheme.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, while getting up to answer the question, claimed he had met the Union Minister many times in his office and that the recent Ludhiana visit of the Minister was a personal one. “In fact, he had been called to give a statement against us”, he said, adding the Union Rural Development Ministry had still not cleared the state’s demand for funds for constructing latrines in the rural areas.

Later, during an interaction outside the House, Jakhar explained that the state had spent Rs 110 crore under NREGA till March 2009 and that state Rural Development and Panchayats Minister Ranjit Singh Brahmpura had claimed that the state was sending a proposal of Rs 1,400 crore for this year. He said the actual proposal sent was only of Rs 485 crore and that the Centre had approved only Rs 212 crore for the state.

He said the state had also failed to recruit gram sevaks who could ensure satisfactory running of the scheme.

Jakhar said Punjab had fewer people participating in the scheme compared to other states. He said only 7.40 lakh job cards had been made in the state while even a small State like Himachal Pradesh had made 9.98 lakh job cards.

Meanwhile, during question hour, the issue of the Indian School of Business (ISB), Mohali, came up with legislators Darshan Singh Brar and Balbir Singh Sidhu asking about the aims and objectives of the institution. The reply revealed that the ISB would provide 100 participant days every year at no charge in its open Executive Education Programme for senior Punjab officials nominated by the government. However, the ISB’s decision regarding the number of such participants and their suitability for participation in a particular programme would be final. The ISB has been granted 70 acres on a 99-year lease at a nominal annual lease rental of Rs 1 per acre.

Budhlada, September 30
Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal today took the officialdom by surprise when he suddenly turned his vehicle towards this sleepy town and raided various construction sites to check the quality of development works.

He checked the quality of work being done for laying the sewerage system, drinking water supply plant and the bus station. Sukhbir, who was on the driving seat of his SUV, turned towards this town while returning from a function at Sardulgarh and drove straight to the sewerage and waterworks sites. He has reportedly been receiving complaints of poor quality of work in the execution of various projects in Mansa district.

He pulled up ngineers and contractors for not sticking to the schedule and gave them targets to complete works. He told the supervising agencies to maintain a strict quality control on development works.

He was not satisfied with the sanitation at the bus station and ordered the local authorities to improve the facilities for the passengers.

Chandigarh, September 30
The Punjab Vidhan Sabha today unanimously passed a resolution supporting one rank, one pension for ex-servicemen. In another resolution that was passed today, the day for non-official business, the House recommended that the state should act immediately to clear itself of all water and environment pollution. However, a third resolution pertaining to sullage and solid waste was taken up but could not be passed.

After important reports and documents were laid on the table of the House following the Calling Attention Notices, resolutions were taken up. Capt Balbir Singh Bath, while reading out the resolution, recommended that the state government should take up the demand of the ex-servicemen with regard to one-rank one-pension that had been promised by most political parties, but was yet to be implemented.

Bath said that there was considerable difference between those defence personnel who had retired prior to January 1, 2006, and those who had retired after this date. In some cases, the difference was more than double, he said. He further said that the defence forces retire people early so as to keep the force young; disparity in pension makes a huge difference over a period of time.

Raising a second resolution on the same issue, Dr Dalbir Singh said the state government must take up the matter urgently with the Centre. Punjab, he said, was more affected by this disparity as the state sent a large number of people to the armed forces. He blamed the bureaucrats in the Cabinet Secretariat of ignoring the demand, even though political parties had recommended one-rank one-pension. Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal supported the demand and the resolution was passed unanimously.

In another resolution raised by Ishar Singh, MLA, he asked the state to take immediate measures for controlling industrial pollution in big cities like Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar. He said Punjab must maintain standards that were as per international standards.

In response to Ishar Singh’s resolution, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said he would ensure a pollution-free Punjab by the end of next year. Giving details of the steps taken by the government, he said a total of Rs 2,054 crore had been earmarked for the cleaning up of the Satluj, Beas and Ghagar rivers. Out of this money, Rs 238 crore had already been spent on projects in 44 cities that pollute rivers in Punjab. The House passed a special resolution thanking Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh in helping Punjab in these projects.

The Chief Minister said plants were being set up in Ludhiana, Jalandhar and many other cities to ensure that polluted water and industrial effluents were not discharged into the rivers.