Chandigarh, October 7
A truckload of ‘original’ documents related to the controversial selection of Medical Officers by the Punjab Public Service Commission were finally handed over today to the office of the Advocate General.

The Public Service Commission was accused of overlooking merit and selecting ‘doctors’ with dubious academic records. The records were delivered today following directions issued by a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The records will now be handed over to the Vigilance Bureau, which is conducting an investigation into the allegations.

At about 3.30 pm a white truck, with the records sealed in cardboard boxes, was driven to the advocate-general’s office. Escorted by the police, PPSC officials handed over the boxes one by one. The entire exercise, which lasted an hour, was supervised by PPSC’s counsel and Bar-at-Law, Himmat Singh Shergill.

The Bench of Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice Ajay Tewari had earlier asked the PPSC to hand over all the documents following allegations that the Commission had not supplied the complete set of original records to the Bigilance Bureau. Shergill, on the other hand, had asserted that the records were handed over on September 10 and 22.

The Vigilance Bureau wanted from the PPSC, among other things, the original sheets containing marks awarded by each member of the Interview Board to the candidates appearing for medical officers’ selection. The Bureau had called for submission of 18 types of documents from the PPSC.

Some of the other documents delivered today are said to include ‘records pertaining to the requisition by the health and family welfare department, Punjab, for filling up 100 posts of medical officers (general) in 2008 and for filling up 212 posts in 2009, copy of rules governing recruitment and the criteria adopted by the PPSC’.

All the applications received by the PPSC were also requisitioned. Details have also been sought of the meetings held by the PPSC for recruiting the 312 Medical Officers as well as the minutes of meetings.

Besides, the Bureau also wanted records related to the constitution of interview panels and the criteria for selection of members and medical specialists to the panels.

Chandigarh, October 7
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the busiest of them all? Well, as far as Punjab ministers are concerned, the busiest is neither the Chief Minister nor the Deputy Chief Minister, say a section of residents in SAS Nagar.

They are convinced that the busiest minister is Adesh Pratap Singh Kairon, the cabinet minister for food and civil supplies.

Kairon, who is the chairman of the Grievances Committee for SAS Nagar, is yet to convene a meeting during the last three and a half years of the SAD-BJP government in the state, they point out.

Committee members are expected to meet every month under the chairmanship of the minister. Members have the opportunity to air grievances related to their areas, which are then addressed by the minister right on the spot. All important district officials are also present so as to help the minister take decisions.

But though the meetings are being held regularly in several districts, the SAS Nagar committee, which has over 30 members, is still waiting for the first meeting to take place.

Though SAS Nagar is not Kairon’s constituency, insiders claim he would have opted for it because of its proximity to Chandigarh.

But while the proximity should have enabled the minister to attend to the problems of SAS Nagar more regularly, he does not appear to have either the time or the inclination.

Members of the grievance committee point out that it would have been better if some other minister were to be made responsible for their district.

Kairon, they said, was a close relative of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and enjoyed virtual immunity from any criticism.

“For three years, we have not been able to approach anyone with our problems. Whom does one go to and ask what happened to the promises that Akalis made during the election,” asked Kamal Kishore, a member of the committee from Khizrabad village.

He added that the local MLA Ujagar Singh Badali too had not bothered to do anything for the people of his constituency.

“We were promised that the Akali government would ensure the construction of the Dashmesh canal, which would bring to an end to the chronic water shortage here. But nothing has been done to push the project with the Chief Minister,” claimed Kishore.

“There is no accountability whatsoever in the system. Will the Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, who claims that he will usher in governance reforms, fix responsibility why the meeting has not been held for three years?” fumed Kishore.

He added that the SAS Nagar Deputy Commissioner sent a notice for the first meeting of the grievances committee early last month as the meeting was scheduled to be held on September 20. But on the day of the meeting, members were informed that the meeting had been called off. The next date for the meeting is yet to be notified.

The minister, meanwhile, could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

Chandigarh, October 7
Contrary to popular belief that the issue of Centre offering to bail out Punjab with its debt to the tune of Rs 35,000 crore first came up in the just- concluded session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Badal has been negotiating with the Centre for around a year. At the same time, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has been in the loop all through.

Investigations by The Tribune suggest that Finance Minister Manpreet Badal started his “job” of drawing the Centre’s attention to the huge accumulated debt of Punjab soon after the SAD-BJP government took charge in 2007. At that time Union Finance Minister Parnab Mukherjee assured him that Punjab would receive a substantial financial help by the 13th Finance Commission.

After the Finance Commission report tabled in Parliament on February 25, 2010, failed to meet with the state’s expectation, the Finance Minister was forced to take up the issue with Mukherjee again. In March 2010, Manpreet Badal, after taking the Chief Minister into confidence, broached the subject with the Union Government again.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal then took up the issue with Mukherjee at the meeting of the Chief Ministers of northern zone states at Chandigarh on July 6. The meeting was specifically discussed statewise flow of credit from the banking system besides progress made on centrally sponsored schemes in each state. Mukherjee’s response was very encouraging and he asked Punjab to submit a detailed proposal.

Convinced by Punjab’s argument and offering to look at ways to help Punjab, the Union Finance Minister asked for the constitution of an Officer Sub-Committee to look into the fiscal state of Punjab. The sub-committee was formed in July 2010 through a gazette notification in which secretary finance, secretary expenditure and other senior officials of the Union Ministry of Finance were made members.

Encouraged by the response from the Union Government, the Punjab Chief Minister accompanied Manpreet Badal and met Pranab Mukherjee at his residence in mid July, within days of the formation of the sub-committee. Badal senior, it is learnt, was very open to the suggestions made by the Union Finance Minister and had even agreed to take hard decisions for “fiscal discipline”.

At the meeting of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers held here on July 21 that had met to discuss the preparedness towards Goods and services tax (GST) regime, Manpreet Badal again raised the issue with Mukherjee. Following this Mukherjee asked Manpreet to meet him separately and make a presentation.

The sub-committee after a review sent a note to the Punjab Government in the form of a demi - official letter suggesting the proposed fiscal reforms.

Manpreet Badal took this issue to the Punjab Cabinet and gave a one-hour power point presentation. After the presentation, the Punjab Cabinet asked him to go back to the Centre and get a formal proposal. Manpreet promised to return within 15 days with Centre’s assurance in writing.

This letter was the basis of Manpreet Badal’s statement on the floor of the Vidhan Sabha saying that this was a golden opportunity Punjab should not miss. He clarified that the Punjab did not have to give up its financial rights in anyway, but only impose “self discipline.”

Ferozepur, October 7
Hundreds of farmers today staged a dharna and jammed rail traffic on the Ferozepur-Fazilka rail section, near Dod station, for hours together to lodge protest against the non-procurement of paddy unloaded by them in Tara Singh Wala grain market by officials of the FCI.The blockade, organised by the farmers, caused long delays in arrival and departure of various trains running on the Ferozepur-Fazilka rail section.

The protesters, who raised slogans against the state and the Central governments, alleged that the paddy unloaded by them in the grain market was not being procured by FCI officials of on different pretexts, which were without any base.

They alleged that their paddy crop was being rejected as a section of officials of the procurement agency concerned were trying to extract bribe from them for purchasing the paddy. They added that they would not allow anyone to loot them and would continue the agitation if they were being harassed. Though about 50,000 bags of paddy had arrived in the Tara Singh Wala grain market, the officials had procured only 500 bags so far. They said they had been spending nights in the open to get their produce procured at the minimum support price (MSP). Protesters lifted the blockade after they met Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav and took assurance from him that paddy crop, which fell into the norms laid down by the Centre, would be procured without any delay.

Rajiv Kumar, District Manager (DM), FCI, Ferozepur, said a section of farmers had unloaded green crop, which had got high moisture contents and hence, rendered the same unprocurable as per the norms laid down by the Centre. He added that a group of farmers were pressing the FCI officials to procure their paddy crop without following the conditions laid down. When FCI officials did not follow their diktats, farmers started levelling allegations against them and jammed rail traffic.

Yadav said the matter had been resolved as two fans had been pressed into service in that grain market to carry out cleanliness of paddy apart from drying it to bring the moisture content within permissible limits. He said no FCI official had demanded bribe from any paddy producer in lieu of procuring their crops.

“The procurement process is going smoothly in the district. The problem of lifting of procured paddy, which surfaced in the past few days, has also been sorted out,” he claimed.

Chandigarh, October 7
Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal got support from unexpected quarters today with Congress legislator Sunil Jakhar urging the SAD to bite the bullet by going with the Finance Minister’s recommendations in the interest of the state.

Jakhar also surprisingly advocated that both the SAD and the Congress could jointly go to the Centre to discuss the conditions proposed by it to halve Punjab’s debt from the present Rs 70,000-crore figure. He said both parties should take up the offer seriously, adding that he was pained that some of his colleagues had held it against Manpreet for not resigning on the issue.

Even as the Abohar legislator made this statement, PPCC President Mohinder Singh Kaypee said Manpreet should match his ideas with actions, meaning he should force the ongoing issue. Kaypee said if this were not done, people would perceive the present controversy as just another verbal duel.

Meanwhile, Jakhar said it was unfortunate that the SAD was handicapped by a myopic vision. He said this was the right opportunity for the Chief Minister to ask for the announcement of minimum support price (MSP) for crops other than wheat and rice to give a momentum to diversification in agriculture.

The PPCC President, meanwhile, said Manpreet’s statement had vindicated the stand of the Congress that non-governance characterised the SAD-BJP government.

Coming down on Manpreet, PPCC General Secretary Parminder Singh said the Finance Minister tried to impress people with his simple lifestyle and driving his own car even to official functions. “However, he has failed to provide any alternative model of governance or a suitable fiscal policy except blindly opposing subsidies to various sections of society,” he added.

Meanwhile, former minister Manjit Singh Calcutta said the debt waiver was a golden opportunity to retrieve the state’s economy. 

Chandigarh/Bathinda, October 7
Around 15 lakh metric tonnes of unmilled paddy of PAU-201 variety, which has now been banned in the state, may finally be milled with the Centre agreeing to pay millers Rs 200 per quintal to facilitate this process.

Announcing this here today at a press conference, Punjab Food and Civil Supplies Minister Adesh Partap Singh Kairon said farmers of Bathinda and Mansa districts, where a major portion of the unmilled paddy was lying, would be given Rs 200 per quintal by the Centre to upgrade the quality of their stock.

What this effectively means is that farmers would have to replace severely damaged grains with new rice. This is being done after the government allowed a maximum possible damage limit of 4.75 per cent and a broken limit of 28 per cent. Despite these concessions, millers refused to mill the stocks with them saying they would still incur huge losses.

Kairon said under the new arrangement, millers in the other districts, except those in Jalandhar division, would be given Rs 100 per quintal to upgrade the quality of their stocks.

Food and Civil Supplies Secretary D S Grewal said the paddy lying unmilled was worth Rs 3,500 crore in the open market. He said the Centre was expected to incur a cost of around Rs 200 crore to get this milled now.

Giving details, state president of the Punjab Rice Millers Associations Tarsem Saini said the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution had decided that the balance quantity of paddy as on October 1 would now be milled and its rice would be delivered to the FCI under the relaxed specifications applicable for the Kharif season (2009-10). The whole process was to be completed before January 31.

He said the Centre had cleared its decision that the cost of upgrading would be paid only for paddy, which would be milled after October 1.

According to rice millers, there were about 205 rice millers in Bathinda and Mansa districts only, who were declared defaulters as they had failed to meet conditions of milling PAU-201.

On a query about the fate of rice mills who had milled less than 50 per cent of the total paddy crop of 2009-10, Saini said he would take up their cause with the government so that they could get the allotment of paddy during the Kharif session (2010-11) equivalent to paddy milled by them.

Chandigarh, October 7
Farm leaders are convinced that fiscal mismanagement by politicians and not agricultural subsidies have led Punjab to where it is and claim that the solution could well lie in demanding a central package for farmers rather than trying to reduce any subsidies being enjoyed by them.

The SAD-BJP combine, the farm leaders feel, is in no position to betray farmers after promising them free power. They aver that any move to reduce agriculture subsidies in any way following the announcement of this central condition by Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal recently could lead to agitations.

“Let them try to take back any subsidy,” reacted Bharti Kisan Union-Rajewal leader Balbir Singh Rajewal. The kisan leader, who had recently led a successful agitation, demanding compensation for farmers, says his organisation will not allow the government to betray the farmers. “The SAD-BJP will be wiped out in the next elections if it tries to do so,” he adds for effect.

The farm leader claims that instead of trying to tinker with subsidies, the government should instead approach the Centre and demand that its farmers be paid to subsidise consumers. “We have destroyed the health of our land and depleted our water resources to produce cheap foodgrains for the national pool,” Rajewal said, demanding that a price should be put to this “sacrifice”.

There is also a feeling among the farm leaders that the subsidies given to the industrial sector should also be made public by the Finance Minister so that people could realise that agriculture subsidies alone were not affecting the state’s finances.

They also claim that farmers are being led up the garden path. Left wing farmer leader of the BKU (Ekta- Ugrahan) Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan claims that the SAD-led government first cajoled farmers to pay their power bills. “Now the party has as part of a conspiracy initiated a move to reduce these subsidies,” he added.

When questioned whether agriculture subsidy could be rationalised to cover small farmers, Kokrikalan said this could be done but the government must come out with a definition of who was a small farmer. However, there is no unanimity among kisan organisations even on this issue with mainstream unions claiming 72 per cent of the state’s farmers owned less than five acres of land.

Former MP and BKU (Mann) leader Bhupinder Singh Mann said the Finance Minister was a reasonable and decent man but that even he must try to understand that farmers were victims of a system whereby subsidies were measured in negative terms. He said on the other hand the farmer was restricted from marketing his own goods under the Essential Commodities Act, which had made agriculture an unprofitable business. 

Jalandhar, October 7
The Canadian High Commission authorities faced a tough time here today while answering questions raised by various businessmen especially exporters with regard to the visa policy.

The Engineering Export Promotion Council had organised a seminar here in which Consul General, Canadian High Commission, Scott Slessor, who is based in Chandigarh, and trade commissioner Gurbans Sobti spoke about possibilities regarding the promotion of trade and investment opportunities between the two countries. Punjab-based exporters blamed the commission for the poor growth of exports and investment between both countries. They complained that the rigid visa policy compared to the countries like Germany, the USA, UK and other developed countries was proving to be a hurdle in the promotion of business and investment between the two countries. They alleged said Germany, the UK and the USA took no time to give visa to businessmen and industrialists having sound background, but the Canadian authorities “took more pleasure in denying visa to them”.

Tehal Singh Seehra, a Hoshiarpur-based industrialist said he and his other industrialist colleagues were to take part in an international trade fair in Canada. They had booked stalls by spending Rs 8 lakh. But the Canadian Embassy denied them visa and they lost Rs 8 lakh.

He asked Scott to get the money refunded from the authorities in Canada. Industrialists said there was no logic in denying visa on the basis of language limitations. Germany, Russia and many other countries did not give any weightage to language while granting visa, they added.

Scott assured exporters that he would take up issues related to visa with the authorities concerned in Canada.

Pritam Singh, an industrialist, alleged that he was denied visa because he did not know English and spoke in Punjabi.

Exporters also enquired about land cost in Canada, procedure for setting up industrial units, including change of land use, availability of raw material, subsidies and certain other apprehensions.

Har Raipur (Bathinda), October 7
Irked that policemen from the Nehianwala police station were allegedly patronising a gang of criminals, hundreds of residents of this village today blocked the Bathinda-Pathankot National Highway (NH-15) for a couple of hours at Tinkoni located between Goniana and Bajakhana villages. Raising anti-police slogans, protesters alleged that a group of criminals had created anarchy in the village with their anti-social activities like drug peddling, extortion and beating up of innocent villagers, all under the patronage of corrupt policemen of the Nehianwala police station.

The gang was active in the village for the past couple of years and the village was reeling under their terror, residents alleged. Yesterday, the goons beat up two students of the village for not paying them “goonda tax”. When a passerby Sukhjeet Singh, a conductor of a private bus, objected to their activity, they also assaulted him.

To teach him a lesson, the accused went to his house late last evening and opened fire there. The incident was reported to the police but no cop responded to it, villagers alleged. Further, the accused today asked Kulwinder Singh of the village to pay tax to them, which he refused. Irked, they abducted him and took to their house where they beat him up.

Some villagers said the accused had even fired some rounds but fortunately Kulwinder escaped any major injury. The anger of villagers, finally, boiled over today, when the police did not reach the spot. Deciding to take on the accused, they nabbed three of them and beat them up with lathis.

After that, they came out and blocked the highway. Meanwhile, the alleged goons were admitted to the Civil Hospital, Goniana. The police reached the spot and tried to persuade the residents. However, finding the residents reluctant to lift the dharna, the administration opened an alternate route.

Meanwhile, DSP (R) Baljeet Singh Sidhu reached the spot and pulled up the staff of the Nehianwala police station.

Assuring legal action against the accused, the DSP managed to convince protesters to lift the dharna. Later, the police booked Kuldeep Singh, Kamaljeet Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Sandeep Singh, Rajinder Singh and Happy Singh.

DSP Baljeet Singh Sidhu said: “We are conducting raids to nab the accused. Meanwhile, the character of the cops who have been accused of patronising the goons will also be verified.”

Ropar, October 7
The mining contractors, conducting regular mining activities with due approvals from the Punjab Government, have been depriving the villages of their respective contract shares. The Punjab Miner Minerals Concession Rules of 1964 entitles the village one -third contract share when a contract is signed between the Government and a mining contractor.

“In the year 2008-09, the State Government collected Rs. 3448.96 lakh from the auction of mining sites in these districts. Most of the contractors have deprived villages of their respective shares,” said Dinesh Chadha, National Students’ Union of India Ropar.

As per the information collected by Chadha under the Right To Information Act an approximate amount of Rs. 2.69 lakh should be given to each panchayat. “This amount is enough to initiate small but important developmental works in villages such as ensuring drinking water supplies, spending money on village dispensary or school. By not paying villages, the contractors as well as government has left panchayats at loss of the share,” he added. Chadha has also tried to seek information for the year 2009 - 10 under the RTI Act, but hasn’t been provided the same by the District Development Panchayat Officer (DDPO), Block Development Officer, SDM or even the Industry and Commerce Department.

Kalia, Sarpanch of Daburh village who has been leading the agitation said,“ Ropar has a cluster of 45 such villages, which have not been paid even a single penny. We have met the mining offices and district administration as well, but in vain.”

A total of 425 villages from the areas of Ludhiana, Mohali, Ropar, Patiala, Faridkot, Moga, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Nawanshahr, Ferozepur, Bathinda, Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur have been affected by this deprivation. 

Lalru, October 7
The Lalru Nagar Pancahyat has issued notices to different industries for not paying octroi on oil consumption and getting direct supply of oil from oil companies. Sarbjeet Singh, Executive Officer said despite the presence of Lalru Nagar Panchayat since the last six months, industries had not been paying octroi on oil consumption and acquiring the oil supply directly from oil companies, located out of the area of the Lalru Nagar Panchayat.

As per the information, the factories that have been issued notices include, Panacea Biotech, Punjab Chemicals and Crop Protection, Steels Strips Wheels Ltd., Gates India Pvt. Ltd., 12 units of the Nahar Industrial Enterprises Ltd., Hansa Tubes Pvt. Ltd. and Milk Specialties Ltd. among others. The Industrial Officials have been directed to pay the octroi on oil consumption for the last six months. —TNS

Patiala, October 7
The UGC guidelines directing only eight students to enroll under one guide as compared to the previous 10 has led to a shortage of seats for the various PhD programmes.The authorities at the Punjabi University Patiala are trying to come to a consensus regarding accommodating maximum number of research scholars and finalising the relevant syllabus.

Despite clearing exams, several students haven’t been able to procure admissions in the PhD programmes due to a shortage of seats. The authorities have assured more seats within a year.

Dr Chandan Singh, Dean, Research, said, “The authorities are inclined in accommodating the maximum number of research scholars but the current focus is to finalise the relevant syllabus. The number of vacant seats will be ascertained once the admission processes are over. As soon as we have the details of vacant seats from the University departments and college professors, we will fill them up.”

Meanwhile, following the UGC guidelines, the authorities have been trying to formulate the course module.

Patiala, October 7
The Thapar University is possibly the first university to introduce ‘Alcometers’ in the campus to check ‘drinking’. While University officials refused to confirm it, students told The Tribune that the authorities have started using the Alcometer, a sensor which reacts to alcohol, and taken other steps in the wake of the recent incident of drunken driving, in which one of the students was killed and another sustained serious injuries.

While it is fairly commonplace for the police to use ‘Breathalyser tests’ to ascertain the level of alcohol intake, this appears to be the first attempt to control drinking binges in the campus. The university, it is learnt, has also modified hostel timings to enforce discipline and ensure that students do not stay out till late.

A student said, “The University has put up notices regarding the installation of alcoometers and has warned students of serious consequences in case anyone is found guilty. The notice also gives detailed information about new hostel timings for students, that is 8:00 pm for girls and 10:00 pm for boys.”

The decision has evoked a mixed response. A section of the students felt that the new timings would curb their freedom, while others viewed stricter rules as a positive step to prevent mishaps. “With classes continuing till late in the evening, the new timings will make it difficult for us to move out. It is all due to a few students that all of us will have to suffer,” complained one of the boys.

The girls understandably took the new regime in their stride. One of them said, “ Drunken driving and drinking binges not only give a bad name to students but also to the institution. The steps are not just welcome but were long overdue to restrain a few reckless students who endanger the lives of fellow students also.”

Chandigarh, October 7
Spotting errors in the answers key of PCS (Judicial) examination (preliminary) held on August 8, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed rechecking of all papers.Justice Ajai Lamba has also directed deletion of two questions. Directions have also been issued to the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the PPSC and other respondents to provide correct answers of several questions.

Allowing a bunch of nine petitions by Puneet Mehta and others, Justice Lamba asserted: “The facts and circumstances of this case are peculiar in so much as the respondents themselves admit there are errors in the answer key. The arguments addressed on behalf of the petitioners are not wholly imprudent, without reason or justification. The options do not provide a clear-cut single answer…. In my considered opinion, substantial justice requires this court to adopt the option of deleting question numbers 22 and 74 from question booklet series `A’ and corresponding questions from the other question booklet series”.

Justice Lamba also directed the respondents to provide correct answers in the key to question numbers 12, 21 and 65 of question booklet series `A’. The respondents are further required to correct the answers in the answer key in other series of booklets to questions corresponding to question numbers 12, 21 and 65 from question booklet series `A’.

Justice Lamba also directed the respondents to “re-check/ re-evaluate all papers and prepare and publish the results”. The main examination has already been scheduled and delay in the process shall not be in public interest.

Justice Lamba observed: “Ordinarily, the high court is not required to examine the question papers or the answers itself. The knowledge of the candidate is to be judged by the respondents by way of posing questions, as per process adopted by the respondents. The answer to a question, however, is required to be acceptably correct and not suspicious or open to two interpretations or answers when the question paper is objective type. If a wrong answer to a question is provided in the answer key, obviously, the knowledge and merit of the candidate cannot be correctly evaluated.”

The petitioners had earlier challenged the action of declaring them unqualified in the examination. Directions had also been sought to revise the result of the petitioners after making amendments or corrections in the answer key.