Moga, November 12
A case of embezzlement of funds, meant for the poor Dalit families in the centrally sponsored Indira Awas Yojna (IAY), has come to light at Bhinder Kalan village in the district.

As many as 41 Dalit beneficiaries have been allegedly deprived of the benefit of pucca shelters even as the first instalment of the Rs 3.68-lakh grant has already been released by the government in 2008. As many as 23 new rooms were proposed to be constructed with these funds along with repairs of 18 houses.

The woman sarpanch, Pal Kaur, of the village has raised the walls of pucca rooms of only six rooms and left it there, alleged the affected families in separate affidavits given to the secretary of the zila parishad, who has initiated an inquiry into it.

When this correspondent visited the village, Charat Singh, Bawa Singh, Jagir Kaur and others, while showing their incomplete rooms, alleged that the sarpanch withdrew Rs 3.68 lakh from the panchayat account and spent only a meagre amount to construct six rooms partially. They said the bricks used to construct the walls of their rooms were old and taken out from a village street.

Daljit Singh, panchayat secretary of the village, while talking to The Tribune, admitted that these funds were withdrawn “fraudulently” by the sarpanch from the panchayat account and the money was not disbursed among the beneficiaries. He said the sarpanch colluded with his predecessor, Jaswinder Singh, to withdraw the funds and carry out illegal work.

Earlier, Jaswinder Singh had faced a series of inquiries related to another IAY scam at Melak Kangan village, which were highlighted by The Tribune in 2009, following which he was transferred to Amritsar district. This correspondent tried to contact him, but he did not pick up the phone.

Pal Kaur admitted that she withdrew the money but gave it to Jaswinder Singh to get the work done as she went to Bikaner for the treatment of her son, who was suffering from cancer. “When I came back, the secretary, in connivance with two members, also started the construction work on two streets by diverting the IAY funds,” she said. Later, her son died of cancer and she was disturbed mentally, the benefit of which was taken by the panchayat secretary to indulge in this fraud, she added.

The involvement of a few senior officers of the Rural Development and Panchayat Department and the district rural development agency could not be ruled out because according to the guidelines of the Union Government, cheques of grants are directly issued in the names of the beneficiaries, but in this case a combined cheque of the first instalment of Rs 3.68 lakh was issued to the panchayat against the rules.

The second instalment out of the Rs 7 lakh grant has not yet been released by the government because the panchayat has failed to submit the utilisation certificate of the first instalment, which has added to the woes of the poor people. 

Chandigarh, November 12
With a little more than a year to go to the elections, newly appointed Punjab Pradesh Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh is a man in a hurry. He is set to place new office-bearers as well as district Congress and block presidents in place in a week and shift his headquarters from Patiala to Chandigarh.

He will also immerse himself in “dera” politics by starting a tour of “babas” in the state, starting from controversial Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh of Sirsa, who was partly responsible for the good show put up by the Congress in the Malwa belt of the state in the last Assembly poll.

In an interview with TNS after formally taking over as the PPCC president at the residence of former MP Rana Gurjeet Singh, Amarinder made it clear that he wanted to make up for lost ground quickly.

Amarinder said he would send a list of new office-bearers as well as district and block presidents for clearance to Congress President Sonia Gandhi within a week. “The new list is expected to be a mix of the old and new”, he said adding that those who were doing good work would continue.

He made it clear that over a 100 persons who had bagged appointments as party secretaries would lose their posts, saying, “We have so many secretaries, even I do not know who many of them are”.

The new PPCC chief said he would start his tour of the state once the new team was in place. “I will first tour Southern Punjab, then the Northern areas and finally places along the GT road,” he said.

Amarinder is also making attempts to ease the issue of accessibility as he is shifting his residence to Chandigarh from Patiala and said he would always be available in Chandigarh for party workers and leaders when not on tour.

He is also boldly announced that he would meet the Dera Sacha Sauda head. The support from the dera was crucial for the Congress in the Malwa belt in the last Assembly poll and the party might have carried the day had it not lost in the urban areas.

“Premis (dera followers) have always supported us. I hope they do so again,” he said. Amarinder also said he would visit Radha Soami’s satsang dera at Beas besides visiting the Namdhari sect headquarters at Bhaini Sahib on November 17.

A much-chastened Amarinder is also determined to take the senior Congress leadership with him, though he feels people are going beyond leaders to support the party. He said he had already held meetings with legislature party leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and former party president Mohinder Singh Kaypee and that he would be meeting Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa and senior leader Jagmeet Singh Brar soon. He denied there was any settlement with Bhattal on seats.

Chandigarh, November 12
As bee to flowers, state Congressmen today all tried to glue themselves to newly appointed Pradesh Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh, who was literally bruised in a melee of an installation ceremony, which attracted thousands and created traffic chaos in the city and its outskirts.

Except for two top contenders for the Pradesh Congress post - Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa and senior leader Jagmeet Singh Brar, nearly every Congressman worth his salt attended today’s ceremony.

Amarinder on his part concentrated on ensuring a joint entrance with Legislature party leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal. There was a bit of a drama in the morning with Amarinder not going to Bhattal’s house where she was waiting for him along with her supporters and a few legislators. However, party leaders, Surinder Singla and Rana Gurmeet Sodhi, were successful in persuading Bhattal to come to Amarinder’s residence.

The new PPCC chief, who was driven into the Congress Bhawan by Sangrur leader Arvind Khanna in the latter’s Mercedez SUV, was accompanied besides Bhattal by former PPCC chief Mohinder Singh Kaypee, Congress secretary RC Khuntiya and Sangrur MP Vijay Inder Singla.

Amarinder was virtually jostled as he climbed half a dozen stairs to formally take over his room and chair following which he went to the small courtyard ground in the bhawan where a stage had been erected for a public gathering.

A little could be seen by the audience of Congress legislators, party functionaries and workers with people refusing to clear the area around the stage. Ludhiana MP Manish Tewari set the tone for the function by calling for unity and claiming that the party lost only when its own turned against it.

Bhattal showed a new aggressiveness by claiming that the Badal family was “involved in a boxing match and that the Congress would put an end to the gang of dacoits”. Amarinder on his part assured the workers that neither would be sit down or let them relax.

There was a fierce competition among supporters of Congress leaders to showcase their leader. Supporters of Vijay Inder Singla and Lalli Majithia had the best spots in the audience while a few supporters of Bhattal scaled a nearby balcony to shout encouragement to her while she was giving her speech.

Amritsar, November 12
Despite the turbulent history of the land, the tradition of verse and music kept open the pathways of brotherhood and peace through the Saanjh, the seventh edition of the Amritsar-Lahore festival organised by Punarjyot (Amritsar) and the Rafi Peer Theatre Group (Lahore) on the premises of Spring Dale Senior School here.

The two-day festival commenced with a high note with spiritual guru and the Founder of Art of Living, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, inaugurating the cultural mélange of both sides of Punjab, which not only saw Indian and Pakistani artistes sharing the stage as usual in their quest for peace, but also a host of cultural treats introduced for the first time.

Addressing the gathering, Sri Sri urged the people of India and Pakistan to develop understanding for each other besides working to promote the common cultural ties.

The festival this year became a launching pad for 24-year-old Manmeet Sain and his 19-year-old sibling Kiranpal Sain, also known as Sain brothers from Chheharta, Amritsar. The duo was trained under Ustaad Mithu Khan, who is associated with the Patiala Gharana. However, till now, they were associated only with singing at mazaars besides a few other peace initiatives at the Attari border. The inaugural day of the Saanjh saw them rendering four “qawwalis”.

Another fresh addition to the Saanjh was ‘Theatre for Peace-Circus or Peace’, a production featuring students from India and Pakistan, directed by Austrian Mime Director Andreas Ceska. The production, which is a form of circus art, is being staged here for the first time in the country with amateur child artistes performing along side professional entertainers. The celebration also featured a performance by ‘Kalbeliya’ dancers.

Dr Kirat Sandhu Cheema, Director (Punarjyot) said her parents, the late Dr Shivinder Singh Sandhu and Manveen Sandhu, had conceived the idea of the Saanjh to modulate the mindless hatred that divided both the countries by bringing their masses together through cultural exchange.

Fatehgarh Sahib, November 12
Punjab Chief Secretary SC Aggarwal today said the state farmers could contribute towards minimising air pollution caused due to the burning of paddy stubble by using Happy Seeders for transplanting wheat in paddy stubble-thick smoke that billows when stubble is burnt.

Interacting with farmers during his visit to Fatehgarh Sahib, Aggarwal said the Punjab Government was trying to provide Happy Seeders and other farming tools and equipments through cooperative societies. He said banning the burning of paddy legally would not serve any purpose, as farmers also need to be motivated for use of modern machinery to curb this menace. Aggarwal urged farmers to opt for net farming to boost up their income. The Chief Secretary said a target of sowing wheat crop in 35-lakh hectare in Punjab had been set and out of this wheat would be sown in 7.50-lakh hectare of agricultural land through Happy Seeder and other machines like rotavetor drill and zero till drill machines.

Deputy Commissioner Yashvir Mahajan, SSP Ranbir Khattra, SDM Gurpal Singh Chahal, joint director (agriculture) Gurdial Singh and others were also present during the visit of the Chief Secretary.

Chandigarh, November 12
The Punjab Government will regularise the services of computer teachers working under the Sarv Sikhya Abhiyan with effect from July 1, 2011.A decision to this effect was taken by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal at a meeting with an 11-member delegation of the Punjab Computer Teachers’ Union led by its president Gurvinder Singh at the CM’s residence here today.

It was decided at the meeting that computer teachers who had already completed or would be completing service of two-and-a-half years as on July 1, 2011, would be eligible for the regularisation of services. The CM also assured that a notification to this effect would be issued within a week. 

On the issue of the promotion of computer teachers, Badal directed the School Education Department to grant promotions to the eligible incumbents as per the Punjab Civil Services Rules.

New Delhi, November 12
The Supreme Court wants to award death sentence to a man from Punjab who has approached it seeking relief in the life term handed out to him for killing his wife.“In our opinion, crimes of the nature which has been committed in the present case outrage the modern conscience, and they belong to the rarest of rare category deserving death sentence,” a Bench comprising Justices Markandey Katju and Gyan Sudha Misra said in an order passed today.

Sukhdev Singh, convicted for killing his wife, Daljit Kaur, was awarded life sentence by the trial court which was confirmed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on July 21 this year. He subsequently filed an appeal in the Supreme Court, challenging the conviction and sentence.

Normally, the Supreme Court issues notice to the state which prosecuted the convict in such cases. However, the Bench today issued notice to Sukhdev asking him to give reasons “as to why his life sentence be not enhanced to death sentence. Petitioner shall also be at liberty to argue the case on merits.”

The Bench said this was a clear case of “brutal and barbaric murder” of Daljit Kaur. According to the evidence of the doctor, Dr Ranjit Singh, prime prosecution witness, the woman was first strangulated and thereafter burnt.

The medical report also showed that some of the bones of her neck had been fractured and there was bleeding on the neck. “In our prima facie opinion, these could clearly not be self-inflicted injuries. Also, there are burns all over the body.”