Lambi (Muktsar), November 28
Four organisations, namely the Gazetted Educational School Services Association (GESSA), the SC-BC Tarakki Front, the Principals Tarakki Front and the General Category Welfare Federation, held a rally here today and urged the state government to keep the February 2009 seniority list of the school lecturers and scrap the seniority list prepared in November 2010.

The protesting leaders announced that from December 5, they would stage two-hour symbolic dharnas in front of the residences of cabinet ministers. Besides, a chain fast would be started from December 10 in Lambi. If the matter was not resolved, they would hold a flag march in Lambi in December during school holidays.

The leaders present on the occasion included Sarbjit Singh Toor, Amrish Kumar, Shalinder Singh and Harbans Singh Sidhu.

Patti Deep Singh-Bhadaur (Barnala), November 28
An incident of police not registering an FIR in connection with an accident case in which son of a poor farmer was allegedly crushed to death by the the bus owned by an influential business man has come to light in village Patti Deep Singh of Bhadaur in Barnala.

Jameel Khan (24), son of Bhola Khan was reportedly returning home in the morning on October 21 on his motorcycle bearing registration number PB 1920-5040 from the grain market in Bhadaur. He was allegedly crushed to death along Vidhata Nagar road by a bus of Govind International Public school owned by a businessman Darshan Singh.

After conducting the last rites, when the family approached SHO (Bhadaur) Baljeet Singh to register an FIR, the latter started playing delaying tactics.

The family members further alleged that on October 27, they again approached the SHO. He came up with a compromise formula and asked them to take money in lieu of the death of boy. They approached SSP (Barnala) after no FIR was registered in this connection.

The SSP on the same day marked an inquiry to the DSP (Tappa) Mukhtiyar Singh.

The DSP too failed to get an FIR registered and instead asked the family that police may need to exhume the body of the deceased to ascertain whether he was driving under the influence of liquor. They added that they agreed to it but the police did nothing about it.

“Instead of registering an FIR, the police is acting as mediators and is pressurising us to accept money for the loss. They are also indirectly threatening us of dire consequences including booking us in false case of drug trafficking, if we did not accept their proposal,” alleged Bhola Khan, father of the deceased.

“My son is a poor farmer. He along with his my two grandsons including the deceased were working very hard to sustain the livelihood. Since one of my grandson is no more, it would be hard for us to make livelihood,” said Buta Khan, grand father of the deceased.

“We would fight for justice and move court to get the case registered,” said Gulzar Khan, uncle of the deceased.

Even as senior police officials preferred to remain tightlipped on the issue, police sources said that SHO Baljeet Singh, quoting the family members of the deceased, kept the higher authorities in dark by claiming that family of the deceased refused to register an FIR since their son died due to his ‘own fault’. Sources added that the SHO told higher authorities that family members of the victim did not agree to get the postmortem of their deceased son done.

However, SSP Barnala, when contacted, did not comment much on the issue and instead pointed out that he had been told by the SHO of the area that family of the deceased did not want to register the case in this connection.

Abohar, November 28
Some of the youths pointed out during the ‘Nav Inqalab Punjab Yatra’ in Ferozepur district recently that the agriculture department had provided wheat seed at subsidised rates after November 10 whereas sowing season in the paddy area had started by October 28.

District Youth Congress president Sandeep Jakhar said the youths in the border district were also sore over unemployment.

They revealed that the total number of unemployed youths as per record of the employment offices in the district was 28231 when the SAD-BJP government took over in 2007.

The survey that had been recently completed indicated that the number of unemployed youths had risen to 1.5 lakh. The state government had failed in giving employment to the youths, he regretted. 

Moga, November 28
Concerned over lack of interest being shown by Punjabis towards their own language and literature, as compared to the southern states, a Kanadiga man Pandit Rao Dharennavar working as lecturer of sociology in a government college at Chandigarh has launched a self-inspired campaign to promote Punjabi language and literature among the rural folk, here.

While talking to The Tribune here, today, Rao said he came to Chandigarh seven years back after clearing the UGC to teach sociology but he faced problems in teaching because most of the students had a rural background. Therefore, I decided to learn skills in Punjabi to make it easy for teaching the students, he said. After studying to read, write and speak Punjabi, this stranger, has turned into a writer penning poems, prose and essays in Punjabi, besides, playing one-act plays in chaste Punjabi in the villages inspiring the youths to read literature in mother tongue and preserve their culture. On Sunday, he came at Bughipura village situated on the outskirts of the Moga town and gathered the youths in a gurudwara and played a one-act play asking them to read Punjabi literature. Rao said he had recently written a book ‘mein taan mein haan’, an anthology of poems and essays, to motivate youngsters to develop love for reading rich Punjabi literature.

“I have noticed that there is a lack of passion among the youths in Punjab about their language and literature, which is a serious issue not been addressed by the policy makers of the state,” he said. He has also translated the works of Akka Mahadevi a 12th century woman writer and preacher from Kannada language to Punjabi language and is presently busy translating the works of Baba Farid, a 12th century Muslim sufi who is considered father of the Punjabi literature, in Kannada language. I have also started translating Guru Granth Sahib in parts- japuji sahib and sukhmani sahib in Kannada language, he said.

Painful over witnessing increasing liquor shops in the villages of Punjab, Rao said that instead of liquor shops there should be libraries so as to develop reading habits among the youths.

Comparing the Kannada and Punjabi languages, he said that there have been nine Jnanpith awardees in Kannada while Punjab has only two in mother tongue. He has so far traveled to many villages of 18 districts in Punjab where he holds one-act plays, undertakes bicycle marches to spread the message of love thy literature to the Punjabi folk.

He also spreads social messages to do away with female foeticide, a social problem, which has left Punjab with lowest sex ratio in the country. He also asks youths not to seek dowry and stop taking drugs. An interest in literature has the power to bring in social reforms more effectively than by strictly implementing the laws, he added. 

Fazilka, November 28
To provide irrigation water in an effective way to the farmers, the state government had decided to convert temporary water course into concrete a few years back.

For this purpose, it had introduced matching grant scheme in Punjab. However, now the scheme seems to have run in rough weather as those farmers who had deposited their share of amount against the construction of water courses with the Punjab State Tubewell Corporation (Now, Punjab Water Resource Management and Development Corporation) (A nodal agency for constructing water courses) authorities in the year 2006-07, have been still waiting for the construction of water courses.

Notably, the temporary water courses which are passing through the land of the farmers were to be made concrete. In lieu of it, the farmers have to shell out their share of 10 per cent for the construction of water courses.

The remaining 90 per cent was to be borne by the state government. Now, hundreds of farmers have been waiting for the construction of concrete water courses even after depositing the requisite amount about four years back. There is a great resentment amongst the farmers over the issue.

“We had deposited our share to the tune of 10 per cent with the corporation but the construction work of is yet to be started. The government has virtually ‘grabbed’ lakhs of rupees from the farmers against the construction of water courses, but now the corporation has resorted to dilly-delaying tactics,” rued the affected farmers Pritam Chand of village Lalowali and Pakhar Singh, former sarpanch of village Baghewala.

The other farmers Suba Singh, Nachhatar Singh and Hans Raj of village Chandmari have said the government had then promised to complete the construction work within six months after depositing the amount, claimed the farmers.

They have demanded that the construction work should be started immediately to provide irrigation water to the farmers to avoid loss of water being supplied through temporary water courses at present.

On the other hand, executive engineer, Punjab Water Resource Management and Development Corporation, Abohar Division, KC Goyal disclosed that the department had already prepared a master plan of Rs 1.25 crore to construct 32 water courses in Fazilka sub-division.

The plan has also been sent to the state government for approval. He said the corporation is yet to receive 90 per cent share of the state government. As soon as the department gets the share the work would be started, maintains Goyal.