Chandigarh, December 19
Much before the ordinary citizens of the state begin their Chirstmas and New Year celebrations, politicians and bureaucrats of the state alike have gone on a long year-end holiday.

The Punjab Civil Secretariat is virtually deserted with many politicians staying away ever since Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal left on a personal foreign trip. Many of the officers, who showed up briefly earlier this month, are now taking it easy with the Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, too, leaving the country.

This is not all. Those running the government and those assisting them have taken time off, the opposition leaders, too, mainly from the Congress who were visible at rallies and dharnas, are also currently in Delhi attending the two-day Congress plenary.

Nearly a dozen MLAs and MPs are currently overseas visiting the residents of their constituencies settled abroad. An equal number, if not more, of bureaucrats are on ex-India leave from now up to the beginning of the next year.

Even from among the second-rung leadership, there are very few who are visiting offices or taking care of the normal affairs of the state. America, Canada and Europe happen to be their most favoured destinations.

Chief Minister Badal is currently in the US, accompanying his wife Surinder Kaur, who is undergoing treatment for cancer. His son and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, too, left for the US via some other countries, accompanied by his family to check on his mother’s health.

Some important functionaries attached to the Chief Minister as well as the Deputy Chief Minister, too, are currently away from Chandigarh and are not expected to be back before the end of the year.

Most senior Congress leaders like Capt Amarinder Singh, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Mohinder Singh Kaypee, etc are in Delhi. A young Congress MLA summed up the political mood in the state saying, “I am leaving for the US tomorrow as no political activity is expected in the state for the next two or three weeks. Whereas in the US and Canada it is vacation time owing to Christmas and it is good to meet with people from my constituency.”

Patiala, December 19
The Punjab Government on Friday suddenly withdrew the security cover that it had provided to former Deputy Speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Bir Devinder Singh for the past over two decades.

Criticising the move, Bir Devinder said he had been targeted for extending support to former Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal for his ‘Jago Punjab Yatra’ and that he would still “continue his tirade against corrupt politics”.

Sources in the Police Department confirmed that following instructions from the headquarters, the security provided to the former minister was withdrawn.

A gypsy that was provided to the former minister was also called back with immediate effect on Friday.

Terming the entire process of withdrawal of security cover from his ancestral home in Kotla Bhai Ka village in Sirhind and his residence in Model Town, Patiala, as “politically motivated”, Bir Devinder alleged that since he had been instrumental in criticising the government for their “wrongdoings”, he had been targeted. “I know Sukhbir Badal is perturbed with me for taking up issues against him,” added the former Deputy Speaker.

Officials said that Bir Devinder had the services of a head constable, two constables and one cook at his ancestral house in addition to an assistant sub-inspector and five policemen for his private security.

Bir Devinder said he was first given security as he had in 1983 spoken as a chief party whip in the House on the advent of terrorism. “I was attacked in 1991 in my ancestral house and a sentry was killed in that encounter,” he recalled.

Sukhbir was not even in Punjab when we were fighting terrorism and now he takes away my security cover, he said.

A senior police officer confirmed that the security cover was withdrawn due to orders from the police headquarters and that there was nothing political in it.

Patiala, December 19
Officers serving in various battalions of Punjab are disheartened after a statement by Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, in which he had asked Punjab DGP to give punishment posting to officers by posting them in reserved battalions. The officers are reported to have sought transfers with their favourite SSPs.

Sukhbir had given this statement during a review meeting with senior police officers in Chandigarh on Tuesday. However, numerous battalion officers are serving in various districts and police headquarters despite drawing salaries from the battalions, resulting in shortage of officers in their parent cadre. These recent comments by the Punjab Deputy CM, asking the Punjab DGP to break the nexus of SSPs taking their favourite SHO’s along with them and post these ‘favourite SHOs in the IRBs’, has not been taken well by the officers, who feel disheartened.

Officers state: “We do so much hard work and what does we imply from the statement that IRB is for the punishment posting of officers,” said many IRB officers preferring anonymity. A senior officer in the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) confirmed that these comments confirmed beyond doubt that IRB officers were the most unwanted wing of the state police force, despite the fact that they performed the most difficult duties. “We perform duties in the most difficult times and are sent to places like Kashmir and election duty in other states,” they added, claiming that they form almost 50 per cent of the state force.

Highly-placed sources in the police wing confirmed that there was an acute shortage of officers in the IRB, Punjab Armed Police (PAP) and Commando battalions. Officers were unhappy serving there and despite drawing their salaries from these battalions preferred district postings.

“Due to difficult duty and no field work, officers do not want to stay here as district police postings are considered to be plum,” they added.

Officials confirmed to The Tribune, that while the seven IRB battalions are short of 30 senior officers of the rank of DSP and above, five Commando battalions in Punjab are short of over 20 such officers, while eight PAP battalions are short of over two dozen officers. Various other junior ranked officers also never returned back to their parent battalion, once posted in the districts, resulting in shortage of hundreds of junior staff. The IRB would be celebrating its raising day function on December 21. “Yes there is shortage of officers including DSP’s and SP’s”, claimed IG, IRB, Punjab, RP Meena, who is stationed in Patiala and refused to give any official reason for it. IG PAP, GS Sahota confirmed that though there was staff shortage but the work was not suffering as the commandants were managing it efficiently. “Some promotions are pending and officers drawing salary from us are posted out as the government wants them in the fields”, he added. 

New Delhi, December 19
Congress leaders from Punjab have petitioned the high command saying state leaders were feeling “left out” by the Union Government in working out a formula for the financial package being offered to the state.

Congress MLA from Abohar Sunil Jakhar told TNS that the ruling SAD-BJP combine in Punjab and the Union Government were formulating a package but the state unit had not been called in to give any input.

The state is under Rs 70,000-crore debt and close to 50 per cent of the same is intended to be waived.

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal had been openly saying that terms being offered as part of the debt-relief package were not acceptable. The Union Government should tell state leaders so that they could explain the package to the people and also involved them in the formulation of terms, said Jakhar, who has sent a written note to the party on the matter.

State Congress leaders also rued that Central ministers were not keeping the state unit within the “information zone”.

Jakhar said: “We got to know about the package only when former Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal mentioned it in the state Assembly.”

The Union Government has constituted a study group for Punjab, Kerala and West Bengal. It had suggested the initial dos and don’ts before the package is given, which have been rejected by the ruling SAD-BJP combine. State Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has given a debt figure of Rs 3,500 while Parliament was informed recently that the debt would cross Rs 70,000 at the end of the ongoing fiscal.

Jakhar said he wanted to speak on the subject at the ongoing plenary session of the 125-year-old party. It was over the debt issue that Manpreet Badal quit the SAD while state Congress president Amarinder Singh is seeking a privilege motion against the Chief Minister.

Earlier, Punjab delegate Jagmeet Brar waded into the BJP claiming that during the time the state faced terrorism, BJP and SAD leaders sent their children to study abroad. It was Congress leaders, who bore the brunt of terrorism.

A fairly large delegation from Punjab is attending the plenary which includes Mohinder Singh Kaypee, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Ravneet Singh Bittu, Manish Tewari, Ashwani Sekhri, Shamsher Singh Dullo, MM Singh Cheema, Amardeep Singh Cheema and Sucha Singh Chottepur. 

Ludhiana, December 19
Walking away with the crown of Miss World Panjaban 2010 was a dream Arshdeep Kaur Gosal from Toronto, Canada, had nurtured since the time she first visited India a few years ago. However, 18-year-old Arshdeep did not expect her dream to come true so early on in life.

"I am very happy. The victory is all the more special as with it comes a testimony that Punjabis like me who are settled on foreign shores are as Punjabi at heart as the ones who live on the motherland," remarked Arshdeep, soon after winning the title.

Arshdeep was crowned Miss World Panjaban 2010 at a glittering mega event based on the rich colourful culture of Punjab.

Navreet Sandhu of the US and Harpreet Kaur Johal of Ropar grabbed the titles of first and second runners up respectively and mesmerised the impressive gathering of over 50,000 at Glada Ground, Ludhiana, late last evening.

The titles of Miss Beautiful Eyes and Miss Beautiful Smile were conferred upon Amandeep Bhambra and Monica Singh ‘Italy’ respectively, while Harminder Arora of Ludhiana walked away with the title of Miss Congeniality. Harsimran Kaur of Spain got the title of Best Solo Dance Performance and Simran Kaur Guraian of Mumbai won the coveted title of Miss Glowing Skin. Parneet Kaur of Patiala bagged the title of Sughar Siani Punjaban while Barinder Kaur of Muktsar got the title of Budhimaan Punjaban. Gurpreet Aulakh bagged Gidhian Di Rani.

The event was divided into seven rounds and started with the Punjabi bridal round which left the audience spellbound. The round was won by Karampal Kaur Mand of the US.

The jury comprised of famous Bollywood actress Divya Dutta, Iqbal Mahal from Canada, broadcaster and presenter, Dr Inderjeet Singh, registrar, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, model-actor Sudhanshu Pandey, Punjabi folk singer Dolly Gulleria and Rajiee M Shinde, COO of

PTC Channel. Asha Sharma from California, US, and Nirmal Jaura anchored the show that witnessed performances by several international stars, including famous singers Jazzy B, Amrinder Gill, Simran Goraya, Harjeet Harman and Rimmy J.

Jalandhar, December 19
Sikhs have started contacting the US Congressmen to press them to make the identification of the Sikhs a part of the school curriculum. “If Americans were told about the identity of Sikhs at the school level, the problem faced by Sikhs in this regard would disappear in due course,” said Harjinder Pal Singh Sandhawalia, spokesman of the Sikh Centre, Seattle, in the US.

Sandhawalia, who is on a brief visit to Punjab, told The Tribune today that members of the Asian community held a round-table meeting with Jay Inslee, a Congressman from Washington DC. “I and Manmohan Singh, who is also a representative of the Sikh Centre, took up the issue of Sikh identity with Jay and briefed him with regard to the problems faced by the Sikh community due to issues related to its identity,” said Sandhawalia. “We have planned to hold meetings with other Congressmen also,” he added.

He said as most of the Americans were not aware about who Sikhs were, they thought that people with turbans and beards were Afghans. Some Americans attack Sikhs believing that they were Afghans, he added.

Sandhawalia said the issue of the safety of minority communities such as Sikhs was discussed at length with Jay. “I gave a letter from the Sikh Centre suggesting that awareness of community identification should be made part of the school curriculum. Jay accepted the letter and assured us that he would consider this and help us in resolving the issue through his office,” he said.

The most important issue that is confronting the Sikhs at the moment is regarding clearing the security check at the airports in the US. Often Sikhs were asked to get their turbans checked. Recently, a Sikh Indian diplomat faced problems in the US. There are earlier instances also.

“Our effort is to make the people in the US understand the difference between Sikhs and Afghans,” said Sandhawalia.

Chandigarh, December 19
The Welfare Department, Punjab, has invited applications from eligible students of minority sections for the schemes under pre-matric, post-matric and matric-cum-means-based scholarship up to 25 December.

Stating this here today, Principal Secretary, Welfare Department, Punjab, said a sum of Rs 60 crore had been earmarked for this purpose and nearly three lakh eligible students would be entitled for the scholarships under these schemes. He further pointed out that the minimum annual income limit of the parents for these scholarships had been fixed as Rs 1 lakh, two and two and a half lakh respectively and no affidavit from the parents was required as proof of their income, 
but they would have to submit a self-certified undertaking only.

He lamented that the department had received few applications from the students belonging to minorities studying in schools, colleges and professional educational institutions due to the lack of interest of the heads of these institutions. He appealed to the heads of these educational institutions to ensure that the applications complete in all respect must reach the Welfare Department positively by December 25, 2010, to enable the students to get scholarships in time.

Muktsar, December 19
The annual Maghi Mela here this time will be more of a trial of strength between Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal and sacked Finance Minister Manpreet Badal rather than commemorating the valour of the 40 Muktas.

Both camps are busy these days mobilising their supporters to be present in the fair in full strength on January 14 as this has become a prestige issue for them. Moreover, this is the home district of CM Parkash Singh Badal and Manpreet, too, represents the Gidderbaha segment of the district.

Manpreet, who had so far been sitting on the dais of the ruling SAD in the fair, will this time set up his own pandal to take on Sukhbir.

Thousands of people from across Punjab assemble here every year on the occasion of Maghi Mela, celebrated on the next day of Lohri, when a fair is organised to commemorate the valour of the 40 Muktas who sacrificed their lives in the battle of Khidrana between Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Guru, and the Mughal army.

However, over the years, political parties have taken the centre stage by organising separate public meetings where it is more of an exercise of mudslinging on rivals rather than remembering the Muktas.

While the SAD is quietly mobilising its cadres for the show, Manpreet has thrown an open challenge to Sukhbir on the issue. While addressing a series of ‘Jago Punjab’ rallies, Manpreet was certain that his public meeting of Maghi Mela would be larger than that of the SAD.

Sukhbir was himself mobilising his supporters for the fair and has visited the Gidderbaha Assembly constituency of Manpreet thrice during the past few days. He announced sops worth Rs 85 crore for development of the area and 17 councillors of the municipal council of the town deserted Manpreet and came out in support of Sukhbir.

He has involved the SAD MLAs, party leaders and the youth wing in making theirs a better show than that of Manpreet.

On the other hand, Bikram Singh Majithia, a former minister and brother-in-law of Sukhbir, is also touring the area in a bid to muster support for the SAD rally in the fair. He addressed a youth rally in Bathinda and would visit here on Tuesday.

The fair will this time witness high-density political fireworks because after his rehabilitation as the PCC chief, Capt Amarinder Singh will be present at the public meeting of the Congress party.

The party has set up a committee under the chairmanship of Avtar Singh Brar, sitting MLA from Faridkot, to mobilise people.

Patiala, December 19
Emphasising the need for better facilities for the Non Resident Indians (NRIs) in Punjab, Member of the Legislative Assemble (MLA) Surrey Fleetwood, Jagrup Singh Brar, urged the Punjab Government to formulate NRI Rights Commission (NRC). The commission should take every possible step to help NRI’s fit into the system in India.

Hailing from Beon village near Bathinda, Jagrup is the MLA chosen for the third time in Canada and is visiting India these days.

Brar said during his weeklong visit, he had been meeting several politicians and bureaucrats in Punjab. Brar told The Tribune that he held talks with many NRI’s and had complained that the system in Punjab delayed their works.

“The state government should understand that no NRI has so much time to spare for works with them as they are scheduled to return to their country. The state government should have a system for solving problems faced by NRIs in a stipulated period of time,” he said.

Brar, in city for a function organised by SM International Public High School, said NRIs would welcome an independent commission created for them. “The NRIs do not know where to take their problems. It takes almost three to four months for them to understand the systems here. By the time they approach the designated officer, he stands transferred.”

Brar said the system in Canada was much simpler and NRIs want to contribute to the economy of Punjab. “The NRC could be appointed independent of government control and senior officials should be made accountable for dealing with NRI complaints,” he suggested.