Patiala, January 5
Buckling under pressure from thousands of non-gazetted employees working in the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) and Punjab State Transmission Corporation Limited (PSTCL), year-long pending demands of the employees have finally been accepted by the power corporation. Besides increasing the Grade Pay, the power corporation has also doubled the allowances of the employees. Written orders accepting various demands of the employees have been issued by the PSPCL management yesterday, after two dozen employees union leaders held a meeting with the top brass pf the PSPCL.

Elated over the acceptance of their demands, the leaders of the Employees Joint Forum, a conglomerate of several employees unions, announced withdrawal of all their proposed agitations and strike calls. As per the orders issued by the PSPCL management, a copy of which is with The Tribune, the Grade Pay of the employees has been enhanced by Rs 150 with effect from January 1, 2006. “This benefit will not be admissible to the employees to be recruited henceforth,” reads the orders.

“We were demanding that as per the recommendations of the Wage Formulation Committee, the rate of increment should be increased from 3 to 3.5 per cent but now the PSPCL management has compensated us by increasing the grade pay by Rs 150,” said Employees Joint Forum leaders Surinder Pehalwan and Karamchand Bhardwaj.

The PSPCL management has also doubled the rate of Risk Duty Allowance from Rs 100 per month to Rs 200 per month to the linemen and from Rs 50 per month to Rs 100 to Assistant Linemen, with immediate effect.

“Likewise the rate of Shift Duty Allowance has been increased from Rs 100 per month to Rs 200 per month to the sub-station attendants, working in three shifts round the clock with immediate effect,” the orders mentioned.

The PSPCL has also increased the rate of Special Allowance from Rs 125 per month to Rs 250 per month to Additional Assistant Engineers (JE-I) and Junior Engineers (including (JEs installation) working in Operation Division and Operation Construction Division with immediate effect.

Besides, the rate of Special Allowance/Ledger Keeping Allowance/Type Writing Allowance, admissible to all lower division clerks, except those working as cashiers has been increased from Rs 100 per month to Rs 200 per month with immediate effect. The workshop allowance, protection allowance and hot line allowance have also been increased.

The PSPCL management has also doubled the rate of Local Out Door Duty Allowance (LODA) and Local Official Touring Allowance (LOTA), pertaining to various categories of employees, with immediate effect.

Bhikhi (Mansa), January 5
The curfew at Bhikhi town of Mansa district, which had been continuing since Sunday following a clash between radical Sikhs and the police, was lifted today.

However, the restrictions under Section 144, CrPC, which prohibit assembly of four or more persons, continue.

The decision to lift the curfew was taken during an hour-long meeting of the highly placed civil officials of the district that concluded at about 3.15 pm.

Earlier, the administration gave relaxation of about four hours (6am-10 am) in the curfew and observed that the situation was completely under control.

“Though finding the situation peaceful, we have lifted the curfew, extra force will still remain deployed in the town as a precautionary measure,” said the Mansa SSP, Hardyal Singh Mann.

Immediately after the curfew was lifted, people thronged the markets and within no time the whole market was open.

Meanwhile, the SAD (A) chief, Simranjeet Singh Mann, held a meeting at a gurdwara in Ralla village of the district. During the meeting, he held the Deputy Commissioner and SSP of Mansa district responsible for the incident at Bhikhi on Sunday and demanded their suspension. He also asked the government to award a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to those injured in the clash.

Condemning the “inaction and silence” of the BJP, the Congress, the SGPC and the Sant Samaj, Mann said, “It is quite shocking that the police directly interfered into the religious matters of the Sikhs by disconnecting the public address system at a congregation and later arresting Sant Samaj leader Baba Baljit Singh Daduwal.”

On the other hand, the national executive member of the CPI, Dr Joginder Dayal, and former MLA Hardev Singh Arshi, who is the national council member of the party, also expressed grave concern over the happenings at Bhikhi and claimed that these could have been averted.

“Even after all this, the administration is not taking effective preventive measures to check Daduwal’s next programme to hold a three-day congregation (January 7-9) in Sangrur district, which is a threat to the unity, integrity and communal harmony of the state,” he apprehended.

Amritsar, January 5
The Akal Takht Jathedar, Giani Gurbachan Singh, today said no ban could be imposed on religious programmes being held by Baba Baljit Singh Daduwal and he should continue holding the same in different gurdwaras.

In a statement released here today, the Jathedar said the administration should ensure proper security arrangements for the Baba's forthcoming programmes at Nangal village in Sangrur district from January 7-9. He said gurdwaras were religious centres of Sikhs and they could not be stopped from holding religious programmes there. — TNS

Chandigarh, January 5
The Punjab BJP today set out to open Pandora’s box by taking the party’s demand for the creation of two districts of Fazilka and Pathankot to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

State party president Ashwani Kumar Sharma and Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia, who is also the party’s legislature group leader, visited the Chief Minister at his residence to appeal to him to consider the demand for the creation of the two new districts sympathetically.

Following the meeting, Kalia told TNS that the CM was likely to form a committee to look into the demand. Ashwani Kumar said the party had put forward its views and that the CM had given them a patient hearing. “Let us see what happens now”, he added.

Earlier the BJP chief disclosed that he had appealed to party legislator Surjit Jyani to wait for the outcome of the appeal to the Chief Minister, but said since the decision was also that of the Sangharsh Samiti, which was spearheading the agitation for making Fazilka a district, the legislator started his fast on the issue today.

Ashwani Sharma and Kalia said the demand for creating the districts of Fazilka and Pathankot had been pending for nearly 20 years. He said in the case of Fazilka, people from Abohar found it difficult to reach the district headquarters of Ferozepur. He said the same was true of the Pathankot area, which was very far from the district headquarters of Gurdaspur.

The BJP leaders said its party manifesto also stood for smaller districts and that new districts, which had been carved out in the recent past, including Fatehgarh Sahib and Tarn Taran, had witnessed speedy development. They maintained that that the demand for Fazilka and Pathankot as new districts was not of the BJP’s alone but of the people of the area also. Earlier the BJP core committee, which met here in the morning, also endorsed the demand for the creation of the two new districts.

The creation of new districts, while aimed at ease in administration, has on some occasions also been more of a political decision. The trend started in 1992 with the creation of Fatehgarh Sahib district and continued with the creation of Nawanshahr district in 1995, which was given the nod at the fag-end of the term of the Beant Singh government. Former Chief Minister Harcharan Singh Brar made his hometown Muktsar besides Moga districts in 1995 while former CM Amarinder Singh made Tarn Taran, Barnala and Mohali districts in 2006. The other towns aspiring to become districts include Nangal and Jagraon.

Chandigarh, January 5
The Punjab Government today transferred six IAS officers with immediate effect.

Tilak Raj Sarangal becomes Principal Secretary, Department of Social Security, Development of Women and Children; R. Venkat Ratnam will be the new Secretary, Department of Welfare of SCs and BCs; Hussan Lal goes as Secretary, Department of Tourism, and in addition Director, Tourism, and also holds additional charge of Managing Director, PTDC, and state Transport Commissioner; Sirra Karuna Raju becomes Deputy Commissioner, Bathinda; Balwinder Singh goes as Deputy Commissioner, Faridkot, and Gurkirat Kirpal Singh is the new Director, Social Security, Development of Women and Chidlren.

Jalandhar, January 5
As the political parties have started warming up steadily for the next Assembly elections, the BJP leadership has come up with a programme to honour the heads of all those families that have been with the party from the Jan Sangh days (since 1951). The Jan Sangh was christened as the BJP in the 1980s. “We have planned to honour the heads of all such families by starting a special campaign from January 15 to February 15,” said Ashwani Sharma, president of the state unit of the BJP.

He said there were many surviving members, who went to jail during the Emergency. It is our moral duty to honour such members, he added.

“We have almost completed the first phase of the mobilisation of the party activists to prepare them for the next Assembly elections due to be held in 12 months from now,” said Sharma. As a part of the exercise, he said, the BJP has held three-day training camps at seven places, including Talwara, Barnala, Fatehgarh Sahib, Fazilka and Batala, to inform the party activists regarding current political issues especially the mega scams and the party’s ideological stance on such issues.

Another such camp would be held at Moga from February 3 to 5 for those party activists who were unable to attend the earlier camps. Sharma said the party had also held training camps for the party sarpanches and panches at Pathankot, for members of municipal corporations at Ludhiana, for members of municipal committees at Phagwara and members of block samities and zila parishads at Hoshiarpur in recent weeks. Soon camps in 23 Vidhan Sabha constituencies would be held for constituting teams of party activists at the booth level. In each constituency, about 4,000 workers would attend the camp, he said.

Meanwhile, for the distribution of Rs 1,100 crore in 23 Vidhan Sabha constituencies, where the BJP had put up candidates in the last Assembly elections, the party had constituted a three-member committee in each constituency. The party MLA, district president of the party and mandal presidents concerned would be member of such committees.

Of the 23 constituencies, the BJP candidates had won in 19 constituencies. The SAD, which as its senior alliance partner had allotted 23 constituencies to the BJP in the last Assembly elections, would allot the same constituencies in the next Assembly elections. “At the time of distribution of money, a grand function would be held in each constituency,” said Sharma. The BJP had to wage a long battle to make its senior partner, the SAD, agree to allot it Rs 1,100 crore for taking up development projects in the 23 constituencies where the party has high political stakes.

Anandpur Sahib, January 5
The first training camp for the workers of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) began here yesterday. The two-day camp will serve as an orientation program for the SAD workers. They will be informed about the party, its work in the state and its issues with the Central government.

All workers from Mohali, office bearers, chairmen of different zila parishads and block samiti members will be participating in this camp.

Party secretary Dr Daljit Singh Cheema talked about the history of party. — TNS

Chandigarh, January 5
Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukbir Singh Badal has appointed Narinder Kumar Sharma, Chairman, District Planning Committee, Mohali, as the party Joint Secretary.

The announcement was made in a statement released here today. — TNS

Phagwara, January 5
Resham Kaur, a resident of the local Bhularai Colony, who is suffering from heart disease is in shock after hearing the news of her son, Rakesh Kumar (23), alias Bunty, (23) languishing in a UAE jail since January last year on the allegedly false charges of killing his co-worker. A UAE court has sentenced him and nine of his Punjabi friends to rigorous imprisonment, said Harbilas Basra, uncle of Bunty.

When this said Mohan Lal, the father of Bunty, was residing in Libya, but he came to Phagwara July after hearing the news of his son.

He said Bunty went to Abu Dabi in June 2007 and worked there as a carpenter. He later went to UAE.

Basra said that suddenly Rakesh contacted them in the January 2010 and told them on the phone that he had been kept in jail along with 52 other Indians who were taken in police custody by the UAE police from a camp in January 2009. All of them were facing different “false” cases, registered against them. Rakesh told them on phone later that though he was put in the jail in a liquor smuggling case, later he was told that he and nine others were accused of the murder of their co-worker. He told them that as language was a barrier in UAE, so neither he nor any other suspect could know the real cause of their arrest.

Bathinda, January 5
In the wake of an unprecedented hike in the rates of bricks recently, the construction of a house by the common man has become a daunting proposition. The rates of the bricks (per thousand) are reportedly varying from Rs 3,200 to over Rs 4,000 per thousand in different parts of the state.

It is learnt that the current rates of the bricks in Bathinda are Rs 3,200 per thousand while about three months ago these rates were Rs 2,700 per thousand. The situation is reportedly similar in other districts of the state for the past few months.

Brick-kiln owners say the existing rates of the bricks (per thousand) in other districts are about Rs 3,500 in Moga, Rs 3,700 in Jalandhar, more than Rs 4,000 in Ludhiana and Rs 3,700 to Rs 4,000 in Sangrur. Even in Chandigarh, the rates of the bricks are said to be Rs 4,500 or more due to one reason or the other.

A brick-kiln owner attributed the unprecedented hike in the rates of the bricks this season to a few factors, including labour problem, delay in the production of bricks and a hike in the rates of clay.

He also said that in Bathinda, the rates of bricks might be Rs 4,000 per thousand in February though he felt that the rates should not be more than Rs 3,000 per thousand.

Two brick-kiln owners, including a spokesman of the Bathinda Brick-Kiln Owners Association, Rajinder Raju Bhathewala, felt that the rates of the bricks would remain uncontrolled till the government amended some provisions of the Bonded Labour Act in the interests of the brick-kiln industry.

They are also of the view that due to the Bonded Labour Act, the brick-kiln owners sometimes faced problems when the leader of the labourers fled after taking huge amounts from them in advance on behalf of many labourers, and they could not do anything at that time, fearing legal action.

They appealed to the Union Government that if it wanted to save the brick-kiln industry, then it should initiate steps immediately to make amendments in the Bonded Labour Act in such a manner that the interests of the brick-kiln owners as well as the labourers were protected.

Patiala, January 5
The case of Hindu migrants from Afghanistan and Pakistan settled in India will be taken up with the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Home Affairs soon to seek a permanent solution for the affected families.

Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur has promised all possible help to these families to get citizenship, especially for those settled in Punjab.

Sources said though the Centre had amended some clauses of the Citizenship Rules, 1956, for application in the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan, many more such families settled in parts of Punjab await to see their fate being decided.

An affected person said they did not know if they were Indians or not despite being living in India for the past over one decade. “Many of my grandchildren have born in India and many got married here. But the government is still reluctant to accept us,” claimed one such family living in Baluchi Mohalla in Patiala.

Talking to TNS, Preneet said: “We are concerned about them. Some of the cases that were brought to my notice have been forwarded to the department concerned as they need a clearance.”

The minister further said she was willing to take up such cases, which were pending, at the highest level, including the Prime Minister, for an early solution.

Many migrated families staying in Rajpura Amritsar and some other parts of Punjab said they were forced to close their business establishments “as militants were allegedly extorting money from them”.

Meanwhile, she said the the Ministry of Home Affairs had cleared 20-25 names of NRIs from the ‘blacklist’ recently, though the list was yet to be made public. “After receiving the list, we will pursue the matter further,” she said.

Sangrur, January 5
Fissures among the District Congress Committee (DCC) members came to the fore during the election of the president of the local municipal council today and ultimately cost Congress the post of president in the council.

Taking full advantage of the differences in the DCC, the SAD candidate sailed through the election and was elected as the president.

The election was necessitated after members brought a no-confidence motion against Harbans Lal about a year ago.

The SAD candidate, Iqbaljit Singh Punia, was elected as president of the local MC after he defeated Congress nominee Deepak Aggarwal.

Whereas the winner, Punia, got 12 votes, Aggarwal could just manage half the votes secured by his rival in a House of 21 councillors.

The absence of the local Congress MLA, who is also the DCC president, Surinder Pal Singh Sibia, and his close aide, Moti Manchanda, besides abstention from voting by two other aides of Sibia, Jaswinder Singh Prince, a member of the PPCC, and Sanjay Gabha, also resulted in the humiliating defeat of the Congress candidate.

Aggarwal, who is also the senior vice-president of the MC, reacted to his defeat by seeking disciplinary action against the local Congress MLA Sibia and his associates, alleging that they were hand in glove with the SAD.

Patiala, January 5
Rainwater must be used for irrigation by chalking out village-level schemes under the ongoing Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

The Union Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur said this while chairing a meeting of Vigilance Monitoring Committee at Mini Secretariat here today.

Preneet said if proper attention was not paid to the crucial issue, the underground water table would continue to deplete and the problem could acquire an alarming proportion that apart from irrigation, there could be a shortage of the drinking water.

Notably, Ministry of Rural Development, Union Government, had reconstituted the district-level Vigilance and Monitoring Committees (VMC) for proper implementation of the central schemes and programmes of to the Department of Rural Development.

After reviving the progress of the works being done under MGNREGA and the utilisation of the MPLAD funds, Preneet said for the projects to re-use the rain water, the district administration should consult with the elected representatives, including the area MLA’s and Zila Parishad members for their suggestions.

“The re-charging wells in the villages would help in prevention of the depletion of the underground water level,” she said.

The Minister also directed the Deputy Commissioner Dipinder Singh to ensure that flood prevention measures are initiated without any delay to prevent floods in the district. Notably, last year, floods caused large-scale devastation in the district on account of the floods.

“All the drains and other water channels should be cleansed under MGNREGA and it must be ensured that maximum job card holders get employment under MGNREGA,” she added.

Patiala, January 5
Illegal killing of wild animals and theft of trees continues at the birs (prohibited wild life area) across Patiala. This is due to the alleged nexus of the forest department officials and smugglers on which the forest minister Tikshan Sud has promised strict action.

Wildlife smugglers have posed a risk to forest wood worth crore and wild animals in over 10 birs, spread across the length and breadth of Patiala

The forest department has done nothing to check the illegal trade as a result of which the state is losing its limited wildlife area.

Axing trees in the bir land (land covered under the Forest and Wildlife Act) is a major source of income, as several trees are smuggled out of the bir areas. On Tuesday night, smugglers trespassed into the forest land to hunt for the wild boar. “This is the best season for us, as in winters boars have a good fat cover and their meat is a rare delicacy,” claimed a hunter, accepting that he also trespasses into the bir.

Many wild animals, including blue bull, monkeys, wild boar, deer, squirrels, peacocks and numerous species of birds, inhabited the birs in Patiala.

While outsiders are prohibited in the birs. There is a notion that the offence has an unofficial approval of the forest department.

A former hunter confirmed that following the casual attitude of the forest guards posted at the birs, the smuggling of wood goes unabated. “Its easy to figure out how people carry wood everyday and store it,”he added.

A senior forest department official told The Tribune, that in May, several trees were burnt and numerous animals were charred to death following a fire. It is alleged that the fire was a handiwork of the forest department officials to cover up huge theft of forest trees from Gurdialpura Bir near Samana. A police case was registered and a probe was ordered.

Forest officials said the hunters were loaded with guns and ample ammunition. “They are well-connected people and without a search light and night vision binoculars, it is not possible to check the illegal smuggling,” they added.

Minister for Forests and Wildlife Tikshan Sud said an independent probe would be conducted and responsibility of officials would be fixed.

Patiala, January 5
Canadian MP Sukh Dhaliwal today mooted an idea of having a Tribunal that will exclusively deal with the problems being faced by the NRI’s.

Speaking to The Tribune at the residence of city based pediatrician Dr Harshinder Kaur, the MP from Newton-North Delta Sukh Dhaliwal said, “Indian’s are residing in various countries and many of them are facing problems of different nature. If a common tribunal is set up in India to take up their problems, it would be of help for the NRI’s.”

Lauding the initiative of the Punjab Government of opening the dedicated police stations for the NRI’s, Dhaliwal, said if the policies being framed were implemented in a proper manner, the results would be tremendous.

“The decision taken by the Union Government, in principle, to grant the right to vote to Indian’s residing abroad is commendable. With these kind of gestures, the Indian’s living abroad are feeling proud and will remain connected with their Indian roots,” he said.

Replying to a query that NRI’s should invest in Punjab for the betterment of the state, Dhaliwal said first the Punjab Government must streamline the existing system and win the confidence of the NRI’s.

“If this happens, NRI’s will think of making investment in Punjab,” he said.

He also advocated that the NRI conference must be made an annual affair.

Meanwhile, Dhaliwal lauded Dr Harshinder Kaur for pursuing her fight against the evil of female foeticide.

Ropar, January 5
IG Patiala range Paramjit Singh Gill inaugurated the state’s first total sanitation project for the Punjab police cops and their families. The project has been set up at the Ropar police lines and is meant to recycle the garbage produced and convert it into vermi compost.

“We have conceived the project based on model of similar plant running in Vellore district of Tamil Nadu. Set up at a cost of Rs 2.5 lakh, the project’s basic aim is to create environmental consciousness amongst the dwellers of police lines. The money earned from selling vermi compost in open market would be used for betterment of police lines,” said DIG Gurpreet Deo.

Earlier, the all women contingent of newly recruited cops performed the salutation ceremony welcoming the senior police functionaries. IG Gill also inaugurated office of seventh range of Punjab, Ropar range at Mandi district.

Addressing the mediapersons, IG PS Gill said police had initiated a project on the lines of lok adalat. “Police will take over the lost and stolen things of people from courts and hand them over to their owners in presence of masses. One such program has been held at Patiala and another will be organised at Mohali,” he said. He said in its bid to get closer to people, 14 felicitation centres were being set up in Ropar range at a cost of Rs 10 lakh each till March 31. “This centre will have a centralised single window system. Also we are soon going to establish a police control room in each range,” he said. Talking about the recruitment procedure he said 5600 youngsters were being recruited in the force. SSP Ropar Jatinder Singh Aulakh, SSP Mohali Gurpreet Singh Bhullar and SSP Nawanshahr Narender Bhargav were also present at the occasion.

Banur, January 5
Shaheed Udham College of Engineering and Technology today announced scholarship for 100 girls belonging to economically weaker sections. The institute will bear expenses, including university fees and hostel as well as mess charges. The college will spend Rs 50 lakh every year for education of these girls. Scholarships will be given to the girls who clear the merit scholarship test to be held on January 23.

Engineer Sukhwinder Singh Sidhu of the college said a student of their college, Harpreet Kaur from Ludhiana got 90 per cent marks in the first year of computer science and engineering. She belongs to a poor family and the management decided to offer her scholarship. This year they decided include more girls under the scholarship scheme.

Sukhwinder said 25 centres have been formed in schools and students who would clear the examination would be given free education in five streams of Computer Science Engineering, IT, Electronics and Communication, Bio Technology and B. Pharmacy.

Anandpur Sahib, January 5
Former president of the Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) Bibi Jagir Kaur said women should also be allowed to perform kirtan at Darbar Sahib.

“Sikhism is the religion, which has conferred equal rights for both men and women. Even Sikh history shows that equal opportunities and respect was given to both men and women. We should follow our Gurus and allow woman to perform kirtan at Darbar Sahib,” said Bibi Jagir Kaur, who was here to pay obeisance at Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib.

Jagir Kaur said the Congress party could not even think of the development which the state saw under the aegis of the Shiromani Akali Dal.

Chandigarh, January 5
Even though the states of Punjab and Haryana have been asked to put in place a mechanism for protecting runaway couples from persecution, they are still being compelled to approach the high hourt for the protection of “life and liberty”.

On Wednesday alone, protection petitions by no less than seven couples from different parts of the two states were placed before the Bench of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur.

In almost all petitions, the couples were expressing apprehensions regarding their safety from kith and kin, while seeking directions to the police authorities to safeguard their interests.

The petitions saw directions being issued to the district police chiefs of Gurdaspur, Faridkot, Ludhiana, Tarn Taran, Ropar, Mohali and Karnal.

Leaving nothing to chance, Justice Nirmaljit Kaur disposed of the petitions with directions to the SSPs “to look into the grievances of the petitioners and if found necessary take appropriate measures in accordance with law”.

The high court has already issued a slew of directions, including granting couples the liberty “to approach the district and sessions judges in Punjab, Haryana and UT Chandigarh for grant of protection”.

The Bench has also asked police officers to “deal sternly with parents, relatives and other members of society who threaten such couples and create law and order situations”.

The states were also directed “to ensure protection centres indicated by them are properly run”; mediation cells are set up in the offices of commissioners and senior superintendents of police to “guide the parents, relatives and such couples to live in peace”; and false rape and abduction cases are not registered.