COMMUNITY

Agri officials ‘pocket Rs 40 cr subsidy on wheat seed’
Jalandhar, January 14
The subsidy on high quality new wheat seed provided by the Centre to Punjab farmers, has been allegedly ‘pocketed’ by the Agriculture Department authorities instead.

Rain elusive, hail brings cheers to farmers
Anandpur Sahib, January 14
The hailstorms today brought smiles for the farmers of Changar area, a cluster of twenty-five villages. The village has not experienced rains for the past five years. In the past five years, the Punjab government has tried to provide water for irrigation using different means. 


A field in Changar area of Anandpur Sahib after a hailstorm. A Tribune photograph

Power cuts in winter irk consumers
No domestic cuts being imposed, claims PSPCL 
Patiala, January 14
Notwithstanding the claims of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) authorities that no power cuts for domestic category consumers are being imposed in any part of the state, the domestic consumers have complained that hour-long power cuts are being imposed by the PSPCL for the past few days.

Encroachments eat up roads
Sangrur, January 14
Encroachment of roads by local shopkeepers is leading to frequent traffic jams in Sangrur. The shopkeepers are taking advantage of the permission granted by the Municipal Council 10 years ago to exhibit their goods within three feet from the outer edge of the drains and have encroached up to 10 feet of the area, residents rue.

Traffic congestion in the Sunami Gate area of Sangrur. Photo by writer

Couple dies of asphyxiation
Ropar, January 14
A couple in Simbal Jhallian village died of asphyxiation after they carried pieces of charcoal in their bedroom to warm themselves after celebrating lohri. As per the police, 35-year-old Davinder Singh and his wife Amarjit Kaur celebrated lohri with their family and neighbours. Davinder collected pieces of charcoal and kept it inside his room to keep warm. There was a small window in the room which too was shut due to cold.

Ruby Dhalla stresses on women empowerment
Patiala, January 14
Canadian MP Ruby Dhalla, Amarjit Singh Chandhok, Additional Solicitor General of India, and Lord Daljit Rana MP UK, were in Patiala for the third Nanak Singh Memorial Lecture on “India: Its Diversity and Future” held at Punjabi University’s Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur National Integration Chair.


Canadian MP Ruby Dhalla at Punjabi University on Friday. Tribune photo: Rajesh Sachar

Oz floods lead to rise in steel prices
Mandi Gobindgarh, Jan 14
Floods in Australia have led to rise in prices of steel, scrap and other raw material. Local steel traders of Mandi Gobindgarh said floods in Australia had adversely affected steel prices as the supply of cocking coal, a special coal used by steel manufacturers, from Australia has failed to reach the Indian market.

Revenue records of 83 villages go online
Anandpur Sahib, January 14
Deputy commissioner of Ropar, Arunjit Singh Miglani, while addressing a meeting of different departments, said the revenue record of 83 villages in Anandpur Sahib had been made online. He said already revenue records of 178 villages of Ropar tehsil had been uploaded online and work on uploading the records of remaining 78 villages would be complete by the end of February.

COURTS

Failure of Law Officers to Appear in Cases
HC tells Home Secy to take remedial steps
Chandigarh, January 14
The Punjab Advocate-General’s office has virtually received a rap on its knuckles from the Punjab and Haryana High Court for the failure of its law officers to appear in cases.

CRIME

10 migratory birds killed in Harike, one held
Harike, January 14
Punjab Wildlife Department arrested one person in connection with the killing of 10 migratory birds from Siberia at Harike today. Two of the accused fled from the spot. The accused has been identified as Mohinder Singh.

Muktsar, January 14
Former Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal today said he had to leave the Punjab Cabinet despite the fact that he had neither bargained with anyone against the interests of Punjab nor had he taken commission from any one, but the people who had got commissions were still in the Punjab Cabinet.

He also asked the people to tell him what was his fault due to which he had to leave the Cabinet. He said if there was any fault on his part, it was that he had spoken about changing the destiny of Punjab by way of removing illiteracy, unemployment, poverty, etc.

Manpreet was addressing his ‘Jago Punjab conference’ organised on the occasion of Maghi Mela here. In this conference, besides his supporters and followers, wearing saffron strips on their foreheads, a large number of other people also took part. Manpreet and others also paid tributes to the 40 ‘Muktas’.

Manpreet also gave a clarion call to the people of Punjab to participate in his conference at Khatkar Kalan, the birth place of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, in Nawanshahr district on March 23, the martyrdom day of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, for creating a bright future for the coming generations.

Regarding creation of a third front, Manpreet said, “Call it ‘new front’ instead of third front.” He said he would chalk out modalities of the ‘new front’ by March 23 to present the same at the March 23 conference at Khatkar Kalan. Earlier, his staunch supporter and former Deputy Speaker Bir Devinder Singh termed Manpreet a builder of the third front to be created in the near future.

Manpreet also reiterated for the last time (in his words) that he would not betray the people of Punjab by joining the SAD again as people did not love Manpreet, but loved his principles.

He also said that he had not come here to seek votes; he had come here to prepare the people for getting justice and bringing a revolution for a bright future of the state. He said today’s conference showed that Punjab’s destiny would change soon.

Some resolutions were also passed by the gathering that included liberation from the pain and agony that have gripped Punjab, participation in the ‘Jago Punjab’ movement for bringing a new democratic socio-political order in Punjab.

Among others who were present or spoke on the occasion included Bir Devinder Singh, former Deputy Speaker; Bharat Bhushan, a nephew of Shaheed Sukhdev; Abhey Singh Sandhu, a nephew of Shaheed Bhagat Singh; Gurdas Singh Badal, father of Manpreet Singh Badal; Manjinder Singh Kang, MLA; Jagbir Singh Brar, MLA; Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon, ex-MLA. 

Muktsar, January 14
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in a veiled attack on rebel Manpreet Singh Badal today said that the party was above any individual and placing personal opinions above the considered view of the whole party was unacceptable.

Addressing a mammoth gathering, which Badal described as unprecedented in his political career, Badal, while referring to Manpreet, said, “If one has too strong an ego to abide by party discipline, he or she should never join a political party.”

He pointed out that he was confronted with several compelling circumstances in his political career spanning over 50 years where he had always ignored even his family ties and personal relations in the interest of the party because he considered the party supreme.

He said that enormous development had taken place in Punjab during the past four years and several other projects were in the pipeline.

Accusing Capt Amarinder Singh of misleading the general public through his political manoeuvrings, Badal said that whenever the Assembly elections drew near he (Amrinder Singh) comes out of hibernation.

He dared Amarinder Singh to explain where was he during the past four years and now all of a sudden he had put in a ‘guest appearance’. Badal said he was blatantly telling “lies” to woo the voters but this would not help the Congress.

Badal also criticised the Congress-led UPA government for the spiralling prices of food commodities and unbridled corruption.

In his address after paying homage to the 40 ‘Muktas’, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal also attacked Manpreet Badal for criticising the subsidies for poor farmers.

He vehemently said that the subsidies would continue for the weaker sections of society in terms of social security pension, Shagun scheme besides free power to the farmers to compensate them for the “apathetic” attitude of the Centre by not giving them remunerative price for their crops.

Sukhbir said the progressive and people- friendly policies would continue to ensure overall development and welfare of all sections of society in the state.

Dwelling on the administrative reforms, Sukhbir said the state government would soon implement all the 70 citizen-centric facilities within the next three months. 

Muktsar, January 14
PCC chief Amarinder Singh today lashed out at Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and said that the Badal family was engaged in a war of succession by trampling all principles of democracy.

Addressing the party’s political conference at Maghi Mela here, Capt Amarinder Singh targeted Badal and his Deputy Chief Minister son Sukhbir Singh Badal. He also did not spare former Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, senior Badal’s nephew, saying they all had caused financial loss to the state.

While referring to Badal’s allegation that he has been nourishing a feeling of vindictiveness towards him (Badal), Capt Amarinder Singh asked, “Why should I have a sense of vindictiveness or vendetta towards him, but certainly I will put him in the dock for all omissions and commissions.”

Replying to Badal’s charge that he was threatening his officers, Capt Amarinder Singh remarked, “Why should I threaten them? They are as much my officers as they are yours and they have worked so efficiently with me for five years.”

However, he added “but those officers who have victimised my 30,000 Congress workers, I tell them, I don’t nourish any sense of vendetta against them, but I tell them in straightforward words that I will hang them upside down”.

Asserting that Badal was running away from his challenge of an open public debate at some neutral forum about the development he has been claiming to have effected in Punjab, Capt Amarinder Singh said he (Badal) had nothing to show when it came to public and transparent scrutiny.

Having a dig at the Chief Minister’s sangat darshan programmes, the PCC president remarked, “Badal has been acting like a medieval king trying to dole out bounties among his loyal subjects.”

Ridiculing the estranged nephew of Badal and former Finance Minister Manpreet, Capt Amarinder Singh said his was no fight for principles. “It is simply a war of succession. Manpreet knew that he had no future in the Akali Dal after Parkash Singh Badal passes on the baton to Sukhbir.”

“Manpreet is now simply trying to search space for himself,” Capt Amarinder remarked. He asked Manpreet as to what he did during the four years when he was Finance Minister other than clamouring against the subsidies, while availing of these himself.

He asked the Badals as to what had they done for the people of Punjab.

Addressing the rally, leader of the opposition in the Punjab Assembly, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, said, the Badals’ days were numbered now. She said the Badals only indulged in vendetta against the Congress workers and now they would have to account for each and every sin.

Prominent among those present on the occasion included Lal Singh, Avtar Singh Brar, Ripjit Brar, Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu, Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi, Amarjeet Singh Samra, Sunil Jakhar, Arvind Khanna, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, Jagmohan Kang, Mahesh Inder Singh Badal and others. 

Muktsar, January 14
Thousands of devotees today took a holy dip in the sarovars and paid obeisance at various gurdwaras at Muktsar on the occasion of Maghi Mela today.

The city was decorated with huge flex boards and flags welcoming the devotees for the Maghi Day celebrations.

Contributing to the celebrations, a large number of social organisations voluntarily arranged langars for all devotees arriving in the city to pay obeisance. Despite this, a huge beeline was observed at the main langar hall, located inside the gurdwara premises.

Meanwhile, the favourite drink of Nihangs ‘ghota’ was being prepared at various places and some of them were even selling it on the road.

Giving it the true colour of a rural fair, a number of sales promotion exhibitions were organised in the city to display the agro-based tools, tractors and various other products like seeds, etc. People also enjoyed the swings and mini-circus organised there.

However, visiting the city, it was observed that a majority of the crowd visiting Muktsar today was mainly interested in the political conferences.

Though the police of the whole Bathinda zone that comprises six districts was deployed in the city, it failed to manage the event.

Hundreds of youngsters were spotted brandishing lethal weapons at the mela. Against the tall claim of the administration to have installed CCTV cameras across the city to keep a tab on the mischievous elements, pickpockets and snatchers had a field day.

Ironically, despite it being a sacred day today, all liquor vends were open as the administration did not bother to check the menace. A large number of people were witnessed enjoying liquor on the road and creating nuisance but no cop bothered about it.

Moreover, the administration today completely failed in managing the vehicular traffic and all roads got blocked that held up even the VIPs, including MLAs and MPs.

The situation was so chaotic that a number of politicians, a majority of them belonging to the Congress, failed to attend the conferences. Some of the MLAs were spotted wading through the sea of humanity and jostling their way to the venues.

Though an SSP rank official was assigned the job to manage the traffic, hundreds of buses belonging to various parties were witnessed stranded miles away from the city. The situation could not be improved even after the political conferences had concluded. Four hours after the leaders left the stages, traffic was still choked on all the roads leading to Muktsar.

Pathankot, January 14
Hundreds of locals cutting across political party affiliations assembled here under the banner of the ‘Zila Banao Sangharsh Committee’, laid siege to Punjab BJP president Ashwani Sharma’s house and urged him to take up the issue of converting Pathankot from a tehsil into a full-fledged district with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

The protesters, who were led by the sangharsh committee president Rakesh Sharma, were stopped in front of the BJP chief’s residence by the police.

The sangharsh committee comprised of several social organisations, including the Pathankot Beopar Mandal, Safai Sewak Committee, the Gorkha Sabha and an NGO, Paryas. Apprehending danger, a strong police posse had been deployed and Sharma’s house had been cordoned off since early morning.

Unfazed by the vociferous protests, Sharma said, “The BJP has always been in favour of creation of smaller districts for better administrative and law and order control. We had taken up this demand in our party’s manifesto during the last Assembly elections.”

However, the BJP chief stopped short of asking the Sukhbir-Kalia committee to give a definitive time period to confer district status on this city which thrives on tourism as an industry as it is a gateway to states like Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. He added that he would decide his next course of action only after the Sukhbir-Kalia committee submitted its report to the Chief Minister before March 15.

On the other hand, a livid Pathankot BJP MLA and Transport Minister, Master Mohan Lal, who is at daggers drawn with Sharma, retorted, “The gherao of his residence is a farce. It is just that Sharma wants to take credit for making this city a district.”

Rajesh Sharma, general secretary of the sangharsh committee, claimed, “It is the last city in Punjab on the national highway that connects Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of India. The city deserves at least a municipal corporation instead of a municipal council. Moreover, after liberalisation of the economy, the city has emerged as a hub of whole sellers and distributors of different products.”

Jalandhar, January 14
The subsidy on high quality new wheat seed provided by the Centre to Punjab farmers, has been allegedly ‘pocketed’ by the Agriculture Department authorities instead.

In a bid to replace the aged strains of wheat, the seed of newer and early sowing varieties were sent to the state and a subsidy of Rs 500 per quintal was also announced for those who purchase the same.

BKU chief BS Rajewal has alleged that the subsidy was never passed on to the farmers and a sum of over Rs 40 crore had been pocketed by senior officers of the department.

In fact, the seed was sold to private traders after the sowing period was over even though it had reached the department much in advance, he added.

The scam came to light after we made enquiries about the number of farmers who had sown the seed. The district chiefs of our union asked the respective Chief Agricultural Officers for the lists of the beneficiaries but all our efforts were stonewalled by these officers, he pointed out.

When we took the RTI Act route, our men were asked to submit varying amounts from Rs 2, 000 to Rs 5, 000 for supplying the information, he said.

Many CAOs even criticised the complainants saying that they could get the seed for themselves and desist from espousing the cause of the farmers, he added.

“How we can run away when the peasantry is passing through a crisis and the much touted administrative reforms initiated by the state have failed to take off,” he added.

“It has also come to our knowledge that the officials are now trying to cover their tracks and are preparing bogus lists of the beneficiaries who will claim that they had got the seeds if and when they were questioned in this context in the future,” he added.

Rajewal said the department was duty bound to provide such lists to the public and it was also mandatory as per the provisions of the RTI Act.

The time frame of one month to furnish the lists has lapsed and we will now approach the State Information Commission for further action, he added.

Anandpur Sahib, January 14
The hailstorms today brought smiles for the farmers of Changar area, a cluster of twenty-five villages.

The village has not experienced rains for the past five years. In the past five years, the Punjab government has tried to provide water for irrigation using different means. Despite these efforts, not all farmers were able to irrigate their fields. Dairy farmers were dependent on taking their cattle downstream the Sutlej river for grazing and drinking water purposes.

With the hailstorms, farmers expect that their wheat would give higher yield in comparison to the past five years. As per the forest department officials, farmers had sown wheat in almost 5,000 acres of land. With hail, the crop is expected to get enough water and an improved yield. While farmers have a reason to rejoice, those living on the Sutlej river bank and are already fighting problems of water logging.

Farmers of Mataur, Lodhipur, Nikuwal, Mehendli Kalan, Agampur, Chandpur Bela, hariwal, Gajpur, Shahpur Bela, Ballowal, Harsa Bela etc felt that hail would damage their crop. Farmers said rains in December end and the hail today has damaged their crop.

Later in the evening, hailstorms were also reported in Anandpur Sahib. 

Patiala, January 14
Notwithstanding the claims of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) authorities that no power cuts for domestic category consumers are being imposed in any part of the state, the domestic consumers have complained that hour-long power cuts are being imposed by the PSPCL for the past few days.

During the past one week, one to two hours long power cuts have been imposed by the PSPCL in Jalandhar, Bathinda, Patiala and Ludhiana besides some other parts of the state. “Almost a one-hour cut is being imposed in residential colonies of Patiala,” confirmed a Patiala resident, Ripudaman Singh.

Expressing similar views, residents of Jalandhar told TNS that they were witnessing two-hour power cuts. The situation is more or less same in Bathinda and Ludhiana. Interestingly, PSPCL officials claimed that no cuts were being imposed on the domestic consumers in any part of Punjab.

Substantiating his claims, AK Verma, Director, Distribution, PSPCL, said that on January 13, the power consumption in Punjab was recorded to be 905 Million Units (MUs), whereas the availability of power was 1,069 MUs.

The PSPCL officials also said that currently the corporation was banking 164 MUs of power per day, so that the same could be utilised during the peak of the summer season. Verma further said, “As per the head office, the instructions are pretty clear that there will be no cut for the domestic consumers and for the induction furnaces, the power cut will be from 8 am to 8 pm, whereas for the arc and rolling mills, there will be a two-day weekly off.”

However, when questioned that if there is no shortage of power then why the cuts are being imposed, he claimed that there may be some technical snag or some local-level problem in some parts that had forced the authorities to impose power cuts on domestic consumers. But during an interaction with The Tribune, a majority of the domestic power consumers expressed resentment on account of power cuts in Punjab in winters. 

Sangrur, January 14
Encroachment of roads by local shopkeepers is leading to frequent traffic jams in Sangrur. The shopkeepers are taking advantage of the permission granted by the Municipal Council 10 years ago to exhibit their goods within three feet from the outer edge of the drains and have encroached up to 10 feet of the area, residents rue. This has resulted in the narrowing down of the roads in the congested market areas.

“Frequent traffic jams are witnessed in Sunami Gate, Patiala Gate, Nabha Gate, Kaula Park, Dhuri Gate areas.

Haphazard parking has added to the problem,” said Sumir Fatta, an advocate.

SSP, Sangrur, Harcharan Singh Bhullar, said he has often urged the Deputy Commissioner and the MC authorities to get the encroachments removed to solve the problem of traffic jams. “We offer our complete support to the district administration and the MC in this regard,” he added.

DC, Sangrur, Harkesh Singh Sidhu, said a meeting of senior officers of the police, MC and other departments concerned will be held soon to discuss the matter.

Patiala, January 14
Canadian MP Ruby Dhalla, Amarjit Singh Chandhok, Additional Solicitor General of India, and Lord Daljit Rana MP UK, were in Patiala for the third Nanak Singh Memorial Lecture on “India: Its Diversity and Future” held at Punjabi University’s Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur National Integration Chair.

Laying emphasis on investing in institutions of primary and higher education, Dhalla stressed on the need for women empowerment and motivated the youth to transform the vision of shining India into reality. “Women in India are responsible for their plight as a majority of them, especially in villages and suburban areas, choose to remain like the girl-next-door,” she added.

She said stronger ties and lasting relationship between Punjabi University and Punjabi NRIs, settled in Canada, were needed for Punjabi and religious pluralism, which corresponds to the major forte of the University. Chandhok said India was a land of contrasts due to its assimilation of people belonging to different ethnic, religious, castes, linguistic and regional identities.

He said education would definitely change the society. He stressed on the idea of private-public partnership to promote academic excellence as state alone was unable to aid higher education. “If we do not resort to innovative measures, we will end up with educated unemployment and unemployable degree holders,” he said.

Lord Daljit Rana, MP from the House of Lords, UK, said social and religious divisions were bigger dangers to the international community as compared to political divisions.

Prof Baltej Maan, Head of the Chair, welcomed the guests. The Vice-Chancellor honoured Dhalla, Lord Daljit Rana and other dignitaries.

Mandi Gobindgarh, Jan 14
Floods in Australia have led to rise in prices of steel, scrap and other raw material. Local steel traders of Mandi Gobindgarh said floods in Australia had adversely affected steel prices as the supply of cocking coal, a special coal used by steel manufacturers, from Australia has failed to reach the Indian market.

Mandi Gobindgarh is India’s largest steel sale market yard. Traders said the steel prices had already risen by nearly four per cent since December, mainly due to floods. Shortage of raw material and erratic power cuts had also contributed to the increase. Due to rise in input costs and raw material, another round of price rise is expected before February.

“Steel has already witnessed an increase of around Rs 5,000 per quintal and is expected to escalate by 2-3 per cent in next few days,” said Bhushan, a local trader. Prices of scrap are fluctuating between Rs 26,000 and Rs 27,000 per metric tonne, while steel is sold between Rs 30,500 and Rs 31,500 per metric tonne.

President of the All-India Steel Re-Rollers Association, Vinod Vashisht, said the prices were increasing due to the shortage of scrap and power cuts. The prices were bound to increase when power cuts were imposed.

There are 375 steel re-rolling units in Mandi Gobindgarh, which are facing problem to get cocking coal to manufacture steel.

Chandigarh, January 14
The Punjab Advocate-General’s office has virtually received a rap on its knuckles from the Punjab and Haryana High Court for the failure of its law officers to appear in cases.

Virtually passing strictures on the AG’s office, Justice LN Mittal minced no words while saying the number of law officers in the state was double the strength of judges. Yet, the officers were not appearing.

Justice Mittal also asked state Principal Secretary, Home, to intervene after making it clear that bringing the problem to Additional Advocate-General Rupinder Khosla’s notice proved to be an exercise in futility. Khosla is currently in charge of the AG office, as Advocate-General Hardev Singh Mattewal is not playing an active role in its functioning after his illness.

The directions came during the hearing of a regular second appeal. Miffed over the attitude of the law officers, Justice Mittal asserted: “It has been observed that the law officers of the state of Punjab are not regularly appearing in their cases before this Bench, causing a lot of inconvenience and wastage of precious time of the court.

“The matter was also personally brought to the notice of Rupinder Khosla, Additional AG, Punjab, looking after the work of the AG office, by calling him twice to the court. But, things have not improved.

“This is the situation in spite of the fact that the number of law officers is more than double the strength of the Judges of this court. A copy of this be sent to the Principal Secretary, Department of Home Affairs and Justice, Punjab, for appropriate remedial measures”.

The AG office had only recently courted controversy over the appointment of an administrative committee. The state was, in fact, blamed for making a corporate house of the AG’s office by constituting the committee of four Additional AGs to manage its affairs. The action was dubbed “unconstitutional” by legal experts.

It was pointed out that Article 165 of the Constitution provides for the appointment of an advocate-general for advising the courts or government on legal matters; and there is no provision for having a committee to manage “day-to-day affairs”. The committee was later rendered redundant with Mattewal’s return to office. But was restored within a week of Mattewal’s joining the office and is continuing.

Harike, January 14
Punjab Wildlife Department arrested one person in connection with the killing of 10 migratory birds from Siberia at Harike today. Two of the accused fled from the spot. The accused has been identified as Mohinder Singh.

This is the second such incident in a month as four birds had been poisoned by Raj Singh of Manu Machhi village on December 21, 2010.

Divisional Forest Officer (wildlife), Ferozepur, Sanjeev Tiwari, found some feathers belonging to Common Teal, a migratory bird, lying scattered over the Harike Lake in Kot Kamp Khan by the on January 12.

Following this Tiwari had deputed staff to gather information about the activities of poachers. “On a tip off in the morning today, the guards reached the spot and arrested one of the accused who was holding 10 dead birds in his hand. Two others managed to escape,” Tiwari said.

In the past few days, boats, nets and four kilograms of fish had also been seized from the poachers, he added. The two other accused have also been identified, he added.

He said the dead birds would be sent to forensic laboratory in Kharar near Ropar for a post-mortem examination to be conducted. The examination would reveal the type of poison used to kill the birds and how it was administered to them.

Tiwari said Common Teals were killed for their meat which is considered of high dietary value to be consumed during the winters.

He said Mohinder Singh had been sent in judicial custody till January 27 and a case had been registered against him under the Wildlife Protection Act.