Rajpura, February 16
The sangat darshan programme of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal started on a sour note today with farmers, whose land has been acquired to set up an IT Park here, raising slogans against the government.

Addressing the gathering, Badal said that the SAD-BJP government did not forcibly acquire land for mega projects and preferred to go by consensus. Irate over these claims, the farmers started raising slogans against the government.

Badal was forced to leave the venue in a huff as the farmers refused to budge despite CM’s persuasion. The drama continued for nearly half an hour as farmers threatened to come again. The CM left the sangat darshan venue for an hour as he went to mourn the death former MP Amarjeet Kaur’s son in Patiala.

Farmers of seven villages, Aakar, Aakari, Pabra, Pabri, Sehra, Sehri, and Takhtumajra, had been protesting against the setting up of an IT Park and knowledge city on 1,360 acres of fertile land.

Gurcharan Singh Sehra, former chairman of Punjab Agricultural Development Bank (PADB), Rajpura, led the protest. Sehra alleged that their land was being acquired forcibly and the government was not ready to give compensation as per the farmers’ wishes.

“The entire land is fertile and a section of politicians are eyeing it to make a fast buck by selling it further to businessmen,” alleged Sehra.

He said though the entire land belonged to the panchayat, farmers had been cultivating it on a contract basis for the past many decades. Our ancestors had donated land for developmental works of villages, he claimed.

“We have demanded Rs 21 lakh per acre for farmers who had been cultivating the land besides Rs 11 lakh for panchayat, a job for one family member and a house in the employees’ colony in the IT Park or knowledge city,” said Gurcharan Singh.

Agitators accused Rajpura MLA Raj Khurana for being hand in glove with businessmen to usurp their agricultural land. However, Khurana termed the protest as unfortunate, adding that the matter would be solved in the next few days.

Later, farmers claimed that a meeting was convened with the CM, where the government agreed to meet their demands.

Badal disbursed grants of Rs 5.5 crore for 84 villages of Rajpura and Ghanaur.

Amritsar, February 16
The UPA-I government had announced to set up six world-class universities in the country, including one in Amritsar, a couple of years ago. However, after an inspection of probable locations for establishing the university, no headway has been made in the project here.

Following the announcement, the Centre had formed a committee headed by the UGC Chairman and comprising the Joint Secretary (Higher Education), Union government; the Principal Secretary (Higher Education), Punjab Government, and the Vice-Chancellor of the GND University for the selection of the site in Amritsar. The panel visited the holy city and inspected three possible locations on the Ajnala road, the Majitha road and the Chugawa road in 2009. According to sources, the committee was fully convinced with the locations shown to them. The university would need 750 acres for establishment.

Deputy Commissioner KS Pannu said they were now awaiting the Centre’s nod to finalise the plan for the prestigious project.

However, former VC of GND University SP Singh alleged that the state government was not willing to provide adequate land to set up the university, a charge denied by the Amritsar DC. “We are ready to provide land as per the requirement,” Pannu said.

Reacting to the “government apathy”, Amritsar MP Navjot Singh Sidhu said the Central government was merely “making hollow promises” and there was a widespread resentment against it for discriminating against the holy city. “The Centre has been turning a blind eye towards the development of Amritsar,” he added.

On the other hand, the Central University of Punjab, which was announced around the same time, has already come into being in Bathinda. It started its functioning from the camp office in April 2009 and from November 2009, it shifted to its city campus spread over 35 acres. Located on the Bathinda-Mansa road, the campus has separate administrative and academic blocks, besides the residential area. The main campus is coming up on 500 acres in Ghuda village on the Bathinda-Badal road.

Jalandhar, February 16
Amid claims that there is a drastic improvement in the sex ratio profile of Punjab, the unpalatable truth is that preference among couples of not having children once they have a son is the highest in the country. This has established that a desire for a son is as desperate as ever.

Although the sex ratio in the age group of 0-6 years is being used as a simplified indicator, there is yet another important scientific indicator, sex ratio at the last birth, which gives inference regarding the preference of couples for male and female children. This indicator establishes that in case of a preference for a male child in any society, sex ratio at the last birth will be low since couples would stop having children once they completed their family with a son.

Punjab is the worst performer in the country if one goes by this indicator. According to the National Family Health Survey-III, the sex ratio at the last birth is 504 in Punjab, which means if 1,000 couples decide not to go in for another child after a son, there will be only 504 couples who decide otherwise after the birth of a girl.

This ratio is worst even than the neighbouring Haryana and Himachal Pradesh where the NFHS-III has registered the ratios at 540 and 572, respectively.

“The very low sex ratio at the last birth in most of the states suggest that son preference is continuing to influence fertility decisions in such states even today,” reads the survey report, which was conducted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with the Indian Institute of Population Sciences, Mumbai, as a nodal agency.

However, Dr JP Singh, Director (Health Services) said this indicator was not enough to decide the trends of male-female child preferences in Punjab. Ironically, the picture was equally grim at the national level. All three surveys, including NFHS-I and II, established that the sex ratio at the last birth was decreasing with every passing year.

“The declining sex ratio at the last birth suggests that if a girl is born, it is unlikely to be the last child for a couple,” the report mentions.

Chandigarh, February 16
Contrary to feverish speculation throughout last year, it is now more or less certain that the Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal, is not handing over charge to his Deputy. The succession was taken to be a foregone conclusion last year, specially after Sukhbir Singh Badal was elevated as party president and as the Deputy Chief Minister.

Indeed, he is the de facto Chief Minister and controls the administrative functions of the state government. The beeline made by bureaucrats and politicians for an audience with him, even as the senior Badal is busy doing what he does best, barnstorming the state, is a pointer to the man in the saddle.

Shiromani Akali Dal’s Organisational Secretary, Dr DS Cheema, credits the junior Badal with transforming the party along professional lines. He also points out Sukhbir’s ability to think big, go after big-ticket development and also initiate a reformist agenda. But if there was any urgency to anoint him the successor, it dissipated following Manpreet Badal’s exit from the party and the government. It was a turning point because he alone could have challenged the succession and turned into a rallying point for those opposed to Sukhbir. But with his exit, the urgency all but disappeared.

What’s more, as pointed out by senior SAD leader and former MP, Prem Singh Chandumajra, the party requires the senior Badal at the helm of affairs. “We want to take advantage of the CM’s personality and experience,” he asserts. Even strident critics of the SAD-BJP government like Capt Amarinder Singh and Manpreet Badal have little to say against the CM even as they attack his Deputy.

If insiders are to be believed, some old-timers actually feel threatened at changes being brought about by Sukhbir Badal and would like to maintain the status quo.

If the SAD and Sukhbir Badal succeed in bucking the trend and manage to win the next election, there is little doubt on who would be SAD’s nominee for the CM’s chair. And if they do lose, as is being predicted by pundits, it would hurt the party more if the anointed successor leads the party to a defeat, is the argument. Even otherwise, the senior Badal is far more acceptable to old-timers within the party and to the masses, it is felt. To be fair, Sukhbir Singh Badal has also mellowed and changed with responsibility. BJP Legislature Party leader and Minister, Manoranjan Kalia, says, “Sukhbir undoubtedly has leadership qualities and is also open to good ideas”.

Congress leader and Sangrur MP Vijay Inder Singh Singla, is not convinced at the attempt at a makeover. The current reformist face of the SAD , he says, is in sharp contrast to what it has promoted in the last four years, namely “monopolising the sand, transport and cable networks, allowing the police to be used by local Jathedars as their private army and talking big but failing to deliver on the ground level”. 

Patiala, February 16
To curb underage driving, the Deputy Commissioner, Patiala, Dipinder Singh, has held school principals and parents responsible for any such violation and strict action will also be taken against them in case of an eventuality.

In written orders issued by him, the DC has also asked all school bus and auto rickshaw drivers and rickshaw pullers to drop students inside the premises of educational institutes. They have also been directed to pick up the students from inside the premises.

The orders follow some complaints and students getting hurt or killed in mishaps. Last month three school students were killed after their bike collided with a truck, while another student was crushed to death by a speeding truck.

While orders to this effect have been passed, the traffic wing is yet to get their act together and check violations.

The orders also prohibit students below the age of 18 years from driving bikes, cars or scooters. In the orders, the DC has also warned of strict action against the school principals and parents in case of any mishap. “They should abide by these instructions and ensure that underage driving is checked,” he added.

Even as underage driving goes on unchecked, traffic policemen in the city have limited their duties to challaning and VIP duties. “We can only challan or impound their vehicles but the number of underage drivers is so large that putting a check on them everyday is not possible till their school authorities get strict,” a cop on duty at Fountain Chowk said.

Numerous schools have made little or no arrangements to take care of their students at the entry and exit gates, following which the students get off on the road and walk inside the school on foot. “This is the time when they are most vulnerable to accidents,” say parents.

Fatehgarh Sahib, February 16
Rains are likely to wash away farmers’ miseries this season, as the rain over the past three days has benefited the standing wheat crop in the district. High -speed winds accompanying the winds has, however, flattened the crop, which had ripened by now, in some parts.

Farmers say flattening of the wheat crop drastically reduces the per acre yield. Also harvesting of the flattened crop requires more hard work and the labourers thus demand more money, they add.

Farmer Gurmeet Singh of Mirzapur village near Rajpura said rains have washed away all kinds of bugs and fungal disease. “Rains are good for the wheat crop. Presently grains are ripening and rainwater has wiped off tella (aphid) and other insects in the plants. Some farmers are upset over rains as they have irrigated their fields using groundwater just a few days ago and the soil is still wet,” said farmer Kulwant Singh.

Water stagnation in the low-lying agricultural fields turns the colour of the wheat crop to yellow thus affecting its yield. This year the district has nearly 85,000 hectares area under wheat cultivation.

Rains have also brought some respite to farmers who had sown moong, green gram and vegetable crops.

Agriculture department officials said this is the second spell of rains, which has washed away bugs like ‘tella’ (aphid). Farmers have also been advised to keep a check on yellow rust as the wind spreads the disease. Yellow rust affects wheat yield up to 75 per cent and medicines were provided to the farmers last year on a subsidy of 50 per cent. Farmers are advised to spray the medicine this time too.

Jalandhar, February 16
The General Court Martial (GCM) of Lt-Gen Surendra K Sahni (retd), held blameworthy for alleged irregularities in the procurement of dry rations, is drawing to a close with the Judge-Advocate scheduled to sum up the case at Headquarters 11 Corps, Jalandhar Cantonment, tomorrow.

Thereafter it will be left for the court to deliberate upon the merits of the case and arrive at its findings.

General Sahni, the first officer of the rank of lieutenant-general to face court martial proceedings, is being tried on nine charges of corruption and professional impropriety. The GCM, presided over by Lt-Gen Jatinder Singh, began here on August 6 last year.

Summing up by the Judge-Advocate, the legal adviser to the court, will begin

the compilation of the evidence, issues and contentions raised during the course of the trial by the prosecution as well as the defence along with his advice to the court on the legal aspects of the case.

Earlier, the arguments in this case were closed on February 5. The prosecution gave its closing address, presenting its stance in the case on February 8, followed by the closing address by the defence on February 12. Thereafter, the court was adjourned till tomorrow.

Talking to The Tribune, General Sahni alleged that the prosecution did not consider his evidences during the court martial proceedings and rather based the trial on its own assumptions. “The court martial has been conducted in a misconstrued manner,” he claimed.

The prosecution examined 23 witnesses in support of its contentions, while the defence produced only one witness.

Gen-Sahni, who retired in 2006, was attached to Headquarters 11 Corps for his trial. He has been facing an inquiry pertaining to alleged lapses on his part during his tenure as the Director-General, Supplies and Transport, at Army Headquarters.

Jalandhar, February 16
After facing disappointment everywhere, an octogenarian is running from pillar to post to bring the main accused of his son Brij Mohan’s murder to book for the past nearly 10 years. The elderly man is seeking a CBI inquiry into the case as the police has failed to solve the case till date.

Holding a brief case in the one hand and a walking stick in the other hand, Sohan Singh Kamboj, a resident of Gali Daftar Wali in Kartarpur town, has been knocking at the door of every official concerned for justice but to no avail.

Unable to walk for even a few yards independently, Kamboj criticises the Haryana police that allegedly failed to bring the main accused of the Brij Mohan murder case to book because of the alleged intervention of some top brass of the department.

Narrating his woes, Kamboj, who reached The Tribune office here, said that Mohan, having a flourishing business of molasses in Karnal, was found murdered in his rented accommodation on March 2, 2001.

The police had found Brij Mohan’s mutilated body dumped in his bed box almost a week after his death. The postmortem reports confirmed that Brij Mohan was “strangled to death” and his partially naked body was later dumped in the bed box.

There were a number of deep blade cuts on his chest that showed that the assailants had tortured Brij Mohan before strangling him to death, said Kamboj.

He alleged that the Haryana Police had “failed even to identify the accused” because of the involvement of a suspect who is a close relative of a DGP-rank officer of the Haryana Police.

Apprehending the involvement of his own close relatives, who, in connivance with the suspect, allegedly hatched the conspiracy to eliminate Brij Mohan for vested interests, Kamboj alleged that the police let off all persons who were named in the complaint.

Moreover, to hamper investigation, the Police Department even transferred the sub-inspector, the munshi and the head constable, looking after the case, he further claimed.

Kamboj has moved an application before the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court, seeking a CBI enquiry into the case as the Haryana police “failed” to give him justice.

Ropar, February 16
The district language committee of Ropar held its meeting after a gap of seven months despite the fact that it is supposed to hold a meeting after every two months.

The last meeting of the committee, which is meant to promote Punjabi in the district, was held in June last year. These committees were formed to implement the Punjab State Language (amended) Act, 2008.

However, the committee’s chairman, Chamkaur Sahib MLA Charanjit Singh Channi, said the tenure of the committee had expired in July. “After July, the committee was reconstituted in September and hence the meeting was delayed,” he added.

Earlier, in April last year, Channi had held surprise checks in government offices to check whether Punjabi was being used as the official language or not. Forest officials were found using English in office work instead of Punjabi.

The committee has decided that in the first week of March, seminars, ‘kavi darbar’ and felicitation programmes would be held to promote the language. A district-level meeting has been convened on February 21 in this regard.

Channi has also asked the deputy district authority to take up the issue regarding the use of the language in court works with the District Sessions Judge. Many government offices are still displaying information in English or Hindi. The language officer, Manjit Kaur, has been asked to order all such government offices to abide by the government rule.

Moga, February 16
A Dalit youth was allegedly tortured by the police in the Nathuwala police post of the district. He was admitted to the district hospital by his parents where he was undergoing treatment.

While under treatment in the emergency ward, Bittu, son of Kora Singh, a resident of Vadda Ghar village of this district, alleged that he was tortured in the said police post when he went there on Monday after the cops summoned him in a complaint of theft against him.

His mother, Balwinder Kaur, sitting beside him said that the police came to their house to arrest her son on Sunday but he was not at home at that time as he had gone to Amritsar for some work. When he came back on Monday, he was taken to the police post where he was kept in illegal confinement and tortured by the police, she said.

The youth alleged that the police tortured him by rolling a heavy wooden log over his thighs and also beat him. “I was released by the police late in the night after the intervention of local people. Yesterday, suddenly, pain started in my thighs and upper abdominal portion of the body and my mother brought me here in the hospital,” he said.

On the other hand, ASI Gamdoor Singh, in charge of the police post, while talking to The Tribune on telephone denied the allegations of torture and said that Bittu was telling a lie to save his skin from the allegations of theft.

He said Ajmer Singh and his cousin, Balaur Singh, had given a written complaint against him of stealing Rs 9,000 from them. “I called him to the police post to inquire into the complaint against him. When he said the allegations were not true, I asked him to satisfy the complainants,” he said, adding that instead of satisfying the complainants and going for a “panchayati” compromise, the youth levelled false allegations against the police. The ASI claimed that he was not tortured by the police.

Meanwhile, the doctors who attended to him opined that there were no visible marks of torture on the body but there could be “internal injuries”, which could be determined only after proper medical tests. 

Chandigarh, February 16
An inordinate delay in filing reply to a petition for parole by a convict has cost the State of Punjab dear.

Not only has the Punjab and Haryana High Court summoned Punjab Director-General (Prisons) for adjournments in filing replies to parole petitions, but has also imposed a cost of Rs 20,000.

In a strong-worded order, the Division Bench of Justice Satish Kumar Mittal and M Jeyapaul today asserted: “We have noticed that the State of Punjab seeks every time two or three opportunities to file custody certificates or rely to the parole petitions, which cause an unnecessary delay in the disposal of cases, and the litigants involved in these cases are suffering.

“We have no option except to direct Punjab Director-General (Prisons) to remain present on the next date of hearing.”

Fixing February 23 as the next date, the Bench asserted that the adjournment was subject to payment of Rs 20,000 as costs to be deposited with the legal services committee of the High Court”.

The virtual rap on the knuckles came on a petition for parole by Yashpal of Shahi Mohalla in Ludhiana. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in a drugs case registered on December 12, 2000, at Khanna’s police station city.

The Bench observed: “The petitioner, a life convict, has filed the petition challenging the order of Director-General (Jails), Punjab, declining his prayer for releasing him on parole for a period of four weeks for carrying out construction of his house.

“In the petition, notice of motion was issued on December 22, last. On January 19, state counsel put in an appearance and sought time to file a reply to the petition within a week. On his request the case was adjourned to January 31.

“On that date, state counsel again sought more time to file a reply within two weeks with an advance copy to the counsel for the petitioner.

“It has been specifically mentioned in the order that no further adjournment will be granted for the purpose of filing reply. Unfortunately, today also reply is not ready. State counsel is seeking more time to file reply”.

The Director-General is now expected to explain the delays and elaborate on steps taken to streamline the process.

Chandigarh, February 16
Six years after 37 youngsters in search of greener pastures across the seas lost their way, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the Jalandhar Range DIG to compile and place before the court the information received from their parents and relatives.

Justice MM Kumar and Justice TPS Mann also directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to depute an officer not below the DSP’s rank with the Jalandhar Range DIG. The parents, relatives and even friends of the missing youngsters would be free to contact and submit information to the DIG at his office in Jalandhar from February 21 to 28.

The officers have further been directed to submit complete information before the Bench before March 7. As the case came up, counsel for the State of Punjab and the CBI claimed the issuance of yellow corner notices. The case will now come up on March 9.

The All-India Forum for National Reconciliation has filed the petition in the public interest on the disappearance of the Spain-bound youngsters in November 2004.

In its petition against the Union Ministry of External Affairs, the Ministry of Home, the State of Punjab, the CBI and other respondents, the forum is seeking directions for ascertaining the whereabouts of the missing youths. The petitioner has alleged the youngsters fell prey to unapproved, self-proclaimed travel agents, who defrauded them and exploited them by promising greener pastures abroad.