Absence of funds
Government yet to clean choes, rivulets
Patiala, March 19
Despite the damage caused by the 2010 floods, the state government is yet to initiate a drive to clear the seasonal choes and rivulets to avoid the flood fury this year.

Anandpur Sahib, March 19
The SAD-BJP combine and the Congress today took the state Budget to the people at the political conferences on the occasion of Hola Mohalla here.

Only the ruling alliance was more assertive, successively comparing money spent by it on health, education and infrastructure with the previous Congress government. The Congress seemed to be playing catch up, with leaders in the absence of PPCC chief Amarinder Singh calling for unity in the ranks to take on the ruling alliance in the forthcoming Assembly elections.

With both the SAD and the Congress focusing on rallies to be held at Khatkar Kalan on March 23, the conferences did not attract huge crowds. The SAD conference, however, overshadowed the Congress. This could be due to the absence of Amarinder Singh who disappointed many who had come to the conference displaying his banners.

With elections barely 11 months away, the SAD displayed a two-pronged strategy. Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal took credit for freebies, including free power to farmers as well as populist welfare schemes including the earlier shagun and aata-daal schemes and the new schemes, including provision of free bicycles for girl students. Claiming that only the SAD-BJP government was implementing such schemes, he said these were not available to people of Congress ruled States of Haryana and Rajasthan.

Sukhbir also simultaneously took care to blunt the attack from former Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, claiming “false stories” were being spread that Punjab had become bankrupt. Admitting that Punjab was saddled with a loan of Rs 70,000 crore, he claimed the debt of other states was much higher.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal took on the Centre, claiming central policies were inimical to Punjab. He called for establishing a federal structure with more powers and financial autonomy to the states on the lines of the Anandpur Sahab resolution, but did not name the same.

SAD leaders, including Prem Singh Chandumajra, Dr Daljit Singh Cheema and Maheshinder Singh Grewal, also used the occasion to “warn” the people against what they termed as efforts being made by the DSGMC head Paramjit Singh Sarna to divide the community in elections to the Shiromani Committee.

On the Congress side, its leaders, including former minister Jagmohan Singh Kang and Ramesh Dutt, talked about wiping out the SAD-BJP combine but admitted in their speeches that it was a tough task and that the party needed to be united to achieve this.

It was left to legislature party leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal to take the fight to the opposition camp. Bhattal indicated that various schemes announced by the government would never reach the people, claiming the government had announced schemes worth Rs 30,000 crore when its plan outlay was only Rs 11,500 crore. She also claimed that the government claimed in the Governor’s address during the ongoing Assembly session that growth had gone up by 8.8 per cent while the Finance Minister had pegged it at 7.4 per cent. “Whom should the people believe?” she asked, adding the SAD-BJP government was befooling the people of the state.

Bathinda, March 19
Farmers of three villages of the district - Kotshamir, Kotfatta and Tungwali - where Hyderabad-based Lanco Infratech Limited is to set up a 1320 MW coal-based thermal power plant, are up in arms against the government’s move to acquire their 1,200 acres.

Irked over it, hundreds of farmers of Kotfatta village today gheraoed the residence of SAD’s Kotfatta constituency in charge Darshan Singh Kotfatta and raised “anti-government” slogans for hours. It is learnt that villagers whose land is to be acquired have started filing individual objections with senior functionaries of the state government.

Fixing an appointment with Darshan Singh Kotfatta, nearly 150 farmers of the village reached his bungalow located at Model Town here this morning. However, finding him absent, farmers accused him of betraying their cause and launched an indefinite protest outside his house. Claiming to be determined in their fight to retain every inch of their land, some of them threatened to go to any extent if the government did not budge.

“The whole land that the government is planning to acquire for the thermal power plant is fertile. And setting up the thermal plant here is not a good step. We are not going to part with our agricultural land at any cost,” said farmers, adding that the government should keep farmers’ interests in mind before taking any such decision.

Refusing to go by a statement by the President of the Kotfatta Municipal Council, Hartej Singh Dhillon, who had recently stated that farmers would get a handsome value for their land that would be acquired, the farmers said: “He is favouring the project just because his land is not being acquired. He is persuading us to relent without considering the main issue as to where will we go if we are deprived of our land.”

Later, Amarjeet Kaur, wife of Darshan Singh Kotfatta, came out of the residence and informed the farmers that her husband was busy with Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Meanwhile, speaking over the phone, Darshan Singh Kotfatta gave an assurance to the farmers that there was no move to set up a thermal plant in their villages, after which the farmers relented and lifted their dharna.

However, when Kotfatta was asked if Punjab State Power Corporation Limited had recently signed an MoU with Lanco Infratech Limited to set up a thermal plant in these villages, he parried the query saying he was unaware of any such development.

Jalandhar, March 19
An agro-processing unit with equity participation from the state government, which had come up as a major inspiration for the farming community about three years back, is in doldrums now.

A potato farmer from the region, Mandeep Singh, had started a plant for manufacturing frozen French fries, frozen green peas, cut vegetables and potato flakes under the banner of Satnam Agri Products Ltd at Partapra village on Nakodar Road here. The farmer, who had once been nurturing big dreams, is now anguished at the system — zero subsidy, delay in disbursement of loans from the banks, charging of a high rate of interest and ultimately delay in the implementation of the project.

The potato farmer rued misuse of strict recovery laws even for Direct Agriculture Green Field Loan.

Giving the chronology of events, Mandeep said that he planned the project in 2003, submitted his papers to the bank for sanction of an agricultural loan in March 2004. He said the technical viability report put the estimate at Rs 22 crore but sanctioned Rs 18.5 crore. “It took the consortium of the banks, including the State Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank and NABARD almost 18 months to sanction the loan. In the meantime, the cost of the project rose up to Rs 45 crore. The banks never provided the working capital in time, which was especially needed at the time of the harvest of the potato,” he lamented.

The bank officials, however, have another story to tell. AGM, SBI, Rana, claimed that the farmer was concocting a wrong story. He denied delay in disbursement of loan at any point of time. “If it happened at any stage, it was possible due to delay in the submission of all documents.”

On the other hand, Mandeep says that he has shot off letters to the Prime Minister of India, Union Finance Minister, Union Agriculture Minister, Punjab Finance Minister, and Punjab Agriculture Minister. The distressed farmer has mentioned, “If timely help is not provided, no farmer will come forward to set up any food processing unit in the country.”

“The invitation by the Ministry of Agriculture, GOI, and FICCI to promote the initiative taken by me and recognitions and honours given to me by the Central and state governments are of no use.” Officials of Punjab Agro said they had doled out an amount of Rs 2.73 crore. The farmer has a problem with the banks, which they need to sort out at their own level, an official said, requesting not to be quoted. 

Patiala, March 19
Despite the damage caused by the 2010 floods, the state government is yet to initiate a drive to clear the seasonal choes and rivulets to avoid the flood fury this year.

Though the government is waiting for funds from the Centre, the officials of the Irrigation Department have not been able to execute any work due to paucity of funds.

Wild growth inside the water tributaries and broken river banks pose threat in the upcoming monsoons. Ghaggar is a seasonal river, which provides water for irrigation and flows in its full capacity during the monsoons.

Sources in the Irrigation Department confirmed that they were waiting for the funds from the Central Government, following which the work would start in the rivers.

“We have raised the issue to the Chief Minister of Punjab and he will take up the matter or we will try to use the NABARD funds, worth Rs 101.7 crore, if the Centre does not approve the funds in next one month,” they said.

“Lives those residing in villages near Ghaggar are left at the mercy of monsoon fury. Trees are growing inside the choes and illegal structures are blocking the water flow,” villagers said.

When contacted Irrigation Minister of Punjab Janmeja Singh Sekhon said the work was not delayed and he had taken up the matter with the Chief Minister and they would try to get Rs 3,400 crore under the Food Security Mission, which would help in constructing low-level dams and recharging underground water table.

“However I have asked chief engineer VK Chowdhary to keep tab and start the cleaning work of all four main rivers in April,” Sekhon said.

Khatkar Kalan (Nawanshahr), March 19
The preparations for the mammoth rallies being organised by various political parties at the ancestral village of Shaheed Bhagat Singh here on the occasion of his martyrdom day on March 23 are on full swing with all parties roping in their national leaders.

Former national president of BJP Rajnath Singh and Punjab BJP in charge Shanta Kumar are expected to address the gathering for the alliance government along with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal and Local Bodies Minister Manorajan Kalia. Popular Sufi singer Satinder Sartaj will be a crowd-puller for the SAD-BJP alliance.

The SAD-BJP alliance has got booked 11 acres of space for the purpose of holding the rally and another 50 acres for parking of vehicles. The adviser to the Chief Minister, Dr Daljit Singh Cheema, confirmed the developments, adding that nearly 4,000 buses would be bringing in workers from across the state. “Workers from far off areas, including Lambi, will arrive at the memorial a night before,” he added.

General secretary of the CPM Parkash Karat and general secretary of the CPI AB Bardhan will be a part of the joint Sardhanjli Samagam, secretary, Punjab State Committee CPM, Charan Singh Virdi, said in a press note today.

The Congress leaders, too, are expecting a huge gathering with 2,000 buses being arranged for the event.

The family of Bhagat Singh has a mixed reaction to the political developments related to the event. A nephew of Bhagat Singh, Prof Jagmohan Singh, said, “I am rather glad that politicians have realised the sanctity of the place. Over the years, the leaders have recognised it as a place where they can put a hand on their heart and make commitments to the masses. For the common man, it has come as a platform where they share the valued principles lent by their revolutionary leader,” he opined.

Nephew Abhey Singh held a different opinion. “It is just because of the emergence of a strong third front led by former Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh that all political parties are gearing up for the event,” he said. He added that the last birth anniversary function of the youth icon had gone unnoticed. 

Amritsar, March 19
To put an end to the ongoing controversy, the Khalsa College Governing Council today clarified that the college was not being closed down, but being elevated to the status of a university, which would start functioning from the coming academic session. Also its building, which was an architectural marvel, would retain its original form.

Addressing a press conference here, council vice-president Charanjit Singh Chadha and honorary secretary Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina said: “We are elevating the college to the status of a university. However, the college’s affiliation with Guru Nanak Dev University will phase out over the next four years, which means those who have completed their first year in the college will get their degrees from the university while new students will get admission to Khalsa University.”

They also tried to dispel apprehensions and sense of insecurity prevailing among the teaching staff. “We have a total of 198 teachers, of which only 86 are covered in 95 per cent grant-in-aid while out of the 216 non-teaching staff, only 77 come under it. We have added nine institutions under the umbrella of the Khalsa College Charitable Society in the past seven years and we have no dearth of funds. We assure our staff that their interests will be protected even after the conversion of the college into a university.”

They said the college would continue to receive grant-in-aid from the government for another four years till its affiliation lasted with the university and by that time, more aided teachers would retire. They said they would also hold a meeting with the protesting teachers soon.

On speculations surrounding hike in fee once the university comes into being, they said there would be no major change in the fee structure and even if there was an increase, the fee would not be more than that of the university.

Chhina further said: “The original building will remain as it is. We will surely need more buildings that will come up on the campus in the future.”

Chadha also refuted the charge that the university would turn into a “clan’s property”, contending that the university would be run by the society which was running the college at present and its office-bearers were elected every five years. “Therefore, the question of any family having hold over it doesn’t arise,” he added. The president of the society would be the Chancellor of the university.

On the issue of exemption from fee for wards of those who had given their land for the college, Chhina said there was no such resolution.

Meanwhile, teaching and non-teaching staff of Khalsa College, the Khalsa College for Women and the Khalsa College of Education, which are run by the Khalsa College Managing Committee, held a protest outside Khalsa College here today.

The agitators are demanding the roll back of the managing committee’s decision of the proposed conversion of Khalsa College into a private university. Later, they marched towards Akal Takht and held ardas for the bright future of their institution.

Sangrur, March 19
In a big achievement by a sizeable number of villages in the district, the panchayats have managed to force the excise authorities not to issue licences for the opening of liquor vends in their villages. The Excise Department will not be able to give licences for opening of liquor vends in about 28 villages of the district after the panchayats passed a resolution under section 40 of Punjab Panchayat Raj Act that empowers them to close liquor shops in the areas under their jurisdiction by passing a resolution.

Sources said that out of 45 panchayats in the district that had passed resolutions last year and submitted these to the Excise Department against opening of liquor vends in their areas in 2011, the Excise Department had accepted the resolutions of 28 panchayats and had not issued licences for opening of the liquor vends in these villages.

Mukhtyar Kaur, sarpanch of Kheri Kalaan village in the Sherpur block of Sangrur, said, “I feel sad that though we passed a resolution, the excise authorities are still issuing a licence for the opening of a liquor vend in our area. They took advantage of a loophole in the Act that says that a resolution by a panchayat will be null and void if there has been a case of smuggling in the village. In our village, there were three such cases which make way for the opening of a liquor vend in our area.”

Even as senior officers of the Excise Department could not be contacted for their comments, the sources said that the Excise Department had closed down liquor vends in 32 panchayat areas, while vends had been moved outside in 10 villages. 

Jalandhar, March 19
Fearing the outbreak of epidemic, the Doctors Federation of India (Docsifed India) and Punjab Civil Medical service-Class I (PCMS Association) have urged the government to concede the demands of agitating employees at the earliest.

The Class-IV employees of municipal corporations and councils of various cities are on the strike for the past over 10 days demanding the regularisation of services. This has resulted in heaps of garbage in the city.

President of the federation, Dr DC Sharma, said heaps of garbage were scattered throughout the cities, which could lead to the spread of gastroenteritis, cholera, jaundice and enteric fever.

“We warn the government that once the epidemic breakout occurs, it would be a serious hazard not only for the Health Department but for the entire state machinery,” he said. — TNS

Anandpur Sahib, March 19
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal interacted with the students of Sri Dasmesh Academy and listened to grievances.

He directed the police to deploy women cops as a temporary measure to prevent anti-social elements on the school premises. He also said a 4.5 kms-long boundary wall would be constructed to prevent their entry in the school.

He talked to around 40 students at the Sutlej house of the school. The girl students demanded that they should be provided with female coaches for sports training. The issues of an in-house doctor, providing round-the-clock medical care, were also raised.

Education director JS Ghuman told the Chief Minister that he would deploy guards after students returned from holidays on March 25.

Talking to Badal, students apprised him of problem of poor mobile phone communication. Badal instructed his officials to arrange for proper communication systems. Teachers also raised the issue of salaries and limited interaction outside the academy.

Two officials from School Solutions Consultancy, Dehradun, were specially roped in to suggest ways in making school a pioneer in education. The visiting specialists included Ayan Pal from Kolkata and Prashant coordinator for Cambridge Fellowship Centre of South East Asia. Badal also visited the Martial Arts Academy and said Sri Dasmesh Academy should be given charge of running the former.

Badal later spent sometime going around the Khalsa Heritage Complex, which is under construction for past 13 years. He instructed expeditious pace of work and said soon a high-level meeting would be conducted to discuss slow progress of the complex.

Chhat (Banur), March 19
The revenue collected from the auction of car parking, canteen, restaurant and the buses plying in the lion safari at Mahendra Chaudhary Zoological Park has increased from last year’s Rs 14 lakh to Rs 32 lakh this year.

The auction was organised yesterday at the zoo where 125 bidders participated.

Zoo officials said auction amount of car parking increased from last year’s Rs 7, 200 per month to Rs 71, 000 per month due to groupism and rivalry between two groups.

The groups, in a bid to keep an upper hand over each other, kept increasing the amount and Rs 71, 000 per month was fixed as the final amount.

As compared to last year’s mere Rs 86,400 per annum, the contractor will now have to deposit Rs 8.52 lakh every year in state exchequer.

The prices of car parking tickets and other rates will remain almost same this year.

Zoo officials said last year’s revenue was Rs 14,52,000 and this time the auction fetched Rs 32,88, 000 per annum.

Auction of the canteen, located near the lion safari, was given on contract at Rs 36, 000 per month as compared to last year’s Rs 29,400. The restaurant was auctioned at Rs 20,500 while last year it was Rs 17, 000 and buses plying in the lion safari were auctioned at Rs 1.5 lakh as compared to last years Rs 67,400.

Sources said an amount of around Rs 2,000 was collected every day from the car parking facility in the zoo, which increased to Rs 10,000 on Sundays. “The contractor may not be able to earn any profits in this manner. He may earn if all vehicles entering the zoo are banned in next few months or so,” officials said.

Chief Wildlife Warden Gurbaz Singh said the auction was conducted in a transparent manner and it was up to the contractors to manage money matters with increased rates.

He said bidders deposited a non-refundable amount of Rs 10,000 with the authorities before participating in the auction.

Every contractor would deposit three monthly instalments in advance with the government and a fixed deposit of 10 per cent of total yearly amount.

The contract is for two years and 5 or 10 per cent, depending on the quality provided by the contractor, is raised after one year.

Anandpur Sahib, March 19
Hola Mohalla is not only significant for the Sikhs, but also for traders and merchants who visit the holy city from far flung places to sell their products.

Forty five-year-old Rais Ahmed from Amroha district in Uttar Pradesh is one such trader who has been coming to Anandpur Sahib for the past many years to sell his goods.

Ahmed is an exception as his family has been trading in musical instruments at Anandpur Sahib for the past three generations.

“My grandfather, Mangua Ahmed, started selling instruments at Anandpur Sahib and later my father, Syed Ahmed, followed the shoes. We come here for eight days every year and sell several instruments,” he said.

As the labour charges for instrument making are cheap, the product is sold at reasonable rates and we maintain its quality.

Ahmed has been hiring the same shop for past more than a decade. He considers the spot auspicious for his sale. Being a holy town, Anandpur Sahib is dotted with several big and small gurdwaras. Ahmed said most of these gurdwaras buy several instruments like dhol, tabla, tumbi and dafli.

Apart from Rais, several other traders come from parts of Uttar Pradesh and many bring handicrafts from Rajasthan and nearby places.

Over the years, Hola Mohalla has become more of a shopping delight as a variety of products like toys, garments, instruments and eatables are sold here.

Even the manufacturing tractors and other agriculture implements have put up their stalls at the fair in their bid to attract farmers who come from far-flung areas.

Jalandhar, March 19
The BSF will discuss outstanding issues of security with the Pakistan Rangers during their biannual meeting to be held in the last week of March at the BSF Headquarters in Delhi.

A delegation of the Pakistan Rangers will be on a four-day visit here. The meeting will be chaired by Director-General (BSF) Raman Srivastava and will be attended by the entire western frontier. — TNS

Chandigarh, March 19
Punjab’s new remission policy against the release of criminals before the completion of the entire term will come into force with prospective effect, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled. In all, “the Punjab Grant of Remission of Punishment Policy - 2010” lists 21 categories under which remission will not be granted.

The state, under the policy, has also decided not to grant even a single remission to convicts behind bars for raping minors. Also, remission will not be granted to convicts held guilty of “committing murder with the intention to collect ransom or committing robbery, dacoity or abduction”, and anybody convicted for committing murder of a girl after raping her.

The decision came after the matter was referred to a Division Bench by a Single Judge in the case of Bhola Ram and others.

Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Augustine George Masih asserted: “The only question referred to us by the Single Judge is whether the Punjab Grant of Remission of Punishment Policy, 2010, is prospective or retrospective…. Having perused the terms of a government notification dated September 30, 2010, we are of the view that the policy cannot be understood to have any retrospective effect and must be interpreted to mean the same is prospective in operation.”

“This is clear from the notification, which makes the policy effective with immediate effect, that is from the date of the publication of the notification - September 30, 2010, and also from the basic principle of law that the benefits already accrued or conferred cannot be taken away by giving retrospective operation to a rule/notification unless there is a clear intent to do so, which is clearly absent in the notification dated September 30, 2010”.

The policy also says remission will not be awarded to “people on the management or on the staff of a hospital who after raping a girl or committing unnatural offence with a person murders her/him”.

A person convicted “for an offence investigated by the Delhi Special Police Establishment or by any other agency empowered to make investigation into an offence under any Central law other than the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973” will not be given remission either.

Also, people held guilty in “cases involving misappropriation or destruction or damage to any property belonging to the Central Government; where an offence has been committed by a person who is in the service of the Central Government while acting or purporting to act in the discharge of his official duty” will not be given remission.

Sangrur: The Sangrur police has busted a gang which allegedly duped people by taking money from them for sending them to America from Malerkotla.

Giving details, Sangur SSP Harcharan Singh Bhullar said a police party arrested Jatinder Bhargav of Malerkotla, the prime accused in the case. He said investigations revealed that the accused used to work as an astrologer with Dinesh Kumar, his wife, Mandakini Sharma, Kiranjit Singh and cheated Satwinder Singh by taking Rs 9 lakh on the pretext of sending him to America.

The SSP said the accused had also duped Jarnail Singh of Rs 4 lakh on the same pretext. The SSP said the accused had also duped Bahadur Singh of Rs 12 lakh. — TNS