Talwandi Sabo, April 13
Amidst the countdown for the next Assembly elections in Punjab, the prestige of the ruling SAD and the main opposition Congress will be at stake here tomorrow during the Baisakhi fair when both parties will be heading for a show of strength by mobilising the maximum number of people in their respective political rallies.

In a bid to influence the electorate, the event has become nothing less than a tug of war between the two parties.

The sacred town, housing the fifth Takht of the Sikhs and having the pride of being the origin of the Guru Granth Sahib, is witnessing frequent visits of local and state level leaders of the SAD and Congress to supervise the arrangements that is keeping the police and security agencies on their toes.

As the SGPC has banned political activity on the land around Takht Sri Damdama Sahib complex, it is for the first time that the rallies will be held at places far from the gurdwara. The SAD has chosen the grain market for its rally while the Congress has hired a 10-acre piece of agricultural land for its show.

The Punjab Peoples’ Party (PPP) leader, Manpreet Singh Badal, has decided not to hold the party’s rally during the religious function.

The SAD leadership will hold its conference under the concrete roof of the local grain market. The party has also pitched tents around to accommodate the audience. Both parties were concentrating their mobilisation campaign mainly in the Bathinda parliamentary constituency.

While the SAD president and the Deputy Chief Minister, Sukhbir Singh Badal, has left no stone unturned to make the Baisakhi rally a big success, Raninder Singh, general secretary, state Congress unit, too, is camping here to make the Congress rally a memorable show.

Though the BSP, the Lok Jan Shakti Party and the SAD (Panj Pardhani) are expected to organise their respective rallies to cash in on the availability of a readymade crowd, the SAD and Congress have started a community kitchen in the vicinity of their respective rally venues.

The rallies of the two parties would more or less remain a local show as no BJP leader from New Delhi is coming to participate in the SAD rally where Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal will be the main speaker. On the Congress front, there is uncertainty about arrival of the state unit incharge Gulchain Singh Charak as he is currently touring Bihar and as such the PPCC chief Amarinder Singh will be the main attraction.

Meanwhile, Sukhchain Singh Gill and HS Mann, district police chief of Bathinda and Mansa respectively, who are camping here, said around 3,000 police personnel from Bathinda, Mansa, Muktsar, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and other districts of Punjab had been put on duty to provide foolproof security cover for these rallies and devotees at Baisakhi Mela.

Amritsar, April 13
While it has been over nine decades since the Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place, the country still doesn’t have a conclusive list of those who had laid down their lives in it.

Though there are three different lists of martyrs, the Amritsar administration has kicked off the process to identify their families after the government accorded the status of freedom fighters to the Jallianwala Bagh martyrs.

During the process, 12 families have come forward till date. Out of these, four families have been issued certificates while the remaining pleas are under process.

The Tribune zeroed in on members of some of these families who narrated their struggle for livelihood in the aftermath of the massacre and later for recognition to their ancestors from the government. Bhushan Behl said his grandfather advocate Lala Hari Ram had led a jatha to the gathering at the Jallianwala Bagh on April 13, 1919.

“At the time of his death, my father, Jagdish Chander, was only one and a half years old and our family had a tough time eking out livelihood after his death,” he said.

Tek Chand Sharma said a bullet had hit his grandfather Khushi Ram in his throat and he was bleeding profusely. He took off his turban and tied it around his injury to check the blood loss and headed towards his home to save his life amid curfew. However, his critical injury didn’t allow him to go far and his body was recovered next day.

“The British regime had given some compensation to our family and had promised to pay more once my father, who was then three-year-old, turned 18. However, no help came from British rulers or the Indian Government after that,” he said.

He lamented that though their families didn’t receive anything, it was publicised that they had received a lot of aid. Nand Lal Arora’s grandfather Fakir Chand was killed while his father Wazir Chand got trampled in the stampede on the fateful day.

His father was brought out of the site three days after the massacre. Similarly, Dwarka Das lost his maternal uncle, Chunni Lal, who had no children. VK Grover’s grandfather Gurditta Mal had suffered two bullet injuries in his leg during the massacre while his father KC Grover somehow escaped unhurt.

Satpal Sharma also lost his grandfather Ami Chand while his uncle Laal Chand got trapped under the heap of bodies and was later rescued.

It may be mentioned here that out of the three lists of the martyrs, the first is with the district administration (501 names), the second with the Jallianwala Bagh National Trust (388 names) and the third with the Jallianwala Bagh Shaheed Parivar Samiti (464 names).

Amritsar, April 13
The management of the local Khalsa College today slapped another notice on the four teachers, Prof SS Rangi (economics wing), who is also the president of the teachers’ union, Prof Amrit Kaur from mathematics, Prof Narinderdeep Singh and Prof Satnam Singh, both from the agricultural wing, for not obeying the ‘house vacation notice’, issued to them on March 30, which directed them to vacate the houses within 10 days.

The fresh notice informed the four teachers that 10 times of the house rent, as applicable to them, would be deducted from their monthly remunerations from April onwards, if they do not vacate the official accommodation within 10 days. This deduction would continue till the time they vacate the houses.

According to the norms, teachers who opt to avail of the accommodation offered by the management are liable to pay five per cent of their basic pay per month as house rent.

Rajinder Mohan Chhina, honorary secretary of the Khalsa College Charitable Society, said the decision had been taken against the “guilty” teachers, according to the society’s constitutional norms.

The fresh decision has further agitated the teachers especially in view of the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s assurance that they would not be forced to vacate the houses. Badal had asked Deputy Commissioner KS Pannu to intervene in the matter.

The teachers had obtained stay orders through the local district courts on the house vacation notice and the next hearing in the case had been fixed as April 16.

Meanwhile, a meeting held between the teachers and the president of the society, did not yield any result. It has been learnt that the teachers boycotted the meeting in between, apparently due to difference of opinion.

Anandpur Sahib, April 13
Four hundred and fifty birs of Guru Granth Sahib are being sent to Italy on April 19 for the propagation of Sikhism in foreign countries. A bus, which carries birs of Guru Granth Sahib in parts of India,will be sent to Italy through a ship.

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Avtar Singh Makkar said this while talking to mediapersons here today. Makkar was here to participate in a religious congregations being held on the eve of Baisakhi.

“We will specially go to Mumbai port to ensure that the birs are sent off respectfully. The Jathedars of takhts and SGPC members will also go to Mumbai. The SGPC will bear all expenses on sending the birs,” he said.

Makkar said that under international collaborations with foreign universities, four students were being sent to Cambridge University for further studies.

Commenting on the UPA government, he said the Congress had tread the wrong line by categorising martyrs on the basis of caste. “Martyrs are not confined to one caste or religion. Martyrs are a matter of pride for the whole society. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi should seek pardon from the whole nation in this connection, he said.

Talking about the revelations of the All- India Sikh Students Federation on the pitiable condition of nine gurdwaras in Delhi, Makkar said the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee had forgotten its areas of priority.

“DSGMC president PS Sarna is more busy dancing to the tune of the Congress. He has never taken an initiative to improve conditions at these gurdwaras. On moral grounds, Sarna should not only resign from his post but also seek pardon from the Sikhs for bringing dishonour to the community,” he added.

He added that the SGPC had formed a three-member committee comprising SGPC general secretary Sukhdev Singh Bhaur, Rajinder Singh Mehta and Karnail Singh Panjoli that would visit all nine gurdwaras and submit a detailed report.

On the basis of this report, “we will decide the future course of action” to save the gurdwaras from further damage, he added.

He said the SGPC would set up a polytechnic.The foundation stone of this institute would be laid before next Baisakhi. It had also been decided that roads from Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib to Qila Anandgarh Sahib would be re-laid. He also started a campaign to distribute more than 10,000 saplings in the city.

New Delhi, April 13
In what could prove to be the tip of the iceberg in the alleged irregularities by certain private non-medical college hospitals in India imparting super-speciality training to “ineligible” doctors, the Health Ministry has put Mohan Dai Oswal Cancer Treatment and Research Foundation in Ludhiana on notice.

Taking cognisance of a complaint alleging that the institute issued a completion certificate to an “ineligible” doctor allowing him to take a qualifying test for upgradation as a cancer super-specialist, the National Board of Examinations (NBE) under the Health Ministry also issued a notice to the respondent doctor, Shubh Mahindru. He and the institute have been given a week’s time to respond to the complaint, which is also under the consideration of the Central Vigilance Commission.

The NBE, an autonomous body under the Health Ministry, conducts postgraduate and postdoctoral exams for medical specialities and issues degrees that are equivalent to MD/MS and MCh (super-speciality degree) of the Medical Council of India (MCI).

The Oswal Foundation has been accused of issuing to Mahindru a surgical oncology super-speciality certificate despite evidence that he violated NBE instructions on supervisor, practical training and mandated leave. It raises serious allegations of a possible fake super-speciality degree racket.

Filed by Dr Tejinder Singh, one of the two (Mahindru being the other) senior resident super-speciality DNB students selected in the foundation’s surgical oncology department in 2008, the complaint alleges that whereas NBE mandates one supervisor for one student, Mahindru trained under the supervisor originally allotted to Tejinder Singh.

Foundation’s duty rosters show that the then Foundation Medical Director Dr Satish Jain, who was Tejinder’s supervisor under NBE instructions, kept training Mahindru, who eventually finished his thesis under another supervisor - again in violation of rules.

Bipin Batra, Executive Director, NBE told The Tribune, “Although the respondent doctor has given his theory exams for the course, we have sought legal advice on whether to let him take the practicals pending this inquiry. We have sent notices to Oswal foundation and Mahindru and expect a response in a week.”

The complaint further accuses the Foundation authorities of tampering with the marksheet to accommodate the respondent as a DNB student. It also alleges that whereas NBE allows no more than 20 days annual leave to a DNB student, the respondent availed himself of 74 leaves between May and December, 2010.

Tejinder Singh, who has sent legal notices to the Health Ministry in this case, adds that the NBE didn’t act even when these irregularities were brought to the notice of its inspection team comprising Vigilance Officer Paul James and Dr Manoj Sharma of the Mauland Azad Medical College, New Delhi.

Rajpura, April 13
Victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and their family members today blocked the national highway near here for not initiating action against the accused involved in the riots. Charanjit Singh, chairman of the action committee, said the government had not initiated action against guilty even after 26 years of the carnage.

He alleged that the government had failed to rehabilitate members of families affected in the riots. He added that though people affected in earthquake, floods and other calamities got compensation, family members of those innocent people who were brutally murdered in 1984 failed to get any relief from anywhere.

Charanjit demanded death sentence for the accused, Rs 5 lakh compensation for family members of the deceased, house for rehabilitation, government job for a member of the family, two per cent reservation for riot victims and scholarships for the children of anti-Sikh riot victims. Charanjit said the agitation would be intensified if the government failed to accept demands of the committee.

Chandigarh, April 13
The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has decided to strictly enforce all provisions of waste management as provided in various rules and legal provisions.

The PPCB has started a new campaign with battery manufacturers and will shortly tighten its control on hazardous waste, bio-medical waste, municipal solid waste and plastic waste. In the first phase, it has decided to strictly enforce the Batteries (Manufacturing and Handling) Rules, 2001, which were framed nearly a decade ago. These rules call for a strict compliance similar to those followed in Western countries, which means when an old battery is to be replaced, it has to be returned to the dealer. Once implemented, consumers will also have to pay a small amount for the disposal of the old battery.

A senior official of the PPCB said the Western model would be adopted in Punjab, wherein ever person buying a new battery, mainly for vehicles and machinery, would be asked to deposit the old battery so that it could be disposed of in an environment-friendly manner. At present, lead-acid batteries are broken for the extraction of certain elements like lead, which cause environmental pollution.

Since the rules already exist, the idea is alien to the Indian culture where all wastes, especially items containing material that can be re-cycled, are sold as “raddi”. The PPCB has made an appeal for the implementation of the Rules and has decided to publicise the appeal asking manufacturers, importers, assemblers, re-conditioners, consumers and dealers to comply with the rules.

In a veiled threat, the PPCB has asked battery dealers in Punjab to get themselves registered with the board within 10 days and the failure to comply with the directive and instructions would lead to a penal action. The assemblers and re-conditioners are, however, not required to get themselves registered. For registration, every battery dealer is required to submit a form, along with a processing fee of Rs 1,000, wherein he will have to give an undertaking that he will ensure that during the storage and transportation of the used batteries, no environmental harm will happen.

The dealers will also have to file a half-yearly return of their sales. A senior official of the PPCB said the board was obligated to ensure a strict compliance of these rules and it further had to file an annual compliance status report to the Central Pollution Control Board by April 30 of every year.

Gurdaspur, April 13
The Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal is now known for patronising ‘Kabaddi’ tournaments and ensuring that they are televised and players receive respectable sums as prize money. But for some curious reason, he appears to have ignored women’s gymnastics in this border district.

But though Gurdaspur has consistently produced some of the best gymnasts in the state, neither the Deputy Chief Minister’s sports policy nor the state’s transport minister Master Mohan Lal’s promise of a one lakh Rupee grant have so far come to the rescue of Gurdaspur District Gymanstics Association.

The GDGA has just Rs 14,000 in its kitty which is not enough to sustain its activities. Last year, Transport Minister Master Mohan Lal had announced a grant of Rs 1 lakh but for some technical reason the amount got diverted to the District Olympic Association fund. Romesh Mahajan, Vice President of the GDGA said, “we have written to the authorities to give us the fund but , so far, to no avail.”

The Association has also failed to organise the mandatory district championships for the last five years as the association does not have the funds for the exercise.

An eerie silence prevails at the Parbodh Chander memorial gymnastic hall, which over the years has earned the sobriquet of ‘rubber doll manufacturing factory of Gurdaspur’ for having produced innumerable national and international women gymnasts.

In November last year the GDGA had a torrid time in arranging funds to send the district team to take part in the Punjab state gymnastic championship. Likewise, women gymnasts had to dig deep into their pockets to ensure the state team’s participation in the sub junior national championship held at Chennai in the last week of November. Incidentally, there were six girls from Gurdaspur in the seven-member Punjab squad that took part in the Chennai event.

Last month the girls were faced with a similar predicament when the Punjab team was to take part in the senior Nationals held at Jaipur.

Samita Sharma, for long the face of women gymnastics in Punjab, lamented, “Politicians come to our hall and promise us the moon. However, when it comes to doling out money to run the affairs of our association, nobody comes forward. No other centre, run by the Punjab Sports Department, has produced so many international women gymnasts compared to our centre.”

Apart from Samita, who donned India colours in the SAARC championships held at Allahabad in 1999, the centre has produced gymnasts of the calibre of Jaswant Kaur and Meenakshi, both of whom have played in the World championships. In the New Delhi Commonwealth games, Gurdaspur had three of its women gymnasts in the national camp before, sadly, a technicality ruled out their participation.

The local residents too are not happy the way things are going from bad to worse. Said Raju Gharala, Gurdapur Congress Block President, “ I will be taking up the matter with the local MP Partap Singh Bajwa to ensure that funds are made available to the gymnasts. We do not want the sport, which has earned for Gurdaspur a lot of fame, to die a slow death.”

Kharar, April 13
The Kharar Municipal Council has issued a notice to the Sky City Project Developers coming up with a housing project, City Centre, on the Kharar- Chandigarh road. Executive Officer (Municipal Council) Sukhwinder Singh said the developers had been directed not to do any construction at the site till its commercial project plan was passed.

“The plan has been forwarded to the Chief Town Planner for an approval. The colonisers have been directed to stop the construction work till their project is not approved. Orders have been conveyed in person also,” the EO said. The colonisers have completed the paper work and submitted the requisite fees with the department.

Earlier, the national highway authorities had written to the the Forest Division, Ropar, stating that the entrance to the project from the national highway be barred by installing barbed wires and pillars. Forest Department officials had also been asked to dig trenches along the road.

Meanwhile, department officials said the coloniser had been given an opportunity to put forth his case.

Patiala, April 13
Going by an overwhelming response from the people and rickshaw-pullers in Amritsar, Patiala and Fazilka, the Chief Secretary, SC Agarwal, has shot off letters to all Deputy Commissioners of the state, directing them to explore the possibility of introducing the eco-rickshaw cab scheme, in their respective districts.

The highlight of the scheme is that people get the rickshaw service on a telephone call at nominal rates. Besides, the eco-rickshaw cabs are equipped with FM Radio sets, first-aid kits and the rickshaws are made of metal only.

The letter, written to the DCs by the Chief Secretary, reads, “Since the district tourism promotion council, Amritsar, and DC, Ferozepur, have reported that the eco-rickshaw cab scheme has received a positive response, you are requested to explore the possibilities and step further in implementation of the eco-rickshaw cab scheme in your district.”

Notably, in 2008, Fazilka got the distinction of being the first district of the state, wherein an initiative of providing eco-friendly bicycle rickshaw service to the people, was taken by the Graduates’ Welfare Association of Fazilka, in collaboration with an NGO. Later, in October 2010, an NGO, Patiala Foundation, launched this service in the royal city of Patiala. Thereafter, the service was launched in Amritsar by the district administration, in collaboration with the Tourism Department.

Patiala, April 13
Following fresh guidelines for the Punjab Police, pertaining to Priority List Instructions (PLI), the Punjab Government will now consider wards of deceased police officers above the rank of Deputy Inspector General (DIG) for the post of Inspectors. The new instructions will mean that no direct recruitment to the post of DSP and above will be made on compassionate grounds and those taken in as inspectors or below, will serve in the armed battalions of the state.

A letter sent to all heads of police offices in Punjab by the DGP’s office in April 2011 clearly states that the wards of the Non-Gazetted Officer will be considered for the post of constable. “The ward of a Gazetted Officer below the rank of DIG will be considered for the post of the ASI following a written test, while children of those above the rank of the DIG will be considered for the post of inspectors, reads the guidelines,” a copy of which is in possession of The Tribune.

Sources say that the Punjab Government has gone on the defensive on its recent decision pertaining to the appointment of Alamjit Singh, son of late IG, Narinder Pal Singh, who died of cancer, to the post of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), where all such guidelines and rules were bent to accommodate Alamjit under the PLI category by the government.

Following a Cabinet nod to the decision in February 2011, Alamjit was taken in as DSP after the Punjab Public Service Commission was told to take out one post out of its purview. However, the decision backfired, with numerous officers of the view that such recruitments should only be made under exemplary circumstances.

However, in another case that proves the pick and chose policy of the state government, when senior IPS officer Harish Singh Randhawa died of cardiac arrest, his son, Sukhamrit Singh Randhawa, who was recently posted in Patiala, was recruited as an inspector.

Importantly, the new instructions make it clear that all such appointment cases would work in the armed battalions except wards of police personnel who died performing active policing duty.

While the state government had framed a policy for such recruitments a couple of years back, the Supreme Court in one of its orders had barred states from recruiting applicants directly in this category.

Phagwara, April 13
The police has arrested four members of an inter-state gang, which was active in Punjab and MP and seized weapons from their possession.

Phagwara SP Kamaljit Singh Dhillon said seven pistols, 35 live cartridges and police uniforms had been seized from their possession. One stolen Swift car, one Wagon-R and a motorcycle had also been impounded. The arrested have been identified as Davinder Singh, Mandeep Singh, Barjesh Singh and Rajan Kumar, all of them residents of Ludhiana.

The SP said their other accomplices, Jolly, Inderbir Singh, son of a Commandant Home Guard (retd), Jabarjang Singh, Sherry of Ludhiana and Anil Sharma of MP, who used to supply weapons from MP illegally, were yet to be arrested. The SP said on a tip-off, SHO (Sadar) Ravinder Singh raided a veterinary hospital in Dana Mandi Jagatpur Jattan village and found five accused sitting in a Swift car. One of them, Jolly, managed to escape, but the police arrested the other four accused. They were allegedly hatching a conspiracy to loot a toll plaza or a factory. He said the accused used to commit crimes in police uniforms and had confessed to their involvement in various robbery incidents.

The SP said the role of the Commandant Home Guard (retd) could not be ruled out.