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Punjab Cong recast Govt to revise grain storage policy
Cong seeks President’s rule
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Cong govts to blame for agri losses: CM
Zira (Ferozepur), May 10 Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today accused successive Congress governments at the Centre and in Punjab of rendering agriculture unprofitable by adopting anti-farmer policies under the ‘diktats’ of tycoons and multinational companies. TRIBUNE IMPACT Cops rain lathis on protesters
BSP leaders join Cong
Capt: Power tariff hike exorbitant
SAD-BJP, Cong both corrupt, says Manpreet
All oath commissioners in HC found flouting rules
Major cattle inoculation drive launched in Moga
Swarna Ram skips grievances panel meeting
Punjabi-origin Tanmanjeet to take oath as Mayor
Khalsa College Imbroglio
Police working on Jalal-Ghandy nexus
4 booked for killing friend
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Punjab Cong recast
New Delhi, May 10 Capt Amarinder Singh heads the PPC committee that has seven vice-presidents — Kewal Dhillon, Sukbinder Sarkaria and Rana Gurmeet Sodhi (all Jats), former ministers Lal Singh (OBC) and Jagjit Singh (SC), Rana KP Singh, a Rajput, and Ashwani Sekri from Batala. Among the eight general secretaries are Vikram Bajwa, son-in-law of Bhattal, and Fateh Singh Bajwa, brother of MP Pratap Singh Bajwa. Also on the list is former MLA Harminder Jassi who has close ties with Dera Sacha Sauda. Amarinder Singh acolyte Arvind Khanna is on the manifesto committee. Former ministers OP Soni, Rana Gurjit Singh and Ramesh Dogra and Aruna Chowdhary are the other general secretaries. Amarinder Singh’s son Raninder Singh, and Ripjit Brar, brother of Jagmeet Brar, are on the 33-member executive committee that also includes Sunil Jakhar, Tripat Bajwa, Sunil Datti, Razia Sultana, Lakhbinder Garcha, Raman Bhalla, Tejinder Bittu, Surinder Mahay, Rakesh Pandey, Vijay Sathi, Krishan Bains, Kuldip Nanda, Praveen Chopra, Davinder Darshi, Salamat Masih and Mai Roop Kaur. On the seven-member manifesto committee are Amarinder Singh, Bhattal, Union Minister Ashwani Kumar, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari, Lal Singh, Rana KP and Arvind Khanna. The nine-member PCC coordination committee represents various factions. It will have the Congress party in charge for Punjab Gulchain Singh Charak, Union Minister Ambika Soni, sitting MP Mohinder Singh Kaypee, permanent invitee to the CWC Jagmeet Brar, Amarinder Singh, Bhattal, Ashwani Kumar, Manish Tewari and Parveen Rashtrapal. Among the 17-member list of permanent invitees to the PPCC executive committee are Pritam Singh Bhinder, Avtar Henry, Amarjit Samra, Dharampal Sabharwal, MM Singh Cheema, Hans Raj Joshan, Sardul Singh, Veena Sobti , Manjit Jhalbuti and Ashok Sharma.
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Govt to revise grain storage policy
Chandigarh, May 10 Reviewing the progress of procurement, lifting, storage and payment to the farmers in a meeting with Deputy Commissioners here, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal asked them to come out with a viable policy to expedite lifting, especially during peak days when grain arrival in mandis was more than 5 lakh tonnes per day. The Deputy CM asked DS Grewal, Secretary Food and Supplies, to put up the policy on silos in the next Cabinet meeting. He said that silos should preferably be constructed in mandis and the average size of a silo should be in the range of 25,000 to 50,000 tonnes. Asking the Irrigation Department and Deputy Commissioners to gear up the machinery to strengthen bundhs at all vulnerable points, Sukhbir said flood protection measures must be completed before the onset of monsoon. He asked the Chief Secretary to sanction Rs 101 crore immediately so that flood protection measures could be taken at the earnest. Seeking the feedback of Deputy Commissioners on the new amendments in the Revenue Acts, Sukhbir said that DCs should personally ensure that no property registration was done below the collectorate level. The Chief Secretary informed that construction of the new tehsil building in Ludhiana would be completed by July. The state-of-the art registration offices planned for Dera Bassi, Jalandhar, Patiala, Bathinda and Amritsar would be completed by November. Expressing concern over the lax control of Deputy Commissioners on the functioning of suvidha kendras and reports of touts twisting the people-friendly system, Sukhbir said that each DC would personally supervise work of all suvidha kendras. Addressing the problems raised by DCs regarding DTOs not clearing the files on time, Sukhbir ordered that all DTOs, along with two clerks of the Transport Department, would sit daily in the suvidha kendras to dispose of all pending files. Sanctioning Rs 108 crore for the shagun scheme for next year, Badal said that to bring transparency in the shagun scheme and to facilitate the general public, the Chief Secretary should issue orders that shagun cheques be distributed in a single camp organised on the 15th of every month in all districts. It was informed in the meeting that shagun amounting to Rs 30 crore had been distributed last month and the scope of the scheme had been widened with the inclusion of backward classes and BPL general category.
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Cong seeks President’s rule
Chandigarh, May 10 At a time when the CBI was seeking remand for the arrested personal secretary of Social Welfare Minister Swarna Ram for questioning in the Zirakpur land scam, Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh met the Governor to seek the dismissal of the state government, alleging a complete breakdown of the constitutional machinery. Demanding the immediate dissolution of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha and imposition of President’s rule by imposing Article 356 of the Indian Constitution, Capt Amarinder Singh said that he was deeply pained at the “suffering being caused to the people of Punjab due to the mismanagement, malfeasance and mis-governance at the hands of the ruling SAD-BJP Government”. Soon after meeting Punjab Governor Shiv Raj Patil, Capt Amarinder Singh said that the recent exposure of corruption in the government was only the tip of the iceberg. The Badals, he said, had lost all moral authority to rule the state. He was accompanied Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, leader of the Congress Legislative Party and about 20 other MLAs, MPs, former ministers and senior leaders. Justifying his party’s demand for the dismissal of the government and imposition of President’s rule, Capt Amarinder Singh said that it was not merely corruption, but a total lack of law and order as well as financial emergency in the state. It is not the first time that the fiscal prudence of the state has come under direct attack by the Opposition. Punjab’s former Finance Minister Manpreet Badal too parted ways due to differences on how the state’s finances were being managed. When asked to point out some specifics, Amarinder said, “A glaring example was the failed attempt to sell valuable land of the Punjab Agricultural University, an area which is meant for agricultural research. As the state debt has reached at an incredible Rs 1,60,000 crore, the Badals were now trying to sell government property to pay salaries.” Referring to the conviction of Sohan Singh Thandal for corruption and arrest of Raj Khurana, the Congress president said that the CM should have quit on moral grounds. “Four ministers figure in corruption cases, Banga MLA has been booked for the murder of his cousin, the nephew of MLA Sarabjit Makkar from Adampur is involved in murder and his other brothers are involved in land grabbing. Is this not enough to demand President’s rule in state?” he said.
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Cong govts to blame for agri losses: CM
Power
pill Referring to the recommendations of the power tariff hike made by the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Authority, the Chief Minister said that it was an autonomous body and hence its orders were binding on the state government.
Zira (Ferozepur), May 10 Badal, who was here today to preside over a sangat darshan held for 115 panchayats of this predominantly rural constituency where floods are common, said centralisation of powers for fixing the minimum support price (MSP) of different crops had delivered a fatal blow to the poor peasantry of the country. The determination of the price of pesticides, farm equipment and fertilisers by the Centre had also been causing harm to farmers which in turn have made agriculture economically nonviable, claimed the Chief Minister. The proposal of the Congress-led UPA government to hike prices of diesel would add to the woes of the farming community as they were already reeling under debt, he said. The wrong and pro-rich policies of the Centre had also deprived a major section of Indian society of basic civic amenities. The Congress, which has ruled the country for the longest tenure, had exploited the poor in the guise of poverty alleviation and had filled its coffers to the brim. The Chief Minister, while sanctioning two projects of sewerage, water supply and roads to be completed on war footing at a cost of Rs 28 crore and Rs 22 crore in Zira and Makhu towns respectively, said the Punjab government had already launched a scheme to install tube wells on common village land on a priority. Badal, who handed over cheques worth Rs 10 crore to members of 115 panchayats for the execution of various developmental works, alleged that the Centre had also not been allowing the Punjab government to construct silos to store food grains to avoid losses due to the vagaries of weather.
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TRIBUNE IMPACT
Following The Tribune reports on why Punjab has failed to attract industrial investment, and how the local industry from the state, too, was shifting to neighboring tax-exempt hill states, besides Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Haryana, Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal expressed concern. The 14-member committee comprises Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal , industries minister, finance minister , chief secretary, and officials of taxation, housing and urban development, power, industrial training and technical education, finance and planning. In a three-part series published by the The Tribune recently, it was highlighted that prohibitive cost of land for setting up industry and its availability, unavailability of power and skilled man power, besides inordinate delays in getting change of land use were the main reasons why the industrialists were giving Punjab a miss for any new investment. Taking into consideration suggestions made in these reports, and after detailed discussions with industrialists over the past ten days, the State Industries Department has suggested that the single window clearance system be implemented in toto. All departments are being asked to develop the infrastructure/ system in their office for accepting online applications, so that time lines for getting approvals are reduced. The department has also suggested that other than the land bank created at Ropar, Rajpura, Kapurthala , Bathinda, Mansa and Ferozepur, deputy commissioners of all other districts, too, must be asked to identify large chunks of lands. It has also been suggested that the allotment under the ‘off-the-shelf’ scheme be made more transparent, with allotment through draw of lots. The department of housing, too, has been asked to grant the change in land use quickly and in a hassle-free manner. The power department has been asked to release power connections without delay. It has also been suggested that textile parks and sugar complexes be set up in the state.
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Cops rain lathis on protesters
Zira, May 10 A large number of policemen, most of them in mufti, rained lathis on the protesting residents, including Congress MLA Naresh Kataria, former Congress minister Inderjit Singh Zeera and other members of the Zira Bachao Sangharsh Committee. The protesters were in black gowns. Narinder Kataria, brother of Naresh Kataria, who suffered multiple injuries and bled profusely, was shifted to Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital, Faridkot. The policemen rounded up Naresh Kataria, Inderjit Singh Zeera, Amrik Singh, president, Bar Association, Sukhwinder Singh and Vasdev Singh. They were taken to the Ghal Khurd police station. At least 125 members of the Sangharsh Committee were rounded up from different parts of the town, bundled into police vehicles and taken to different police stations. Leaders of different parties and representatives of social organisations, who took out a protest march in the city after the lathi charge, were also put in the police lockup. Talking to TNS from Ghal Khurd, Naresh Kataria said the police had resorted to a lathi charge without provocation. He alleged that a senior SAD leader was trying to get the new courts complex raised on land near a piece of land owned by him, despite the fact that the site was about 2.5 km from the city.The residents wanted to meet the CM on the issue as well as the rising incidents of looting and snatching in the city. Nirmal Singh Dhillon, IG, Bathinda Zone, who was on the spot, said all those rounded up would be released and a case registered against some residents.
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BSP leaders join Cong
Chandigarh, May 10 Prominent among those who joined the party today included Surjit Singh, Gurdev Singh, Jarnail Singh, Resham Singh, Manjit Kaur, Gurdev Singh Lehri, Bihari Singh and Yadvinder Singh. Welcoming them into the party fold, Capt Amarinder said that the Congress always stood for secularism and inclusive growth. He said the BSP leaders would further strengthen the party. He maintained that only the Congress had been advocating the cause of the downtrodden and less-privileged sections of society. Talking to mediapersons, the BSP leaders, who included Surjit Singh from Bathinda, Jarnail Singh from Mansa and others, said they were disillusioned with the BSP as the party state president Avtar Karimpuri and the party in charge for Punjab Narinder Kashyap were hand in glove with the ruling SAD-BJP alliance.
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Capt: Power tariff hike exorbitant
Barnala, May 10 Talking to mediapersons after meeting leaders and workers from Barnala, Dhanola and Bhadaur, Amarinder Singh said subsidies were important to be given in a welfare state, but the burden must not be shifted on to the people. Accompanied by Sangrur MP Vijay Inder Singla, he said the government was “trying to escape” from its responsibility to generate resources by hiking tariff in an “arbitrary” manner.
— TNS
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SAD-BJP, Cong both corrupt, says Manpreet
Jalandhar, May 10 During his visit here today, he said politics in Punjab had degenerated to an unprecedented low.
— TNS
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All oath commissioners in HC found flouting rules
Chandigarh, May 10 Almost all were further found to be “in the habit of leaving blank entries in the register” and were making entries in exercise notebooks used by school and college students. Taking judicial cognisance of the lapses, Justice Rajesh Bindal of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has, in effect, sought the intervention of the Acting Chief Justice, Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel. Justice Bindal said: “Considering the working of the oath commissioners, which is in blatant violation of rules applicable for the purpose, some immediate steps are required to be taken by this court. Let the file be placed before the Acting Chief Justice”. The appalling state of affairs surfaced after the High Court used its own mechanism to check the functioning of the oath commissioners. The registrar (rules) was asked to submit a report after inspecting their working in the High Court. The directions were issued after affidavits produced in the court in an appeal were found to be attested by an oath commissioner without the deponent being present. In his report dated May 6, the registrar (rules) found: “The working of the oath commissioners was not being monitored by any authority”. On inspection, the registrar also found that “none of the oath commissioners were following the rules or regulations for attestation as no receipt, as provided in the High Court Rules and Orders, was being issued to the deponent”. The report said: “Only one oath commissioner, Randhir Singh Rattan, was maintaining a receipt book… Even the registers were not in the printed form as provided for under the rules. The seals too were not proper”. After going through the report, Justice Bindal observed: “It has become a routine that affidavits are being produced in the court, attested by the oath commissioners, whether placed at Chandigarh or anywhere else, which are attested in the absence of the deponent... “Oath commissioner KC Badhan, summoned in the court on the previous date of hearing, was candid in saying he does not know any rules or regulations regarding attestation of affidavit or the duty of the oath commissioner”.
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Major cattle inoculation drive launched in Moga
Moga, May 10 Dr PC Mittal, Deputy Director of the department, said 3-lakh cattle would be vaccinated against HS, 3.36 lakh against FMD and 10,000 calves, four to nine months old, against brucellosis disease. He said the veterinary officers of the department had already covered as many as 44 villages situated along the Sutlej for HS vaccination, the area being flood-prone. “We already have 3-lakh doses of HS vaccine and the process to vaccinate the cattle will be completed within one week (by May 15),” he said. Revealing that there had been no reports of the outbreak of HS disease in the recent years in the district, he said precautionary steps were essential as the clinical signs often progressed rapidly. About FMD, he said the department usually covers 90 per cent of the total population of cattle because some people do not allow veterinary officers to vaccinate their animals due to superstitions. Dr Mittal said 10,000 calves in the age group of four to nine months would be vaccinated against brucellosis disease. Testing facility for the disease, said he, was now available in Moga district too — earlier it was at the department’s regional laboratory in Jalandhar. Infected breeding bulls, said he, could transmit the disease to cows at the time of service. Milk produced from an infected cow may also be the carrier of the organism to human beings, which could lead to a health hazard as the organism causes undulant fever in humans and may even result in impotency.
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Swarna Ram skips grievances panel meeting
Ropar, May 10 The minister is the chairman of the grievances committee. Meanwhile, presiding over the meeting, Deputy Commissioner GK Singh directed all officials at the district and division level to conduct a recce of all towns and villages falling under them and table a report on problems and its solutions by May 31. He said illegal mining would not be allowed in the district and only contractors would be allowed to conduct mining. It was directed that all public places, where people stand under the sun in queue, should be covered with shades and drinking water be provided. Nangal Municipal Councillor Shobha Rana raised the issue of sale of meat at the Adda Market Nangal. The officials of Nangal and Ropar municipal councils were directed to chart out a plan for shifting these meat shops in a phased manner. District Revenue Officer-cum-District Grievances Redressal Officer Paramjit Singh said out of eight pending problems, five have been resolved. During the last meeting, 20 complaints were received of which 15 have been solved. Committee member Lal Bahadur raised the issue of cremation ground in the city. The earlier cremation ground on the Nangal-Ropar road was removed because of the widening of the National Highway No. 21 Kurali-Kiratpur Sahib road. Rs 24 lakh were earmarked for the construction of new cremation ground. During the last district grievances committee meeting, the Municipal Council Ropar, nodal agency to construct cremation ground, had been directed to put up an agenda pertaining to the ground in its meeting. However, the Municipal Council did not put up an agenda and the project is hanging fire since then. The Deputy Commissioner directed the officials to expeditiously redress the grievance.
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Punjabi-origin Tanmanjeet to take oath as Mayor
Jalandhar, May 10 Tanmanjeet Singh, a Punjabi youth from Raipur village, near here, studied at University College London before studying applied statistics at Keble College, Oxford University. Born in August 1978 in Ascot, Berkshire,Tanmanjeet is the son-in-law of Jatinder Singh Kariha, Akali legislator from Nawanshahr. Tanmanjeet’s father Jaspal Singh Dhesi worked in the construction industry. He eventually set up his own company with his wife Dalwinder Kaur. Tanmanjeet is fluent in Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu and French. He has a working knowledge of German, Italian and Latin.
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Khalsa College Imbroglio
Amritsar: Even as Khalsa College teachers continue to tread on the warpath against the private university proposal, now the members of the college governing council have started supporting them openly.
Former SAD minister Manjit Singh Calcutta, who was recently removed from the 27-member executive, on Tuesday visited the protesting teachers and opposed the very idea of converting an aided college into a private university. Two other members had recently visited the venue of the chain hunger strike of the teachers. But, this is the first time that they have come out in the open. Meanwhile, the teachers would hold a black flag rally on Wednesday.
— TNS
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Police working on Jalal-Ghandy nexus
Patiala, May 10 Ghandy reportedly visited Punjab in 2009. He travelled to districts from where cases of suicide by farmers were reported. The Centre had asked the state government to ensure he was exempted from physical appearance during court hearings due to security concerns. Harbhinder Singh, alias Jalal, was recently arrested by the Mohali police. Banned Maoist literature, pamphlets and arms were recovered from him. “We are trying to establish if there was a Jalal-Ghandy nexus”, said a police officer. The Patiala police had registered a case in 2009 following reports that Ghandy had stayed at Punjabi University under a fictitious name. In 2010, the police questioned Ghandy for two days but the latter gave away little. Sources said a report prepared by Ghandy on his extensive tour of Punjab districts and suicide by farmers was recovered from his possession. A senior police officer said Ghandy had been with the CPI (Maoist) for several years and was instrumental in expanding the party base outside the rural areas. “As in charge of the party’s publication wing, he played a crucial role in getting international recognition to the party,” he added. Known to have worked in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh, Ghandy recently wrote an article on mining and the role of corporates from Tihar. A senior police officer said during his questioning in Delhi by the security agencies, Ghandy, member of the powerful central committee and politburo of the CPI (Maoist), had revealed details of his meetings with Naxal leaders in Jharkhand forests.
“During his stay in Punjab, Ghandy established contacts and met farmers and student leaders in the hope of making a strong base in the state”, he added. When contacted, Patiala SSP Gurpreet Singh Gill said they had court orders that Ghandy would be available for questioning once the Delhi cases were over. “We have many things to ask him”, he observed.
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4 booked for killing friend
Patiala, May 10 The crime was committed when the accused were under the influence of liquor. The victim has been identified as Dalbir Singh (20). The accused are Harpal Singh (21), Avtar Singh (22), Kulwinder Singh (23) and Chamkaur Singh (21). The police said the five friends were drinking liquor when following a verbal dual, they “hit Dalbir on the head with a liquor bottle. After better sense prevailed, they put him in a car and decided to take him to a nearby hospital.” “However Dalbir died on way to the hospital. The accused then threw the body in the Bhakra canal”, claimed Samana police post in charge Sukhpal Singh. A case under Sections 302, 201 and 34 of the IPC has been registered.
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Chandigarh, May 10
