Chandigarh, June 27
Peoples Party of Punjab (PPP) president Manpreet Singh Badal has accused the state police and Vigilance Bureau chiefs of registering false cases against his party members.

Alleging that the Punjab police and Vigilance heads were acting like “Akali jathedars”, Manpreet said the duo were “hand in glove” with the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal in “pursuing vendetta politics against his party men”.

Manpreet today filed a petition before the Punjab Human Rights Commission (PHRC) here seeking a probe into various FIRs registered against PPP members. He also urged the Commission to take action against police officials responsible for allegedly implicating the PPP workers.

Speaking to mediapersons after coming out of the PHRC office, the PPP president alleged that Punjab police chief DGP PS Gill and the Vigilance chief Sumedh Singh Saini, besides the Intelligence head, were working as the agents of the SAD. He demanded that these officials should be replaced in the run-up to the assembly elections to ensure fair police functioning.

In its petition, the PPP mentioned that seven false cases had allegedly been slapped on party workers simply to curb their right to associate with a political party of their liking. Notably, four cases have been registered against the former officer on special duty to Manpreet, Charanjit Brar, and Gurdas Badal’s (Manpreet’s father) personal assistant Satinderjit Singh Manta. The PPP has demanded that officers responsible for registering these “false” cases should be prosecuted.

Manpreet also alleged that efforts were made to defame him by revealing financial details relating to his security through the RTI. And when he sought details of the money spent on providing security to the Chief Minister and the Deputy CM, he was denied information, Manpreet claimed. The PPP president said he was also awaiting information under the RTI about the expenses incurred on providing medical and transport facilities to the state ministers.

Chandigarh, June 27
The People’s Party of Punjab (PPP) is taking its poll campaign to the NRIs in the US and Canada next month. The community plays a crucial role in several assembly segments in the state, particularly the Doaba belt.

Party president Manpreet Badal is scheduled to hold 14 meetings during his 18- day tour of the two countries starting July 29.

Popular comedian Bhagwant Mann is the party coordinator for the meetings. The entire top brass of the party, including former legislators Jagbir Singh Brar and Kushaldeep Dhillon and Darshan Singh Brar will accompany Manpreet.

The NRIs not only contribute substantial money to major parties but also influence voters back home. There are a large number of NRIs who retain their Indian citizenship and need to be encouraged to return home to vote in the assembly elections in February next year.Manpreet claimed the party was getting an overwhelming response and was finding it difficult to find big auditoriums to accomodate the crowds. Accordingly, it had been decided to hold the Vancouver and Toronto meetings at stadiums. Manpreet said: “The NRIs need to be kept abreast of the winds of change sweeping Punjab.”

Manpreet’s programme starts from Sacramento in California on July 29 from where he will move to the Bay Area, Bakersfield and Fresno. He will be in Calgary, Canada, on August 3 from where he will travel to Edmonton and Surrey (BC). He would reach Seattle, US, on August 9 and then move on to New York and Chicago. He will be back in Toronto, Canada, on August 14. 

No VAT on recent fuel price hike
Diesel prices down Rs 0.25, LPG Rs 2.50
Ruchika M. Khanna
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 27
With the Punjab Government today deciding not to charge VAT (value-added tax) on the recent hike in diesel and LPG prices, consumers in the state will now pay Rs 0.25 per litre less for diesel and Rs 2.50 less per LPG cylinder.

The state exchequer does not stand to lose much with this decision. The government will continue to charge VAT at the rate of 8.8 per cent on diesel (for Rs 37. 67 per litre) and on LPG ( for Rs 365 per cylinder). The government also charges VAT at 27.5 per cent on petrol.

Sources in the Excise and Taxation Department said with the petrol price having gone up by Rs 16 per litre between March 2010 and June 2011, the government expected an increase in revenue by Rs 400 crore. Last year, the revenue collection from petroleum products was Rs 1840 crore.

In Punjab, petroleum products are heavily taxed. Other than VAT, the government imposes a 10 per cent surcharge on petrol and diesel, octroi at the rate of 10 per cent and two per cent on petrol and diesel, respectively, and a cess of Re 1 per litre on petrol. Though the poll-bound SAD-BJP government has decided not to charge VAT on the increased fuel cost, farmers and petroleum dealers say the relief is too meagre. JP Khanna, president, Punjab Petroleum Dealers Association, calling the move a “cruel joke”, said the government should have either withdrawn the VAT on diesel and LPG altogether, or should have withdrawn the surcharge and octroi on tpetrol and diesel.

“This would have brought down the fuel cost substantially. We have served an ultimatum of 10 days on the government. In case it does not rationalise taxes, we will stop purchasing fuel from the oil marketing companies,” he warned.

Threatening to launch a statewide agitation from tomorrow, president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan), Joginder Singh, said the government should have withdrawn the VAT on fuel completely.

Blaming the UPA government for arbitrarily increasing the prices of petroleum products without taking states into confidence, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal Badal said this was “a sheer mockery of democratic values and the so-called federal structure”.

He pointed out that the Centre had increased the price of diesel from Rs 32.65 per litre in February 2010 to Rs 40.85 in June 2011 but had not bothered to recommend an corresponding hike in the MSP for foodgrain. He reiterated that the Centre announced a bonus of Rs 100 per quintal on paddy. This recent hike in the price of diesel and LPG will inflict a burden of Rs 800 crore on the state consumers, Rs 330 crore on the farmers alone, and about Rs 300 crore on the transport sector. 

Patiala, June 27
The decision recently announced by Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal of providing free education to the girl students up to Class XII from July 1 this year will put financial burden on the school authorities.

Talking to The Tribune, a school principal said, “Though there is no clarity or written instruction issued in this regard so far, but this will certainly affect the functioning of the schools. The entire work of a school, including payment of telephone, electricity, water, tournament fee and sending the students out of the city for any cultural or sports activity, was done from these funds. In case we stop charging the said fee from the girl students, it will certainly put financial burden on the school authorities.”

As per the said scheme, the schools will not charge even the local funds, which include admission fee, re-admission fee, amalgamated funds, PTA funds and sports funds, from the girl students. This announcement has not gone down well with the teaching fraternity, as all the school works are carried out from these funds.

“Though the local funds, which will not be charged as per the scheme, amount to just Rs 90 per month, are very important for the schools. If the government wants to help the girl students, it should scrap the board fee which is Rs 1,000 for Class X, Rs 1,300 for Class XII for two semesters and Rs 600 per paper in case of re-appear. No one is paying attention towards this fee. Paying this amount is difficult for the students,” added another principal.

Chandigarh, June 27
In a minor reshuffle, the Punjab Government today transferred and ordered fresh postings for as many as 15 PCS-cadre officers.While Rajinder Pal Singh has been posted as the Deputy Director of Urban Local Bodies in Ludhiana, TN Passi would be joining as the new Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Shahpur.

Pradeep Kumar would be the new ADC (General) of Gurdaspur and Mukand Singh Sandhu would hold the post of District Transport Officer of Moga along with the additional charge of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Moga.

Other fresh postings include Tej Kumar Goyal, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Bholath; Ranjit Kaur, Assistant Commissioner (General and Grievances), Hoshiarpur; Bhupinder Singh-II, District Transport Officer, Bathinda; Upkar Singh, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Chamkaur Sahib; Amandeep Bansal, SDM, Sangrur; Iqbal Singh Sandhu, Land Acquisition Collector, PWD (B&R), Jalandhar, with additional charge of SDM, Jalandhar-I; Tejinder Pal Singh, SDM, Sultanpur Lodhi; Sukhdev Singh, SDM, Rampuraphul; Bhupinder Mohan Singh, SDM, Malerkotla and Ajmer Singh as SDM, Baghapurana.

Bathinda, June 27
Guru Gobind Singh Oil refinery is expected to start delivering processed fuel to different destinations in the country through rail by mid-November.Mohinder Singh Meena, a senior railway functionary, said RC Aggarwal, General Manager, North West Railway, and SS Gupta, Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Bikaner, held a meeting with top functionaries of the refinery to work out the modalities for the transportation of the fuel.

The railway functionaries were told that as the refinery was expected to be commissioned by September-October, processed fuel would be ready for transportation by November 15.

Both Aggarwal and Gupta inspected the railway siding (a low-speed track section), being constructed by the refinery to connect the refinery with the nearby railway line. The two officers got first-hand information on the volume of business the Indian Railways would get from the refinery.

Aggarwal and Gupta also discussed certain safety aspects connected with the transportation.

Aggarwal inaugurated a resting room for the ticket examiner at the railway station here and inspected the rail section between Suratgarh and Hanumangarh.

Jalalabad, June 27
One person was killed and 19, including two women, were seriously injured in a fight between residents of Chak Swah Wala village and a group of outsiders who tried to forcibly possess panchayat land late this evening.

The group opened fire on the villagers, injuring two. The infuriated villagers retaliated with sticks and swords. They also set a tractor belonging to the group on fire.

The group allegedly has the support of an important political figure of Ferozepur district.

Police sources said 15 persons, including two women, who were injured after they were beaten up by the villagers, were shifted to hospitals in Faridkot, Muktsar and Jalalabad. The condition of those who had suffered gunshot injuries was stated to be critical.

Amritsar, June 27
District Congress Committee (Urban) chief Jugal Kishore Sharma has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to accord the status of Heritage City to Amritsar.In a press note here today, Sharma said Amritsar was a historic as well as religious city, besides being an important business and education centre. However, the city was losing its sheen and, therefore, should be accorded the status of Heritage City.

The Congress leader took up the issue of world-class university with the PM in Delhi on Friday last. He requested the PM to expedite the project as it would give a major boost to education in the region.

On the business front, he said more opportunities should be explored for furthering cross-border trade via the Wagah-Attari land route. Besides, an SEZ or processing zone for agricultural products should be developed to give a fillip to industrial growth.

Sharma also sought border area package for developing infrastructure in the city and special incentives/subsidies for establishing modern warehouses to facilitate proper foodgrain storage.

Among other issues discussed with the PM were resumption of flights from the Amritsar airport, four-laning of the Amritsar-Jalandhar road, launch of the Duronto train between Amritsar and Chandigarh, a rail link between Tarn Taran and Ferozepur and widening of the Bhandari Bridge. 

Patiala, June 27
Started two years back with a view to meet the power demand of large-scale industrial units in Punjab, the provision of drawing power through the Open Access is now causing immense financial loss to the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) annually.

Worried over the increasing trend among the industrial units to draw power through open access, top functionaries of the PSPCL are of the view that industry has made the open access system as a profit-making tool. Majority of the PSPCL officials feel that transmission charges being levied on the open-access consumers should be increased to save the corporation from incurring financial loss.

In wake of the fact that because of the cheaper power available through the open access presently, a considerable number of the LS power consumers are preferring to draw power through the open access instead of getting power from the PSPCL. Now, the PSPCL engineers have sent a letter to the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) stating that the charges of just 25 paise per unit power being given by the open access consumers to the PSPCL for using the transmission system of the corporation was, too, less.

Notably, the open access system enables the consumer to purchase power from any source other than the PSPCL. The consumers in the state started opting for the open access from 2009-10. Presently about 270 consumers in the state have been granted the open access facility and these consumers are importing about 150 lakh units of power per day.

According to information, 42 per cent of the open access power was purchased at about Rs 2.5 per unit during the last three months, which is at least Rs 2 less than the power being provided by the PSPCL.

“This trend is not good and is causing monetary loss to the PSPCL. Hence, the charges of Rs 25 paise per unit should be increased to at least Rs 2 per unit,” said a senior official of the PSPCL.

Meanwhile, the letter sent to the PSERC by the PSEB Engineers’ Association reads, “In the fiscal 2011-12, open access consumers are expected to bring about 5,000 million units of power from sources other than the PSPCL. This will obviously reduce the power burden from the PSPCL, which in turn will put burden of Rs 1,000 crore on the corporation.”

Association president HS Bedi said they have urged the PSERC that while framing the new open-access regulations, the interest of the PSPCL and 70 lakh non-industrial consumers should be protected by increasing the per unit power charges being paid by the open-access consumers to the PSPCL.

Chandigarh, June 27
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today approved the setting up of three new centres for children with special needs at Amritsar, Ludhiana and Rajpura at a cost of Rs 1 crore each.

During a meeting of the Social Security Department at the Chief Minister's residence here today, the Chief Minister gave the nod to improve the existing infrastructure in Special Homes.

It was decided that the CM would impress upon the Government of India to enhance the ratio of funds for providing food to pregnant women and children at the anganwari centres across the state. At present, food worth Rs 4 is given to a child, worth Rs 5 to pregnant women and worth Rs 6 to physically weak children for which the state and central governments contribute 50 per cent each. — TNS

Chandigarh, June 27
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has called for adoption of “extraordinary action” to counter the menace of “vacation marriages” by NRIs. It has suggested the deportation of erring husbands.

The development is significant as estimates suggest the number of such broken NRI marriages is close to 15,000 in the last 20 years in Punjab.

Justice Surya Kant asserted: “The matrimonial disputes of absentee husbands, who come to India, get married and disappear soon after, cannot be resolved through ordinary recourse. Extraordinary situations demand extraordinary action.” The assertion came during the hearing of a case involving one Paramdeep Singh who had left for the UK just about four to five days after his marriage with Pawandeep Kaur in April 2010.

Justice Surya Kant also directed the Punjab Home Secretary to “send a report to the Union Ministry of External Affairs to seek the deportation of Paramdeep Singh, husband of the complainant, who is living in the UK”. “The Indian Embassy in the UK shall ensure that as soon as the request papers from the Ministry of External Affairs are received, prompt action is taken.”

The court also called for the submission of compliance report before the next date of hearing on September 9.

“As an interim measure, and as agreed to by the petitioners, it is directed that the complainant shall be paid Rs 7,500 per month as interim maintenance with effect from January 1. The interim maintenance shall be the first charge on the share of property, which is deemed to have been inherited/acquired by Paramdeep Singh in his ancestral property on the death of his father,” Justice Surya Kant added.

A case of criminal breach of trust, subjecting a married woman to cruelty and other offences, has already been registered in the matter on December 4 last at a Phagwara police station.

Already, Punjab has made clear its intention of implementing suggestions such as registration of all marriages, and verification of antecedents of the NRI grooms. The recommendations are part of a report by the “Parliamentary Committee on Women Empowerment”.

The Punjab Government has also set up a high-powered cell headed by an Inspector-General of Police to provide aid to brides deserted by their NRI husbands after marriage. 

Patiala, June 27
Taking a step further, 31 more PRTC employees surrendered themselves to the cops to mark their protest against the PRTC management and the Punjab Government on the third day of the ‘Jail Bharo Andolan’ initiated by the Punjab Roadways Transport Corporation (PRTC) Contractual Employees Union (Azaad).

A number of employees gathered at the Nehru Park today and then marched towards the Patiala bus stand raising slogans against the management. With this, the total count of the arrested employees has reached 83.