...but calls go unattended at flood control rooms
Mukerian (Hoshiarpur), July 10
Contrary to government claims, most flood control rooms in the district are virtually non-functional with no life-jackets, motorboats, searchlights, tents and sand bags for rescue operations.

Ferozepur, July 10
Thousands of residents in villages and towns located near the Sutlej, that flows along the Indo-Pak border in the district, suffer colossal damages each monsoon.

Though the volume of water being released into the Sutlej from the Bhakra Dam is well below the danger mark, some villages in Fazilka, Ferozepur, Zira and Jalalabad subdivisions are facing a flood-like situation with water entering the fields a few days ago.

“We have braved the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars. We did not allow our confidence to be shaken when our fields were mined by the Army during the Kargil conflict. But we can’t bear the impact of floods as it ruins us financially,” said Rup Chand of Gatti village near the Hussainiwala joint checkpost.

The villagers said their pleas to the authorities to get the drains cleaned before the onset of the monsoon had fallen on deaf ears.

“Every monsoon, residents of Mohar Jamsher and the neighbouring villages lose link with the rest of country.The swollen Sutlej creek turns the village into an island,” claimed Ashok Singh, sarpanch of Mohar Jamsher.

Sanjeev Gupta, XEN, Drainage, said Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav had toured the bundhs along the Sutlej, from Hussainiwala to Gidderpindi, and there was no reason for alarm.

He said all flood protection measures had been taken.

The authorities have been diverting excess Sutlej waters to Pakistan from the Hussainiwala barrage after feeding the canal irrigation system to save villages near Jalalabad and Fazilka from possible floods.

Chandigarh, July 10
The Punjab Government has made adequate arrangements to tackle the flood threat. Directions have been issued to all Deputy Commissioners to remain vigilant during the ongoing monsoon in this regard. Reviewing the flood protection measures, the state government has directed the concerned departments for strict compliance of directions.

According to an official spokesman, the state government has asked all the Deputy Commissioners to ensure the proper functioning of control rooms set up for flood protection at the district, sub-division, tehsil and sub-tehsil level besides ensuring the availability of all concerned officials till mid-September.

He said that all the DCs would submit flood reports to the Main Flood Protection Control Room so that necessary steps could be taken.

The spokesman said that the staff deployed in the field for flood protection would also report to district administration and district flood control room for initiating instant preventive measures. He said that district headquarters would remain in touch with the tehsil and sub-tehsil headquarters in wake of floods besides ensuring proper cleaning of canals, rivers and siphon banks.

Mukerian (Hoshiarpur), July 10
Contrary to government claims, most flood control rooms in the district are virtually non-functional with no life-jackets, motorboats, searchlights, tents and sand bags for rescue operations.

There is a damaged boat lying dumped in the Mukerian tehsil complex. The Dasuya tehsil complex has just three aluminium boats.

Though Hoshiarpur DC Dharma Dutt Tarnach had claimed recently that flood control rooms in the district would be functional round the clock, phone calls by The Tribune to the Dasuya and Garhshankar control rooms got no response.

The Mukerain Tehsildar, Jasbir Singh, evaded queries on the issue. He said these should be posed to the SDM during a press brief tomorrow.

The administration has declared 213 villages (37 in Mukerian, 67 in Dasuya, 47 in Garhshankar and 62 in Hoshiarpur subdivisions) as sensitive. Besides the district flood control room (Phone no. 01882-220412) in the office of the District Revenue Officer at the mini-secretariat in Hoshiarpur, the administration has set up five more in various parts of the district.

Patiala, July 10
There is good news for all those who have to make rounds of the office of the patwaris and tehsildars to get either documents of property or for other work related to the Revenue Department. The State Department of Revenue is in the last leg of computerisation of land records of 12,000 villages of the state.

Giving a detailed account of the project, Secretary Revenue, Punjab, and Divisional Commissioner, Patiala, Anurag Verma said digitisation of the land records was a much needed step in streamlining the system, consisting of buying and selling of the land in the state. “The revenue records of 8,000 out of 12,000 villages have already been computerised and that of the remaining villages will be done by July 31,” he added.

The highlight of the project is that the farmers, who constitute 70 per cent of the population in the state, will get a copy of their land records at a click of mouse without any harassment and “intentional” dilly-dallying on part of patwaris and tehsildars to allegedly mint money from them. The computerisation of land records promises to end the red-tapism, besides ensuring transparency and accountability in the otherwise “cumbersome” process.

Verma, who is looking after the project from the last one-and-a-half years, said 156 fard centres across the state were being set up, so that the farmers could have easy access to information pertaining to girdawari, mutation, jamabandi, fard, roznamcha and other records of the Revenue Department.

“Already 115 fard centres have been opened in the state and rest of the fard centres will be opened soon. The revenue records of all the villages falling within a particular tehsil or sub-tehsil will be stored in digital form at that fard centre. Anybody who wants a copy of his jamabandi or mutation can go to the kendra and obtain a certified copy at a very nominal fee, instead of running after the revenue officials,” Verma told The Tribune.

“The patwaris will update the records twice a week. Awareness among rural populace about the fard centres will be spread through FM radio and cable network. We will also upload the computerised revenue records on the Internet by September end so that whosoever wants to check the status of his/her property can do the same while sitting anywhere in the world.,” he said.

“With digitisation of the land records and its accessibility on the Net, cases of forgery, property disputes will be a thing of the past. The number of the land disputes and cheating cases will come down. Before execution of a sale deed, the buyer will be able to check the details of the property online,” he added.

Faridkot, July 10
Several historical landmarks of the British era in this erstwhile princely state are gradually disappearing or crying for proper upkeep as the Punjab Government has failed to take steps to protect these monuments.

Several ornamental gates at various entry points to the walled town have disappeared with the passage of time and those surviving have undergone alterations.

The erstwhile ruler’s secretariat now houses the district courts and the state distillery on the Kotkapura Road has been dismantled.

The local chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) is struggling hard for the protection of these monuments.

The antique cast-iron railing that was intact about seven months ago at the entry of the heritage building housing the circuit house is now damaged with a portion missing from there. The railing bears insignias with the British Crown on the top.

The circuit house, which was known as Darbargarh during the princely period, was built by Raja Balbir Singh for the marriage of his sister Balwant Kaur in June 1898. After the marriage ceremony, it was earmarked as a guest house for visiting rulers and British officers.

The top of the building is also in the shape of a crown. Instead of preserving this building with unique architecture, the office of the Divisional Commissioner was shifted in it a few months ago.

The Nehru Gate, believed to have been built in 1914, is also in a state of neglect and requires immediate repairs as the cement has peeled off at several places leaving the brickwork exposed.

After Independence, the gate was named after first PM Jawahar Lal Nehru who visited the town in May 1946. His name was also inscribed on the gateway that is just near the office of the Deputy Commissioner.

The Investiture Gate, built in 1916 to commemorate the installation of Raja Brij Inder Singh, has over the years undergone alterations.

Several other gates, including the Ferozepur Gate, Kotkapura Gate, Balbir Basti Gate and Mori Gate have disappeared.

Prof Baltej Singh, convener of the INTACH here, said that the Trust was taking care of restoration of the building housing the courts at a cost of about Rs 7 crore and the original architecture would be restored.

A project report of Rs 5.45 crore has been sent to the Union Ministry of Culture for restoration of the historical gates and buildings, he said.

Sangrur, July 10
Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal today said that the financial grants given to states under centrally sponsored schemes are their democratic right and not merely alms. It is obligatory on the part of the Centre to disburse grants under the federal set-up. He justified the ‘rationale’ behind these grants, and said they were being given to the states in lieu of the taxes collected from them.

Talking to mediapersons after holding a Sangat Darshan programme at a local marriage palace here, Badal said that the Centre was not doing any ‘favour’ to the state by giving them grants as it was bound to disburse these grants. The CM said that the state had fully utilised the funds under Sarb Sikhya Abhiyan, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Act (MGNREGA) etc, schemes being funded by the Centre.

On the issue of Hansi-Butana, Badal said he would soon meet PM Manmohan Singh to seek his intervention to direct the Haryana government to immediately stop the construction of the concrete wall which posed a major threat to life and property from the floods during the current monsoon. He further said that his government had been constantly trying to resolve this contentious issue with our neighbouring state of Haryana amicably and hoped the Haryana government would respond in a positive manner.

Making a frontal attack on the former CM and the PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh for ‘unwarranted criticism’ of the state government’s policies and programmes just to gain popularity in the media, Badal said that he always welcomed the healthy criticism from the opposition but the criticism for the sake of criticism was not desirable.

Replying to another question regarding the appointment of Harish Rai Dhanda as the Chairman of the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC), Badal said if the political leaders could hold the offices of the prime minister and chief minister, then what is the ‘harm’ in appointing a political person as the chairman of the PPSC?

Patiala, July 10
Taking note of the violations of various norms of the Bio-medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998, the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has issued notices to 54 erring hospitals and health-care centres.

The action has been initiated by the board, a week after its surprise check on 108 hospitals and health-care centres across the state.

Confirming this, PPCB Chairman KS Pannu said that show-cause notices have been issued to 54 hospitals and health-care centres.

Pannu added that the notices have been issued under Section 5 of the Environmental Protection Act, 1986, and those found guilty will face punitive action under the relevant law.

Notably, during the raid conducted by the Board on July 2, several private hospitals, government hospitals and health-care centres across the state were found either dumping their bio-medical waste along with municipal solid waste or throwing it away in an unhygienic manner.

“Instead of treating or transporting the highly infectious bio-medical waste to the Common Bio-Medical Waste Treatment Facility, located at Mohali, Ludhiana, Pathankot, Amritsar and Bathinda, the erring hospitals were found indulging in unethical and unhygienic practices of dumping it locally,” Pannu said.

Jalandhar, July 9
Hundreds of Saikapians (old students of Sainik School, Kapurthala) will converge on the school premises on July 11 to participate in the golden jubilee Founder’s Day celebrations of the institute which has the distinction of bagging the coveted Defence Minister’s Trophy seven times in a row for sending the maximum number of cadets to the National Defence Academy (NDA).

Union Minister of State for Defence Dr MM Pallam Raju will preside over the gala event and Punjab Defence Services Welfare Minister Capt Balbir Singh Bath will be the guest of honour.

Housed in the magnificent palace of the erstwhile Maharaja of Kapurthala and boasting of lush green surroundings extending over 200 acres, Sainik School, Kapurthala, was considered the one of the best among the 24 sainik schools in the country.

Established on July 8, 1961, the premier institution, the lone Sainik School in the state of Punjab, was inaugurated by the then Defence Minister VK Krishna Menon and the then Punjab Chief Minister Partap Singh Kairon.

The biggest achievement of the school is that it has sent over 700 cadets to the NDA in a period of about 20 years. Interestingly, more than 25 generals of the Indian Army figured on the list of the school alumni and most of them have bagged gallantry awards for their heroic deeds.

“Not only Saikapians but their parents have also been invited to attend the golden jubilee Founder’s Day celebrations which would commence with a wreath-laying ceremony at the Saikap Smrithi Sthal followed by an impressive guard of honour to the chief guest by the cadets. The school souvenir and a variety entertainment programme will also be part of the celebrations,” said the defence spokesperson.

Patiala, July 10
The Punjab government has decided to introduce moral education as a new subject in the schools across the state. This was announced by Punjab Education Minister Sewa Singh Sekhwan, while addressing a gathering of teachers and academicians during a seminar on “Improve education movement” held at the State College for Education here today.

“This step has been taken to inculcate moral values among the younger generation and to ensure that youth does not get detached from the rich cultural heritage of Punjab. The present education system has produced good engineers, doctors, scientists, bureaucrats and politicians, but there also a need to produce good human beings,” said Sekhwan.

“Keeping in view the requirements of the education sector for the next 25 years, a new education policy for the state is being drafted. The new policy will be unveiled in the next two months and will be subsequently implemented,” he added. 

Ropar, July 10
Retired junior basic training (JBT) teachers, who have passed giani or prabhakar, have demanded that all of them be covered under the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s directions of not recovering increments from them.

Thirteen such affected teachers from Ropar said the JBT teachers joined the Punjab Education Department on adhoc basis and later, their services were regularised. During their service period, they acquired higher qualifications like giani and prabhakar. All of them retired on attaining the age of superannuation.

On acquiring the higher education, they were granted increments as per the policy decision of the government dated July 23, 1957, which provides grant of additional increments on the basis of higher qualifications. On the retirement of these teachers in March 2008, when their pension cases were being processed, Punjab Accountant General raised objections regarding grant of three advance increments to them. The state government reasoned that the JBT teachers who were not holding the posts of Hindi/Punjabi teachers were not entitled for the benefit on the increments even on acquiring the qualification of giani or prabhakar. The increments released to them were recovered from the gratuity awarded to them.

Consequently, the teachers moved the Punjab and Haryana HC, which quashed the directions on Nov 25, 2010, and directed the government not to re-fix the pay and not to affect any recovery from the teachers. It was also directed that since the teachers had already retired, their pensions should be released on the basis of the pay received at the time of their retirement.

“The court order was to be implemented within four weeks, but nothing was done. Before we could file contempt case in court, the Education Department issued a notification on April 28, 2011, announcing that only the petitioners in this case will get benefit of the court orders and that the same will not be extended to the teachers who have not filed a petition,” said one of the retired teachers from the Ropar city. As per the notification of the personnel policies branch II, the Government of Punjab, dated July 19, 2002, should grant relief to other members of the cadre whose claim is based upon identical facts. Instead, the Education Department has defied this order. These left-out teachers have now decided to move the court and seek benefits. DPI (elementary) Sadhu Singh Randhawa said the department had filed a special leave petition (SLP). “Extending benefits to the teachers is subjected to the orders of the Supreme Court. If the court decides in our favour, we will recover money from all the teachers or else spare all,” he added.

Chandigarh , July 10
The Punjab government has decided to set up centralised kitchens through NGOs for the supply of quality cooked mid-day meals to the students in primary (classes I to V) and upper primary schools (classes VI to VIII) within the municipal limits of eight districts in the state. It may be mentioned here that mid-day meals are being provided to more than 18 lakh students in the state.

Disclosing this here today, Sewa Singh Sekhwan, Education Minister said that in the first phase eight districts namely Patiala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Bathinda, SAS Nagar, Sangrur and Moga would be covered and more than one centralised kitchen would be set up in each district. He informed that tenders had already been invited from NGOs with condition that the cooked mid-day meal should be as per norms fixed by the Government of India.

Sekhwan pointed out that during his recent ‘education reforms tour’ of the state, it was noticed that the schools were witnessing difficulties in running this scheme as there were problems ranging from lack of experienced cooks, refilling of LPG cylinders, purchase of spices lack of concentration amongst students during the whole cooking process.

He was confident that the new arrangement would ensure that the place for cooking is more hygienic and the inspection of cooked food could also be undertaken at a single spot resulting in saving of time and expenditure.

It may be mentioned here that under midday meal scheme students of primary schools were being provided 100 gm wheat/rice with 3.89 paise cooking cost each. Similarly, 150 gm wheat/rice with 4.33 paise cooking cost is the criteria for an upper primary student (Class VI to VIII). An NGO has already been supplying mid-day meal in Nawanshahr and Ferozepur districts.

Bathinda, July 10
Nearly one-and-a-half years ago, the state Forest Department, finding the upkeep of animals and birds exorbitant, launched the Animal Adoption Scheme (AAS) for all five zoos and deer parks in the state and placed all of their inhabitants for adoption.

However, despite the nominal rates of adoption and various privileges offered by the government to the adopters, the authorities failed to achieve the success that they expected at any zoo or deer park across the state.

Ironically, the department got the worst response to the scheme at the Bir Talab Deer Park in Bathinda, where the scheme has remained only on paper. The staff hasn’t found even a single philanthropist to adopt any of its inhabitants till date.

During a review meeting in this regard, senior officials of the Forest Department had reportedly directed the Bir Talab Deer Park authorities to visit industrial houses and non-government organisations (NGOs) urging them to support the cause of wildlife conservation and adoption of zoo animals.

Acting on the directions, the staff of the Deer Park, including the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) and Range Officer, launched the publicity operation. Besides providing details about the fixed rates of adoption, they apprised the people about various privileges offered by the government to the adopters. However, despite their efforts, the scheme could not take off.

According to the information available, about a year ago, the deer park staff even approached the functionaries of the multi-crore Guru Gobind Singh Refinery (Bathinda refinery) and asked them to contribute to the cause.

The officials promised to help, but even after visiting the deer park, they adopted no animal/bird.

Confirming the details, the range officer Gurpal Singh, who is incharge of the Bir Talab Deer Park, said that the adoption process was simple and inexpensive.

He said, “You just select an animal of your choice. Then choose a level of support, fill a form and submit it to the zoo/deer park authorities. One can also (virtually) gift an adopted animal to others.”

“Besides displaying the adopter’s name near the animal’s enclosure, the adopter’s family is given free entry passes. Plus, the help rendered may be used to avail exemption from Income Tax,” he added.

The Bir Talab Deer Park houses a variety of animals and birds, including, sambar, deer, ducks, monkeys, owl, parrots, budgerigar, red munia, parakeets and peacocks.

Kharar, July 10
EcoSikh, an NGO working under the aegis of the UN for the cause of environment, has decided to launch a ‘Green Gurdwara’ campaign in Punjab.

The NGO had already convened a meeting of all the gurudwaras in Chandigarh and wishes to replicate the same in Punjab as well.

While talking to The Tribune at the Chandigarh Group of Colleges, Landran, here today, president of the NGO Dr Rajwant Singh said, “He will study the college project, wherein it has undertaken the plantation of 15,000 saplings in collaboration with the Infosys group.” Dr Rajwant said he has talked to the SGPC officials and requested to launch a campaign from Sri Harmandir Sahib.

“The basic idea is to propagate the plantation of area-conducive plants with the help of the gurdwaras. The first-ever environmentalist in the world was Guru Har Rai who took up the cause of environment. After him, it was Bhagat Puran Singh, who imbibed his values and followed them in true spirit. These two persons are our heroes for saving the environment,” he added.

Dr Rajwant is on a four-week tour of the state to study various aspects and to launch projects for the state’s welfare. For the green gurdwara campaign, the NGO has come up with an 11-point programme. These points cover using biogas to make langars, using gurdwara rooftops for rainwater harvesting and using other eco-friendly ways.

“Our gurdwaras use gallons of water, which can otherwise be saved in an efficient way. A study conducted by Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College (GNDEC) reveals that every year the Alamgir Sahib Gurdwara uses 1 crore litres of water for various purposes. Our aim is to minimise the wastage of water and to motivate the masses to save it. We need to be frugal while spending water,” he said.

Besides saving the water, impetus would also be on making the gurdwaras plastic-free zones.