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A dangerous move, warns Sukhbir Badal
Re-consider Bhullar’s mercy plea, says Badal
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RTI: Bathinda Mayor’s house powered via
central jail
Tribune
Special
Mand villagers plug 30-feet breach
Union Govt withholds clearance to flight from Vienna to Amritsar
No Forest official ready to work in Mansa division
Govt green signal to own bus on Amritsar-Lahore route
Violence revisits civil hospital in Ferozepur
Change in transfer policy irks judicial employees
Rural development officials seek change in promotion criteria
Misuse
of Funds
Parking contractors at Rajindra Hospital continue to fleece visitors
Set up panel to study traders’ woes, PCC chief urged
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A dangerous move, warns Sukhbir Badal
Chandigarh, September 1 In a “strongly” worded statement here, the Shiromani Akali Dal president said, "The Congress has set itself up against the Khalsa Panth once again. It is clear that, like the French Royals, the Congress leaders at the Centre have learnt no lessons from history." Describing the Centre's move as "dangerous", he said, "Sensing a historic defeat of its cronies during the forthcoming poll to the Sikh religious body, the Congress rulers in Delhi and Punjab have made one more attempt to thwart Sikh religious aspirations…. The decision is last ditch effort by the Congress to avert an imminent and total humiliation of the Panthic Morcha." Rescheduling of poll inevitable
The rescheduling of SGPC elections has become inevitable after withdrawal of the central notification barring Sehajdhari Sikhs from participating in the SGPC poll. But a formal decision to postpone or reschedule the election will be taken only after an emergency meeting of the Gurdwara Election Commission tomorrow. Chief Commissioner Gurdwara Election Commissioner Justice (Retd) HS Brar told The Tribune that any decision on the matter could only be taken after the commission get a copy of the order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. “We are bound by any direction of the court, but before I can make any comment, I need to know what the order says. The commission will meet after it gets the orders and take a decision on its compliance. “I have only heard about the withdrawal of the Central Government’s notification on the television.” However, since the Union Home Ministry has informed the High Court that it has withdrawn the notification of 2003 baring the Sehajdhari Sikhs from participating in the SGPC elections, it is only logical that the Gurdwara Election Commission will now have to prepare fresh electoral rolls to include the Sehajdhari Sikhs. Candidates in a fix over canvassing
The candidates are in a fix whether to continue canvassing or to halt all activities till the commission makes an announcement. Also in a dilemma are at least six candidates who have been elected unopposed. During the last SGPC elections in 2004, the Sehajdhari Sikhs were not allowed to vote although they were enrolled as voters. Prior to that, the Sehajdharis always participated in the SGPC elections. So far, the SGPC has seen 13 elections.The September 18 elections would have been the 14th. Former media adviser to the SGPC, HS Bhanwar, said the general house had passed a resolution in 2003 to de-franchise the Sehajdharis. LK Advani was then the Union Home Minister in the NDA government and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) was a part of the alliance. It was the SAD that got the NDA to pass the notification debarring the Sehajdhari’s from participating in the SGPC elections. The Sehajdharis then filed a case in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, demanding restoration of their voting rights. At present, only an Amritdhari Sikh can contest the elections and only Keshdharis and Amritdhris can vote. The current voter strength is 55 lakh. The figure is likely to double if the Sehajdharis are included in the voters’ list. The SGPC elections are held in Punjab, Haryana, HP and Chandigarh. In a house of 190, only 170 members are elected. Out of these, 157 are from Punjab, 11 from Haryana and one each from Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh. Thirty seats are reserved from women and 20 for SCs. The house co-opts 15 members. The five high priests are the invitees. The Shiromani Akali Dal heldan emergency meeting of its core committee this evening to discuss the fallout of the Union Government’s decision to allow Sehajdhari Sikhs the voting rights in the SGPC elections. Senior Akali leaders, who deliberated the move till late in the night, have decided to lodge a strong protest against this “anti-Sikh move” of the Centre which they see as a a direct interference in the religious affairs of the Sikh community. A memorandum drafted by the core committee will be handed over to the Chief Commissioner Gurdwara Election Commission, Justice (retd) HS Brar by SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal tomorrow morning. It is learnt that the party will demand that the elections not be postponed at this stage and the Union Government be asked to reverse its decision. AISSF to move SC
The All-India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) has decided to move a petition in the Supreme Court against the decision of the Union Government to withdraw the notification issued on October 20, 2003, denying Sehajdhari Sikhs the right to vote in the SGPC elections. Demanding that the ongoing election process should continue as notified by the government, AISSF president Karnail Singh Peer Mohammad said: “The Congress-led Union Government is directly interfering in the religious affairs of the Sikh community, which was evident from the withdrawal of this notification.”
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Re-consider Bhullar’s mercy plea, says Badal
Chandigarh, September 1 The letter has been written under pressure from Sikh groups who have been encouraged by the Tamil Nadu Assembly passing a resolution seeking clemency for Rajiv Gandhi's killers. The Chief Minister has asked the President to review of the death sentence of Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, who is on the death row having been for carrying out a bomb blast outside the All-India Youth Congress headquarters in New Delhi in 1993, in which nine persons were killed. The then Youth Congress chief MS Bitta was seriously injured. Bhullar's mercy plea was rejected by the President in May 2011. The PPCC president, Capt Amarinder Singh, has said that Bhullar's death sentence should be commuted to life sentence. With the Vidhan Sabha elections in Punjab due in 2012, all the political parties are keen not to antagonise any Sikh group.
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RTI: Bathinda Mayor’s house powered via
central jail Bathinda, September 1 There are eight places where “hotline connection” is
provided in Bathinda district- Civil Hospital, Maur, Punjabi University,
Talwandi Sabo, Takht Damdama Sahib, Rampura Phul courts, three private mills
and the Mayor’s house. The RTI information reveals that all except for the
Mayor have paid for the connection. It costs nearly Rs 3 lakh to get the
connection as the gadgetrycosts a couple of lakhs. Superintending Engineer
Inderjit Garg expressed ignorance over the issue and said he is not aware of
any such connection. Mayor Baljit Singh Beerbehman said it was not a hotline
connection but the supply was from an express feeder.
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Tribune
Special
Gobindpura (Mansa), Sept 1 The subsequent notifications and choice of land for the plant strengthened the farmers’ perception that something was “fishy”. The contentious issue during the election year has become a thorn in the neck of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal with the farmers adamant on their demand for a substantial increase in compensation. They have suspended their agitation till September 13 when the second round of talks with the CM would be held. Trouble began in July-end when 42 families who had refused to accept the compensation for about 171 acres resisted the move of the Peona, a subsidiary of Indiabulls that has been assigned the thermal plant, to erect barbed wire around the acquired land. Ram Singh, president of the BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan), who spearheaded the farmers’ agitation, said the initial notification issued on October 15 last year under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act expressed the intention to acquire 1237 acres. However, in the subsequent notification, about 223 acres of land in Gobindpura village was left out and only 507 acres was acquired. Some land in Phullewala Dod was also left out. Another notification was issued on January 17 this year under which 166 acres in Gobindpura, 29 acres in Sirsiwala, 27 acres in Bareta and 16 acres in Jalbahera were acquired. As a result of three separate notifications, the farmers have been paid three different amounts of compensation, Rs. 23.77 lakh per acre for 80 acres, Rs 23.54 lakh per acre for 560 acres and Rs 23.23 lakh for each of the 166 acres. The problem that the authorities might face in returning the disputed 171 acres to the farmers is that most of the land was scattered and in small plots. Hence, any such move would jeopardise the project, said a senior functionary who did not wish to be quoted. The farmers’ leaders are now armed with the Draft Land Acquisition Bill of the Centre that bans acquisition of multi-cropped and irrigated land for public purposes. They might seek a substantial hike in compensation. Ram Singh said by fixing the compensation rate at Rs 23 lakh per acre, the Punjab Government had done no favour to the farmers as the market price then was between Rs 18 lakh and 20 lakh against the collector’s rate of Rs 5 lakh. The market rate did not include dislocation and other allowances. He said in Gobindpura village, the worst hit, out of a total area of 1458 acres, 806 acres had been acquired. Of the left out 652 acres, there was no irrigation facilities in 140 acres. At least 14 farm labourers, who had 14 years ago built their dwellings on the land that has been acquired, are now living behind the barbed wire.They have no place to go. Gurnam Kaur said she had borrowed money to built her house. She was now at the cross-roads as they were not entitled to any compensation. The acquisition has rendered at least 185 farmers either landless or with small landholdings. Meanwhile, Congress activists were seen busy preparing to put up an impressive show at the launch of the party’s morcha in support of the Gobindpura farmers tomorrow. The PPCC chief ,Capt Amrinder Singh, Leader of the Opposition Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and other senior leaders will be present during the launching of the morcha at Breta in Mansa district.
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Mand villagers plug 30-feet breach
Sultanpur Lodhi, September 1 As a result, the water level inside the bundh area has gone down by one to one-a-half feet and the farmers are hopeful it would gradually drain out once the level in the Beas returns to normal. During a visit to Baja, where a 30 feet breach had inundated several villages, The Tribune team saw scores of villagers bringing trolleys full of soil from dry area and then filling it into bags and placing them in the breach. While some farmers brought in their tractor trailer, others contributed with manual labour. “The bags have been provided by the administration; the officials say they cannot release funds as this bundh is not approved,” claims Malkit Singh, a panch of Amritpur village. In this area, the crops have been less affected as compared to those in the vicinity. The villagers are hopeful that 50 per cent of their paddy crop would be saved. Kulwant Singh, a resident of Bohh village, a worst-hit area which is still under six-seven feet water, says as compared to the surrounding villages, damage in theirs is complete. “Not even one per cent of the crop will be saved,” he adds. Kishan Singh of Rajewal says though the authorities have declared the bundh illegal, it is a lifeline for them. “The Beas level rises every year and people like me living in Mand can only get one crop a year. It is too meagre to support our families…. That’s why all of us maintain huge herds of milch cattle, which augments our income,” he says. Meanwhile, a few villagers allege that the aid given by the administration had been cornered by sarpanches and was being distributed on political lines. “The task should be given to the government officials and a proper list displaying all the aid they received should be maintained and displayed at a public place,” they
say. However, the villagers are all praise for the community kitchens sponsored by various cooperative organisations.
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Union Govt withholds clearance to flight from Vienna to Amritsar
Jalandhar, September 1 Alleging a distinct bias against the border state, Amritsar MP Navjot Singh Sidhu said he had been pursuing the case of the Vienna-based Comtel Air for the past many months, but to no avail. So much so that after all his efforts, he has just been able to get few minutes from the Director-General Civil Aviation (DGCA) in this context. “I have also asked for time from the Civil Aviation Minister and will also be raising the issue in the ongoing session of Parliament. If need be, I am willing to sit in the well of the House to draw everybody’s attention,” he revealed. It is unfortunate that civil airports were being promoted at the cost of local state-run ones. Traffic from profitable airports is diverted to the latter to benefit certain private players for obvious reasons, he alleged. Citing the case of the Amritsar airport that was renovated at a cost of Rs 350 crore, he said instead of getting more flights, the existing ones were stopped on one pretext or the other. There were only 13 flights, six domestic and seven international, that use the airport at present, he added. This is in contrast to the volume of traffic that is witnessed at the Delhi airport. Of the total arrivals and departures, 42 per cent were Punjabis and even out of this, majority were from three distrcts of Nawanshahr, Jalandhar, and Ludhiana, he revealed. If all these passengers land at Amritsar, they will be saving money and time. Similarly, it would cut the congestion at the Delhi airport by half. This would not only give a boost to the economy of the border state but also free slots at the Delhi airport for more international flights, he said. The clearance should be granted to Comtel Air since passengers on this flight would have the option to fly to Takht Hazoor Sahib at Nanded free of cost, he added. Sidhu said they were demanding no additional favours but impressing on the need for having a single-window clearance for submission of documents, special package for flight operators who want to fly to
Amritsar.
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No Forest official ready to work in Mansa division
Mansa, September 1 On July 28, orders were issued to an IFS officer to join as DFO Mansa, but he has not joined so far. Officials handling additional charge of Mansa district have written to the higher authorities in this regard and demanded immediate filling up of vacant posts. The government deducts salaries of the forest guards equal to the price of missing trees from their respective areas. At present, there are four forest guards instead of 28 in Mansa who guard trees on more than 1,000 kms of area. Many forest guards are facing court cases and departmental enquiries in Mansa for the past six years and are supposed to pay Rs 50,000 to Rs 6 lakh for missing or axed trees from their respective areas. The department officials reveal that the Mansa district is worst in terms of staff shortage and at present, there are three block officers in Mansa instead of five. One of the three officers is deployed in the office to complete paper work. Moreover, the post of both the range officers is lying vacant and there is one deputy range officer managing the work. “The Bathinda DFO is now given additional charge of Mansa, despite the fact that Mansa falls under the Patiala circle and Bathinda is under the Ferozepur circle,” they said. Interestingly, the circle in charge of Patiala is also given additional charge of Ferozepur even as both the places- Patiala and Ferozepur- are poles apart. The Forest Department has divided Punjab into four circles- Patiala, Ferozepur, Shivalik and Bist- and a Conservator of Forests controls every circle. Once a forest guard is transferred out from Mansa, he never comes again, as the illegal felling of trees goes unchecked, officials added. Mansa district has two ranges, which should be supervised by a range officer with 18 beats to be looked after by the forest guards. A beat includes roads, strips, canal, drain and link roads. Besides checking of tree-felling, the forest guards are also responsible for tree plantation and check soil erosion. Bathinda DFO K Kannan, having additional charge of Mansa, admitted that money to the tune of more than Rs 25 lakh was to be recovered from the forest guards in lieu of the missing trees. Despite staff shortage, efforts are being made to check illegal tree felling, he said.
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Govt green signal to own bus on Amritsar-Lahore route
Amritsar, September 1 Nevertheless, this bus service, which runs twice a week from AIBT on every Tuesday and Friday to Lahore and Nankana Sahib, respectively, and comes back the next corresponding day, was conceptualised in 2005. The state government had hired a Volvo bus from a Ludhiana-based Libra company for Rs 1.7 lakh per month. Five years down the line, the state exchequer has suffered a financial dent of around Rs 1.5 crore. The total expenditure made on this bus service (including bus rent and diesel cost), had been calculated to be around Rs 2.5 crore, whereas it could generate an income of approximately Rs 75 lakh only, till date, the officials said. This 45-seater luxury bus would normally carry not more than 10 passengers, except on some special occasions. With such a low occupancy rate, it appeared quite unviable to run a luxury bus which commanded such a hefty rent. The officials of state transport wing and in charge, AIBT, viewed the government move as a cost-effective venture. In charge, AIBT, Sri Kanth said, “As per old pattern, irrespective of whether the bus is on-road or off-road, we had to pay the bus rent for whole month. Now, with our own bus, the expense will only be for those 16 days when the bus will be in operation. This saving will make difference.” General Manager, Punjab Roadways-I, Amritsar, Makhan Singh said the present infrastructure to operate the service would further make it cost effective. Meanwhile, it has been reliably learnt that the bus which was taken off the road on this route, has been granted special permission to run on the
Amritsar-Delhi route.
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Violence revisits civil hospital in Ferozepur
Ferozepur, September 1 The victim, Amit Chopra, had come to see his relatives. The inebriated youths even fired shots in the air and thrashed some patients as well. The trouble started yesterday evening when some youths had gone to a cloth shop situated in the Sadar Bazaar in the cantonment to return cloth material purchased earlier. When the owner of the shop told them to come later, the youths allegedly thrashed him and his son and even damaged the shop. Afterwards, the frenzy spilled over to the hospital campus. Several youths reached there and allegedly fired shots to intimidate the injured persons admitted there. In a similar incident on August 27, hundreds of youths armed with sharp-edged weapons and baseball bats had attacked some patients admitted in the hospital and even destroyed the hospital property by breaking window panes and other equipment. Thereafter, the doctors and paramedical staff had gone on strike demanding adequate security arrangement at the hospital. The strike was called off following an assurance by the administration to ensure safety of the doctors and the hospital campus. However, the recent incident has once again exposed the lack of security setup in the hospital which has evoked immense public wrath.
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Change in transfer policy irks judicial employees
Ludhiana, September 1 The judicial employees have decided to approach High Court for reviewing the decision taken regarding transferring employees out of the district. The High Court had issued the transfer orders three days back. It is learnt that the HC has framed a transfer policy for transferring the judicial employees, who were posted in various districts since long. Earlier, the employees were transferred by the HC only on request and with consent from a colleague of the same rank posted in other district, where one wanted to get transferred. Showing a united face, the judicial employees across the state assembled today at the Bar room of the District Bar Association, Ludhiana, in the court complex. They formed state-level organisation of all the categories of employees with the name of the Punjab Judicial Courts Employees Welfare Confederation. They have elected Gurdial Singh Chahal as chariman, Om Parkash as president, Didar Singh as vice president, Joginder Singh Kang general secretary, Hans Kumar as cashier and RL Aggarwal as secretary.
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Rural development officials seek change in promotion criteria
Chandigarh, September 1 In a representation submitted to the Financial Commissioner (Development), the officials have demanded that the post of the Joint Director should be filled by promotion of the Deputy Directors promoted from the District Development and Panchayat Officers (DDPOs). They have urged the state government that it should create a separate post of Joint Director (women programme). “We have no objection for the promotion of Deputy Director to the level of the Joint Director but the government should create a separate post in this regard”, they added. Other demands of the officials include the posting of at least 11 Additional Deputy Commissioners (Development) from their cadre in districts. “Promise in this regard was made by the Chief Minister in 2009 but it has not been kept”, said officials. They have urged the government for the quick disposal of “ shamlat” related cases at the divisional level. The posts of Divisional Deputy Directors should be upgraded to the level of Joint Directors and they should be given the power to hear cases related to shamlat. Officials said the post of Divisional Deputy Director Panchayats) had not been created at Faridkot Division yet. Officials said anomalies in their pay scales should be removed and meeting of the Departmental Promotion Committee should be held after every six months. They added that in case their demands were not considered, they would stop supervising the development works in the field.
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Misuse
of Funds
Dera Bassi, September 1 The panchayat alleged that the mandi board officials had misused the funds granted for the repair of the link road. In the complaint filed with the Vigilance Bureau, Punjab, village sarpanch Balwinder Singh said information under the Right to Information Act revealed that the Mandi Board Department had spent Rs 2 lakh on the repair the road, but the road had not been repaired since the past few years. SP (Vigilance) Balwant Singh and the staff members visited the village and inquired about the village panchyat’s allegations. Executive Engineer, Mandi board, Nirmaljeet Singh, Executive Engineer OP Chopra and SDO Dalbeer Singh were present during the investigation. The villagers said they were harassed due to the poor condition of the link road and had approached authorities concerned for the same, but to no avail. “At last, a letter shot off to the Vigilance Department and its copies were sent to the other departments concerned,” villagers said.
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Parking contractors at Rajindra Hospital continue to fleece visitors
Patiala, September 1 Despite repeated complaints with the authorities, no concrete action has been taken so far. The Rajindra Hospital Bachao Action Committee held their second meeting with the Government Medical College representatives in this regard, but the authorities said they were unable to solve the problem. Talking to The Tribune, one of the committee members Darshan Singh Labana said they had highlighted the problem during their first meeting too, but the authorities failed to solve the problems. “Medical superintendent of the hospital Dr MS Mohi admitted that as far as the parking issue was concerned, they could not resolve it. These parking contractors were some influential people and therefore, they refuse to obey the authorities,” he added. College principal Dr KD Singh said, “After receiving complaints, the authorities tried to put up boards with proper parking rates displayed on it, but the contractors did not allow them to put up these boards.” “Dr Mohi had got the boards made, but the contractors did not allow them to put them up. The authorities will now file an official complaint with the Punjab Government, the Deputy Commissioner and the Patiala SSP in this regard,” he added. Meanwhile, other issues that were discussed during the meeting were staff shortage, including super specialists, nurses, ward boys, lab attendants and sweepers, getting tests done from outside and lack of ventilators. Dr KD Singh informed that the administration had sent a proposal with the government in this regard and they were waiting for their consent. He also informed that Rs 77 lakh had been sanctioned for the renovation work in the hospital and the work would begin soon. They were also making provisions that all the tests, excluding MRI, would be done in the hospital itself, he added.
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Set up panel to study traders’ woes, PCC chief urged
Chandigarh, September 1 Gupta, who has also served as President of the Punjab Rice Millers and Traders Association, besides being a former PRTC Chairman, said faulty industrial and power supply policies had forced the industry, especially the textile industry of Amritsar, to shift its base to other states.
— TNS
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Gobindpura (Mansa), Sept 1
The Centre has withheld clearance to operators of a private airline for a direct
Vienna-Amritsar flight for the past over five months. The flight will be of immense relief to hundreds of Punjab travellers from the European Union, who till now have no option but to land in Delhi. Incidentally, Amritsar is the fourth most sought-after travel destination in the world because of its religious importance and its place in the freedom struggle.
Amritsar, September 1
This is a political conspiracy. The
Congress foresaw the defeat of the groups in the SGPC elections backed
by it. Hence, the withdrawal of the 2003 notification
It is a case of misuse of power by the Centre. It is an
illegal move aimed at derailing the SGPC poll process. The Centre
should have let the court decide if the notification was right or
wrong
We will ensure that next time the
voters’ lists are prepared for the SGPC polls, the DSGMC model is
followed and voters are issued photo identity cards
The writ petition of Sehajdharis was pending for the past four
years. If they had to withdraw the notification,why did they declare
the elections?
It is another double
blow to the Sikhs after the decision to drop the move on Sikh Marriage
Act. Neither the court nor the government has the right to decide the
definition of a Sikh
— SGPC former secretary MS Calcutta
n Initial notification issued on October 15 last year under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act expressed the intention to acquire 1,237 acres