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A Tribune series on government performance: SOCIAL WELFARE
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‘Wait for the grant is endless’
'Adjustability' is cong’s new chant
SAD-BJP Govt did not do its homework: CEO
SAD Manifesto Report card
Frame policy on industry near wildlife areas: HC
SAD-BJP government let us down, says Shahi Imam
PPP’s ‘Kolaveri Di’ rocks, 30K hits in 24 hours
Constituency
Watch: Jalandhar Central Constituency Watch: Sanaur Sanaur likely to go Cong way The Congress has registered five victories in this constituency in the last seven assembly elections. Earlier called Dakala, the constituency is represented by senior Congress leader Laal Singh. The constituency has a considerable number of Kamboj voters besides Jat Sikhs, Hindus, SCs and STs. The Congress feels that Laal Singh has nurtured his constituency well and with so many development projects to his credit, it will be near impossible for the SAD to defeat him. The SAD has already announced the candidature of TP Sandhu.
Cancel Makkar’s ticket, Gikki’s father to Sukhbir
Women candidates riding high on gender-centric issues
Vaninder Loomba, SAD candidate from Shutrana, at a village near Patran. Tribune photo: Rajesh Sachar
Poll Snippets
Sukhbir’s adviser Brar dismissed from service
Leaders seek divine help
Chandumajra kicks off poll campaign
Anti-PM protest in Amritsar shameful, say Sikh scholars
Industry, residents hit by power cuts
Stadium site turns into filthy pond
No to woman’s plea to legalise ties with lover
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A Tribune series on government performance: SOCIAL WELFARE
The SAD-BJP govt is banking heavily on its
welfare schemes, of which there are plenty, with nearly half the population
benefiting. But Akali workers meddling with the selection of beneficiaries for
four years may have left many annoyed The line between social welfare and party interest remained blurred. That’s what comes out with clarity while evaluating the execution of various welfare schemes in Punjab. The SAD-BJP government promised a lot, and delivered on many of the schemes too, including the populist ‘atta-dal’ scheme, but let them be run by Akali ‘jathedars’, rather than the state. After allowing mismanagement of the schemes for nearly four years, the government did realise the folly, and moved to bring in transparency. But by then it was too late to save the credibility of schemes such as the ‘shagun’ scheme for newly married Dalit brides and the old-age pension. After partially setting its house in order during the past one year, the government
also expanded the scope of certain schemes by extending those to all economically weaker sections. This increased the political base of the SAD-BJP combine, touching nearly 50 per cent of the state’s population. Not content with the various ongoing schemes — including the hugely popular atta-dal scheme that now provides subsidised wheat flour and pulses to 8.2 lakh families — towards the end of its tenure, the government even went in for the distribution of more than 1 lakh bicycles among schoolgirls from weaker sections, a la Nitish Kumar in Bihar. The bicycles, which bear Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal's picture at the front, were clearly aimed at wooing the poor, traditionally considered to be a Congress vote bank. Whether these efforts will bear fruit is yet to be seen. Akali managers point out that the atta-dal scheme saved the party from a projected rout in the Lok Sabha elections, as people refused to believe the Congress claim that no subsidised food was being given. The Akalis are now hoping for further gains from the increase in the number of beneficiaries. However, the government will have to answer charges of favouritism in doling out welfare, with many schemes not reaching many of the down-trodden. Now it must hope that its jathedars who “directed” the delivery of welfare will deliver on poll eve.
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‘Wait for the grant is endless’
A visit to the homes of a few beneficiaries of various schemes in Nabha block revealed the sentiment of the needy who were left high and dry. Amarjit Kaur of Kakrala village claimed the wedding of her daughter Simarjit took place on December 10 last year. But she is yet receive the shagun. The same was the case of Preetam Singh’s daughter Sarabjit, who married on June 8 last year, and Malkit Kaur of the same village, who wedded on April 10.
Amarjit Kaur says she had taken a loan
of Rs 50,000 for the marriage ceremony, adding, “I was foolish to rely on
the government.” Assessing the “houses for the houseless scheme”, The Tribune came across
Palo, a Dalit woman, who claimed she had demolished her ‘kutcha’ room a year and a half back, hoping for a reconstruction grant. She applied for it on August 31 last year, but nothing had come thus far, though the patwari and the kanungo had checked the site, she said. Gulzaro, who also has a kutcha house, said the sarpanch had taken the photographs needed for the benefit from her last year, but she was still waiting for the grant. “My daughters are of marriageable age. The grant will be of no use if it does not come before their marriage,” she said. There was also universal condemnation of the manner in which toilets had been constructed under the “own a toilet” scheme. Sukhwinder Kaur of Tungha village said her son had fractured a leg after earth around the septic tank adjoining their toilet collapsed. Seventy-year-old Surinder said she had eagerly awaited construction of the toilet, as she was fed up of being shooed away by landlords when she went to answer the call of nature in their fields. “That hope has been belied by bad construction. The septic tanks are too small and leaking. The water is endangering my house.”
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'Adjustability' is cong’s new chant
Chandigarh, January 2 The party has been forced to look for alternative seats for a number of senior leaders, including sitting legislators. Randeep Singh of Nabha, who had applied for the Patiala (Rural) seat, is being advised to opt for Amargarh in Sangrur distict where he has no following or work to his credit. Reason? Patiala MP Preneet Kaur has recommended that her son Raninder Singh be fielded from this constituency. The party is under pressure to accommodate relatives of senior leaders although Pradesh Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh had spoken against it. He had said party president Sonia Gandhi would frame a policy on the matter. Amarinder had claimed that his son Raninder Singh would not contest the elections. Amarinder Singh’s brother Raja Malvinder Singh is seeking ticket for the Samana seat. Congress sources said the party was keen to please its MPs and was considering accommodating Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa’s wife Charanjit Bajwa from his home seat of Qadian, Jalandhar MP Mohinder Singh Kaypee’s wife Suman Kaypee from Jalandhar West and Hoshiarpur MP Santosh Chaudhary’s husband Ram Lubhaya from Sham Chaurasi. It was likely to allot the ticket to Congress Legislature Party Leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal’s son-in-law Vikram Bajwa from Sahnewal, the late CM Beant Singh’s grandson Gurkirat Singh Kotli from Khanna and to Jagmeet Brar’s brother Ripjit Brar from Muktsar. Amarinder Singh’s confidant Arvind Khanna is likely to be shifted to Dhuri with the party inclined to renominating sitting legislator Surinderpal Singh Sibia from Sangrur. Congress observers said the party was keen to adjust senior leaders so that they did not cause problems for the party in their areas of influence. For example, former minister Jasjit Singh Randhawa is likely to be fielded from Amloh, which is no longer a reserved constituency. The sources said this policy of ‘adjustment’ would not be acceptable to middle- rung leaders who had been working hard for the party for the past five years and had now been left in the lurch. These leaders could revolt by “rejecting” outside candidates, they said.
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SAD-BJP Govt did not do its homework: CEO
Chandigarh, January 2 “Since July last, we have been asking the state government to transfer officials posted in their home districts and those at their place of posting for three years, but nothing was done. So I had to ask for their transfers,” said Sidhu. The CEO said:
“I did not transfer 56 Returning Officers on my own. I sat with the cadre controlling authority and took a decision. If the state government had done this on its own, there was no need for me to intervene.” On the postings of 20 SHOs, she said she had selected all the Inspectors at random and nobody below this rank as SHOs. “CS Talwar was the only official posted in the field who was not on the panel submitted by the government. I may have transferred an official on the panel from one district to another. But all the names were suggested by the government. The government cooperated with me on this,” she said. The Chief Minister had yesterday appealed to the Election Commission to ask its officials in the state to act within their constitutional brief. "There is a difference between enforcing the model code of conduct for a free and fair poll and bringing the whole state to the brink of administrative paralysis", Badal had said while appealing to the Chief Election Commissioner to issue directions to its officials to respect this distinction. No entry:
The Chief Electoral Officer has banned the entry of the daughter-in-law of SAD candidate from Rampura Phul Sikandar Singh Maluka, who is a District Development and Panchayat Officer (DDPO). Posted in Mansa, she had sought medical leave. The CEO had told the government that she be examined by a medical board before being sanctioned leave. PTC warned:
The Election Commission has decided to issue a warning to the PTC channel for biased reports and programmes in favour of the state government, said Gurkirat Kirpal Singh, Joint Chief Electoral Officer.
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Atta-Dal Scheme Success: Large number of beneficiaries satisfied
Shagun Scheme Partial success: Lack of transparency
Scholarship schemes Own a
toilet Failure: Shoddy execution Houses for
the poor Failure: Money received, not released Power subsidy for SC, BPL
families Success: But Dalits
unhappy over cut
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Frame policy on industry near wildlife areas: HC
Chandigarh, January 2 Justice MM Kumar and Justice Gurdev Singh directed the state to frame the policy on the basis of recommendations made by a committee, constituted on September 18, 2009. “The State shall in compliance with directive principle of State Policy given in Article 48A of the Constitution frame policy guidelines keeping in view the recommendations made by the committee, which have been placed on record on December 17, 2009. The same shall be notified to all concerned within two months from receipt of the order’s copy,” the Bench asserted. The committee, constituted by the Chief Secretary, consists of financial commissioner (forests), secretary (science and technology), chairman of Punjab Pollution Control Board, and chief wildlife warden, along with director (industries) and secretary (revenue). The recommendations include: “No new industrial unit shall be allowed to establish within 500 m radius of wildlife sanctuary/zoo with effect from January 1, 2010, unless a committee comprising of Department of Forests and Wildlife Preservation, Department of Industries and Department of Science & Technology specifically recommends its establishment….” The committee also recommended that at least “a clear zone of 30m from the boundary of the sanctuaries should be maintained and existing industrial units of all kinds should plan for shifting within six months. A committee comprising of the PPCB, Department of Industries and Forests and Wildlife Preservation shall monitor the shifting process…. “Any person who wants to establish entertainment park/eco-tourism activity within 500 m radius of wildlife sanctuary shall be allowed only after obtaining NOC from the Department of Forests and Wildlife Preservation and Department of Tourism….” The directions came as the Bench asked the Punjab Small Industries & Export Corporation to allot 5,000 sq yd plots for setting up rice mills on two cases filed by Prem Sagar and Vinayak Ji’s Industries. In one of the cases, Prem Sagar had contended that the consent or no-objection certificate earlier granted to him for the setting up of a rice mill was withdrawn on the ground that the site was merely 7.5 m away from Bir Bhadson wildlife sanctuary and industrial activities could not be permitted.
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SAD-BJP government let us down, says Shahi Imam
Chandigarh, January 2 Party president and the Shahi Imam of Ludhiana, Habib-ur-Rehman Saaani Ludhianvi, alleges that the SAD, at the behest of the BJP, did not accept the Majlis Ahrar Islam’s demands, which had been “already accepted” by the Akali Dal. Their main demands include representation to the community in the government’s planning and grievances committees, besides improving the lot of graveyards and opening modern Islamia schools in Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Bathinda and Patiala. He claimed the Muslims were even kept out of the Shagun Scheme at the instance of a senior BJP minister. Speaking to The Tribune, Ludhianvi said they were in the process of finalising whom to support in the forthcoming elections. He said there was no question of supporting former DGP Izhar Alam or his wife Farzana in case they were allotted the SAD ticket from Malerkotla. He said the Majlis Ahrar Islam was against the candidature of likely Congress nominee Razia Sultana too. Also, he said Abhey Sandhu, nephew of martyr Bhagat Singh, had approached him recently seeking support for the People’s Party of Punjab. “So far, we are undecided on whom to support. We can still extend support to the SAD, whom we supported last time, or back the Congress depending on the feedback from out district presidents. We will make up our mind by January 10,” he said. Habib-ur-Rehman, however, made it clear that even if the party decided to back the SAD, it would “not support” Izhar Alam in any case. He claimed Alam had “misused” the Wakf Board to achieve personal goals. He said he was critical of Razia Sultana’s candidature as well as she was an “outsider” like Alam. “When we talk about the Muslim community, we talk about the Punjabi Muslims who belong to the state and not the people who have come from outside,” the Shahi Imam said while referring to Alam and Razia. He claimed there were around 20 to 25 lakh Punjabi Mulims who could tip the balance in more than 20 constituencies. “There are several constituencies, including all the seats in Ludhiana City, Amargarh, Nabha, Banur, Pathankot, Sujanpur, Jalandhar City, Moga, Ferozepur, Faridkot and Mohali, which have 15,000 to 20,000 Muslims each,” he said. Constituencies where Muslim vote counts
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PPP’s ‘Kolaveri Di’ rocks, 30K hits in 24 hours
Gidderbaha, January 2 The four minute and eight seconds long song has been composed and sung by party leader and noted comedian Bhagwant Mann. Within 24 hours of the release of the song on YouTube, the song has been watched by nearly 30,000 people. Bhagwant Mann said, “I have never got such a good response from the public, which has broken all my previous records”. The song, which also has a power point presentation, goes “Saade dil vich vass gayi PPP, yaad rakho yaad rakho PPP”. Then party chief Manpreet Badal reads a couplet, “Ki hoya je patjhad aayi, tu agli rutt vich yakeen rakhi… Main labh ke leyauna haan kiton kalmaan, tu phullan jogi jameen rakhi”. Further, the song shows PPP president Manpreet addressing political rallies, driving his scooter and jeep, Bhagwant Mann, Abhey Sandhu, portraits of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, news clips and party candidates taking oath at Jallianwala Bagh and making appeals to the public to cast their votes on January 30. Interestingly, a picture of Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal and Manpreet sitting on a sofa has been also shown in the presentaiton. When the pictures of both appears, PPP chief Manpreet Badal, in his husky voice says, “Only you people have to decide the fate”. It ends with a message, “Navi umeed nava inqlab, aao sirjiye nava Punjab on January 30”. Arunjot Singh Sodhi, People’s Party of Punjab’s media in-charge, said, “To attract the youth, Bhagwant Mann has composed and sung this song, which has been proving a big hit”. He added that before this song, the party had released a CD of patriotic songs.
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Constituency
Watch: Jalandhar Central
Projects:
Kalia was able to get a whopping Rs 290 crore earmarked for the constituency. “Many areas, including Ladhewali, Paragpur and Barring, outside the city limits had not seen civic amentities till I got the funds for laying roads, sewage and other facilities”, claims Kalia. VOX POPULI:
Kalia’s opponents, however, criticise him for ‘neglecting’ old areas, including Charanjitpura, Mohalla Gobindgarh, Adarsh Nagar and Pucca Bagh. They say he has been concentrating on new areas alone. The problem of inundation in the monsoon has been ignored all these years, they say. “In all his wards, roads have been constructed with inter-locking tiles instead of concrete,” they say. LOOKING BACK:
Kalia lost the seat only twice: in 2002 and 1992. His father Manmohan Kalia represented the seat in 1985 and 1977. Bittu had lost to Kalia in the 2007 elections. Gupta had switched over to the BJP in 2007 on being denied the party ticket. He later returned to the Congress fold. Kapoor’s popularity graph has fallen ever since the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence raided his hotel.
— TNS
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Constituency
Watch: Sanaur
Projects:
During the last assembly elections, sitting MLA Laal Singh had promised that schools would be upgraded and proper healthcare facilities provided, particularly in rural areas. However, most of the promises could not fulfilled. The Congress accuses the ruling alliance of deliberately not providing funds for the constituency from the state exchequer. Nevertheless, in the past two-and-a-half years, the constituency saw some development pertaining to roads, the sewerage system and clean drinking water with Patiala MP Preneet Kaur providing funds from her MPLA (Member of Parliament Local Area Development) fund. VOX POPULI:
Residents say that Laal Singh has worked exceptionally well for the development of the constituency despite the SAD-BJP government denying him funds. LOOKING BACK:
In the 1977 and 1980 assembly elections, Laal Singh won from this constituency with a comfortable margin. In 1985, SAD candidate Prem Singh Chandumajra defeated Laal Singh. In the 1992 poll, Laal Singh again emerged victorious. In 1997, he was defeated by Harmail Singh Tohra of the SAD but
Laal Singh bounced back wresting the seat in 2002 and retained it in 2007. — TNS
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Cancel Makkar’s ticket, Gikki’s father to Sukhbir
Kapurthala, January 2 The SAD had declared Makkar as its candidate from Kapurthala during the release of its first list of candidates. “Instead of Makkar, who has been using his influence to save his nephew Ram Simran Singh alias Prince, a SAD councillor, who is the main accused in the Gikki murder case, the party should have chosen a leader with a clean image,” said Rajbir. Now that the ticket has been allotted, the SAD leadership should cancel it, he appealed. “Otherwise, I will be left with no option but to campaign against him in Kapurthala,” he said. Makkar, Rajbir alleged, not only tried to delay the presentation of chargesheet within the stipulated 90-day period, but also had been facilitating VIP treatment to Prince and other three co-accused in a modern jail despite court orders to shift them to a Gurdaspur. “Makkar and his family members have been infamous for grabbing land in various parts of Jalandhar district… they will do the same if he is elected from Kapurthala,” he claimed. For his part, Makkar has refuted Rajbir’s allegations. “The chargesheet was not delayed at my behest…the accused could not be shifted to Gurdaspur jail as the superintendent concerned feared a clash there as a few relatives of Amritsar-based Gikki’s brother-in-law Gulbagh Singh are lodged there,” he said.
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Women candidates riding high on gender-centric issues
Patiala, January 2 Akali leaders said the SAD would be announcing more women candidates in the next list to be announced shortly. Though, Congress is yet to announce the names of candidates, but Punjab Mahila Congress president Malti Thapar said that she was rigorously pursuing the party high command in New Delhi that at least one woman candidate from each district of the state should be given Congress ticket. Meanwhile, the women Akali candidates - Kuldeep Kaur Tohra from Patiala (Rural), Harpreet Kaur Mukhmailpur from Ghanaur and Vaninder Kaur Loomba from Shutrana (SC), are mainly focusing their election campaign on women-centric issues. While canvassing, all the three candidates are listening patiently to women about problems being faced by them. "Being a woman, it is easier to understand the problems of the women. Though development is our main agenda throughout the state, but I will certainly work for the uplift of women in society", said Kuldeep on the sidelines of an election meeting in Patiala (Rural) segment. Expressing similar views, Harpreet Kaur was assuring people of Ghanaur assembly that if elected, she would work for the uplift of women besides taking pains to ensure all-round development of the areas in the constituency. Vaninder Kaur Loomba said that she was inspired by the work done by Akali MP Harsimrat Kaur against the social evil of female foeticide and would try to follow in her footsteps.
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Poll Snippets
Don't get bullied by
Fastway: Capt
Chandigarh: PCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh has urged cable operators across Punjab not to get bullied by Fastway Cables and do their job professionally. It was only a matter of days before the company would have to follow the rules, he said. In a statement here, Amarinder also warned the company against harassing cable operators and airing selective news on television channels, which, he said, amounted to infringing the freedom of speech. He said on “coming to power”, the Congress government would take a legal action against Fastway Cables for "violating" the law. Responding to a plea put before him by the cable operators, Amarinder told them that he and his party stood by their right to air the television channels freely without any prejudice or fear.
— TNS Top BJP leaders to boost campaign
Jalandhar: A galaxy of top BJP leaders like party president Nitin Gadkari, LK Advani, Venkaiah Naidu, Narinder Modi, Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj will spare no efforts to seek voters' mandate during the party's nine-day-long high-profile poll campaign in Punjab from January 20 to 28. The leaders will address rallies in constituencies from where party candidates are in fray. The BJP campaign committee, headed by Amritsar MP Navjot Sidhu, has also planned to use the "star power" by roping in film stars like Shatrughan Sinha, Hema Malini, Smriti Irani, Vinod Khanna and Akshay Khanna to pull crowd at its rallies. "We are planning to utilise the presence of top party leaders in such a way that all 23 constituencies having BJP candidates are covered," Sidhu said.
— Varinder Singh Patiala BJP marred by ‘dissidence’
Patiala: With elections only about four weeks away, the BJP seems to be a non-existing entity in Patiala. Notwithstanding the fact that Akali Dal has already announced four candidates from different assembly segments of Patiala, there has been no political activity in the BJP camp. Marred by “factionalism” within the party, the base of BJP has been constantly shrinking in Patiala. The resignation by Sonia Devi (BJP) from the post of Deputy Mayor, Sarita Gera from primary membership of the party and BJP councillor Navneet Kaur in the past year are a few examples of dissidence here.
— Umesh Dewan Code violation complaints pour in
Bathinda: The district administration has received maximum number of complaints regarding violation of code of conduct from the Bathinda (urban) assembly constituency. It received around 44 complaints from six assembly constituencies of the district, of which 21 were from Bathinda (urban) constituency alone while eight were from Rampura constituency, seven from Bhucho, four from Talwandi Sabo, three from Bathinda (rural), and two from Maur. District revenue officer Amandeep Singh Bhatti, who is in-charge of call centre-cum-complaint cell, said there was a serious complaint against the powercom authorities that they had given 1,500 tubewell connections from back date. He said the poll officials had seized the record pertaining to connections and a report had been sent to the Election Commission.
— Sushil Goyal
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Sukhbir’s adviser Brar dismissed from service
Jalandhar, January 2 Brar, who had worked as OSD with former Finance Minister Manpreet Badal, joined the People’s Party of Punjab in October 2010. In June this year, he quit the PPP and shifted his loyalty to the SAD and became adviser to the Deputy CM. A charge sheet was filed against him for having remained absent from duty and indulging in political activities but he was re-instated on the post on the orders of the state government two months
back. Brar said: “I had taken leave from office for 18 months. I did not resign, nor was I dismissed. The orders have no meaning for me as I have chosen a different path for myself ”. The PPP president, Manpreet
Badal, was among those to have lodged a complaint with the EC against him. Verma said : “I had passed the orders regarding his removal two days back”.
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Leaders seek divine help
Dharamsala, January 2 Maninderjit Singh Bitta, a former AICC chief, struggling to make a comeback into the political mainstream, was seen at the temple recently. Devi Giri, temple mahant, said several ticket aspirants had visited the temple and performed puja last week. He said most of them were accompanied by a couple of aides. Since the puja was held for 24 hours at a stretch, most politicians came in the night for the tantric ‘havan’. Sources said it was primarily Congress and SAD leaders from the Doaba belt of Punjab who had performed puja at the temple.
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Chandumajra kicks off poll campaign
Fatehgarh Sahib, January 2
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Anti-PM protest in Amritsar shameful, say Sikh scholars
New Delhi, January 2 JS Neki, honorary secretary of Bhai Vir Singh Sahitya Sadan, Karanjit Singh, Director Punjabi Bhawan, Rawail Singh, Secretary Punjabi Academy Delhi, Manjit Singh, Head, Department of Punjabi, University of Delhi,
S.S. Minhas, Principal, Guru Harkishan Public School and other prominent scholars in the national capital joined Singh in condemning the incident. Amritar: SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar today flayed the incident. He said such and incident would not be allowed to happen again around the complex. “The PM was on his personal visit and he came here for paying obeisance like an ordinary human being. The SGPC has taken a strong notice of the misdeed of a group of persons that showed black flags to him while he was about to leave. Such an act will not be tolerated in future,” he said. It is learnt that the protest was staged by an organisation named, “India Against
Corruption”. Even Team Anna has denied any hand in the showing of black flags to the Prime Minister, it is clearly a case of intelligence failure. The incident has elicited a strong reaction from the people. PCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh has accused the SAD of “planting” the troublemakers in the crowds to show black flags to the Prime Minister.
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Industry, residents hit by power cuts
Jalandhar, January 2 In a bid to appease voters, the political parties at the helm of affairs have always been following a tradition in the past that is to ensure that there are no power cuts in the run up to the elections. Interestingly, while domestic and industrial consumers are made to bear with scheduled or unscheduled power cuts ranging from one to three hours daily, the authorities claim that there is hardly any power shortage in the state as the daily supply hovers around 1,000 lakh units against the demand for 900 lakh units. “Daily power cuts are being imposed mainly because of the dry weather spell. Moreover, fog leads to snags in insulators which often leads to power The closure of six thermal plant units about 15 days ago and tripping of two thermal units at Ropar also contributed to the deteriorating power situation in the state, official sources revealed. While normal industrial units in industrial focal points are not facing any power cuts, more than 50 per cent of industry located out of the focal points and lakhs of domestic consumers are being made to bear with daily power cuts. “Residents have to go without power at least for about two hours daily. Eighty percent of industry out of the focal points in the city is also forced to bear with long power cuts,” complained Ashwani Kohli, a Phagwara-based industrialist and senior vice-president of the Punjab Chamber of Small Exporters. “Power cuts are being imposed for up to four hours daily in residential areas. Though there are no cuts in industrial areas, the heavy industry like industrial furnaces are being made to go without power even for three days a week,” rued Narinder Singh, president of the Jalandhar Industrial Focal Point Extension Association. “How an industrial unit is expected to perform well when it is forced to go without power for two hours a day?” said Amanbir Marwah, owner of a garden tool manufacturing unit. “Our work suffers due to power cuts continuing for hours everyday,” said Paresh, who runs a computer outlet in the city. He said shopkeepers had to incur extra expenditure as they had to run their units on diesel generator sets.
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Stadium site turns into filthy pond
Moga, January 2 The foundation stone of Guru Gobind Singh Stadium was laid by the then Education Minister Lakhmir Singh Randhawa and the then Urban Development Minister Pandit Bal Mukand in the presence of the then Parliamentary Secretary Malti Thapar on February 17, 1995. All these years, the respective governments did not even bother to look at the project after laying the foundation stone. The leaders may have forgotten this foundation stone, but the residents of this town remember the political betrayal and the youth are still living on hopes and promises. “I will be voting for the first time, but I will not caste my vote for those who betrayed us,” said a local youth, Rajinder Singh. The foundation stone of the project has been lying defaced behind a garbage dump and the envisioned playground has virtually turned into a dirty pond where residents drain out sewage and waste water. Ironically, Dr Malti Thapar, whose name also figures on this forgotten foundation stone, is aspiring to contest the ensuing assembly election on the Congress ticket from this constituency. This constituency has been represented by SAD MLA and chief parliamentary secretary Sheetal Singh for the past 15 years, but he failed to convince the consecutive governments to take up the project. Now, the SAD has fielded its senior party leader Jathedar Tota Singh to contest elections from here. The local SGPC member, Sukhjeet Singh Kaka, who has become a popular leader of the area and is eying the Congress ticket from here, has alleged that the government’s apathy towards sports in the rural areas had turned the youth to drugs. False promise
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No to woman’s plea to legalise ties with lover
Chandigarh, January 2 Taking up Gagandeep's petition against the State of Punjab and others respondents, Justice Ranjit Singh asserted: "The petitioner has come with somewhat detesting and unheard prayer through the petition." "A girl, who is married and has children, left the matrimonial home initially to come to her parents. The parents, being worried on account of her conduct, naturally would have been interested to settle their daughter in the matrimonial home. Rather then listening to them, the petitioner left her parental house as well and has admittedly started living with a boy. Not only that, she has now shown the audacity to approach this court to seek protection for herself and for the boy with whom she is living without there being any apprehension or threat ever been advanced," Justice Singh observed. He added: "Which husband or which parents would not feel agitated on such a conduct depicted by a girl. She has left her matrimonial home and children and started living with a stranger by having illicit relations and now is seeking protection for this illegal relationship." "Counsel appearing for the petitioner ought to have realised the implication of the prayer made in the petition before filing such type of petition. Would he wish to ask for perpetuating illegality being committed by the petitioner, who has approached this court for protection? Prayer is unacceptable and is so dismissed with costs of Rs 5,000 to be deposited in the accounts of the Legal Services Authority, Punjab". Justice Singh also refused to allow the petitioner to take a U-turn by observing: "At this stage, counsel seeks permission to withdraw this petition. This prayer is also declined".
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Chandigarh, January 2
Patiala, January 2
Prominent Sikh scholars today condemned the demonstration against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit to the Golden Temple on Sunday.
In a statement issued today, Dr Mohinder Singh, Member of the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions, said, “The demonstration by a few misguided individuals in the name of Anna Hazare is an act of national shame. It is all the more shameful that the sacred premises of the Golden Temple, a symbol of harmony and peace, was used by these people to gain cheap publicity.”
Moga, January 2
Most of the beneficiaries of this scheme, a major promise in
the SAD-BJP manifesto during the last elections, say they are satisfied.
However, there are widespread allegations of corruption, including some voices
raised in the assembly, regarding its implementation. Partly using the
subsidised wheat available from the Central pool, the government started
distributing 35 kg of wheat flour and 4 kg of pulses to 5.8 lakh families in
August 2007. The ration was decreased to 25 kg wheat and 2 kg pulses last year
when the number of beneficiaries increased to 8.2 lakh families following
political pressure. The scheme is, however, running on borrowed money, with the
state Finance Department refusing to release subsidy for it, forcing the nodal
implementation agency PUNSUP to borrow Rs 1,100 crore for the purpose.
The government hopes to gain from the ‘shagun’
scheme, a flagship programme of the Social Welfare Department and part of the
SAD-BJP manifesto since 1997. The scheme, meant only for Dalit and Christian
brides earlier, was extended to all weaker sections last year, with each
beneficiary eligible for Rs 15,000 upon marriage. After the scheme was allowed
to run amok at the hands of Akali jathedars for nearly four years, the
government began a clean-up exercise a year back, making it mandatory to for
beneficiaries to submit BPL or "blue cards" along with their
applications. Around 72,000 applications are pending, but many of these are
fake, and deputy commissioners are refusing to certify them despite repeated
requests from the Welfare Department. This is evident from the fact that the
number of brides per year has come down from 73,842 in 2006-07 (only Dalits at
the time) to 48,000 in 2010-11, despite addition of the below poverty line (BPL)
section to the scheme.
Failure:
Benefits not
delivered; funds unused
The SAD manifesto promised scholarships for
Scheduled Caste (SC) and Backward Class (BC) students and education loans up to
Rs 10 lakh. This was the government’s worst delivered promise. Not only did
it not give any of its own scholarships, the state government did not even
implement scholarship schemes financed by the Centre. It failed to give
scholarship stipends of Rs 500 per month to 3 lakh students under the pre-matric
scholarship scheme for minority community students. Sikh students too are
eligible for this scheme in Punjab. The state received Rs 25 crore for these
scholarships in 2010-11, but did not release the amount to students. Only 6.87
crore of the Rs 14.83 crore received under the post-matric scholarship scheme,
under which students are eligible to receive up to Rs 10,000 per year, has been
released. As a consequence of failing to release the money, the state will not
qualify to claim the sanction for these schemes from the Centre for the
subsequent year, ensuring students continue to suffer. Besides this, Rs 16.80
crore received from the Centre for pre-matric scholarships this year for SC
students is also lying unused.
Bad
management of certain welfare schemes meant for the Dalits has left them
unhappy. In the case of the "own a toilet scheme" for Dalit families,
a promise on the SAD manifesto, thousands of toilets were constructed across
Punjab, but most remain spanking clean, as the families for which they are
meant are not using them. The reason is engineering and plumbing problems with
the toilets. Also, the Rajiv Gandhi Pendu Jan Sehat Kalyan Yojana being
implemented by the Rural Development and Panchayat Ministry has covered only
25,000 families, and 1.4 lakh families still await toilets. The state’s
failure to utilise the Rs 50 crore released under this scheme in 2010-11 means
it cannot avail of the Rs 40 crore loan available from NABARD.
The
tale of inability to even use available money runs across many schemes. In the
case of the "houses for the houseless" scheme, the state received Rs
75 crore from the Centre as additional assistance last year. The treasury is
yet to release this money. Money kept in the annual plan for this scheme for
2009-10 and 2010-11 has not been released. However, Rs 15 crore received from
the Centre in 2008-09 was released to fund repair of around 4,000 houses. The
state had targeted covering 15,000 families at a cost of Rs 75 crore under this
scheme. Each beneficiary was to receive Rs 50,000 for new construction and Rs
20,000 for repair of dilapidated houses.
The government displayed a flip-flop policy on power
subsidy for the Dalits. The manifesto promised it will continue the 200 units
of free power per month (400 units in bi-monthly billing cycle) introduced for
5 lakh Scheduled Caste families by the Congress regime in 2006. However, under
pressure from the BJP, which wanted relief to the urban population against a
tariff hike, this was reduced to 100 units per month in January 2010. Last
month, however, the government made an about turn, going back to the earlier
arrangement.
Since 1977, the constituency has been a BJP stronghold. The BJP has allotted the ticket to sitting MLA and former Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia even though Mayor Rakesh Rathour was also in the race. The Congress has three aspirants: Raj Kumar Gupta, hotelier Gautam Kapoor and Tajinder Bittu, a former Jalandhar Improvement Trust chief. To avoid infighting, the party now plans to field “outsider” Surinder Singla.
The Congress has registered five victories in this constituency in the last seven assembly elections. Earlier called Dakala, the constituency is represented by senior Congress leader Laal Singh. The constituency has a considerable number of Kamboj voters besides Jat Sikhs, Hindus, SCs and STs. The Congress feels that Laal Singh has nurtured his constituency well and with so many development projects to his credit, it will be near impossible for the SAD to defeat him. The SAD has already announced the candidature of TP Sandhu.
Moga: The district administration has served three separate notices related to the violation of poll model code of conduct on former DGP Paramdeep Singh Gill, the SAD candidate from Moga assembly constituency. Additional Deputy Commissioner-cum-Returning Officer of Moga constituency Chander Gaind said the first notice had been served on him for travelling in an Innova car bearing a red beacon atop during the opening ceremony of his election office in violation of the poll code. The second notice has been served on him for setting up a hoarding outside his election office and pasting a big flexi board poster outside a shop on the Zira road. The third notice has been served for setting up another hoarding outside bus stand on the Amritsar road bearing his photograph to wish the local people on the New Year.
— Kulwinder Sandhu