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Another battle: Akalis ready for DSGMC elections
Voter slips made it easier this time
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Candidates to ‘pay’ for paid news
News analysis
Punjab govt starts filling vacant posts in
schools
1st Sardar Patel International Film Festival Leslee Udwin
EU team inspects potato farms
All quiet in corridors of power
Amritsar East: 69 per cent turn out for repoll
Policemen rough up BJP leader Baldevraj outside Booth No 76, Amritsar East constituency, during repolling on Thursday. Photo: Vishal Kumar
PMET scandal
Health team confirms jaundice outbreak
Health Dept notifies service rules
SGPC to seek legal opinion
Manpreet’s surgery
put off
Pak college alumni at YPS function
Former students of Aitchison College, Lahore, during the 64th Foundation Day of Yadavindra Public
School in Patiala on Thursday. Tribune photo: Rajesh Sachar
Police rescues Class XI student from kidnappers
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Another battle: Akalis ready for DSGMC elections
Amritsar, February 2 The Gurdwara Election Directorate, New Delhi, has set the ball rolling and the election process will begin on February 16 while the polling will take place on March 11. The filing of nominations will begin on February 16. The scrutiny will take place on February 23. The last date of withdrawals is February 25. DSGMC poll on March 11
DSGMC Strength
After the rough and tumble of state politics, the ruling SAD is now gearing up for the DSGMC elections. As directed by SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar will meet leaders of the party’s Delhi unit tomorrow and evolve a poll strategy. Talking to The Tribune, Makkar said the elections would be fought on the issues of “misappropriation” of gurdwara funds and “violation” of the Sikh maryada in the shrines. He said their poll plank would be transparent management of shrines as per the “maryada” and proper upkeep of schools, colleges and hospitals run by the DSGMC. The SAD was banking on anti-incumbency apart from Sarna’s proximity with the Congress to make inroads into the DSGMC. Sarna claimed a sea change in the facilities provided to devotees at the Sikh shrines in New Delhi over the past four years. “Already, projects worth Rs 500 crore are underway at Gurdwara Rakabganj Sahib and Gurdwara Sisganj Sahib and another Rs 100 crore will be spent on other gurdwaras in Delhi. “The quality of education in our institutions has vastly improved and we plan to open more colleges and public schools in future,” he said. He claimed the SGPC was no match to the DSGMC when it came to managing gurdwaras. On the party candidates for the DSGMC poll, Sarna said members who had performed well would be fielded again. There would be some new faces. He said Makkar should stop dreaming about winning the DSGMC elections as “he and his political masters have bitten the dust twice in Delhi in the past.” The SAD (Delhi) had won 27 of the total 46 seats in the DSGMC elections in 2007 while the SAD had won 12 seats. Six seats were captured by the SAD (Panthic) led by Manjeet Singh and one had gone to an Independent. The DSGMC comprises 51 members, including five nominated members. It is governed by a chairman and a president as per the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1971. The term of the DSGMC is four years. Of over a million Sikhs living in Delhi, 4.5 lakh are registered DSGMC voters. The DSGMC is an autonomous body which manages gurdwaras educational institutions, hospitals, old-age homes libraries and other charitable institutions in Delhi. The SAD is expected to formulate a poll strategy at a meeting in Delhi on February 5. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal are expected to attend the meeting. Sarna had canvassed for Congress candidates in the just-concluded Vidhan Sabha elections in Punjab, addressing meetings in Patiala and Fatehgarh Sahib. Prem Singh Chandumajra, general secretary of the SAD, talking to The Tribune, claimed: “We will win the elections and take control of the DSGMC this time”. — With inputs from Aman Sood in Patiala
Election Schedule
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Voter slips made it easier this time
Chandigarh, February 2 After the introduction of electronic voting machines (EVMs), the distribution of voter slips has come as a respite for the voters who claim the process was earlier a headache for them. The people in the rural areas are happier than those in the urban areas because in their case they had to take a slip from the booth of a political party earlier. "It was a hassle for me to go to the polling station and ask for the slip from a political party's booth at the cost of annoying the other party," said Vishal Lomash, a businessman from Dhuri. He added in a small town where the people were close-knit, getting a voter slip was a trouble. "Since I had the voter slip in advance this time, I just went to the polling and cast my vote directly," he said. The Election Commission had made the voters slips available to most of the voters at their doorsteps. About 99 per cent of the total 1.76 crore voters were covered across the state. "The slip had come to my table and proved very handy. I just took it, went to the booth and cast my vote. There was no rush outside the booths and the process was smoother," said Dr Ravinder Kumar, a veterinarian in Mandi Ahmedgarh. He added the EC should do away with the booths of political
parties outside the polling stations. Sudarshan Sharma, former Registrar, Death and Birth, Ludhiana, has similar views. "I did not even have to look for my Voter ID card as I have kept it safely as an important document. Otherwise every time on the polling day, I had to first look for my voter ID card prior to the elections," he said. The EC had introduced the voter slips for the first time in Tamil Nadu in May last year. After that it was introduced in Punjab. The EC had banned the putting up of polling booths of political parties outside the polling stations but later, gave in to the pressure exerted by the candidates. Chief Electoral Officer Kusumjit Sidhu said all the districts had done a tremendous job by covering 99 per cent voters and preparing their slips. Xen suspended for avoiding poll duty Jalandhar: Public Health and Water Supply Xen Surinder Singh has been suspended with immediate effect on the recommendations of the Election Commission for not performing his election duty. Surinder Singh was directed to perform election duty from January 19 to 30 as civil officer with the police in static surveillance team for checking smuggling of liquor, gold and unaccounted money in the Jalandhar North assembly constituency. The Xen, however, failed to report for the duty. DEO Priyank Bharti said after receiving a complaint from Returning Officer of Jalandhar North Capt Karnail Singh in this regard, he forwarded it to Chief Electoral Officer Kusumjit Sidhu. Subsequently, the matter was brought to the notice of the EC, which directed the Punjab government to put the Xen under suspension. Meanwhile, sources said there were several other government employees who did not perform their election duty. The DEO said notices would soon be issued against all erring employees. — Dharmendra Joshi
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Candidates to ‘pay’ for paid news
Muktsar, February 2 As per the report submitted by the Media Monitoring Cell, Congress candidate from Lambi Maheshinder Singh Badal has been told to add Rs 64,500 to his poll account. Similarly, Congress candidate from Gidderbaha constituency Amarinder Singh Warring "Raja" has been directed to add Rs 19,000. In Muktsar, Congress candidate Karan Kaur Brar has been told to add Rs 64,800 to her poll expense account, SAD candidate Kanwarjeet Singh Barkandi "Rozy" Rs 37,360, PPP candidate Jagjeet Singh Fattanwala "Honey" Rs 39,800, and Independent candidate Balwinder Singh has also been told to include Rs 720 in his election expenses. In Malout, SAD candidate Harpreet Singh has been directed to add Rs 4,650, Congress candidate Nathu Ram has also been told to include Rs 18,000 for paid news. Kuldeep Singh, ADC (D), Muktsar, said, "We have already told all the candidates to include the expenses of paid news in their poll expenses and action will be taken against those who failed to do so".
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News analysis
Chandigarh, February 2 In the absence of any scientific tool to measure the outcome of the poll, the best guess of most is based on perceptions and that too on account of a feedback from a small sample. When you randomly stop your car and ask the roadside "dhabawala" who will win, you cannot say with certainty that the feedback you get represents the sentiment of a majority of the voters. Hence, the perditions in most cases are going to go haywire. But there are various factors that are likely to impact the results. First of all, the Election commission did a good job of revising the electoral roles till the very end, taking out all the bogus or dead votes. This in practical terms means that the poll percentage is actually the true representation of the people who exercised their right to franchise. In relative terms, the poll percentage this time at 78.67 is actually lower than the 2007 polls that recorded 75.47 per cent. How? The 2007 list contained names of "dead or non-existent" voters who had moved away. For example, out of 100 voters in the list in 2007, there were only 80 or 90 actual voters. This time, the list had names of actual voters due to updating till the last minute. So, as compared to 78 people voting out of 100 this time, 75 out of 80 or 90 people voted last time, which meant a higher turnout. Further, the EC's strict vigil curtailed the use of unfair means like distribution of liquor and money to influence the voters. This would greatly impact the outcome and help parties like the PPP and the BSP that did not use money or muscle power to seek votes. The PPP is said to have secured much higher votes than expected and in certain segments, a few hundred votes in a multi-cornered contest can alter results. The BJP is likely to do much better than it was said because this was the only party that went to the polls after resolving its internal conflicts and bickering. Leaders like Jagdish Sawhney whose seat was given to the SAD joined the Congress and that seat is clearly heading towards the Congress with Ashwani Sikri taking a clear lead there. He had lost the 2007 election by a mere 84 votes to Sawhney. But with Sawhney by his side this time, the experience would be totally different. Talk with BJP leaders in private reveal that the party is hopeful of touching a double digit figure or at least come close to that. The SAD feels that many Congress heavyweights are in for a bumpy ride while some unexpected results could be seen. About its own performance, the SAD has put its score realistically anywhere from 45 to 52. But the SAD and the BJP hope that their combined result would be able to help them manage a second term. The Congress' own assessment is somewhere close to 60. If it crosses the magic mark of 59, it will be able to form the government on its own else the party hopes that some rebels who win as Independents may be able to bail it out. The Congress camp is hopeful that whatever the odds, it is the Congress that is headed to form the government even if it has to be with the help of the PPP or the Independents. Since many local issues and personality of the candidates dominated the 2012 Punjab polls, something which was not factored in earlier, the results could be very close for comfort of a lot of people and surprises are bound to topple many heavyweights.
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Badal residents have sleepless nights
Badal (Lambi), February 2 Referring to the previous elections, one Darshan Singh said: "In the 2007 elections, Parkash Singh and Gurdas were together yet the victory margin against Congress' Maheshinder was only 9,187 votes. This time, the CM carried out a lot of developmental works in this constituency but with his brother Gurdas parting ways with him, the political scenario has become rather complex." Gurmukh Singh said: "Maheshinder first contested elections in 2002 as an Independent and then in 2007 as the Congress candidate. This time, he tried hard to remain connected with the people, coming to their aid on several occasions. So, his position is also strong." Raghbir Singh said: "The third front led by Manpreet will impact the results here. Manpreet whenever in the village, meets the people, stopping his vehicle on the roadside. This will pay tich dividends to his father Gurdas. His presence has definitely changed the political equations."
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Punjab govt starts filling vacant posts in
schools
Chandigarh, February 2 The affidavit placed before the Division Bench of Justice MM Kumar and Justice AK Mittal said the process of making such appointments for 1,127 posts of principal, 312 headmasters, 3,500 lecturers, 65 vocational teachers and 400 headmasters has already started. The government also assured the Bench that efforts were on to complete the process at the earliest. The state government’s reply came on a petition filed in public interest by Lt Col Naresh Ghai. The High Court had also taken took suo motu cognisance of news reports that said Punjab schools were functioning without principals. The court said it cannot "close its eyes" to such issues. In the two-page order, the then Chief Justice said: "In the scheme of Constitution of India, creating a welfare state, Right to Education of a child has been made a fundamental right under Article 21-A. Education here refers to quality education and it is evident that quality of education imparted by an educational institution, not having a principal, would be unsatisfactory. “There is a news item on the front page of The Tribune...about 1,175 Punjab schools functioning without principals for a decade. It is reported that the appointment of the principals in the schools in Punjab was being delayed for one reason or the other, the main reason being failure of the departmental promotional committees to have meetings. This court cannot close its eyes to such issues,” said the court.
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1st Sardar Patel International Film Festival
Patiala, February 2 Talking to students, Leslee said cinema was an image of society. "Whatever is seen on the silver screen is the reality of our lives. To maintain sanctity of films, it is desirable that film makers work on good scripts," she said. Dr Jaspal Singh, Vice Chancellor, Punjabi University, Patiala, opined that the educative and productive movies should be shown to youngsters. “East is East” was the opening movie of the festival. “Three Sisters” and “Shammi Kapoor: The King of Romance” were also screened on the first day of the festival. A newsletter of the film festival was also released on the occasion. Students from different colleges from all over Punjab got themselves enrolled for the festival and film appreciation course. Welcoming the guests, college principal and organising director of the festival Dr Sanjiv Kalia said the motive of the festival was to guide youngsters and masses towards positive efforts of cinema.
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EU team inspects potato farms
Patiala, February 2 The visit came following a dossier sent by the Indian Government some four years back to export potatoes to Europe. Punjab has an average annual production of over 20 lakh tonnes of which only a small percentage is exported while the rest is consumed locally. Officials in the agriculture department confirmed that the team members visited farms in Amritsar, Kapurthala, Patiala, Jalandhar and Ludhiana. "While in Patiala, the team visited potato unit at Channo village, while in Ludhiana they held talks with experts in Punjab Agriculture University", they said. "The EU team is here to examine whether the potato crop grown in Punjab is pest-free by seeing crop cultivation and seed certification. Importantly, the team wants to know if the potato can match the EU standards", said officials of the agriculture department. Farmers had recently threw their potato crop on roads due to low prices. However, Europe is a big market and presently India is not allowed to send its potatoes there. "However, the team will send us a report in five weeks and if it is found favourable, we can export our potatoes to them", said LS Brar, director, Punjab Horticulture Department. Experts said that Punjab could get a good response due to shortage of the potato crop in Europe due to weather conditions. "If exports are opened, Punjab farmers will benefit immensely. At present, the market size is too small and excess production leads to losses", said a potato farmer, who supplies potatoes to chips manufacturing unit. NS Kang, Secretary, Agriculture, said that the team's visit ended today and they would send their report in a month. "Once things are clear, we will be able to send our potatoes to EU which has over 27 countries as member nations", Kang added.
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All quiet in corridors of power
Chandigarh, February 2 The Secretariat wore an abandoned look today with only a few government cars parked outside, indicating the number of officers attending work. A look inside revealed that most IAS officers were absent. The stock reply was: “Sahib is out of station”. Inquiries revealed that most officers had taken leave as they could not do so for the past several months with pressure from the government to complete various programmes before December last. Junior officers, including PCS officers, are also taking it easy. Many have reported sick or have taken casual leave. Others leave office by 3 pm. This is true of some secretarial staff too. An officer said the secretarial staff attached to ministers had no work as all work was at a standstill. Chief secretary SC Agrawal seemed to be holding an empty fort, working in his office till late in the evening. So were IAS officers Vivek Pratap, Alakanada Dayal and Jaspal Singh with the latter holding a meeting! With employees having enough time on their hands, many were seen discussing the poll outcome. Old hands said while the Congress seemed to have acquired an edge in the last days of campaigning, the SAD had managed to retain its vote bank. They felt all would depend on whether or not the BJP would retain at least 10 of the 19 seats it had won last time. Endless cups of tea and snacks accompany their ‘gup-shup’ sessions. There has been a fall in the sale of Verka products, including flavoured milk, lassi, ice cream and sweets. A manager at a Verka outlet said sales had dropped from Rs 5,000 to Rs 3,000 per day. This, he said, was partly because of the absence of officers as well as the fall in the number of guests visiting the Secretariat everyday.
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Amritsar East: 69 per cent turn out for repoll
Amritsar, February 2 At around 9.30 am, Baldevraj, whose wife Rajni Bagga is the BJP councillor from Ward No. 24, reached the polling booth and tried to get inside. He was stopped by the security personnel, who said he could not be allowed to enter the booth as he was not a voter. However, Baldevraj alleged that supporters of Independent Simarpreet Kaur Bhatia were inside. The police told him to identify them. He pointed towards three persons but all turned out to be voters. Baldevraj refused to budge from his stand, arguing with the police. He was thrashed even as some BJP supporters tried to come to his rescue. The incident affected the polling which picked up only in the evening. When contacted, Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal described it as a minor scuffle. Out of a total of 974 votes at the polling booth, 672 were polled (69 per cent). The EC had ordered repolling at the booth after its EVM developed a snag on January 30. There is a keen fight among BJP’s Navjot Kaur Sidhu, Congress’ Mayor Sunil Datti and Congress rebel Simarpreet Kaur Bhatia in the Amritsar East constituency.
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PMET scandal
Faridkot, February 2 The investigating team has so far arrested 55 persons, including 28 students from Punjab, said LK Yadav, an IPS officer who is heading the SIT. Last month, the SIT arrested a senior medical student of Vardhman Medical College, Delhi. Yesterday, the SIT procured the arrest warrant of another medical student of the same college. Over two years of SIT investigation into the PMET scandal has so far revealed that many medical students, including some girls from Shimla, Patna, Lucknow, Kanpur and Delhi, used to appear as imposters in the PMET, said
Yadav. All imposters, so far identified, have meritorious academic record. They include six students of Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla; two students of Patna Medical College, three of King George Medical College, Lucknow; two of Vardhman Medical College, Delhi; and a student each of GBMC, Kanpur; and AIIMS, Delhi, said an inspector with the SIT.
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Health team confirms jaundice outbreak
Ludhiana, February 2 State Nodal Officer Dr Deepak Bhatia said: "The project team found that many houses have installed motors to pump water that are submerged in sewage. The team also took photographs and made people aware about the cause of the disease. Due to water contamination, people have been suffering from Hepatitis A and E in these localities." Dr Bhatia said, “Although there are no serious patients, but jaundice is endemic there. More than 300 mid and moderate cases have been reported so far. Our team also met some patients and told them to take necessary preventive measures along with medicine."He said that the district unit of the IDSP was in constant touch with Dr Bhagmal, Chief Medical Officer, Nawanshahar, and who had further brought it in the notice of the district administration for getting the needful done.
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Health Dept notifies service rules
Ludhiana, February 2 Satish Chandra, Principal Secretary, Health, Punjab, said, "Earlier the contractual employees of the NRHM used to get instructions for service. But now these instructions have been consolidated and service rules have been notified by the department." These rules include that NRHM employees can avail 15 days medical leave, 10 days special leave in a year and can also get themselves transferred against a leave vacancy or may get transferred by making request. And any employee who is willing to resign will have to give seven days notice, however the time period of notice for the employer is a month. The notification of service rules which was promised to the NRHM employees before implementation of the model code of conduct has been issued only a few days ago. For the notification, NRHM employee held a series of protests and agitations in Ludhiana and Chandigarh. However, the employees are still not happy with it. Dinesh Gulati, district president of the NRHM Ludhiana, said, ''We are not satisfied with the seven-day notice period rule”.
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SGPC to seek legal opinion
Amritsar: With the process of electing new office-bearers of the SGPC hanging fire, the SGPC is contemplating taking legal recourse. Avtar Singh
Makkar, SGPC chief, alleged that the Central Government was deliberately delaying the process. He said the Union Home Ministry had issued a notification on the new SGPC House on December 16 and the office-bearers should have been elected before January 15, as per the norms.
As per the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925, the office-bearers should be elected within a month of the notification of the new SGPC House. The SGPC elections were held on September 18 last yearand the results announced on September 22.
— TNS
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Manpreet’s surgery
put off
His doctor friend, who accompanied him, said the doctors had postponed the operation because Manpreet was running cold and had some minor infection. His operation, which was scheduled for tomorrow, was to be done by Dr SK Kakkar, former Director of the ENT Department of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Manpreet has a cyst in his throat. His voice had become muffled recently and he was facing problem in speaking.
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Police rescues Class XI student from kidnappers
Abohar, February 2 Superintendent of Police Virender Singh Brar said the teenager was returning home from Govt Senior Secondary School in Khuyiansarwar village when a pickup van (PB 29J 9074) intercepted him and its four occupants took him away. The police was informed by witnesses that the van had sped towards Killianwali village. Messages were flashed to all police posts and search parties under SHO Ram Singh sealed various link roads. The kidnappers were forced to halt near Danewala Satkosi village and the boy was rescued. Four Dalmirkhera village residents-Baljinder Singh, Kuldeep Singh, Gurmukh Singh and Lakhwinder Singh- were arrested. A case under Sections 36-4, 120-B and 34 of the IPC has been registered against them.
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After the SGPC elections in September 2011 and the just-concluded assembly poll, it is now time for the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee
elections which will see the ruling SAD locking horns with the SAD (Delhi) headed by Paramjit Singh Sarna, who is also the DSGMC chief.
Amritsar, February 2
Patiala, February 2
In a multi-cornered contest, no political pundit is confident enough to predict the result. At the best, most experienced people, claiming to be psephologists, have been able to say "it appears to be advantage Congress" initially, but slight questioning makes them retreat and say "it's very difficult to predict". Politicians from all parties, however, are putting up a brave face and claim that their party will form the next government.
Chandigarh, February 2