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Audit report reveals
bungling by Lokpal staff
Juicy returns evade kinnow growers
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Bumper orange crop did the initial damage
EC tells babus to stay away from CM’s meeting
Act fast on plea to destroy RDX in police stations: HC
Berths for senior leaders only: Capt
Mystery
killing
No funds to publish books, conduct exams
Health Dept raids clinic, seizes drugs
ICP will boost trade ties: Pak official
Ali Salman Abbasi (Collector Customs, Lahore) and Ranjit Singh (Commissioner, Customs, Amritsar) jointly address the media. Photo: Vishal Kumar
For rural youth, IAS coaching in Punjabi
Awaiting salary, computer teachers to boycott classes
PPCB: Not going slow on raids
DSGMC poll: Akalis gear up for February 9 meeting
Feedback from election staff sought
JET fee cut to Rs 50
Bhattal greets people on Guru Ravidass’ birth anniversary
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Audit report reveals
bungling by Lokpal staff
Chandigarh, February 6 Besides scathing comments on the functioning of the institution, the report has said the office failed to ensure a quick and judicious scrutiny and expeditious disposal of complaints, despite a huge expenditure of Rs 398.97 lakh. It said while 136 cases were pending with the Lokpal as on April 1, 2009, 14 more were received till August 31, 2011. Of these, only 37 cases had been disposed in 29 months and 113 were still pending with the Lokpal. Only one case each had been decided in 2010-11 and 2011-12. The office of the Lokpal had failed to furnish a satisfactory reply for the delay in deciding the cases.
A copy of the audit report with The Tribune
suggests that infrastructure and facilities like vehicles attached with the
Lokpal’s office were misused by unauthorised persons. As per the log books, a
joint registrar used a Gypsy that was meant for other staff members.The
unauthorised use of the vehicle had cost the government a loss of Rs 1.78 lakh.
The AG has suggested that the amount be recovered or justified. The same
officer spent Rs 25,000 on the vehicle on a fibre glass top without prior
approval. There are indications of some financial irregularities too. Para 1
(A), Part III of the report reads: “A sum of Rs 22,755 was remitted into the
treasury during September 201 and July 2011 but these deposits have not
reconciled with treasury office accounts, which is in contravention of
financial rules”. Earlier too a senior officer of the Punjab Lokpal had
furnished false newspaper bills. When the matter was detected, the officer was
made to deposit the money received towards reimbursement of false bills with
the state treasury.No action was taken against the official. The audit report
points out that huge, wasteful expenditure has been incurred by the institution
without meeting the desired objectives. The report reads: “Wasteful
expenditure of Rs 1.67 crore in the absence of Lokpal” from July 2003 to
August 2004; “unfruitful expenditure of Rs 1.11 crore” from 2005 to 2006;
and “ungainful expenditure of Rs 35.25 lakh” from October 2007 to September
2008. Further, the report for the period October 2009 to July last points out
that the office of the Lokpal spent Rs 165 lakh during 2008-09, Rs 169 lakh
during 2009-10, a sum of Rs 184 lakh during 2010-11 and Rs 250 lakh during
2011-12. The report says that the office of the Lokpal incurred a “huge
expenditure of Rs 559 lakh on the establishment” from 1996 to 2002. The AG
has sought immediate “reconciliation” of all expenditure as the term of the
Lokpal expires on March 31, 2012. After that, it will become impossible to make
recoveries, causing a huge loss to the state exchequer.
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Juicy returns evade kinnow growers
Chandigarh, February 6 As a result, growers have been left at the mercy of middlemen who procure the crop at a low rate even as kinnow continues to sell at a much high price in the retail market. Progressive farmer Deepak Puri of Hoshiarpur said compared to the rate of Rs 12-15 per kg last year, good quality kinnow was selling at Rs 8-9 a kg this year. He said farmers were also facing problems in sending the fruit to distant markets. Puri said farmers did not opt for bringing the fruit to the market in December because of the presence of orange from Nagpur, the fruit quality got affected due to extreme cold in January. He said the ripe fruit that was being sent to distant markets was getting spoilt due to which farmers were choosing to sell it in local markets. Available at Rs 3-4 a kg, the low-quality kinnow could have been absorbed by the two juicing units at around Rs 5 per kg, a farmer said. In earlier seasons, the juice plants had maintained that it was not profitable to process the fruit by acquiring it at Rs 8-9 a kg. Both the juice units, established at a cost of Rs 84 crore, have been lying idle for three years. A limited processing of kinnows took place in 2008 by Tropicana. Punjab Agro Managing Director Sanjay Kumar admitted that the plants were non-operational. Horticulture Department Joint Director Dr Gurkamal Singh said while the intense cold spell in January had limited the kinnow sales, the quickly rising temperature was harming the crop of late. He said the department was advising the farmers to market their produce immediately.
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Bumper orange crop did the initial damage
Muktsar, February 6 Kinnow is grown on 26,456 hectares in Fazilka, Muktsar and Ferozepur districts. The growers have been getting Rs 8-9 a kg for their produce, down from Rs 12-15 a kg last year. As a result, over 40 per cent of the kinnow crop still lies in the orchards. A number of growers said the contractors who had signed agreements to give Rs 10-12 per kg for the fruit around a month ago had broken the pacts and didn’t even bother to take back their security deposits. Ramesh Bajaj, a kinnow grower, said, “I have an orchard on 20 acres. We were expecting the prices would better during the wedding season, but that didn’t happen. Orange stored earlier was used in this period. Now, we can’t wait for long as kinnows starts dropping once they get overripe.” Mohit Setia, another grower, said, “We are waiting for the prices to increase but the changing weather is a cause for concern.” Horticulture Department Deputy Director Jagnandan Singh Brar, incharge of Muktsar, Fazilka and Ferozepur districts, said, “Punjab kinnow growers are getting lesser remuneration due to the bumper orange production in Nagpur. The growers are still waiting for the prices to increase even though the fruit is about to reach maturity stage.” Reaping losses
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EC tells babus to stay away from CM’s meeting
Chandigarh, February 6 As per guidelines under the code of conduct, any official assigned the election duty could not attend any meeting called by a political leader. Hence, the deputy commissioners of Ludhiana, Mohali, Sangrur and Patiala stayed away from today’s meeting. Even other senior officials of districts could not be sent for attending the meeting. “We had sent tehsildars who were not involved in the election process,” said a deputy commissioner on the condition of anonymity. Meanwhile, Special Principal Secretaries to CM, KJS Cheema and KS Pannu, were present at the meeting. The officials were talking to the DCs over the phone to get the status of the memorials. The government had announced several martyrs’ memorials, including Maharaja Dalip Singh Memorial at Raikot Bassian village in Ludhiana district; Baba Banda Singh Bahadur War Memorial, Mohali; Wadda Ghallughara Martyrs Memorial, Kup Rohira in Sangrur district; Ghallughara Kahnuwan Chhambh Shaheedi Memorial; besides the Harpal Tiwana Academy of Performing Arts, Patiala; and Ishmeet Music Academy in Ludhiana. The meeting was called to review the progress of these projects. Sources said the review became difficult as the districts chiefs were not present. “We were called up on the phone for the review,” said a DC. Pannu, however, told The Tribune that they had not called any DC in view of the code of conduct. Meanwhile, an official spokesperson said the Chief Minister had asked GMADA for Baba Banda Singh Bahadur War Memorial; GLADA for Ishmeet Music Academy and Maharaj Dalip Singh Memorial; PDA for Harpal Tiwana Academy and Wadda Ghallughara Martyrs Memorial; and ADA for Chhota Ghallughara Kahnuwan Chhambh Shaheedi Memorial to take over the possession of these projects from the PWD (B&R) Department. The Chief Minister also asked the officers to chalk out a time-bound action programme to ensure smooth and hassle free functioning of these memorials. He also asked Secretary, Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Dr Karamjit Singh Sra, to launch a media campaign to acquaint people about the historical importance of these projects. Badal assured the implementation agencies that funds would not be a problem. The CM also directed Cheema and Pannu to personally visit the memorial sites to accelerate the pace of activities relating to the handing over of the memorials to the agencies concerned.
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Act fast on plea to destroy RDX in police stations: HC
Chandigarh, February 6 The directions came during resumed hearing of the PIL filed by advocate HC Arora. He was seeking directions to the Punjab Police and the Army authorities to join hands for destroying the huge stock of RDX and other explosive material lying in the malkhanas of police stations. The state produced a copy of its letter dated February 1, signed by Deputy Secretary (Home), Punjab, and addressed to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and the Union Ministry of Defence jointly. A request has been made vide the letters for providing a specialised unit of the Army located in or around Punjab with the capability of destroying the explosives. The letter states huge stocks of explosives, including RDX detonators, igniting wires, solar timers, ID receivers, rocket launchers and hand grenades, are lying at malkhanas at Khanna, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar and Dhuri police stations. “Pilferage of such explosives in the hands of anti-social elements can be very dangerous for the security of the state. It may also cause loss to the building of the police stations or malkhanas where it is kept. The reason for non-disposal of the explosive material is that the Punjab Police is not adequately equipped to dispose of the same without the assistance of the Army authorities”. Taking the letter on record, the Bench headed by Justice MM Kumar directed the Union of India, through its counsel, to take a decision on the Punjab Government’s communication within two weeks and to file an affidavit before the court. The PIL has been adjourned to March 5 for further hearing.
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Berths for senior leaders only: Capt
“This will ensure there is no bickering as we have only a limited number of 17 ministries”. He said young MLAs, including one-time legislators, would have to wait for their turnand party general secretary and Dhuri candidate Arvind Khanna could serve as a Parliamentary Secretary. Senior bureaucrats and police officers were present at the Lohri celebrations of the grandson of Amarinder’s former media adviser Bharatinder Chahal two days back. Among those who attended were Sudhir Mittal and ADGPs Rajinder Singh and SK Sharma. Sources said Rajinder Singh, who had been suspended during thr SAD-BJP rule, was among those in the race for the post of DGP, Punjab, if the Congress returned to power. The PCC chief will soon leave for Uttar Pradesh to campaign for the party in areas with a large Sikh population.
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Mystery
killing
Ludhiana, February 6 While the Chevrolet Optra of the DSP was recovered from Balloke village last night, Toyota Innova of Monica was found abandoned near Sacred Heart School in BRS Nagar here late last night. According to police sources, both the cars were driven for nearly 700 km each before being abandoned at two different locations. The police arrived at a conclusion that the killers abandoned the vehicles after exhausting the available fuel. It has questioned Narinder Pal Singh, the owner of Chevrolet Optra (the car used by the DSP) and Monica’s husband about the mileage of the vehicles. The culprits did not touch the expensive car accessories of both the vehicles. While they tampered with the number plate of the DSP’s vehicle, the registration number of Toyota Innova remained the same. The sources said the police got information about the car during the evening and launched a massive search operation in Ladhowal, Noorpur Bet, Balloke and Hambran villages. “Earlier, the police was working on the theory that the killers might be nabbed along with the vehicles. But, we are now deprived of a crucial lead,” said a police official.
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Yellow rust attacks wheat crop in three districts
Chandigarh, February 6 Yellow rust had turned into an epidemic in 2008-09 and caused a fall in the crop yield by 2 to 6 quintals per acre in the sub-mountainous areas of Punjab. Yellow rust has been detected in Patti, Dher, Surewal, Fatehpur, Daula Taprian, Fatehgrah Viran, Rasidpur and Fasemund of Roopnagar district; Chhadhauri and Jagatpur villages in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar; and Baghpur and Pungha Blak villages in Hoshiarpur district, said TS Thind, Head, Department of Plant Pathology, PAU. The disease has been detected despite Punjab taking several remedial measures, like replacing seed varieties highly susceptible to yellow rust. Yellow rust is a fungal disease which attacks the leaves of the wheat plant forming yellow stripes and thereby affecting photosynthesis that causes shrivelling of the grain size. Describing the current weather conditions conducive for the spread of the disease, farm scientists have advised farmers to apply recommended fungicides to control it. The disease can be recognised from the elongated yellow powdery stripes on the lower leaves of the crop. Last year, the disease had attacked wheat fields in Haryana.
— PTI
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No funds to publish books, conduct exams
Mohali, February 6 As an austerity measure, the board today decided not to constitute flying squads during annual board examinations, presently being conducted through semester system, as it cost the board around Rs 40 lakh annually. Instead, the District Education Officers have been asked to constitute the
flying squads. Sources in the board said that the maximum amount was pending with the Social Welfare Department and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) on account of exemption of the examination fee for the SC students and publication of books. Dr Dalbir Singh Dhillon, Chairman of the PSEB, said for the release of nearly Rs 50 crore, a letter has sent to the Punjab Chief Secretary. "Of the total amount, Rs 27.47 crore is pending with the SSA, whereas Rs 10 crore has been released recently," he said. An officer said that Rs 27.47 crore was pending with the SSA, Rs 46.71 crore with the Social Welfare Department and Rs 30 crore as examination fee of SC candidates. A senior board officer said for the past nearly 10 years, the Social Welfare Department has not released the funds on account of examination fee waiver to the SC students. Against an amount of Rs 4 crore, which was paid by the board, the Social Welfare Department released around Rs 1 crore only. Printing work of about two crore textbooks of different subjects was also affected. This year, nearly 60 per cent of the textbooks could be printed, as publishers demanded pending money to print the remaining books. Apart from paying the salary of the employees, the board has to spend lakhs of rupees on running Adarsh schools under its ambit.
Pending money
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Health Dept raids clinic, seizes drugs
Bathinda, February 6 Medicines were seized from his clinic on a complaint lodged by Yogesh
Batish, vice-president of the Shiv Sena, Punjab. In his complaint to the Director, Health, the Drug Controller and the Health Minister, Batish alleged that Bhateja had flouted rules under the Drugs and Magic Remedies Act, giving advertisements in pamphlets with “sordid details of human body” to mislead the people and get more
clients. Bhateja refused the allegations, contending that it was a conspiracy to tarnish his image. “ The Health Department had sought documentary evidence and collected samples of medicines earlier too. The complaint has been made with the motive to blackmail me,” Bhateja said. The health officials said they had acted on instructions from the Chief Medical Officer. “We have collected samples of medicines and asked him to prove his qualifications,” said Dr Dileep Singh, Senior Medical Officer, Rampura
Phul. He said a team of two drug inspectors, Dr Lakhwant Singh and Dr Prabhdeep Singh, from Bathinda accompanied him during the crackdown. The SMO said the documents gathered from Bhateja would be sent for legal scrutiny. An RTI report, a copy of which is with The Tribune, shows that the district department has no record on Bhateja’s professional qualification and that there is no authorised unit or factory in the name of “Vijay Pal Hospital and Pharmaceuticals.” The RTI says a technical committee formed to look into the contents of advertisements by Satpal Bhateja and lady doctor Vijay Pal Bhateja had found that these violated Sections 3 (b), 3 (d) and 4 of the Drugs and Magic Remedies Objectionable Advertisement Act, 1954.
Bhateja had been told to submit a reply in this regard (via letter dated January 10, 2012), but a reply was still awaited.
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ICP will boost trade ties: Pak official
Amritsar, February 6 The Pakistani official said the setting up of a hotline between the two countries on the rail route to check illegal trade practices was in the pipeline. “Hopefully, it will start soon,” he said. However, the Indian custom officials said they had not yet received any intimation from the government regarding the inauguration of the ICP. On the other hand, reports in a section of the Pakistan media speak about the ceremonial opening of the dedicated gate for Indo-Pak trade on February 13 and not the ICP, as mentioned by the Pakistan custom officials here. The reports say a decision in this regard was reached after a delegation of Indian regulators, which visited Pakistan last week, requested the authorities there for the same as the Indian Commerce Minister was slated to visit the neighbouring nation to open Made in India trade show and exhibition at Lahore Expo Centre on February 13. Spread over 130 acres and built at a cost of Rs 150 crore, the ICP’s foundation stone was laid by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on February 20, 2010, and it was expected to come up in 14 months. However, fund crunch hit the ambitious project midway and it got delayed by 10 months.
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For rural youth, IAS coaching in Punjabi
Patiala, February 6 Dr Harjinder Singh Walia, director of the centre, said that many youngsters in rural areas despite being intelligent rarely go for civil services due to fear of English language. "Therefore, we have taken this initiative to apprise people that Punjabi University provides civil services training in their mother tongue - Punjabi. It will certainly attract more youth," he added. He said the step has been taken under the guidance of Vice Chancellor Dr Jaspal Singh, who wants to ensure that more and more students from rural areas should come forward for this training. He said, "I myself is visiting various colleges to inform students about subjects combination before going for the preparations. Most of them, including many tutors, are unaware as how to prepare for this exam. Therefore, we will hold counselling sessions for them and also take English classes to help them understand the language better." Under this initiative, a lecture would be held at a college at Bhador village on February 10, which would be followed by lectures at Shanti Tara College, Morinda College, University College, Ghanaur, Rampura Phool, Rajpura and
Barnala.
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Awaiting salary, computer teachers to boycott classes
Patiala, February 6 Manjeet Singh, a member of the association, said that they would be forced to take the extreme step in case the government fails to release their salary. "After our regularisation, we were given salary only for two months -- July and August -- and since then, five months have passed and we are still waiting for the salary, said Manjeet Singh. "Every time we meet senior officers, they says they are helpless as the salary has not been released by the Chandigarh treasury. This is really shocking. When teachers of all other subjects are getting their salaries regularly, why we have been singled out? The government should make a common procedure for all teachers to draw salary and like other teachers, computer teachers should also be given salary by the local treasuries and not by the Chandigarh office," he added. Another computer teacher said that what was the point of regularising their services when the government could not afford the salary. "While working on contractual basis, our salary was only Rs 10,000, but we were getting it regularly. Now, our salary is around Rs 26,000, but we are struggling for it. It is better to get Rs 10,000 instead of nothing," he added.
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PPCB: Not going slow on raids
Patiala, February 6 Following The Tribune report that the PPCB has suspended its surprise raids since past one-and-half months, the PPCB issued a release today claiming that on February 3 and 4, the board had conducted surprise inspection of healthcare institutions in Patiala. Environmental Engineer Pawan Kumar Garg stated that on February 3 and 4 PPCB officers inspected 61 hospitals/healthcare institutes in Patiala to check violations regarding management and disposal of bio-medical waste by hospitals. But sources in the PPCB said that the inspection of health institutes was a routine matter and surprise raids were yet to be resumed. "Making inspection of any industry or institution is normal exercise undertaken by the board staff posted in their respective districts. But surprise raid is a meticulously planned exercise to nail the erring industries, defying pollution norms, on the spot", said a former chairman of the PPCB. Meanwhile, some of the board functionaries at the Patiala headquarters, dealing with districts of Jalandhar and Ludhiana, while preferring anonymity, maintained that they have indeed got verbal instructions that there will be no surprise raids as of now. However, refuting this, board chairman Ravinder Singh stated in a release that the board was performing its duty with full dedication and devotion as per the law of the land. "The routine work of the board is going on as usual including industrial visits and surprise visits", he added.
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DSGMC poll: Akalis gear up for February 9 meeting
Amritsar, February 6 SAD secretary Daljeet Singh Cheema said, “SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal has called a meeting of the senior party leaders in Delhi on February 9 to evolve a strategy for the DSGMC elections. After the meeting, our leaders will visit different areas of Delhi and also initiate talks with Sikh organisations there before deciding the party candidates. We will declare all our candidates before February 16, the day the nomination process begins.” Regarding the issues, he said they would “expose the true face” of DSGMC chief Paramjit Singh Sarna among the electorate during the poll campaign. “Sarna has tried to dissociate the Sikh Sangat from the Akal Takht. The management of various gurdwaras is in a pathetic state while the schools being run by the DSGMC are on the verge of closure,” he said. Cheema also accused Sarna of exploiting DSGMC funds for weakening the SAD and the SGPC, besides appeasing the Congress. He also alleged that the DSGMC under Sarna did nothing for the 1984 anti-Sikh riot victims and instead gave clean chit to the Congress. He said they would fight the DSGMC elections on the plank of clean and transparent management of shrines as per Sikh maryada, providing quality education in its institutions, propagating Sikhism and rooting out corruption.
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Feedback from election staff sought
Moga, February 6 The DMs have been told to give a detailed report on whether the election related tasks were implemented in the right earnest or there were any hurdles that could be removed in future. In a letter to all the DMs through the Chief Electoral Officer, the EC has asked the officials to list out the best practices and innovations by also seeking reports from the returning officers. Feedback could also be taken from the political parties and the media. Also list out the problems, if any, faced by the administration, the DMs told. The main objective of this exercise is to bring holistic reforms in the election process so as to save the nation from the clutches of money and muscle power, mafia, communalism, casteism, criminalisation and corruption. Even as the EC has enhanced its credibility by conducting free and fair elections, there were reports of use of excessive and unaccounted money power in many constituencies of the Malwa belt, which holds the key to power. The analytical report sought from the district magistrates aims at plugging the loopholes of bad practices being adopted by the political parties and the candidates so that further reforms could be initiated in the near future to cleanse the democratic system.
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JET fee cut to Rs 50
Jalandhar, February 6 The board is also mulling reforms to encourage participation at school level by offering incentives to the district education officers for ensuring more participation from their respective districts. The test is slated to be held on May 19 this year. The board has also planned to hold a meeting of principals of all colleges to divulge plans and give handouts for promoting admission on February 9. Concerned over the fact that admissions to the polytechnics have fallen over the years, Principal Secretary, Technical Education, Suresh Kumar said quite a few reforms were being introduced by the board from this session. There are 126 polytechnic institutes across the state having 56,000 seats in 28 three-year diploma courses, including electronics engineering, civil engineering, computer engineering, plastic technology, leather technology, automobile engineering, IT, lab technology, fashion technology, textile engineering, pharmacy, architecture assistant, library sciences and pharmacy.
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Bhattal greets people on Guru Ravidass’ birth anniversary
Chandigarh, February 6 Bhattal, in a message here today, said the Guru’s teachings were universal, which taught us the equality of mankind irrespective of caste and creed. Exhorting the people to follow the path shown by the Guru so that they could live in peace and harmony, she said his teachings had even found place in the Guru Granth Sahib. His teachings, said she, needed to be followed if social evils were to be eradicated.
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Amritsar, February 6
Chandigarh, February 6