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Ministerspeak: Looking ahead
Badal for all-party meeting on terror
States must implement central schemes: Sibal
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Jakhar: Rein in anti-national elements
Cattle deaths: Hoshiarpur officials caught napping
1.30 lakh apply for 537 posts of jail warder
20 men apply for posts reserved for women
Fight Against Breast Cancer
Sufficient stocks of gunny bags for procurement
Power subsidy: Govt fails to release monthly payment
Wheat arrival picks up in Patiala mandis
BSF women constables kill two intruders
Sarabjit case: Indian advocates file mercy plea with Zardari
MGNREGA staff upset over wages
Pak national files complaint with High Commission
Guidelines for training teachers
Two-day Sarab Bharti Punjabi meet from today
Clash in Faridkot jail, one injured
Student ends life
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Ministerspeak: Looking ahead
Begining today, The Tribune starts a series of interviews with key Punjab Ministers on their priorities.
What is your overall perspective on the state of Punjab’s economy? Punjab’s economy is not in a shambles as has been projected for some time now. Agreed that the state’s debt has
soared to a whopping Rs 77,585 crore. But at a recent meeting with top representatives of the Union Finance Ministry, officials accepted that Punjab is not a debt-stressed state. We are on target with the fiscal correction path laid out by the 13th Finance Commission. The debt to Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) ratio has fallen to 29.91 per cent against a target of 41.80 per cent fixed by the commission. Similarly, the fiscal deficit is 3.39 per cent of the GSDP against a target of 3.5 per cent while the revenue deficit is 1.30 per cent of the GSDP against a target of 1.80 per cent fixed by the commission. Punjab should be able to achieve revenue balance by 2014-15. What tops your agenda with regard to improving the state’s fiscal health? How do you propose to improve the state of finances, considering the SAD-BJP government’s reliance on sops to keep voters in good humour? Being a welfare state, we have to continue with our social welfare schemes and also expand their scope so that more and more people are benefited. But for this, we need additional resources. The priority is to reduce expenditure. The Secretary, Expenditure, has already been asked to look into how this can be done. In order to increase resources, we will have to plug all loopholes in tax collection, besides looking at ways and means to increase revenue. How will you increase revenue generation? Will you impose new taxes? Have you been able to identify the challenges in implementing various programmes? We have already calculated the additional cost of implementing various welfare measures announced by the Chief Minister in the election manifesto, which is around Rs 10,000 crore. We have had meetings with the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister, apprising them of additional revenue requirements. How to go about it — whether by a marginal increase in taxes or by plugging loopholes in tax collection and cutting down expenditure — is something that has to be decided at the Cabinet level. Does Punjab have enough funds to continue with the existing welfare schemes, leave aside implementing new promises made in the poll manifesto? The biggest challenge before me is to do the balancing act — fulfil the promises made in the election manifesto and carrying on with the existing welfare schemes. Though the state’s own tax revenues are increasing, the state’s share from devolution of Central taxes has gone down from 2.450 per cent in 1970-75 to 1.389 per cent in 2010-15. But we are firm in our commitment to the people of Punjab and will definitely honour all our promises. Is there a schedule worked out to implement the promises? Yes. The party leadership is aiming at quick deliverance, though in the first year, we will implement these schemes with some limitation as we have to work out ways to increase resources. But all promises will be fulfilled on a priority basis.
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Badal for all-party meeting on terror
Jalandhar/Amritsar, April 29 Stressing upon the need to take "sincere" steps to tackle poverty, illiteracy and unemployment, Badal, who was in Jalandhar to attend a Shaheed Parivar Fund function, said these factors made youngsters prone to adopting gun culture. "The Union Government should call a meeting to discuss measures to eradicate root causes of terrorism," he said. Badal said security forces, including police, paramilitary forces and the Army, alone cannot tackle the menace. "The Centre and state governments should chalk out a strategy to deal with unemployment," he said. However, the Chief Minister did not speak anything about the policies adopted by the SAD-BJP government to deal with such issues. About rising drug addiction and corruption, he said the society could not get rid of these evils without active public participation. Calling for proper sealing of international border to check smuggling of drugs from Afghanistan, he said the sale of poppy husk in neighbouring Rajasthan should also be banned. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prof Prem Kumar Dhumal, CPI national executive member Dr Jogendra Dayal, Congress Legislature Party leader in Punjab Assembly Sunil Jakhar, Local Bodies Minister Bhagat Chunni Lal, BJP spokesman Manoranjan Kalia, Himachal Congress president Kaul Singh Thakur and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha chief Anurag Thakur were also present on the occasion. In Amritsar, the Chief Minister said the SAD-BJP government was committed to revitalise the state’s education system in the next two years. Addressing a gathering during the convocation of Khalsa College, the Chief Minister said complete transformation of the education system was a priority. He said his government was aware about the need for quality education in today’s competitive age. He said he had already directed officials of the Education Department to submit a report regarding the requirement of infrastructure, staff and other things needed for a complete overhaul of the primary, secondary and higher education in the state. The Chief Minister claimed that as a result of concerted efforts of the government, Punjab, which earlier ranked 14th in the field of education, now ranked third in the country. He said due to tough posture of the Union Government, Punjab was denied permission to create scientific storage (silos) for foodgrains. Calling for a change of guard at the Centre, Badal urged the people to reject the Congress-led UPA in the next Lok Sabha elections to safeguard the interests of Punjab.
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States must implement central schemes: Sibal
Jalandhar, April 29 “The states must implement central schemes so as to ensure benefit reaches the target population,” the Union Minister said. Accusing the Opposition of adopting double standards on various issues, Sibal said, "The Opposition leaders need to change their strategy and co-operate with the government." He said a number of Bills pertaining to reforms in the education sector were pending in Parliament for the last over two years despite having been cleared by standing committees comprising members from different political parties. Sibal said education and health were two key sectors that needed to be focused upon for the better future of the country. “Education was ignored when it was a state subject till 1974…. It has been included in the concurrent list, still most of the rights regarding providing quality education lie with the states,” he pointed out.
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Jakhar: Rein in anti-national elements
Jalandhar, April 29 Speaking at a function here today, the CLP leader said Punjabis in general and those belonging to a particular community were scared as a number of youths brandishing swords had raised slogans in support of Khalistan and Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale during Punjab bandh observed to demand clemency for Balwant Singh Rajoana. Stating that Badal was a liberal face in his fundamentalist party, Jakhar said: He is custodian of all communities and he should ensure that such incidents should not occur as the same thing had happened before the beginning of terrorism several decades ago”.
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Cattle deaths: Hoshiarpur officials caught napping
The death of 18 cattle heads in less than three months in Mukerian and Dasuya areas of the district has caught officials of the District Animal Husbandry Department napping.
The exact cause of the deaths has not yet been ascertained. However, Dr Chamal
Lal, deputy director, Animal Husbandry Department, claimed that theleria anaplasma (a disease caused due to ticks) and foot and mouth (FM) diseases had taken a toll on livestock at Mansoorpur and Haler Janardhan villages. In February this year, 15 animals, including a majority of cow calves of Holstein Fresian breed, had died in less than 11 days at Haler Janardhan village, while three pregnant cows of the same breed had died two days ago at a dairy farm at Mansoorpur village. After of mysterious deaths of milch cattle spread in the area, officials of the district Animal Husbandry Department swung into action and even initiated action against a veterinary doctor under whose jurisdiction Haler Janardhan village was located. Dr
Lal, along with his team, visited the dairy farm at Mansoorpur village and took stock of the situation. A team of pathologists from Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory,
Jalandhar, was also called in. Dr PP Singh and his team took blood samples of animals for medical
examinations. Bhupinder Singh, owner of the dairy farm having 132 cattle, said he had purchased over 20 cows from a
Ropar-based farm a couple of days ago. He said three cows, which were brought from
Ropar, had died, while the herd of his own cows was safe. Dr Lal said animals at the dairy farm had died due to theleria anaplasma and animals (mostly calves) at Haler Janardhan village had died due to the FM. Vaccination against the FM disease would be launched in the area next month, he
added. Charanjit Singh, a senior veterinary doctor said, the department had advised farmers to vaccinate their animals as per scheduled dates.
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1.30 lakh apply for 537 posts of jail warder
Muktsar, April 29 A jail warder is an official equivalent to the rank of a constable in the police. But, call it craze for government job or their need, 242 times more applicants have applied for these posts. During the physical tests being held at Guru Gobind Singh Stadium in Muktsar, it was found that 4,700 applicants had applied for the posts in Muktsar district alone. The recruitment drive started on April 23 and would conclude on April 28; thereafter, the interviews would be conducted. An official of the Prison Department said recruitment for the posts of warder was being done after almost two decades, which was last time held in 1992. About the reason behind such a large number of applicants, the official replied the job entailed a good salary. Muktsar Sub-Jail superintendent Shivraj Singh, who was conducting physical tests of the applicants, said, “There are a number of applicants who have postgraduate degrees. It will really prove helpful for us if such qualified people join the department… an educated person is usually competent.” He said a jail basically warder had to keep an eye over prisoners. An applicant, Gurinder Singh who is pursuing his Masters in Arts, said, “It is better to get a government job rather than sitting idle or studying further.” DGP (Prisons) Shashi Kant confirmed 1.30 lakh applications had been received. “Three boards have been constituted to conduct the tests all across the state,” he said. Tough contest
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20 men apply for posts reserved for women
Ludhiana, April 29 They were disqualified after their documents were scanned by the Jail Department, which was conducting the recruitment. A recruitment official said apparently these applicants failed to notice on the advertisement published for the posts that they were reserved for female candidates. “The revelation that I had applied for a wrong post came a surprise to me,” he said. Recruitment incharge Jagjit Singh said, “So far, 20 male applicants who had applied for the posts of matron have been disqualified,” he said.
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Morinda bypass: Work on rail overbridge resumed
Chandigarh, April 29 Though the incomplete Morinda bypass, with only one of two rail over-bridges(ROBs) completed, was thrown open to traffic on August 1, 2006, work on the second ROB saw various hurdles. A dispute between the Indian Railway and the civil contractor and delay in lowering the high-tension overhead power cable are the “official” causes for the delay in the completion of the second ROB. Some misunderstanding between the Punjab Government and the Railways rendered the approach ramps, completed in 2006, useless, wasting an investment of crores of rupees. So much so that columns on which the joining slab is now being laid were completed in 2008. Section Engineer BK Narang admits delay in the completion of the second ROB. He cites many reasons. He says since the Chandigarh-Morinda rail track is electrified, lowering of the high-tension power cable proved to be a highly technical job. “We tried constructing speed barriers and putting up steel barricades to prevent the movement of commercial vehicles, including trucks and buses, but without any success. Road users would dismantle all such structure, forcing us to delay the cable work. “Finally we had to take police help. Now the police have put up check barriers on either side of the bypass 1.5 ft below the proposed joining slab. We brought down the high-tension (HT) cable in early April. Under safety rules, the HT cable has to be 1.5 ft below an overhead bridge and from the roof of the rail coach. “We had a dispute with the earlier contractor. Now we have a new contractor. All the scaffoldings are new. Till the joining slab is laid, we are observing all safety norms, allowing trains to move at a speed of 20 km an hour,” says Narang, quoting from a survey conducted by the Railways that says 44,232 vehicles use the bypasss everyday. Though work on laying the joining slab is in full swing, the Public Works Department and Infrastructure Development Board are yet to start work on joining the approach ramps with the Chandigarh-Ludhiana road. Says PS Aujla, Principal Secretary, PWD, Punjab: “ Soon after taking over, I wanted this long-pending project to be taken up on a war footing. I have fixed May 30 as the deadline for the completion of the second ROB.” Senior Railways and PWD officials have been visiting the site regularly to oversee the progress of work. The approach ramps, too, will need a fresh strip of premix. Even the stormwater drainage channels, now chocked, need to be cleared before the onset of the South-West Monsoon. About the bridge
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Fight Against Breast Cancer
Moga, April 29 Talking to The Tribune from Manchester (UK) on the phone, Kulwant Singh Dhaliwal, global ambassador of the organisation, said the growing number of breast cancer cases in the state was a matter of concern. The issue needed to be addressed by roping in the support of the Centre, the state government and social organisations. Maintaining that early detection of breast cancer could help cure the disease, he said Roko Cancer had decided to distribute 10,000 specially designed gloves among women doctors and nurses for detecting breast lumps. “The glove costs around Rs 800 a pair but we will provide these free of cost to help save women in Punjab from this deadly disease,” he said. “The gloves provide a safe and effective way for every woman to carry out breast self-examination.The gloves magnify the sense of human fingers allowing lumps of the size of a grain to be detected, which is not possible with bare hands,” Dhaliwal explained. He said clinical trials of these gloves in several countries in Europe had proved its efficacy and these were widely used by women in the UK at home for self-examination. He said Roko Cancer, which had been conducting mammography tests free of cost in collaboration with NRIs and the state Health Department for the past few years, had performed over 20,000 such tests in the state. “More than 1,000 cases of breast cancer have been confirmed. in the state and the results of another 2,000 are awaited”. He said in the past couple of years, 200 women had been found suffering from breast cancer in Moga and Muktsar districts, 175 in Ferozepur district and 135 in Faridkot. There were hundreds of suspected cases in the Malwa belt.Stressing the need to make concerted efforts to spread awareness about breast cancer in Punjab, Dhaliwal said breast cancer was one of the leading causes of cancer deaths among women. Roko Cancer says... 200 women found suffering from breast cancer in Moga amd Muktsar districts
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Sufficient stocks of gunny bags for procurement
Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Adesh Partap Singh Kairon today reviewed the procurement of wheat with Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister SK Sandhu. The Department of Agriculture has projected a market surplus of 108 lakh metric tonnes for the current rabi season. Making arrangements for the procurement of 115 lakh tonnes of wheat, it has already received jute bales for 111 lakh tonnes. Various procurement agencies have purchased 75.64 lakh tonnes of wheat so far. The state would be procuring 1.5 lakh metric tonnes of wheat for the state pool for its own atta-dal scheme. “To reduce the cost, wheat will be procured in once used bags. New gunny bags would be only used for the procurement of wheat for the Central pool,” Grewal added.
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Power subsidy: Govt fails to release monthly
payment
Patiala, April 29 This time, the state government has failed to implement the Commission's orders that till date Tariff Order (TO) for 2012-13 has not been announced by the Commission, the old tariff will continue but subject to the condition that the state government continues to pay subsidy to the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) in respect of the categories already been subsidised for the power. But in defiance of the Commission's orders, the state government has failed to release Rs 349.08 crore in lieu of advance monthly payment for the free power subsidy. As per the PSERC orders, the state government was supposed to release the subsidy amount on April 1. A source said on April 27, the state government had released only half of the subsidy amount to the Power Corporation. PSPCL Director (Finance) SC Arora said, "Most likely we will get the balance subsidy for the month of April on Monday." However, exposing the excuses of the authorities, a copy of the PSERC orders issued on March 27, 2012, which is with TNS reads, "As per the Tariff Order dated May 9, 2011-12, the tariff structure mentioned therein is to remain operative till March 31, 2012. In view of the fact that the determination of the Aggregate Revenue Requirement (ARR) for the fiscal year 2012-13 is under process and likely to take some more time, the existing tariff is ordered to be charged from all category of consumers with effect from April 1, 2012 till the date of issue of the tariff Order for 2012-13, subject to the condition that the state government continues to pay subsidy to the PSPCL in respect of the categories already been subsidised." Meanwhile, expressing his concern over the defiance of the Commission orders, a power sector expert, Padamjit Singh, said the state government had all along considered the Commission as its subordinate office and treated its orders with contempt. "The aim and object of enacting the Electricity Act, 2003 to distance the government from tariff has utterly failed. This is a serious matter to be considered in the forum of regulators as well as by the Union Government," he said.
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Wheat arrival picks up in Patiala mandis
Patiala, April 29 Following slow start to wheat procurement and even slower lifting by agencies, the situation in mandis across the district does not look too good. However, with senior officers visiting mandis every second day, authorities are also on toes to ensure clearance of procured wheat at the earliest. Six state government agencies and the Centre's Food Corporation of India are procuring wheat. While Pungrain has procured 1.16 lakh metric tonne (MT) wheat, Markfed 2.38 lakh MT, Punsup 3.32 lakh MT, Warehouse 67,000 MT, Punjab Agro 1.05 lakh MT and the FCI 90,000 MT in addition to private buying. The last fortnight saw less arrival of wheat due to untimely rains. But with record arrival of wheat, farmers found little space in mandis to spread their produce. "The whole mandi is full and there is no space left for me. I have no other option but to wait," said Beerinder Singh, a farmer from Samana. Rules stipulate that procured stocks have to be lifted within three days, but usually it gets delayed during peak season due to sudden arrival. "Lifting of stock is slow due to shortage of space with agencies. But efforts are on to lift as much as possible," said an official deputed in a
mandi.
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BSF women constables kill two intruders
Amritsar, April 29 An unidentified Pakistani national tried to enter into the Indian side of the border near Dera Baba Nanak (Gurdaspur) border out post at about 1.30am. Women constables of the 74th battalion of the BSF challenged him. Confirming this, PK Bains, DIG, BSF, said when the accused did not retrieve, woman constables opened fire killing him on the spot. This is perhaps for the first time that a Pakistani national was killed by women constables. The BSF recovered a Pakistani mobile and a SIM card from near the body, which was later handed over to the police. In a second incident, near BoP Chhanna at Ramdas village on April 28, an unidentified person tried to cross over into India. When he was challenged by women constables, instead of stopping, he tried to flee while taking advantage of the standing crop. The constables opened fire, which hit him. He died on the spot. The BSF authorities found Rs 195 of Pakistani currency notes from his possession. Subash Chander, Company Commandant, B-company, 74th Battalion, lodged a complaint with the Ramdas police station in this regard. The BSF authorities handed over the body to the police for further action.
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Sarabjit case: Indian advocates file mercy plea with Zardari
Amritsar, April 29 Talking to The Tribune, BM Vinayak, a member of the delegation, here today said they also met Sarabjit Singh and Interior Minister Rehman Malik. Vinayak, a member of the Punjab and Haryana Bar Council, said Sarabjit was lodged in a solitary confinement cell number E-7. Sarabjit had grown his beard and was wearing a skullcap, he said. "He was happy to see us and expressed his desire to meet his daughters," said Vinayak. He said, "We took up Sarabjit's case with Interior Minister Malik during a lunch hosted by him. He informed us that Presidential pardon is the only way now. We requested him to arrange a meeting with Sarabjit and he happily obliged us." He said they wrote the mercy petition citing humanitarian grounds. "Sarabjit has served 22 years in jail. His family too has suffered a lot. Further, his confinement will serve no purpose. But the President can grant him a pardon as a good will gesture to built cordial relations," said Vinayak adding that Malik had promised to follow up the matter with President Zardari. Vinayak claimed that 33 Indians, including three women, were lodged in Kot Lakhpat Jail. "Two more Indians, excluding Sarabjit, have been sentenced to death. We have confirmed that 17 more Indians are in other district jails," said Vinayak. The Interior Minister has extended visa for a year to all the 15 members of the delegation. A resident of Bhikhiwind in Tarn Taran district, Sarabjit was convicted for the 1990 serial bomb blasts in Lahore and Multan in which 14 people were killed. Sarabjit was to be hanged in 2008. His execution was put off indefinitely following intervention of Pakistan Prime Minster Yousuf Raza Gilani. However, his family members, especially his sister Dalbir Kaur, said that Sarabjit was wrongly convicted and the case was that of a "mistaken identity".
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MGNREGA staff upset over wages
Bathinda, April 29 These include seven assistant programme officers (APOs), 11 computer operators, 89 Gram Rozgar Sewaks, eight technical assistants, one complaint assistant and one accounts manager. In Bathinda district the APO gets Rs 12,000 per month, accounts manager Rs 9,000, technical assistant Rs 8,000, complaint assistant Rs 8,000, computer operator Rs 6,000 and the Gram Rozgar Sewak Rs 3,500. Sources said there was no uniformity in the salaries/ wages of employees in the state as in some districts the deputy commissioners had been paying higher wages to the MGNREGA contract employees as compared to the Bathinda district. Due to the meagre salaries/wages in the times of inflation, they said they could hardly make both ends meet amd shoulder their domestic expenses. Sources also said the monthly wages of the Gram Rozgar Sewaks were just equal to the MGNREGA workers as a MGNREGA worker in Punjab was now getting Rs 166 as wages per day. Besides, the MGNREGA contract employees’ salaries/wages had not been increased during the past three years though the daily wages of the MGNREGA workers had been increased three or four times so far. Besides, no annual increment had been given to them so far, they added.
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Pak national files complaint with High Commission Faridkot, April 28 In response to her complaint, the Deputy High Commissioner in Pakistan Embassy at New Delhi, Babar Amin, has asked Tahira to submit details of the incident, including the hotel where she was staying, the exact description of the items stolen, the FIR number. Tahira, the wife of a Lahore-based industrialist Khalid Sufi, was in Faridkot to get treatment for her seven-year-old mentally-challenged son at a naturopathy centre. She had reached Faridkot on April 4 and stayed in a hotel. On April 15 evening, when she was returning to the hotel along with her two sons, three motorcycle-borne miscreants snatched her bag containing travel documents, some valuable goods and Pakistani currency worth over Rs 3 lakh.
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Guidelines for training teachers
Bathinda, April 29 As per the directions, the training of the primary teachers will be done over five days, the upper primary teachers would be trained over a span of 10 days. At the block level, the training groups would comprise a maximum of 30-40 teachers. The training would happen in six phases, starting in the third week of July.
— TNS
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Two-day Sarab Bharti Punjabi meet from today
Patiala, April 29 University Vice Chancellor Dr Jaspal Singh said with an aim to instill linguistic and cultural awareness among Punjabis living in states other than Punjab, the conference was started in 2008.
— TNS
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Clash in Faridkot jail, one injured
The victim has been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital here. Old enmity between two groups of Moga district is said to have resulted in the clash. Sources said the victim, Mandeep, alias Goldy, of Dodhar village of Moga, was in jail for over two years for murdering a former sarpanch of Dodhar village in March 2010. Mandeep was shifted to Faridkot from Ferozepur Central Jail two weeks ago. It is alleged that members of a gang in the jail, led by Kulwinder Singh, attacked Mandeep and his supporters. “We have informed the Faridkot police and ordered an inquiry,” said Paramjit Singh Sandhu, deputy jail superintendent. Mandeep’s supporter, Harnek Singh, alleged that the jail staff provided sharp-edged weapons to Kulwinder Singh and his group. Mandeep was attacked at the instance of family members of the slain former sarpanch, he alleged.
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Amloh, April 29 Owner of the house Harbhajan Singh told the police that Abhishek Kumar (26), a second year student of Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery and a resident of Panchour in Uttrakhand, was staying as paying guest for the past two years at his house. Investigating Officer Balbir Singh said Harbhajan Singh informed the police that body of Abhishek was found hanging with the window grill. On the statement of Harbhajan Singh, police initiated proceedings under section 174 of the CrPC and sent the body to Civil Hospital for post mortem examination, which was later handed over to the family members of the deceased. — OC
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Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has urged the Centre to call an all-party meeting to discuss reasons behind several youths taking to terrorism.
State’s youngest Finance Minister, Parminder Singh Dhindsa, wears a crown of thorns. With the state’s debt burden soaring to Rs 77,585 crore and its own revenue generation not keeping pace with expenditure, the minister faces an uphill task in getting the state’s economy back on track. In an interview with Ruchika M. Khanna, the minister discusses Punjab’s economy and the challenges ahead.
The main priority is to generate more resources and to cut down on wasteful expenditure so that more funds are available for development activities and various welfare schemes. Though the state’s own tax revenue has increased from Rs 16,828 crore in 2010-11 to RS 20,408 crore in 2011-12, showing a growth of 21.27 per cent, we need a much higher growth in revenue in order to sustain the growth momentum that our government launched during its previous term.
The additional revenue will come mainly through curtailing administrative expenditure. We could emulate the Haryana model where administrative expenditure is being brought down by 10 per cent annually in the past two years. This could mean a freeze on buying new vehicles, cutting down on office expenditure and rationalising office staff. We could also look at increasing service charges marginally. People are not averse to paying more, provided they get efficient services. We also look to the Opposition for a constructive approach in helping us take Punjab forward. 
Chandigarh, April 29
Faridkot, April 29