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Need to boost sanitation in villages: Ramesh
4 names cleared for elevation to HC Bench
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Kidnapped Dirba SHO rescued from Rajasthan
Sukhbir to woo IT giants
‘Fake’ encounter case
Timeless storyteller little remembered in his own village
Reforms commission wants delivery of services monitored
Vet among 3 suspended for giving expired medicines
Contractors say rules bent to favour chosen few
State to keep
record of dairy cattle
Ferozepur Cantt Board member quizzed
Police teams to look for body
HC rules out govt servant status to panchayat secretaries
Bathinda MC to maintain Focal Point, court told
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Need to boost sanitation in villages: Ramesh
Amritsar, May 11 Addressing mediapersons, after paying obeisance at the Golden Temple, Ramesh , who is on a two-day Punjab visit, said: “Some border areas are thinly populated and, hence, cannot be covered under PMGSY norms. However, to upgrade road connectivity in these areas, we have decided not to apply the population clause. In Punjab, we are upgrading roads (1,800 km) in Amritsar, Pathankot and Tarn Taran.” The Union Minister said the Centre would initiate measures to facilitate clean drinking water in Punjab villages, particularly those in the Malwa region, where the incidence of cancer was high. Admitting that adequate measures were not being taken to improve water quality, he said he would discuss the matter with the Punjab CM tomorrow. He stressed on the need to boost sanitation in Punjab villages. “Of the 16,000 village panchayats, only 200 have earned the status of Nirmal Gram Panchayat,” he said. The minister said rapid urbanisation had led to the mushrooming of small towns, which could neither be termed as urban nor rural. “To ensure that these towns are not deprived of rural development schemes, the government has chalked out a plan for their development.” Ramesh ruled out the possibility of giving foodgrain to labourers engaged under MNREGA. “Our past experience has been rather bad. Either the labourers were not given anything, or they received substandard grain.” The minister was presented a siropa by SGPC officials. During his visit to Qadian, the hometown of Gurdaspur MP Partap Bajwa, Ramesh addressed members of the Ahmadiya Muslim community. He was felicitated by Besides Congress MLAs Tripit Rajinder Singh Bajwa, SS Randhawa, Ashwani Sekhri, Aruna Chowdhury and Sukh Sarkaria, Punjab ministers SS Rakhra and SS Dhillon were among those who attended the function. Ramesh assured the Congress MLAs that he would take up the issue of a fiscal package for the border belt with the PM. Dera Baba Nanak legislator Sukhjinder S Randhawa urged him to hold an inquiry into the alleged misuse of funds meant for central schemes like MNREGA by state officials. Asked if central funds could be diverted for other purposes, Ramesh said there was no such provision.
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4 names cleared for elevation to HC Bench
Chandigarh, May 11 It is believed that the Supreme Court collegium has given its nod to the names of four district and sessions judges from Punjab while the names of two sessions judges from Haryana, Bharat Bhushan Parsoon and RC Godara, are yet to be cleared. Indications are that the apex court collegium has cleared the names of SP Bangar (Ludhiana), RP Nagrath (High Court Registrar-General), Rekha Mittal (Punjab Legal Remembrancer) and Inderjit Singh Walia (Jalandhar). Initially, the names of two more judicial officers, Varinder Kumar and KK Garg, both from Punjab. were taken up for elevation as High Court Judges, but were later dropped. Indications are that Varinder Kumar’s name was dropped on medical grounds. The development is significant as the High Court, as of now, has just 40 Judges, against the sanctioned strength of 68. The number is expected to fall further with the impending transfer of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur to the Rajasthan High Court as a permanent Judge and Justice Alok Singh to the Jharkand High Court. Acting Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Justice MM Kumar, too, is to be administered oath as Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in about a fortnight. Currently, the High Court has approximately two lakh pending cases. The High Court has put in place a slew of measures to check the problem of pendency, including expeditious disposal of PILs, but the problem remains in the absence of adequate number of Judges.
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Kidnapped Dirba SHO rescued from Rajasthan
Sangrur, May 11 Sangrur SSP HS Bhullar said Pannu was kidnapped by a person identified as Rimpal with the help of his four accomplices. Robbery was stated to be the reason behind the kidnapping. The accused are still at large along with Pannu’s Swift car (DL 9 CN 6541). On April 8, a case in connection with the murder of Gurdev Kaur was registered at Dirba police station and Pannu was made the probe incharge. “Rimpal, whose link to the case could not be established so far, called up Pannu on May 8 and demanded Rs 2 lakh in lieu of providing vital information pertaining to the case. The accused asked the police official to come in civvies to meet him at a marriage palace near Dirbha,” Bhullar claimed. While going to meet Rimpal, the SHO took Rs 1.10 lakh along with him. He kept Rs 1 lakh below the seat of his car and Rs 10,000 was in his pocket. The moment Pannu entered Rimpal’s Innova, the accused rendered him unconscious by using anesthetic product, the police claimed. After remaining unconscious for two days, Pannu regained consciousness late on Thursday evening and got to know he was in a dhaba in Sangherian. He called up the Sangrur police and narrated the entire incident, following which the police rescued him, Bhullar said. Based on Pannu’s statement, the police has registered a case under Section 364 of the IPC. A special investigation team led by SP (D) Paramjit Singh Goraya has been formed to investigate the matter.
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Sukhbir to woo IT giants
Chandigarh, May 11 In a simultaneous development, the state government has decided to create a land bank to ensure Punjab does not miss out on big projects due to lack of land at competitive prices. This was apparently being done to send out a message to top industrial houses that have earlier been approached by the Deputy CM to establish their units in Punjab. Talking to The Tribune, Sukhbir Badal said he had decided to visit the headquarters of major IT companies, including Infosys and Wipro, to invite them to Mohali. “This is my top agenda… Things have been put in place to establish Mohali as an IT hub,” he said. The Deputy CM said though attempts had been made to project Mohali as an IT hub earlier as well, things did not work out due to lack of required infrastructure. He said Mohali now had an international airport and would soon have other facilities like 24-hour power and quality hotels. Sukhbir Badal said Mohali would also soon have an all-weather air-conditioned trade fair centre on international lines spread over 100-150 acres, which would make the city an international destination. On availability of space for the IT sector, Sukhbir said this would not be a problem with multi-storeyed construction options available. As regards the creation of a land bank for big projects, the Deputy CM said around 3,000 acres of barren land available in Kandi area of the state had been identified for the purpose. He said 1,000 acres were also available in Faridkot. He said land banks would also be created in southern Punjab where industrial parks with complete infrastructure needed by investors would be available. He said land banks at different places would also ensure creation of hubs for different type of manufacturing units, besides ensuring the texture of the state was not spoilt with industry coming up in a scattered manner without any planning. Sukhbir said besides steps being made to attract anchor industry like a motorcycle plant, the state was betting big on textile sector. “We have recently succeeded in attracting a 2,000-crore investment in the textile industry in Bathinda, which will generate 8,000 jobs. “I visualise employment to at least 50,000 persons in new proposed textile units alone,” he said. In a related development, the government has decided to hand over the management of focal points to the industry, which would be responsible for their maintenance. For this, the government would be contributing the required money.
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‘Fake’ encounter case
Chandigarh, May 11 “Realities or truth apart, the fundamental and basic presumption in the administration of criminal law and justice delivery system is the innocence of the alleged accused. Till the charge is proved beyond a reasonable doubt on the basis of clear cogent or credible evidence, mere suspicion, however strong it may be, is no effective substitute for legal proof required to substantiate the charge of commission of crime,” the court said in its order. The CBI court of Vimal Kumar yesterday acquitted the seven policemen of the charge of murdering Kulwinder Singh, alias Kid, in a ‘fake’ encounter in 1989. The verdict left Kid’s father, Tarlochan Singh, a shattered man. “There is not an iota of evidence regarding the identification of the body of an unknown terrorist to be that of Kulwinder Singh. The complainant, Tarlochan Singh, stated that he could not identify the clothes as well as the photographs of dead bodies before the magistrate... Kulwinder Singh was 6 ft tall and had two identification marks while the inquest report of the person killed and who was alleged to be Kid was 5 ft and 10 inches. Dr SK Gupta, who conducted the post- mortem, stated that there was no question of the height of a male aged 25 decreasing from the height he may have attained,” the court said. It said that from the examination of the statements of Tarlochan Singh, Dhani Ram, a tenant, and Inderjeet Singh, a neighbour, “it is crystal clear that they claimed to be eyewitnesses to the abduction of Kulwinder Singh, yet the complainant failed to name accused SS Grewal and Amarjit Singh in telegrams and in a representation to the High Court dated August 22, 1989.”
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Timeless storyteller little remembered in his own village
Samrala, May 11 Manto was born in Paproudi on May 11, 1912. He spent most of his teenage in Shimla and
Amritsar. He migrated to Pakistan after Partition. An old man in his late 70s is sitting on the village roadside.The way to Manto’s house? “Manto? I don’t know. Better ask the
sarpanch…Yes, I’m from this village…But Manto?”. He looks puzzled.
Manto’s house has seen several renovations and nothing is left of its original form. Only a dusty street, where the gate of Manto’s two-room house once opened, is intact. Manto’s schoolmate Ujagar Singh makes an unobtrusive entry. A year short of a century, this school dropout studied with Manto till Class I. If he’s to be believed, Manto was an unlikely hero some 90 years ago. “Manto’s family was called the Kashmiri family in the village. As kids, we enjoyed saag and makki di
roti. A fruit called ‘phut’, that I hardly get now, was our
favourite. I had no inkling that he would be a great writer one day,” he says. “Manto was an avid footballer. He was strikingly good looking. We’d keep visiting his maternal aunt’s house at Samspur village,” he recalled. Did he ever get a glimpse of a rebel in
Manto? “Not the faintest when he was a child,” he says. Ujagar sees Manto through the eyes of a 10-year-old. There’s a ring of sincerity and affection when he talks of
Manto. It’s a friend’s tribute, not a fan’s adulation. “In the past 90 years, everything has changed. The village well has long dried up,” says
Ujagar, turning pensive. “In the 1960s, Manto’s kutcha house was auctioned by the government for Rs 400. But it was no small amount at that time,” he says. He says he is looking forward to the Lekhak
Manch, Samrala, cutting a cake and then holding a candlelight march in Manto’s
memory. Manto’s epitaph, that he wrote a few months before his death, reads: “Here lies Sadat Hasan Manto and with him lie buried all secrets and mysteries of the art of short story writing. Under tonnes of earth he lies, still wondering who among the two is the greater short story writer: God or he.” Lekhak manch The Lekhak Manch, Samrala, is celebrating the birth anniversary of Sadat Hasan Manto at his village. “Way back in 1988, we started the Manto Memorial Cultural Club. Last year, we opened a small library with the help of Punjabi litterateur Gulzar Sandhu,” says manch president Daljeet Singh Shahi. The ‘library’ is restricted to a shelf in a room at Kalgidhar Gurdwara. “We hope that within a few months, we would have a separate room to house the library,” he adds. Rajwinder Samrala, general secretary of the manch, says they plan to get Manto’s rare book “Siyah Haashiya” reprinted. Manto’s epitaph reads: “Here lies Sadat Hasan Manto and with him lie buried all secrets and mysteries of the art of short story writing... Gracious Offer “I’ll donate the house if there are any plans to preserve it as a national heritage building,” says Ram Singh, owner of the house that once was Manto’s. He says his grandfather had bought the house in the 1960s.
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Reforms commission wants delivery of services monitored
Chandigarh, May 11 Chaired by PGRC chairman Dr Pramod Kumar and attended by Chief Secretary Rakesh Singh, the meeting decided that the commission would suggest measures to build capacity of the government officials to deliver services more efficiently. A transparent system of fixing accountability shall be introduced to check harassment and corruption. Dr Kumar mentioned that the main focus of the commission would continue to be meeting trust, dignity and productivity deficit, which existed between the citizens and the government. The commission also constituted seven task groups. The task group on health and medical education was constituted to suggest improvement in administrative and delivery structure of health care services. This group would be chaired by Medical Council of India chairman Prof K.K. Talwar and Principal Secretary (Health, Punjab) Vini Mahajan. A task group to simplify norms and procedures for industrial development was also constituted, which would be chaired by Punjab State Planning Board vice-chairman R. Gupta. Similarly, task groups on police reforms (to be chaired by former Punjab DGP Dr AA Siddiqui) and NRI grievances (to be chaired by SC advocate Anil Malhotra) were constituted.
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Vet among 3 suspended for giving expired medicines
Faridkot, May 11 Deputy Director Parminder Singh, veterinary doctor Avtar Singh and veterinary inspector-cum-store keeper Kharaiti Lal were suspended after being found guilty during a departmental probe of "dereliction of duty resulting in inordinate delay in the distribution of subsidised medicines among beneficiaries”. Alleged differences between the deputy director and the veterinary doctor in the Animal Husbandry Department at Faridkot had led to the recovery of animal drugs that had crossed their expiry dates. Dr Avtar Singh had accused his senior officials of supplying him expired date medicines and he himself was facing allegations of not distributing subsidised food supplements on time among beneficiaries. The matter was probed by Joint Director Dr PC Mittal.
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Contractors say rules bent to favour chosen few
Chandigarh, May 11 Addressing a press conference here, contractors' association president Naresh Duggal and general secretary Ajay Kumar alleged that rules of tendering had been changed and now only those contractors who owned heavy duty machinery for earth works could fill tender documents. Duggal said only three contractors in Punjab fulfilled this condition and even they needed to hire machines on need basis and could not cater to the entire drainage work by using machines owned by them. The contractors alleged most of them had leased out machines or took them on rent as and when needed. They claimed this was also necessary as the drainage department work, which mostly included repair of canals, was seasonal in nature. The contractors claimed they had approached Irrigation Minister Janmeja Singh Sekhon but had not got any positive response from him. They said in case the tender process for drainage works was not reviewed immediately, they would launch an agitation to demand "justice".
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State to keep
record of dairy cattle
Chandigarh, May 11
He said with the growing demand for quality milch cattle, it was necessary to have a complete record of such cattle. Sukhbir said availability of quality veterinary services to animal breeders was another important aspect and keeping in view the encouraging response to 19 polyclinics in the state, the government had decided to cover all 80 blocks under one such polyclinic in the next three years. Animal Husbandry Minister Gulzar Singh Ranike said animal husbandry and dairy farming were set to change the face of rural economy as their contribution to gross domestic production (GDP) was 5.9 per cent.
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Ferozepur Cantt Board member quizzed
Ferozepur, May 11 As many as 1,92,973 bags of paddy belonging to the state-owned Pungrain, were allegedly sold to rice millers in Ferozepur, Moga and Faridkot districts instead of being delivered to the FCI. An FIR was lodged by the then District food and Civil Supplies Controller Sukhdev Singh under Sections 406, 407, 409, 420, 465, 466, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC and the investigation handed over to the CIA staff at Ferozepur. The latter failed to recover the bags and the probe was transferred to the crime wing.
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Police teams to look for body
Ludhiana, May 11 Amanpal’s brother, Tajinder Singh, claims that his brother was killed by the agents. Amanpal’s uncle Hardev Singh said he brought the case of Amanpal’s mysterious disappearance to the notice of the Jagraon police in the beginning of April, but no action was taken for nearly a month. "It was after we met DIG MF Farooqui and newly appointed Jagraon SSP GS Toor that the probe was started in the case and we were told that Amanpal's body was packed in a suitcase and thrown in the canal by the ‘contract marriage’ agents," said Hardev Singh. The police has formed two teams to locate the remains of Amanpal. A team led by DSP Joginder Singh is gathering details about unidentified bodies recovered from the Sirhind canal. The team also spoke to police officials posted at different posts from Sirhind to Abohar. Canadian High Commission officials also spoke to Tajinder Singh. "Officials asked me whether I was satisfied with the investigation being conducted by the Jagraon police. Further, they asked me about Robin alias Rob's residential address and his involvement in the murder case of my brother. Rob is the real culprit. He is luring unemployed youths of Indian origin for formulating fake marriages,” he said. "We are cooperating with the Canadian authorities,” the DIG said.
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HC rules out govt servant status to panchayat secretaries
Chandigarh, May 11 The significant ruling by the Bench of Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice AN Jindal came on a bunch of three petitions filed by Rajwinder Singh and other petitioners against the State of Punjab and other respondents. Working as panchayat secretaries in different panchayats, the petitioners had contended they were “government servants holding civil posts under the state”, and the “constitution of separate service under the control and management of the Panchayat Samiti was ultra vires to Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India”. Elaborating, they had asserted that the panchayat secretaries “work for the panchayat, an institution at the grass root level in the rural area”. As such, they were holding civil posts and entitled to the protection of the Constitution of India. Their claim was noteworthy, as it would have meant protection from dismissal, removal and reduction in rank. They would also have been entitled to promotions, which under the rules were not in provided for. Dismissing the petitions, the Bench asserted: “The State Legislature is competent to enact law to regulate the recruitment and conditions of services for the civil posts. The State Legislature has enacted Punjab Gram Panchayat Act, 1983, later succeeded by Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, within its legislative competence. The State Legislature has not provided the status of civil post or a government servant to the panchayat secretaries.” The Bench added: “The creation of posts of panchayat secretaries, the appointment of persons thereto, is required to be made by the government. However, the salary, allowances and gratuity, annuity, pension and other payments are required to be made to members of the service in accordance with the conditions of their service is charge upon the samiti fund.” “The fact that the government has been authorised by the Act (Punjab Gram Panchayat Act, 1952) of the State Legislature, will not grant the status of a government servant to the panchayat secretaries”.
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Bathinda MC to maintain Focal Point, court told
Chandigarh, May 11 PSIEC managing director and Bathinda MC Commissioner “have agreed that after taking over of the Focal Point by the MC, Bathinda, the development of civic amenities, if any required, and maintenance and upkeep thereof would be the responsibility of the MC, Bathinda, who would also be competent to levy property/house tax as per law/rules”.The Punjab and Haryana High Court was told this and much more during the hearing of a petition by M/s Kumar Enterprises. The petitioner wanted the court to decide whether it was assessable to house tax. As the case came up for resumed hearing, state counsel apprised the court that in pursuance of order dated July 12, 2010, passed by this court, a meeting was held on April 25 in the office of Punjab Principal Secretary, Local Government, to review the progress in the matter. Taking up the matter, the Bench observed: “A bare perusal of the status report reveals that the roads and streetlights have been 100 per cent completed. With regard to the status of parks/horticulture, water supply, sewerage and installation of effluent treatment plant, it has been stated that the works are in progress, but yet to be finalised. “The work of water supply, except WTP based on rapid sand filter, would be completed by May 30 and a period of 12 months would be required for completion of sewerage work. It has further been stated that ETP would be installed by July 31.” Disposing of the petition, the Bench of Acting Chief Justice MM Kumar and Justice Alok Singh asserted: “As per the minutes of the meeting huge funds are to be collected by the Municipal Corporation, Bathinda, and appropriate steps are yet to be taken by it. In view of this, we dispose of the petition by taking the status report as final."
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To improve road connectivity in border areas, the Centre has agreed in principle to bring these under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), said Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh here today.
Samrala,
May 11
The Punjab Governance Reforms Commission (PGRC) today held its first meeting and
highlighted the need to monitor implementation of citizen-centric services
relating to police, revenue, health and education. It was suggested that the
commission should monitor implementation of the Right to Service Act and suggest
techniques to assure citizens’ satisfaction.
The state government has decided to create land bank to ensure Punjab does not miss out on big projects due to lack of land at competitive prices
