B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Supply of sub-standard gunny bags for wheat
Farmers smell a rat
Fazilka, May 28
Farmers smell a rat in the purchase of underweight, torn and sub-standard gunny bags which were supplied during the recently concluded wheat procurement season causing losses to them as well as the government.

CM tells officials to expedite laying of sewer lines in Badal village
Badal (Muktsar), May 28
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today strictly instructed the Sewerage Board officials to complete the laying of the sewer lines in his native village Badal without wasting any time. He also asked the officials about the reason behind the inordinate delay in laying the sewer line in the village.

Cong meeting to discuss vendetta cases today
Abohar, May 28
CLP leader Sunil Jakhar has asked all the party legislatures to submit the details of vendetta cases that had surfaced in their respective constituencies. The details will be compiled during the meeting of the CLP, which is slated for tomorrow at Chandigarh.

Absconding cop surrenders before court
Gidderbaha, May 28
An assistant sub-inspector (ASI), Mohan Singh of Gidderbaha police station, who was absconding after a corruption case was registered against him on April 24, today appeared before a local court in Gidderbaha, which remanded him to two days of police custody.

Man ends life at in-laws’ place
Moga, May 28
A 36-year old man allegedly committed suicide at his in-laws house in Sherpur Taiba village of Dharamkot sub-division, Moga district, yesterday.

Supply of sub-standard gunny bags for wheat
Farmers smell a rat
Praful Chander Nagpal

Fazilka, May 28
Farmers smell a rat in the purchase of underweight, torn and sub-standard gunny bags which were supplied during the recently concluded wheat procurement season causing losses to them as well as the government.

“The government is trying to hush up the matter as there is an apprehension that huge amount has been misappropriated in connivance with the state and central governments’ procurement agencies,” alleged a former president of the Arhtiya Association, Daya Krishan Sacheva.

The local district administration had conducted an inquiry into the matter. The report of the then additional deputy commissioner, Fazilka, Charandev Singh Maan, revealed that the bags were of poor quality and underweight, causing loss to the farmers and the government alike.

“The most of the bags weighed 480 to 525 grams instead of prescribed 665 grams. While some of the new bags were torn, stitching of some gave way,” alleged Sachdeva.

“The farmers were cheated at the hands of the suppliers of these gunny bags. The loss due to underweight gunny bags had to be made up by additional quantity of wheat. The net weight of each filled bag has to be 50.665 kg (50 kg wheat and 665 gm empty bag). Since the weight of each gunny bag was 475 to 525 gram, farmers had to suffer a loss of 140 to 190 gram of wheat per bag as the procurement agencies could not accept the filled bags less than the stipulated weight,” alleged Kundan Singh and Balwant Singh of Nawan Rana village.

The total loss to the farmers who sold their produce in Fazilka grain market runs into crores as nearly 23 lakh quintals of wheat had arrived here.

Further, sub-standard bags caused loss to the government as wheat spilled out of gunny bags during transportation and stocking at godowns.

As per the information gathered by this correspondent, five private companies, namely the New Central, the Ambica, the Ludlow (all from Kolkata), the East India Commercial Company and the SBJM from Andhra Pardesh, supplied nearly 43 lakh gunny bags to the Fazilka grain market and its purchase centres. Even the names of the companies supplying the bags are often not legible.

Sachdeva said an independent enquiry in the purchase of gunny bags could unearth a big scam.

The underweight and sub-standard bags are still lying in the office of the Market Committee, awaiting the matter to be probed. 

CM tells officials to expedite laying of sewer lines in Badal village
Archit Watts/TNS

Badal (Muktsar), May 28
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today strictly instructed the Sewerage Board officials to complete the laying of the sewer lines in his native village Badal without wasting any time. He also asked the officials about the reason behind the inordinate delay in laying the sewer line in the village.

Sources said that Badal, after receiving a number of complaints from the villagers, called the Sewerage Board officials to his house, where he warned them to either face the music or complete the project on time.

He also met the members of the public and listened to their grievances. Later, the CM held a meeting of the heads of technical institutes, where he reiterated his commitment to creating self-employment opportunities for the youth of the state and announced that the SAD-BJP government would soon launch a comprehensive plan for providing technical education to them.

Cong meeting to discuss vendetta cases today
Raj Sadosh

Abohar, May 28
CLP leader Sunil Jakhar has asked all the party legislatures to submit the details of vendetta cases that had surfaced in their respective constituencies. The details will be compiled during the meeting of the CLP, which is slated for tomorrow at Chandigarh.

While adressing corner meetings in half a dozen villages here, Jakhar said the ruling politicians had tried to grab prime land in Patti Billah and Sappanwali villages. Similar reports were pouring in from other segments of the state too. Some excesses were also reported with regard to the civic body elections, he said.

“The CLP will decide on the course of action to be taken to check the cases of vendetta. All options, including submitting memoranda to the UPA Government, the Punjab Governor and other authorities concerned, are open,” Jakhar said. He hoped that the Punjab Chief Minister would like to get the unlawful practices and injustice checked to avert any unpleasant situation in the next session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha.

Absconding cop surrenders before court
Tribune News Service

Gidderbaha, May 28
An assistant sub-inspector (ASI), Mohan Singh of Gidderbaha police station, who was absconding after a corruption case was registered against him on April 24, today appeared before a local court in Gidderbaha, which remanded him to two days of police custody.

A local resident, Sonu Singh, had filed a complaint against the ASI alleging that he demanded `11,000 from him to settle a case filed by his sister against her in-laws. The complainant had also made a video of the ASI accepting the bribe from him. In the video, the ASI reportedly even said his share was of `1,000 in the bribe, while the rest of the amount was to be delivered to the SHO.

Sources said that earlier, the ASI had applied for bail in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which rejected his application.

Man ends life at in-laws’ place

Moga, May 28
A 36-year old man allegedly committed suicide at his in-laws house in Sherpur Taiba village of Dharamkot sub-division, Moga district, yesterday.

The local police had got the post-mortem examination of the body conducted and initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC, said SSP Surjit Singh Grewal.

As per the details available, Surjit Singh, son of Hakam Singh and a resident of Dabha Wali Dhaab (Malout), married Simran Kaur of Sher Pur Taiban village about 12 years back. He left his parental house a few years ago and started living at his in-laws place along with his wife. His wife reportedly did not enjoy good relations with her in-laws. Preliminary investigations revealed that Surjit was a drug addict, did not have good marital relations with his wife and was living under stress for the past couple of years. It might have prompted him to end his life. — TNS