The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Getting salary a biannual affair for DIET staff Balwant Garg Tribune News Service Faridkot, June 17 Every government employee gets salary at the month-end. But that is not the case with over 500 staffers, from the rank of principal to peon, working in 17 District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) in Punjab. So there is no reason to disbelieve if some of these employees raised loans to keep their hearth burning. Under the National Policy on Education (NPE), the DIETs were established across the country in 1987-88 to meet the pre-service and in-service training needs and other requirements of primary education functionaries. Under the existing scheme, 100 per cent Central assistance is given to the state governments for various recurring and non-recurring components in DIETs. But thanks to procedural bottlenecks at the level of the National Council of Education and Research Training (NCERT) in New Delhi that paid the salary to the DIET staff through State Council of Education and Research Training (SCERTs) or the Punjab government, the DIET employees have to wait for a long period before they get their salaries. “We get our salaries after six months, in two instalments every year. That is, in February and September,” said Mukesh Bhandari, president of the Punjab State DIET Staff Association. “Sometimes, the situation worsens when the salary is not released even after six months, the way it happened this time. So we have no other option but to raise loans to run our kitchens,” said Sukhbir Singh, an employee in the DIET, Faridkot. AK Bhagat, deputy director, SCERT, admitted that there was a delay in payment of salaries to the DIET employees. “Sometimes, the delay is at the NCERT level and on other occasions, it is the finance department of the Punjab Government which caused delay in the payment of the salaries. Time to time, we keep raising this issue and ask the central and state governments to make early payment of the salary,” said Bhagat. “The problem exists at the time when there are a large number of vacancies in every DIET in Punjab. More than 50 per cent of posts are lying vacant in DIETs in Punjab,” said Mukesh Bhandari. A class-IV employee in the DIET, Faridkot, had allegedly attempted self-immolation last year, as he was not able to pay for the treatment expenses of his mother. Since 1989, when DIETs were established, their employees have received their salaries late. “As all our efforts failed to impress upon the state government, we have filed a writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, demanding timely payment of our salaries,” said Bhandari.
	Canal water ‘diverted’ to Pak: Farmers Residents of tail-end villages rue unavailability of even drinking water Our Correspondent Abohar, June 17 Alleging that canal water from the Harike headworks was being released to the neighbouring West Punjab province in Pakistan at their cost, scores of farmers today assembled at RD 91000 of the main canal system to block the canal in protest. They had also arranged material to plug the canal to prevent supply to other villages in the sub-division. Heavy police enforcement was rushed to the site to prevent any untoward incident. Braving scorching heat, farmers from tail-end villages shouted slogans against the Punjab government for diverting the water under a hidden diplomatic agenda to benefit the populace in Pakistan whereas for the past two-three weeks, Indian farmers have not been getting water even for drinking purpose. They also regretted that the reverse osmosis systems (ROs) in most of the villages had become useless due to non-availability of canal water and day-long power cuts. Leading the demonstration, Kisan Sangharsh Samiti convener Kulwant Singh Sandhu said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal had promised during a meeting at their native Badal village last year that it would be ensured that farmers in the tail-end villages get adequate quantity of water. However, for the past fortnight, the senior officials in the Irrigation Department had not paid heed to the farmers’ requests for making water available. This had hit Bt cotton crop and orchards besides creating storage of water in rural waterworks and ponds in the villages fed by the Daulatpura minor (sub-canal). Smelling trouble, SGPC member Kaur Singh reached the site, interacted with representatives of the protesters and contacted the top brass in the department and the ruling party. He assured that water would be released by Monday morning and its availability to the tail-end fields would also be ensured. The assurance averted the showdown with the administration. Some of the protesting farmers, while speaking to the media, said some officials had overstayed in the Abohar canal division and had been creating problems for the farming community as well as the state government.
	Punjab Civil Services Exam 2 from Harike Kalan do their village proud Archit Watts Tribune News Service Muktsar, June 17 Muktsar turned to be a proud district after the results of the PCS (executive) examination were declared recently. Not only the overall topper Amaninder Kaur belongs to the district, two more candidates, including the topper in the backward class category, Dr Mandeep Kaur, and the second position holder in the sports category, Simrandeep Singh Brar, also belong to the district. It was a double delight for Harike Kalan, a village on the Kotkapura road, as both Dr Mandeep Kaur and Simrandeep belong to the village. Dr Mandeep Kaur, a PhD holder from the Punjabi University, Patiala, made her in-laws proud, as she cleared the exam in her first attempt. An icing on the cake came with Mandeep securing the top position in the backward class category with 631.15 marks. Mandeep, who basically hails from Chandigarh and is married to an advocate of Harike Kalan, gives credit of her success to her husband, who not only supported her but also motivated her all along. “My success is all due to my family, which supported me; otherwise it was not possible to study for 10-12 hours a day, having a two-year-old son,” said Mandeep. Similarly, Simrandeep Singh Brar, who is son of Faridkot SDM NS Brar, has got the second position in the sports category with 545 marks. Simrandeep is a law graduate from the Panjab University, Chandigarh. He gave the credit of his success to his father. An ETT teacher of Maha Badhar village, Rajpal Singh, has also cleared the exam.
	Abohar-Fazilka rail link Final safety check next month likely Raj Sadosh Abohar, June 17 A team led by Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) is likely to visit Abohar and Fazilka on July 6 to provide final clearance for making the 42-km rail link operational, well-placed sources said. The safety wing is governed by the Ministry of Aviation but the Baroda House headquarter of the railways has reportedly contacted the Lucknow-based office of the CRS directly to facilitate an early clearance, it is believed. The railway staff has removed about 50 illegal passages that the farmers had created for an easy access to their fields located on the other side of the railway track. Tickets to be issued manually have also been received by the rail staff at Abohar and Fazilka. A list of employees to be posted at the two railway stations — Khuikhera and Jandwala Kharta — is expected within a week while newly-recruited mechanical staff, including gatemen, was likely to finish their training by the month end, sources indicated. Meanwhile, the “India against Corruption” activists continued their indefinite dharna on the railway complex for the 36th day today to mount pressure for making the rail link operational. A demand made by the organisers of the agitation for arranging potable water supply to the railway complex has been accepted and pipes for two connections, one each on both platforms, have been laid. An NGO has offered to provide reverse osmosis (RO) system on both the connections.
	Woman killed, five injured in road mishap Our Correspondent Fazilka, June 17 A woman was killed while five others, including a woman and two children, sustained serious injuries when three vehicles collided with each other on the Abohar road near Beganwali village, some six km from here, on Saturday evening. As per the information available, Kewal Krishan Midha, a resident of nearby Jalalabad town, was returning from Abohar to Jalalabad on a car. His wife Veend Midha (50), his daughter-in-law Sakshi (27), grandson Rishi (7), granddaughter Mannat (3) and driver Ritish were the other occupants of the car. On reaching near Beganwali village, the car collided with a jeep. The impact of the collision was so strong that the jeep further rammed into a tractor-trailer coming from the opposite direction. The jeep turned turtle in the fields by the roadside. Following this, the driver of the jeep fled from the spot. All the occupants of the car sustained serious injuries and were shifted to the local Civil Hospital. Since the condition of Veena Midha was critical she was referred to a hospital in Ludhiana, but she succumbed to her injuries on the way. The post-mortem examination of the body was conducted at the local Civil Hospital today. The condition of other injured persons is stated to be serious.