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Project on track, now hunt for funds
Sugar prices soar ahead of VAT notification
Coming: Panel to regulate private varsities
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MC passes building plans in illegal colonies
No takers for family planning scheme
Ministerspeak: Looking ahead
Capt: Punitive taxation cannot revive economy
Cong workers from Dera Bassi call on Preneet
Op Bluestar memorial: Basic structure built in first phase
Provide drought relief to farmers: Rajnath to Centre
Less demand forces British firm to ground
London-Amritsar flight
Hospitals flout norms, dump waste in open
Shifting ‘water’ to concurrent list
SGPC to open IAS coaching institute
Badungar residents blame MC for gastro outbreak
Villagers protest against de-addiction centre
Computer teachers to meet DGSE today
Arms dealer held with 18 imported pistols
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Project on track, now hunt for funds
Chandigarh, July 22 "The project is well within our fiscal reach. We will have no problem in funding it. For such projects, the Central Government makes a contribution equal to that of the state's share which will be 20 per cent in case of the Ludhiana metro project,” said a senior official dealing with the project. The initial estimated cost was of Rs 10,300 crore, but during the process of competitive bidding, it could come down to even Rs 8,500 crore, he said. With a total rail line length of 29 km, the Ludhiana metro will have two corridors. One will be from Ayali chowk to BBMB power house with a length of 15.8 km and the other from Gill village to Rahon road with a length of 14 km. Besides 27 metro stations, there will be four depots. About 170 acres of land will be acquired for the project. In fact, the state government will have to give the land free for the project and it will have to exempt the project from various taxes worth Rs 500 crore. project on track The metro will have the capacity to carry 25,000 persons during the peak hours and will be adequate to meet the traffic needs for the coming 20 to 25 years. "We have three options to fund the project," said the official. Every year, land and property deeds worth Rs 600 crore are registered in Ludhiana district. By raising the current rate of stamp duty by one per cent in the district, the government can earn about Rs 120 crore per annum to fund the project. "The second option is to levy metro cess on tickets. The minimal rate of the ticket has been fixed at Rs 12.50 and the maximum at Rs 35. By levying Rs 3 cess on a ticket costing Rs 12.50 and Rs 10 on a ticket costing Rs 35, the government can earn Rs 60 crore per annum. "The third option is to develop two metro townships, each spread over 1,000 acres, near the two terminating points of the metro. The government can easily raise Rs 1,500 crore by developing the two townships through its urban development agencies. "Moreover, even if no additional burden is put on the people by raising the stamp duty etc, it will not be difficult for the government to spare Rs 180 to Rs 200 crore per annum to fund such a prestigious project, whose first phase is likely to be completed by 2018," said the official. The state Cabinet has already approved the detailed project report (DPR) for the Ludhiana Metro Rail Project prepared by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. About the project Funding options Metro capacity Metro coverage
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Sugar prices soar ahead of VAT notification
Faridkot, July 22 The prices shot up by Rs 90 to Rs 100 per quintal yesterday after an increase of Rs 120 on Thursday and Friday. A Faridkot-based wholesaler said sugar prices in the physical market crossed Rs 3,840 per quintal yesterday. Three days ago, the L-31 variety of sugar was selling at Rs 3,620, he added. With the demand for sugar expected to rise ahead of festivals like Raksha Bandhan, Independence Day and Janmashthami, the prices are likely to move northwards. Meanwhile, traders are opposing the additional tax on sugar. They are also uncertain about the date of its implementation. Whether the tax will be levied from the date of its announcement or from the date of its notification is not clear to the traders, said Onkar Goyal, president, Punjab Chamber of Commerce and Industries, and president, Punjab Karyana Retail Association. Even senior officials of the Excise and Taxation Department are in the dark over the matter. KS Kahlon, Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner (AETC), Faridkot, said he was not aware about the timing. "I will check from the higher authorities," he said. A Venu Parsad, Commissioner, Excise and Taxation Department, Punjab, said the situation would become clear on Monday. "I'm sure that the tax will be levied after a notification is issued in this regard". Some sugar mills in the state today opened the sale after a two-day break. They sold sugar at prices inclusive of 5.5 per cent tax, with a promise that the tax will be refunded if it was not levied with retrospective effect.
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Coming: Panel to regulate private varsities
Chandigarh, July 22 The issue of arbitrary hike in fee by private universities and colleges had come up for discussion in the assembly last month. The matter was again taken up in a Cabinet meeting held recently with ministers seeking checks on private institutions as far as their fee structure was concerned. A complaint had been received that a newly formed university was charging more fee for MBBS seats than that prescribed by Baba Farid University. Talking to The Tribune, Education Minister Sikander Singh Maluka said the commission would regulate private institutions as far as fee structure and staff strength was concerned. He said the Chief Secretary had been directed to come up with a framework for its establishment. The Minister said complaints had also been received that colleges and universities were not adhering to the guidelines set by the AICTE (All-India Council for Technical Education) on student-teacher ratio. He said in some institutions, teachers existed only on paper. “We will take steps to ensure such wrongs are corrected. These institutions will be advised to charge reasonable fee and maintain a proper teacher-student ratio,” he said. Another initiative that Punjab intends to make is try to persuade private universities to adopt government senior secondary schools in their vicinity, the Minister said. Maluka said initially all universities would be asked to take responsibility of 10 senior secondary schools adjoining their area of operation and among other things, support them financially. He said as all private universities were run by trusts (formed for promoting the cause of education), these institutions should have no objection in taking the responsibility of schools. Though Maluka did not say it openly, it appears the government was aware all private universities were run on “commercial lines” by Trusts, which mostly had family members or relatives on board. This issue has once been raised in the Vidhan Sabha as well and the government now appears keen to ensure the universities serve the cause of education as well as welfare of the people. At present, there are six private universities in the state — Lovely Professional University, Chitkara University, Guru Kashi University, Guru Granth Sahib World University, Chandigarh University and Adesh University. Two more Universities —DAV University and Desh Bhagat University — were approved by the Cabinet recently.
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MC passes building plans in illegal colonies
Official records reveal that the Municipal Council authorities have passed 223 houses in these unapproved colonies and have installed 251 streetlights since 2005. The Public Health Engineering department has also laid water pipes in these colonies. The sewerage board, too, has given connections to the houses built in colonies that had come up in violation of the rules. Most of the houses have power connections as well. For instance, Bhullar Colony has 52 approved houses and around 110 streetlights have been installed in its area. Similarly, Bawa Colony with 42 houses has 49 streetlights, Jodhu Colony with 35 houses has 42 streetlights and Sandhu Colony with 18 houses has 20 streetlights. The officials concerned maintain that most of the colonies were built 25 years to 50 years ago. At that time, nobody raised any objection when the MC provided basic amenities in these colonies. Gursewak Singh, Executive Officer, Municipal Council, Muktsar, said: "We had approved the building plan of some houses in unapproved colonies, besides constructing streets and providing some other facilities. The BDA is also responsible for this as it declared these colonies as unapproved long after these had come up." He said: "We had taken the decision to provide basic amenities in these colonies in the presence of all members of the council. Development charges were collected from the residents". Amrik Singh, Executive Engineer, Public Health Engineering, said: "Water pipes had been laid in some of the unapproved colonies, but no new connection is being given. All existing connections were given before these colonies were declared unapproved". Uma Shankar Gupta, Chief Administrator, BDA, said no construction work could be carried out in any unapproved colony. Sewerage or water connection should also be denied in such colonies, he said.
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No takers for family planning scheme
Other motives behind starting the scheme were to promote terminal sterilisation to tackle population growth, reduce infant and maternal mortality rate and to bring down fertility rate. Official documents show that only three couples availed of the benefits under the scheme in 2005, four in 2010, three in 2009, one each in 2007, 2008 and 2011 and none in 2006 and 2012 (so far). Among the beneficiaries are five couples from Gidderbaha constituency, four from Muktsar, two from Malout and two from Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s home segment Lambi. Officials claim the scheme had failed due to lack of promotion. Besides, the eligibility criterion was quite strict, they maintain. For enrolling under the scheme, a couple should be non-income tax payee, one of them must have adopted vasectomy or tubectomy and they should not have a male child but can have one or two daughters. The state government gives a monthly incentive of Rs 500 for one girl child and Rs 1,000 for two daughters until the child turns 18. The monetary benefits start from the day the couple adopts family planning. But, the girl child should be less than five years of age at the time. The maximum age for a man to avail of the scheme is 45 years whereas a woman should not be more than 40 years. The child’s birth must have been registered with appropriate registration authority. Muktsar Chief Medical Officer Dr Sukhpal Singh said, “We have been holding awareness camps to promote the scheme. Our teams also try to motivate couples who fulfill the criterion.”
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Ministerspeak: Looking ahead
What were the first steps you took after taking charge as Revenue Minister? I was perturbed by the corrupt image that the Revenue Department had earned in the last few decades. To lay the ground to correct this image, I summoned the past 10-year record of all naib tehsildars and tehsildars, the officers responsible for public dealing. Honest officers were identified and posted at key positions. Changes have also been made in the posting and transfer system. Now, all registry clerks, readers and clerks manning the weapons branch cannot go back to their previous postings for three years once transferred. Similarly, patwaris will be given fixed tenures and rotated when needed. What do you see as your major handicap? I have a set of officers. Some good, some bad. I need to take them along and strive to bring about an attitudinal change to stem the rot, which has set in the department. What are your priorities for the first year in office? We will put up rates for everything we charge in registry offices. Half the people are unaware of the exact rates. There will be a 'no nonsense' approach on corruption. Besides, an initiative has been taken to make clients at registry offices feel important. Tehsil and sub-tehsil buildings will now have canteens and air-conditioning facilities. Fifty tehsil buildings are expected to be modernised this year itself. The remaining 100 will be modernised in the next two years. Also, I am going to make Deputy Commissioners (DCs) and District Revenue Officers (DROs) responsible for better facilitation of NRIs. What about complaints related to government offices by NRIs? Specific DROs have been designated to deal with NRI complaints, which are usually related to revenue or marital issues. Deputy Commissioners have been directed to deal with NRI cases separately. We have also started an interactive website for NRIs who are more comfortable communicating through the internet. NRIs logging on to this website will be given unique identification numbers, which will enable them to follow their complaints. What about revenue generation? This is a major challenge as a number of reforms planned by the government are dependent of resource mobilisation from the Revenue Department. I have increased the target from Rs 2,900 crore last year to Rs 3,500 crore this year. Stamp duty charges have been increased keeping in mind the market prices of land and property. We have gone in for a moderate increase and stamp duty charges continue to be 50 to 70 per cent less than the market value of land and property and various places in the State. There are complaints of evasion? How will they be tackled? Deputy Commissioners have been instructed to cross-check registries to ensure right charges have been taken by filing appropriate codes. For the first time, the Revenue Department will also work in close coordination with the Intelligence and Vigilance departments to identify corrupt officials as well as tackle tax evasion. You are also incharge of Renewable Resources. What is being done on this front? We have exhausted our hydel potential by exploiting all falls in our canal system. Now we are exploring new technology, which generates power by making use of running water. Special focus will be on generating electricity through solar and bio mass technology. Solar generation, which is currently only 9 MW, will be taken up to 100 MW in the next five years. Power generation through bio mass, especially cow dung, is also being encouraged to ensure extra source of income to farmers. We are also exploring the possibility of persuading the centre to renew the earlier subsidy on solar water pumps in villages. And finally, what steps are being taken on the Public Relations front? We have increased the free bus travel facility for journalists, including desk staff and proofreaders, from Rs 800 to Rs 1,200 annually. Besides, Press clubs are being established with a grant of Rs 1 crore in all district headquarters.
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Capt: Punitive taxation cannot revive economy
Chandigarh, July 22 The PCC president also announced a state-wide agitation programme against the "punitive" taxation starting from July 24 in Jalandhar. The protest would be attended by all MPs, MLAs and district presidents, he said. Referring to imposition of taxes, including duty on sugar and mobile phones and an increase in electricity tariff, Amarinder said such taxation only "derailed” economies. The PCC chief said the government should generate resources by getting investment and industry. "The massive gap between revenue and expenditure cannot be filled by extorting money from the people through punitive taxation," he said.
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Cong workers from Dera Bassi call on Preneet
Patiala, July 22 During the meeting, the activists discussed at length the current political situation in the state in general and Dera Bassi area in particular. The Dera Bassi segment comes under the Patiala Parliamentary Constituency being represented by Preneet. Meanwhile, the workers also highlighted difficulties being faced by them on the administrative as well as political front. They demanded that Preneet should lead them in Dera Bassi. The Minister asked the workers to be proactive and participate in the programmes of the Congress party against the misrule of the SAD-BJP alliance in the state.
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Op Bluestar memorial: Basic structure built in first phase
Amritsar, July 22 In the first phase of the construction, eight pillars have been raised starting from the basement of the memorial site up to the roof of the ground floor. Damdami Taksal chief Baba Harnam Singh Khalsa and Shri Darbar Sahib's head granthi Bhai Jaswinder Singh performed 'ardaas' at the memorial site to mark the occasion at 7 am. The Taksal chief and the other dignitaries present symbolically participated in 'kar sewa'. Later, work on erecting the roof of the ground floor of the memorial witnessed overwhelming participation from the Sikh Sangat and the roof was laid in around four and a half hours by 11.30 am.
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Provide drought relief to farmers: Rajnath to Centre
Chandigarh, July 22 Initially, district-level protests would be held from August 8, to be followed by a rally in Delhi on August 21, said former Union Agriculture Minister and senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh. He was in the city on the concluding occasion of the two-day Kisan Morcha executive meeting. Demanding immediate announcement of per acre compensation to farmers in view of deficient rain, he said the Union Cabinet had formed a sub-committee on the issue but it was yet to come out with any recommendations. The BJP leader claimed the recommendations by the MS Swaminathan Committee for farmers' welfare would be accepted immediately once the NDA came to power at the Centre. He also demanded a crop insurance scheme that gave compensation to farmers on the basis of average income per acre. He said crop loans should also be given to farmers at 4 per cent interest. Kisan Morcha president Om Prakash Dhankar targeted the government over its alleged plans to minimise the subsidy on fertilisers by de-regulating the commodity.
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Less demand forces British firm to ground
London-Amritsar flight
Amritsar, July 22 Started on October 14 last year, the flight was low in demand with an average of not more than 100 passengers per flight. The 232-seater aircraft in operation on the route has 36 business class and 196 economy class seats. The flight used to take 14 hours to reach London after halting for an hourat Almaty airport in Kazhakastan. The development has left authorities at Amritsar's Sri Guru Ramdas Ji International Airport worried as calling off the service would mean further losses for them. Airport advisory committee chairman and local MP Navjot Singh Sidhu said the authority was already facing annual losses to the tune of Rs 33 crore. Airport director Suneel Dutt said he had received an intimidation from the British airline today and didn't yet know what exactly prompted the company to take the decision. "As British Airways has overtaken the British Midland International, it could be the reason behind cancellation of the flight," he said. However, Dutt said the commuters had nothing to fear as Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan were already running flights on the route. Besides, Armenia's leading airline Armavia would fly twice-a-week flights between Amritsar and its national capital Yerevan from July 25. He said the Indian diaspora in Europe could easily get connecting flights to Birmingham, Rome and Milan from Yerevan airport.
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Hospitals flout norms, dump waste in open
Patiala, July 22 The rules state that all the hospitals/healthcare centres have to segregate the bio-medical waste into different containers/bags, as per the prescribed colour code and the containers are to be transported from the premises of the hospital to the common bio-medical waste treatment facility located at Mohali, Ludhiana, Pathankot and Amritsar. Inquiries made by The Tribune revealed that many hospitals were not adhering to the instructions of the PPCB. During a visit to the Badungar Road, Leela Bhawan and its surrounding areas, where several hospitals and healthcare units are situated, bio-medical waste could be seen dumped on a roadside. Since there are lot of hospitals and other healthcare centres, identification of the violators is not possible but shopkeepers in these areas said practice of dumping bio-medical waste in unscientific manner was a daily affair. When contacted, PPCB member secretary Dr Babu Ram said the board had already issued instructions to the hospitals to follow the norms or face action. “We had taken action in the past and our officers keep monitoring health institutes at regular intervals,” he said, while assuring that he would again ask board officers to check if any hospital was flouting the norms. Last year, the then PPCB chairman KS Pannu had launched a drive against hospitals not complying with the prescribed norms. PPCB teams had conducted surprise raids at 108 private and government hospitals across the state on July 2 last year and found that as many as 54 hospitals and heathcare centres were violating the rules. Three hospitals were even shut down by the
PPCB.
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Shifting ‘water’ to concurrent list
Chandigarh, July 22 In separate letters addressed to the Prime Minister, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Union Water Resources Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, the Chief Minister impressed upon the Centre to desist from the purported move before it led to further suspicion and harm. "What is required at this stage is the resolution of the inter-state water issues harmoniously in accordance with the nationally and internationally accepted riparian principles," he stated. He said the disclosure about the Centre's move for considering a proposal to transfer the subject of water from the state list to the concurrent list of the Constitution was made at a press conference addressed jointly by Chidambaram, Bansal and Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni in Chandigarh on July 13 barely a few hours after of the North Zonal Council (NZC) meeting of Chief Ministers. The statement made by Union Minister of Water Resources Pawan Kumar Bansal in the presence of two other Union Ministers had created an impression that it was not an off-the-cuff remark and perhaps was a well thought over decision of the Central Government, Badal said. He added the move had not gone down well with the people of Punjab who were already dejected over “discrimination” meted out to them on the issue of river waters.
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SGPC to open IAS coaching institute
Amritsar, July 22 It was also decided to install CCTV cameras at Takht Shri Keshgarh Sahib in Anandpur Sahib. The SGPC executive also gave its nod to extend a financial aid of Rs 1 lakh each to the families of those Sikh armymen who were killed during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The executive also passed a resolution urging the state government to hand over the relics and weapons of Guru Gobind Singh, which are lying at Quila Mubarak in Patiala, to the SGPC so that these could be showcased at Takht Shri Keshgarh Sahib and preserved as per the "maryada".
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Badungar residents blame MC for gastro outbreak
Patiala, July 22 Sources say, apart from Badungar Colony, nearly a dozen patients suffering from gastroenteritis from Ajit Nagar have also been admitted to Rajindra Hospital. Now, with the outbreak of water-borne diseases in different areas of the city, senior officials of the MC could not run away from the fact that irresponsible attitude of the civic body led to the deterioration of the situation. Residents of the affected areas said some 10 days ago when several diarrhoea cases were reported from Sanjay Colony, precautionary measures should have been taken well in time by the MC. “The water contamination problem that aggravated in Badungar Colony could have been avoided,” said Sanjeev Kumar, a resident of the area. Inquiries made The Tribune reveal that main causes behind the outbreak of water-borne diseases in the city are mixing of sewage with drinking water, unhygienic conditions in slum areas, illegal water connections and lack of precautionary measures by the MC before the start of the summer season. Water pipelines in many areas developed leakages but no steps were taken to replace them. This was the major reason behind mixing of sewage with drinking water, said a group of Badungar Colony residents. Neither fogging was done, nor it was ensured that the water being supplied to the people was chlorinated, they added. Jaswinder Singh Sodhi, a resident of Badungar Colony, said after three deaths and hospitalisation of about 200 residents, the civic functionaries launched a massive drive to distribute chlorine tablets in the colony, besides checking the condition of water pipes in houses. “When the diarrhoea outbreak was reported from Sanjay Colony, why the municipal body did not swung into action to initiate precautionary steps in the areas, which are prone to water-borne diseases”, he questioned. However, heaps of garbage and choked sewerage system pose potential threat of an epidemic in Indira Colony. In a statement issued here, Patiala Municipal Commissioner GS Sidhu said special cleanliness drive had been initiated in Badungar Colony and supply of pure drinking water in all the houses in the colony had been ensured. In a separate statement, Patiala Civil Surgeon Dr VS Mohi said special teams of doctors had been constituted to provide necessary medical aid to the patients in Badungar Colony. Meanwhile, Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur today visited Badungar Colony and expressed her condolence to the relatives of the three deceased persons, who reportedly died due to gastroenteritis. Residents of the area told Preneet that they were not getting proper power and water supply. Preneet immediately took up the matter with Patiala Deputy Commissioner GK Singh. Sources said the district administration had issued instructions that for the next 10 days, uninterrupted power supply would be ensured to Badungar Colony and also clean water should be provided through water tankers.
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Villagers protest against de-addiction centre
Moga, July 22 Though the Red Cross authorities denied the allegations, the local police has taken four inmates into custody and also rounded up a watchman of the centre. Earlier, Kuldip Singh, a commission agent, had complained to the police that some drug addicts undergoing treatment at the centre, had robbed him and his associates Ramesh Kumar and Pardeep Kumar of Rs 13,000 and a gold chain while they were passing by the centre. He said the inmates attacked them with sticks and injured Ramesh. Denying the allegations, Ashok Handa, secretary, Red Cross Society, said it could be a case of mistaken identity as "we do not allow any inmate to come out of the
centre".
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Computer teachers to meet DGSE today Bathinda, July 22 The president of the Computer Teachers' Union, Bathinda, Balkaran Singh, said when 7,000 computer teachers were regularised in 2011, the state government notified that they be considered vocational masters and all financial benefits be granted to them under the same slab. “When the government revised the pay-scale of vocational masters by Rs 5,000, the same was extended to us. But when the government again revised the pay-scale by Rs 5,400, we were not given the benefit. At this, 10 computer teachers from Gurdaspur filed a writ in the high court demanding implementation of the government notification," he said. In its reply in the court, the DGSE had stated that during a Cabinet meeting on December 17 last year, it was decided not to associate computer teachers with vocational lecturers.
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Arms dealer held with 18 imported pistols
Patiala, July 22 The dealer had so far sold 20 such weapons by procuring fake certificates from the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Ferozepur, in collusion with some officials. Sources said the dealer was involved in the sale-purchase of ammunition for the past few years. The police is trying to verify if the same arms were used in terrorist related activities. Patiala IG Paramjit Singh Gill said arms dealer Vaneet Dabra, a resident of Ferozepur, was arrested with 18 imported pistols near Rajpura. A case has been registered against him under various sections of the IPC and Arms Act. "Role of certain officials, who tried to shield the accused, will also be ascertained and his links in the administration in Ferozepur will also be probed," he stated. Sources said the police was awaiting some more arrests from Uttar Pradesh and once they were rounded up on Saturday, they made it public about Dabra's arrest who was arrested on July13. About the modus operandi of the accused, SSP Gurpreet Singh Gill said Dabra used to procure imported weapons and changed their registration numbers and after getting registered against a fake licence, sell it to a high profile client in Punjab. "While in some cases buyers were innocent, sometimes they bought the weapons as they came easily," Gill added. He said 18 pistols and 300 live cartridges worth over Rs 2 crore had been recovered from him. Sources said a couple of police teams had been sent to different parts of Uttar Pradesh to ascertain the role of local dealers, who were involved in arms smuggling at the national-level and then supplying the same to state-level operators. "It is a very big nexus of illegal arms finding ways into VIP hands and some more arrests are likely to follow in the coming few days", they stated. The IG said police got a tip-off that Dabra would be coming with illegal arms from Uttar Pradesh. Police is now looking for Chander Shekhar, an arms supplier in Ghaziabad. The driver of Dabra has also been arrested. "After examining the records of the Vaneet Armori, it has found that he had sold 20 pistols in illegal manner by making fake entries on the licences", police said.
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Amritsar, July 22
Many hospitals and healthcare centres in the city continue to dump bio-medical waste on roadsides and vacant places despite the warning issued by the Punjab Pollution Control Board
(PPCB) that zero tolerance approach would be adopted against the health institutions violating the Bio-Medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998.
Patiala, July 22
Muktsar, July 22
Muktsar, July 22
Bikram Singh Majithia may be all but 36, he already is seen as de facto number two leader in the SAD after its chief Sukhbir Singh Badal. Having earned the credit for revitalising the party's youth wing and ensuring a good show for the SAD in the Majha region in the assembly elections earlier this year, Majithia has now been saddled with the responsibility of turning around the Revenue Department. In an interview with Jangveer Singh, Majithia, also holding the charge of NRI Affairs and Public Relations, says his foremost challenge is to stem corruption in the Revenue Department and raise additional resources.
