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Professional tax deferred at BJP’s instance
Hospitality industry jolted
Govt shifts focus to small & medium enterprises
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Big population shift to urban areas
Capt to visit all segments: Cong
37 policemen, who were promoted by Gill, reverted
Centre, Punjab clash over octroi charges
Govt to recruit specialists
Rain raises water level in Bhakra, Pong dams
Unmanned
railway crossings
Officials told to spend a day at village schools
Panel seeks report on neglected lab, hospital
Decide price revision issue, GMADA told
Misuse of funds: Two-year RI for ex-Ropar DEO
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Professional tax deferred at BJP’s instance
Chandigarh, August 29 Badal explained to Shanta Kumar the critical fiscal situation in the state and the measures required to be taken immediately. Following the talk, senior leaders of the BJP came around to supporting the tax proposals, the sources said. However, the BJP leaders managed to get the proposal on professional tax deferred. They also forced the state government to withdraw the VAT on sugar. After the Cabinet meeting, no BJP minister was willing to face the media. With the levying of property tax, the state government will be able to get Rs 400 crore from the Centre under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission. In all, a sum of Rs 1,500 crore has been allocated to Punjab under the mission. The Centre had released the first installment of Rs 400 crore on the condition that the state would initiate urban reforms required under the mission. Notwithstanding the approval to fresh taxes, that will generate a revenue of Rs 900 crore, the state government will need at least Rs 2,000 crore more to overcome the fiscal crisis. “With fresh taxes and other measures taken till date, we will be able to generate an additional revenue of Rs 1,000 crore during the remaining seven months of the current fiscal year. “However, we need to generate an additional revenue of Rs 3,000 crore during this fiscal year,” said a senior government functionary. Also, for cent per cent per cent implementation of the Annual Plan, the government will require an additional Rs 1,500 crore, over and above Rs 3,000 crore. The government is exploring various options. One option is to sell high-value government properties under the optimum land utilisation scheme. Besides, government organisations engaged in urban development may be asked to deposit the change in land use charges in the state treasury. Austerity measures would have to be enforced strictly if the government is serious on overcoming the fiscal crisis.
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Hospitality industry jolted
Amritsar, August 29 Talking to The Tribune, Amritsar Hotel and Restaurant Association president APS Chatha said he feared that the move would add to the woes of the hospitality industry already passing through a bad phase. “At present, the occupancy rate in city hotels is 40 to 50 per cent. We fear that the hike in the luxury tax will make things even worse.” Chatha said they were already paying 7.42 per cent service tax to the Central Government. And now the luxury tax had been doubled to 8 per cent. “We will end up paying over 15 per cent tax, which will hit our clientele,” he said. City hoteliers also had to pay “conservancy tax” to the MC, depending on the size of the land on which the hotel stood. Chatha said the hoteliers had been demanding that the luxury tax be abolished. “Ironically, the government has doubled the tax.” Hotel Restaurant Welfare Association president Surinder Singh said it was beyond comprehension as to why the state government had chosen to levy luxury tax even on budget hotels. “There is no luxury tax on hotels in the holy towns of Haridwar, Banaras and Katra (Vaishnodevi),” he pointed out. He said the state hoteliers may shift to other states. Hotels located in the walled city are the worst-hit. Walled City Hotel Association president SS Kanda said the luxury tax was applicable on even rooms with a daily tariff of Rs 200.
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Govt shifts focus to small & medium enterprises
The new policy, which is now under deliberation, will finally offer a single-window clearance system for new projects coming up in the state. All new projects, with an investment of up to Rs 50 crore, can now be submitted to the district industries centre for approval while those with an investment of more than Rs 50 crore will have to be submitted to the head office here. Under the new policy, if the investor does not get any intimation within 30 days of submitting his project, his project will be deemed as approved. Punjab Industries Minister Anil Joshi said: “Though the new industrial policy will be formulated and finally approved by next year, the deemed approval scheme for projects will be implemented soon.” Talking to The Tribune on the sidelines of a seminar organised by the PHD Chamber here today, the minister said the government would hold meetings with all stakeholders before implementing the new industrial policy. “We have held three meetings with representatives of the CII and the PHD Chamber. A general consensus has emerged that the industrial policy of 2009 was more mega project- centric, where huge investments were required and concessions were largely granted to investors. The new policy will revolve around small and medium enterprises and will offer concessions to small investors,” he said. The new policy will also pave the way for grant of industrial plots under the “off the shelf” policy. This will eliminate the role of realtors in buying land for industry and help genuine invetors get land at low cost. The government is considering setting up industrial belts in the Kandi area and Mand areas. It is learnt that the government and the industry bodies have roped in Yes Bank for its inputs on the new policy. A senior official said the government was considering coming out with an OTS scheme for defaulters who had taken loan from the Punjab Financial Corporation and the Punjab State Industrial Development Corporation.
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Truck scanners at Attari ICP mooted
Jalandhar, August 29 The ICP would be equipped with high-end camera surveillance equipment and other such support systems to ensure security round the clock. A proposal in this regard has been sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), said BSF Director-General UK Bansal here today. He said the ICP required high-end surveillance systems to prevent potential threats. Bansal said it was difficult to scan a truck loaded with goods crossing the ICP. The installation of truck scanners would minimise the chances of narcotics being carried along with other consignment. “The ICP was built within a tight schedule. Hence, the necessary support systems could not be put in place. Although the BSF has deployed one battalion at the ICP for security purposes, the need for such an equipment has been felt ever since trade between India and
Pakistan began,” he said. The DG said after the discovery of the Samba tunnel, all vulnerable points on the Indo-Pakistan international border had been identified. “There are places on the Punjab border where the risk of tunnels being dug is high. But we have deployed adequate manpower on the border. “Also, there is no technical support system through which one can detect if a tunnel is being dug from the other side of the border,” he maintained. The DG said 204.3 kg of heroin, 5.5 kg of poppy husk and 500 gm of opium had been seized at the border this year. “According to intelligence reports, smugglers have abandoned the old methods of smuggling heroin and are using riverine gaps. “We took up the matter with the Pakistan Rangers at a meeting in Delhi but Pakistan was in the denial mode” the DG added.
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Big population shift to urban areas
The total number of urban settlements in the stautory category has risen to 143. More importantly, there has been a decline in the rural population of cities like Jalandhar (-0.91) per cent, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (-3.36 per cent) and Mohali (4.03 per cent). Punjab is definitely the most urbanised state in the North barring Delhi and Chandigarh (Union Territory). Of Punjab’s total population of 27, 704,236, as many as 10,387,436 live in the urban areas. This works out to 37.49 per cent. The state’s urban population is almost equal to the combined urban population of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh. Dr Pramod Kumar, who is Director of the Institute for Development and Communication (IDC), said: “The population shift indicates the changing life habits in the region. Where once five members of a family were engaged in agriculture earlier, just two do the job today. This development, in fact, is a telling comment on the so-called progress made by the state”. Mohali has emerged as the most sought-after urban settlement in the state as reflected in its growth rate of more than 90 per cent. The city’s population rose from about 2,86,286 to 5,44,035 during this period. Seema Jain, Census Director, Punjab, said, “SBS Nagar has a changed demographic profile as its municipal limits have changed. Because of this the urbanisation figure of 54 per cent appears high. Bathinda has witnessed a more than 42 per cent urbanisation because of a massive improvement in infrastructure and new housing projects”. Ludhiana (54.14 per cent), Mohali (55.17 per cent) and Amritsar (53.64 per cent) and Jalandhar(53.18 per cent) have more than half of their district population in urban areas. Tarn Taran is the least urbanised district with only 12.63 per cent living in urban areas. A total of 17 Class I towns house 58.11 per cent of the total urban population out of a total 217 towns and cities, Class IV has 60 settlements and account for only 8.38 share and Class V settlements with a total of 50 settlements in the Class V towns constitute only 3.43 per cent of the urban population.
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Capt to visit all segments: Cong
Chandigarh, August 29 Reacting to media reports, the PCC Press Secretary claimed a wrong impression was sought to be created in a section of the press today that the PCC President would only be visiting seven constituencies represented by his “loyalists”. Nothing can be far from the truth than such observation. — TNS
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37 policemen, who were promoted by Gill, reverted
Moga, August 29 Now state DGP Sumedh Singh Saini has passed orders reverting as many as 37 Head Constables whose promotions were endorsed by his predecessor. A senior police official, confirming that these promotions were endorsed by the former DGP against police norms, said Head Constables Amarjit Singh, Surinder Singh, Gobind Singh, Satpal Singh and Gurpal Singh, who were promoted as Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) and posted in Moga district, had been asked to wear the Head Constable’s uniform or else be prepared to face legal action. “They have been intimated about the orders reverting them to their previous post”, said a local official. Two of them, Gobind Singh and Surinder Singh, were deployed with PS Gill’s cousin Micky Gill. Amarjit Singh was the driver of the Station House Oficer (SHO) of the Moga City (I) police station. Satpal Singh was a complainant in the infamous passport scam. Recently, Saini had also sent back several police officials of the Punjab Armed Police (PAP). They were posted as SHOs at the behest of the former police chief.
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Flouting ban, kites with gutkha ads flood markets
Faridkot, August 29 This new medium to promote the gutkha sale is kite, besides a tethered aircraft, which has been flown for recreation in the region for long. This medium of promoting the gutkha sale is not only very cheap for the companies but also more effective in attracting children and teenagers to tobacco products. Even a month before the start of the kite-flying season, the shops selling kites in this part of Punjab are flooded with kites which are made of polythene sheets carrying advertisements of various pan masala and gutkha brands. The sale of these kites is more prevalent among children as these are of very low price. The retail price of these kites is just Re 1. “Shopkeepers are supplied these kites almost free of cost as the main motive for the gutkha-manufacturing companies is to reach their potential buyers, riding these kites,” said Parveen Kala of Sahara Jan Seva, a voluntary organisation based in Faridkot. Without any fear of law for publicising their tobacco products among children, for these companies the kite is the most effective and cheapest medium of promoting their brands among children, said Vikas Arora, a teacher. These specially printed kites are made of very cheap polythene sheet, so children are more attracted to these kites for their low price. “While the retailers are supplied these kites free-of-cost, certain tobacco companies even give incentive to kite dealers for distributing these kites on a large scale,” sources said. This practice of “surrogate” advertisements and publicity of tobacco is going on without any fear of law, said Parveen. Like the low price of the kite, Re 1, most of the gutkha brands advertised on kites are available at Re 1 in small sachets.
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Centre, Punjab clash over octroi charges
Chandigarh, August 29 The Centre, through the Union Ministry of Defence, has also sought quashing of electricity bills issued by Punjab State Power Corporation Limited. Taking cognisance of the row, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has set a two-month deadline for the power corporation chairman and other authorities to resolve the issue by deciding representations forwarded by the Centre. In two of its petition placed before the Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice RP Nagrath, the Centre had earlier placed reliance on High Court decisions, “wherein it was held that no octroi duty was leviable on the electricity consumed by the petitioner”. Counsel appearing for the Union of India argued the bills had been raised levying octroi duty, “in total disregard of the cited decisions of this court and by-passing Section 96 of the Act”. She argued that the bills were raised despite representation and reminders sent on behalf of the Centre. After hearing the arguments and going through the record, the Bench asserted: “The contention raised on behalf of the petitioner merits serious consideration, especially when the controversy appears to have been settled by this court. “Consequently, we dispose of these writ petitions with a direction to the Chairman-cum-Managing Director and Chief Engineer (Commercial) of the respondent corporation to immediately take cognisance of the representation received from the petitioner and dispose of the same in the light of the decisions by passing a speaking order within a period of two months from the date of receiving a certified copy of this order. “If it is found that no octroi duty was leviable on the petitioner, the amount, if any deposited by the petitioner towards such duty, shall be adjusted against future bills”.
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Govt to recruit specialists
Chandigarh, August 29 Madan Mohan Mittal, Health and Family Welfare Minister, said, according to the newly formed policy, all the health institutions had been divided into four categories namely A, B, C and D. Category A would include major cities like Amritsar, Patiala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar etc; category B would cover semi-urban and urban areas, category C would include less developed semi-urban areas and rural areas, while category D would cover the least developed rural parts of the state. Now a basic minimum tenure of service had been fixed for doctors in health institutions falling under each of these categories. In category D the minimum tenure would be 4 years; in category C, 5 years; category B, 7 years and it would be more than 7 years in category A. Mittal said this policy would, however, not be applicable to those Medical Officers, who had already completed their five years of service as on 1-1-2012. Once a medical officer completes the specified period of service in a particular category, he/she shall be given some preference regarding their choice of posting under the next eligible category, he added. However, he said the first posting of any doctor would be at a health institution falling under category D. Similarly, a minimum period of 9 years of service shall be a pre-requisite for doctors on deputation at Chandigarh or other big cities. On the recruitment of specialist doctors, Mittal said, all the posts were taken out of the purview of the PPSC and would now be filled through ‘walk-in interviews’. The department would update the status of vacant posts every month on its website and the Special Selection Committee constituted by the government would hold walk-in interviews on the 16th of each month to fill these posts.
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Sarabjit's lawyer penning book on him
Amritsar, August 29 Talking to mediapersons before crossing over to Pakistan here today, Sheikh said the book titled ‘Sarabjit Singh - A case of mistaken identity’ will be published in English. The book is being published in India. He said his previous book, ‘Samjhota Express’, has already been released in Urdu, English, Punjabi and Hindi. The book, which is primarily his memoirs of visits to various Indian cities, also dwells on Indo-Pak ties as well as the Gandhian philosophy of non-violence. Regarding Sarabjit, he said his mercy petition was under consideration and the matter was also likely to come up for discussion at a meeting of foreign ministers of both the countries next month. He said he had been pursuing the case for the release of 32 Indian prisoners lodged in various Pakistani jails, of which five, including Surjeet Singh, had been released. Sheikh said Bhavesh, a resident of Mumbai, is also lodged in a Pakistan jail. “His father being a cancer patient, Bhavesh was mentally upset and disappeared from his home one day before landing in Pakistan. His family came to know about him through another jail inmate who was lodged with him as the latter approached them after getting released. I met Bhavesh’s mother in Mumbai recently. She broke down. I assured her that I will pursue his case and get him released at the earliest.”
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Rain raises water level in Bhakra, Pong dams
Patiala, August 29 As per the latest figures, on August 28, the water level in Bhakra dam was 1627.29 feet whereas in Pong dam, the figure stood at 1367.25 feet. The water levels in these dams, in spite of the heavy rains in the last few weeks, are still less compared to last year. Despite the revival in the monsoon this year, the water level is only 16.11 feet more that what it was in 2009, when the region was hit by a drought. Last year, the water level in Bhakra and Pong dams stood at 1672.69 feet and 1384.01 feet. Hydro power generation from the Bhakra Beas Management Board projects on August 28 was recorded to be 397.91 Lakh Unit (LU) against last year’s generation of 537.57 LU.
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Govt approves Mullanpur township
Mohali, August 29 Presiding over a meeting of top officials of Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) and Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) here, the Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal directed GMADA to explore the possibilities of setting up new townships near Zirakpur and Derabassi towns. “We have to plan for the future, as with the growing need for housing, we have to carve out new townships,” said Sukhbir while approving the extension plan of Mullanpur. Stressing upon installing state-of-the-art facilities in the township at Mullanpur, Sukhbir said the road network there should be planned, keeping the next 50 years of development in mind. “Mushrooming of unauthorised or non-sanctioned colonies in the Mullanpur planned area would not be tolerated at any cost,” said Sukhbir. He directed the GMADA to ensure that private colonies had world-class road infrastructure, underground water and sewerage network. Sukhbir also ordered the PUDA officials to prepare extension plans for Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Bathinda at the earliest so that people could be provided houses at reasonable rates. Prominent amongst those who were at the meeting included Ajoy Sinha, Chief Administrator GMADA, Manvesh Singh Sidhu, Chief Administrator PUDA, Manjit Brar, Additional Chief Administrator GMADA and Ajay Kumar Mahajan, special principal secretary to the deputy chief minister.
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Unmanned
railway crossings
Patiala, August 29 Under the drive, GRP officials would visit nearby schools, villages and other institutions to raise awareness among people on how to cross unmanned railway crossings safely. Officials said in 2011, as many as 18 deadly accidents took place at unmanned crossings in Punjab in which 34 persons, including four children and six women, lost their lives. “Out of the total 818 unmanned railway crossings in Punjab, 75 are accident prone. Out of these, GRP officials have been posted at 48 crossings to ensure safe passage for school vans and public transport,” they said. Many persons had lost their lives at these unmanned crossings. So far in 2012, at least 16 persons including six schoolchildren lost their lives in seven accidents. “We have asked our officers to visit schools and villages and make them aware about these accidents. Even school bus drivers are covered under this project to ensure that no more accidents take place,” said a GRP officer. “The campaign is expected to continue till all unmanned crossings in Punjab are turned into manned crossings,” he added.
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Health Minister loses cool at press meet
Patiala, August 29 Mittal and his supporters threatened to teach the scribes a lesson after the minister lost his temper over some questions pertaining to his department. Denying all allegations, Mittal said there was some misunderstanding in the local party cadre. He said some journalists were backing the local party workers, which might have angered his supporters. Following the incident, mediapersons, who were forcibly pushed out of the venue, staged a dharna and raised slogans against the minister and the Punjab Government at Gagan Chowk. The protesting journalists demanded an unconditional apology from the minister, who left the town in a hurry. Mittal had visited Rajpura to attend a medical check-up camp organised under the banner of Sri Brij Sankirtan Mandal, Rajpura. The controversy erupted during a press conference when the minister was grilled by the media pertaining to the recent deaths due to diarrhoea and the decline in medical facilities in government hospitals. Irked over repeated questions against his department, Mittal asked the mediapersons to leave the venue following which there were some heated arguments between Mittal’s supporters and mediapersons. “We were threatened by the minister and later by his supporters who even snatched one of our colleague’s camera, which was later found damaged,” alleged a reporter with a national vernacular daily. Mittal said he did not issue any threat. “Some mediapersons played a partisan role while playing into the hands of the local party cadre and created ruckus. If in the process, some of my supporters got agitated and misbehaved with the media, I cannot be held responsible for that,” Mittal said. Claiming that he did not instigate his supporters to snatch cameras or issue threats, Mittal, however, admitted that he simply asked the scribes to leave the venue after they kept on grilling him. “It only happened due to the rift in our party,” he said.
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Officials told to spend a day at village schools
Ropar, August 29 The authorities have made a list of 150 such officials including the DC, Additional DCs, and SDMs who could carry out the exercise. The first visit will be made on September 15, when DC Pradip Kumar Agrawal will spend a day at a school in Hussainpur village. His subordinate additional deputy commissioner Sucha Singh Mast will visit Railo Kalan village while his colleague Additional Deputy Commissioner (development) Sukhwinder Pal Singh Marar will go to Bheora village. All officials will spend one Saturday in a month at the schools allotted to them. They will check if students and teachers were present and ensure the effective implementation of government schemes for schools, the DC said. — TNS
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Panel seeks report on neglected lab, hospital
Chandigarh, August 29 The Tribune had highlighted these issues recently. The laboratory did not have a cold room, which was required to safely store samples. The premises, which used to be a hostel, were rented on an ad hoc basis. The laboratory emitted a foul smell making it difficult to work there. Receiving on an average, 100 cases a day, the laboratory took several days to process the tests. It could have reduced the time to just a day after procuring the advanced Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry machine, but still hadn’t done so. Most of the cases that the laboratory received were related to various criminal and medico-legal cases. The commission after taking consideration of the facts demanded a report from the state government through Director, Medical Education and Research, Punjab, under Section 17(i) of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 before the next date of hearing. The Commision’s Bench was headed by its chairperson, Justice Jagdish Bhalla. The next date of hearing was November 5. It also sought a report on the deplorable state of emergency services at a rural hospital in Sangrur from the state government through the Director, Health and Family Welfare, Punjab on or before November 9. The 25-bed Cheema Rural Hospital, built to provide 24x7 emergency care services, was in a deplorable condition and was generally without a medical officer as the Senior Medical Officer posted there had to go to Longowal for four days in a week.
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Decide price revision issue, GMADA told
Chandigarh, August 29 The significant directions by a Division Bench of the High Court came on two separate petitions filed by Dr Ambedkar Cooperative House Building Society Ltd and Youth Welfare Club Cooperative House Building Society Ltd. The societies petitioned as they feared GMADA would increase the prices to compensate for acquiring other more expensive chunks of land. The directions are significant as GMADA’s decision may eventually affect the price at which the accommodations are allotted to the allottees. In both the petitions against GMADA, the petitioner-societies had raised identical grievances against the “proposed enhancement in the rate of allotment of the land to it by the respondent-Authority”. The land was earlier allotted to both the societies at the rate of Rs.2000 per square yard on July 28, 2004. Taking up the petitions separately, the Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice R.P. Nagrath observed: “The apprehension of the petitioner-society is that due to enhancement in compensation of some other acquired land, the rate of allotment of land to the petitioner-society is also likely to be increased”. Referring to the case record, the Bench in its detailed order observed it was evident from the documents that the issue has already been raised by the petitioner-societies with GMADA vide separate representations dated May 3 this year. Before parting with the orders, the Bench said, “Consequently, without expressing any views on the merits of the petitioner's claim, we deem it appropriate to dispose of this writ petition with a direction to the respondent-Authority to consider the representation of the petitioner”. Closing the petitions, the Bench asked GMADA to dispose of the representations “by passing a speaking order as early as possible and preferably within a period of two months from the date of receiving a certified copy of this order".
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Misuse of funds: Two-year RI for ex-Ropar DEO
Ropar, August 29 Malti was pronounced guilty of embezzling over Rs 4 lakh when she was posted in the district in 2002. Malti was arrested in November 2003 by a Vigilance Bureau team on charges of misappropriating Rs 1.5 lakh from the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan funds that were placed under her jurisdiction during her stint as district education officer (DEO). A case under Sections 420, 467, 468 and 471-A of the IPC and Section 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act had been registered against her. As a drawing and dispersing officer of the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, she allegedly used the funds without taking any concerned official into confidence. At one stage, the high court had also ordered a medical probe into the mental health of Malti following her false claim that she was employed with the Union Home Ministry. In its order, the Ropar court said Malti had spent Rs 3,58,707 without the approval of the higher authorities. She had also spent Rs 53,995 from the sports fund illegally. She withdrew Rs 18,046 without submitting any bill. While she had further spent Rs 40,000 illegally, she paid a salary of Rs 2,707 to a private driver without any authorisation. She also withdrew her pay of two months on July 2, 2002, while she had already received her salary of Rs 16,019 for the month of May 2002, said the court.
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Chandigarh, August 29
This is just the beginning of a punitive taxation regime that will be unleashed on the people of Punjab in the days to come. A bankrupt government is now trying to rob the people by imposing taxes by deceit after presenting a ‘tax-free’ Budget in the House
— Amarinder Singh, PCC president
Chandiagrh, August 29