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Namdhari sect succession row spills onto roads in Ludhiana
assembly in Session
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Shrinking Vidhan Sabha sessions cause for concern
Cheated by kin, NRIs seek relief at police camp
Akali leader’s son opens fire in Bhadson, 1 hurt
One-fourth school kids found ill in Jalandhar district
assembly in Session
question hour
Law & Order SAD finalises 35 names
for DSGMC elections
Reining in the menace
Excise dept cracks down on marriage palaces
Farmers to be given tips on crop diversification
Demands not met, NRHM employees to protest today
Demand dips, PSPCL shuts down 2 units
CITU activists block highway in Ropar
3 months on, sangat darshan yet to be held in Patiala
Infant drowns in pond
Farmer shot dead over monetary dispute
Factory employee robbed of Rs 5 lakh
Acid Attack: Patiala police books victim's husband
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Namdhari sect succession row spills onto roads in Ludhiana
Ludhiana December 18 Namdhari sect head Jagjit Singh had died on December 13 and his nephew Thakur Uday Singh was appointed the successor on December 16. The International Namdhari Sangat, however, wanted Uday Singh's brother Thakur Dalip Singh appointed as the new Satguru. The Sangat had even appealed to Jagjit Singh's widow Chand Kaur to reconsider the decision to appoint Uday Singh as the new head. The International Sangat members today burnt an effigy of Namdhari Darbar (Bhaini Sahib) president HS Hanspal and vice-president Surinder Lyal at Vishvakarma Chowk here. The activists alleged that Hanspal and Lyal were trying to create factionalism among the Namdhari Sangat over succession. International Namdhari Sangat president Navtej Singh said Hanspal and Lyal allegedly had vested interests in appointing Uday Singh as the new head. "Hanspal and Lyal want to become politically important and, therefore, have appointed Uday Singh as the sect head. Both are indirectly trying to divide the Namdharis," he said. Navtej alleged that both these leaders had committed a sin by ignoring Jagjit Singh's desire and announcing Uday Singh as the Satguru instead of Dalip Singh. He claimed that a majority of the Namdhari Sangat was in Dalip Singh's favour and that Hanspal and Lyal had allegedly ignored the mass feeling. When questioned on the issue, Lyal said the International Namdhari Sangat was a "fake organisation". "There is no confusion over succession as Chand Kaur herself had announced Uday Singh as the new Satguru. A section of the Sangat is trying to defame the Namdhari sect," he added. Hanspal, however, refused to comment on the issue.
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assembly in Session
Chandigarh, December 18 The Bills came up for a brief mention during uproarious scenes with the Congress demanding that the House be opened with a debate on the law and order situation in the state. Without any discussion, all the Bills were declared ‘passed’ by the House. The House passed the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2012; the Punjab Town Improvement (Amendment) Bill, 2012; the Punjab Municipal (Second Amendment) Bill, 2012; the Punjab Municipal Corporation (Second Amendment) Bill 2012; and the Punjab (Institutions and Other Buildings) Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2012. Allowing the state government to take control of the village common land
(shamlat), Section 5 in the Sub-Section 5 of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 196, has been substituted with “provided that the condition of retaining 50 per cent of the total culturable land vested or deemed to have been vested in the panchayat shall not be applicable when such land is disposed of by way of sale, gift or exchange to any of the department of the state government or the board or the corporation owned or controlled by the state government”. The Punjab (Institutions and Other Buildings) tax (Amendment) reads: “ At present, institutions and buildings outside the municipal area in the state of Punjab are taxed under the provisions of the Punjab tax Act-2011. Hospitals, including those run by charitable
trusts\sociaties, are not commercial but are serving good social cause. It is, therefore, necessary to exempt these from the provisions of the aforesaid Act’. The government has approved certain amendments to the Marriage Palace Regularisation Policy announced a few days ago for regularising marriage palaces and for setting up new ones, keeping in view the problems being faced by owners of marriage palaces. The last date for submission of applications for regularising the marriage palaces has been extended to December 31. As per the policy, 50 per cent of the total charges were to be paid at the time of approval. The amount has been now reduced to 25 per cent. House approves
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Shrinking Vidhan Sabha sessions cause for concern
Chandigarh, December 18 The Punjab House had met only 14 times this year before the start of the winter session (the last one in 2012) yesterday. While the Lok
Sabha, on an average, meets for 72 days a year, many state assemblies, including the Punjab assembly, seldom crosses the quarter century mark. The last time that the Punjab Assembly had 25 sittings was in 1997. In 2003, it touched an all-time low of just 14 sittings. The number of sittings could have been still lower, but for certain Constitutional requirements. A session is required to be held within six months of the last session. The State Budget, too, has to be passed by the Vidhan
Sabha. There is growing concern not only over the shrinking legislative sessions, but also the quality of work being undertaken by the assemblies. Official agencies dealing with Parliament and legislative affairs admit that assembly sessions are often marked by unsavoury incidents, including use of force to intimidate opponents and sloganeering with little debate or discussion. Besides, there is increasing concern over the decline of legislature, falling standards of debate, erosion of moral authority and the prestige of the supreme tribune of the people, reads an official report on parliamentary affairs. Another area of concern is that instead of taking up issues that affect the common man, focus during truncated debates or discussions invariably veers around individual legislators or their supporters. Falling standards
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Cheated by kin, NRIs seek relief at police camp
Bathinda, December 18 This was the story of most of the 500 complaints received from NRIs at a “Khula Darbar” organised by the Bathinda Zonal police here today. Sixty-seven-year-old Sukhdev Singh, an NRI and a veteran of two wars, seems to be fighting a losing battle against his close relatives who allegedly took over his property in Moga. He claimed he had built that property over decades by saving each penny he earned as a driver and a painter in Iraq and later in the US. “I went abroad after retiring from the Indian Army. I had fought in the 1965 and 1971 wars. I sent money to my father and brother back home for constructing a house. At times, I worked for 36 hours continuously and saved money even on a cup of tea only to be duped,” he said. Similar cases of cheating figured among the complaints, although marital disputes also came up. A board of police officials, headed by IG-Bathinda Zone NS Dhillon, heard the complainants. DIG Parmod Ban along with SSPs of the district concerned too listened to the complainants. Dhillon said the case of Sukhdev Singh was sub-judice, but the police would also look into those parts of the complaints where police action could be taken. Ajaib Singh Dhillon, an NRI from Hong Kong belonging to Pitho village, alleged a Faridkot trader duped him by selling him Emu birds worth Rs 23 lakh with the promise that he would buy the eggs. “The eggs are rotting. Each egg costs between Rs 1,200 and Rs 2,000. I am unable to sell them in the market also,” he said, pleading for police intervention. Dhillon asked Faridkot SSP Gurpreet Singh to inquire the matter. There were some complaints where the local police was helpless. Such cases were either sub-judice or the incidents had taken place outside the country. There were many instances where police inquiries were completed and the cases filed but the complainants were not satisfied. One such case was of Australia-based Parminder Kaur. Her brother Jaideep Singh, a software engineer, and mother Jasbir Kaur claimed that the police was not registering a dowry case against Parminder’s in-laws. Muktsar police officials said IG (NRIs) Gurpreet Deo had already inquired the matter and found no substance to register a case. A majority of the complaints were from Moga and Ferozepur districts with least from Mansa district. Dhillon said about 500 complaints were received. “We have assured time-bound action in cognisable complaints. We tried to give our best advice to other complainants,” he said. The SP, headquarters, of seven districts - Bathinda, Mansa, Fazilka, Faridkot, Muktsar, Ferozepur and Moga - had been made nodal officers for hearing NRI-related matters, he added.
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Akali leader’s son opens fire in Bhadson, 1 hurt
Patiala, December 18 The Bhadson police has arrested Hardeep and booked him for attempt to murder. Both Hardeep and Pathak are residents of Bhadson. The police said that Hardeep opened fire at Pathak with his father Jarnail Singh’s licensed revolver. Jarnail Singh is propaganda secretary of the SAD, Patiala. When contacted, he claimed that he had no association with the SAD. When told that his name appeared in the list of new SAD Patiala (rural) office-bearers released in mid-November, he disconnected the phone. Repeated attempts to contact him again proved futile.
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One-fourth school kids found ill in Jalandhar district
Jalandhar, December 18 Of the 2,06,716 students examined from April to November, 49,944 were found ill, said a report submitted by health officials to the Deputy Commissioner during a monthly meeting held yesterday. The programme covered 1,862 government and private schools in Jalandhar. District Family Welfare Officer Dr Shiv Dyal Mali said 16,955 students had to be referred to hospitals for proper treatment. While minor respiratory, skin and intestinal ailments, anaemia, malnutrition and conjunctivitis were found to be the most common problems, there were cases where children were found suffering from major disorders as well, he said. Mali said 20 cases were related to heart disease, 10 of cancer and two of thalassaemia. He reported that 112 children were found suffering from hearing and speech disorders and 2,910 students had to be given spectacles. While all these figures pertained to check-ups done from April to November, Mali said the medical officers were now going for a second round of check-up of the same students. He said a medical officer covered eight to 10 schools around his area and had prepared a roaster for weekly round to the schools. "He is expected to go on a school round at least 52 days in a year," Mali said. He said he felt nothing unusual if 25 to 30 children in a batch of 100 students were found to be ill. Several such students were found suffering from amoebiasis and scabies, which could be easily cured, he said.
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assembly in Session
Chandigarh, December 18 The Vidhan Sabha secretariat added a corrigendum to the list of business for today’s sitting, stating that the Chief Minister’s statement had been omitted from the original agenda. Despite this, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal got up to give an explanation to allegations that Rs 40 crore had been doled out to the poor in his constituency on the eve of the last assembly elections. The Congress protested against this, saying the corrigendum had made it clear that the CM’s statement on the issue would not form part of today’s business. It also claimed that the corrigendum was proof that an agreement had been reached at the business advisory committee meeting yesterday that the session would discuss only the law and order problem today. The SAD expressed ignorance about the corrigendum. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, when approached on the matter, said he did not know how the letter had been generated. He said it could have been a “clerical” mistake as the CM was slated to make an explanation on a particular issue and not a statement. “I think a misunderstanding is deliberately being created on the issue”, Sukhbir remarked. The Speaker, when contacted, corroborated the Deputy CM’s contention, saying the corrigendum meant that only the word “statement” had been removed from the agenda item. He said this was done as the CM wanted to give a personal explanation and not a statement. The Speaker also said that contrary to what the Congress Legislature Party Leader was claiming, Congress members of the business advisory committee had agreed to hear the Chief Minister before initiating a debate on law and order. " Moreover. since the CM is the Leader of the House, he can speak on any issue with the permission of the Chair," he maintained. Despite the Speaker’s contention, the issue remains unclear because the corrigendum, while referring to item number three - “Statement by Honourable CM- “ says “to be omitted”. It also says other agenda items- from point number four to eight- should be numbered accordingly. Why the agenda items should have been re-numbered if only the word ‘statement’ was to be omitted is a mystery.
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question hour
Chandigarh, December 18 Initiating a discussion on the matter, Leader of the Congress Legislature Party Sunil Jakhar said: “The government reply pertaining to a question on specific dates for release of the SC scholarship grant by the Centre for the sessions 2011-2011 and 2011-2012 when matched with Punjab Government dates on which these amounts were released show several infirmities on account of expenditure details with regard to specific institutions and students.” Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal maintained the query pertaining specifically to the dates on which the grants were released had been duly answered. He asked Jakhar to put up fresh queries in writing. Jakhar said the reply showed that an amount of Rs 109 crores had been released. However, there was no clarity on whether it had reached the actual beneficiaries. He was supported by Congress MLA Rana Sodhi who said: “Let the government supply us the complete list of beneficiaries and settle the controversy.” Replying to a query on aid to cancer patients, Health Minister Madan Mohan Mittal said the government had done away with certain procedural requirements. Query on dharamshalas
To a question by MLA Justice Nirmal Singh on the number of dharamshalas in which anganwari centres were being run, minister Swaran Singh Phillaur replied: “There are a total of 15,550 dharamshalas in the state specially for Scheduled Castes of which 3,770 are running anganwari centres.” He said the anganwaris would be moved out. On illegal colonies
To a question by MLA Gurkirat Singh, the Deputy CM said the state was considering regularising unauthorised colonies under a new policy to be formed shortly.
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Law & Order
Chandigarh, December 18 He said he had a list of 17 incidents that had occurred in the past one month in which Akali goons had taken law in their own hands. He said the police was demoralised as it had been “directed" to pay heed to Akali workers. He alleged that the main accused in the killing of ASI Ravinderpal Singh had raised slogans in favour of minister Bikramjit Singh Majithia because of which the police had refused to reach the crime spot.
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SAD finalises 35 names
for DSGMC elections
Chandigarh, December 18 The SAD (Delhi) is led by Paramjit Singh Sarna, who also heads the DSGMC. The elections are to be held on January 27. Having a considerable stake in Delhi’s Sikh politics, the SAD (Badal) has already shortlisted candidates for 35 of the total 46 seats. SAD (Badal) general secretary Balwant Singh Ramoowalia said: “The candidates for the remaining 11 seats will be finalised shortly.” Ramoowalia has been assigned the task of identifying potentially winning candidates for the elections. He said, “The final list of candidates will be handed over to party president Sukhbir Singh Badal by next week.” He said the SAD (Badal) had launched its campaign in Delhi a few months ago. The SAD’s main fight is with Sarna brothers --- Paramjit Singh Sarna and his brother Harvinder Singh Sarna --- who have been ruling the DSGMC for the past decade. The brothers are considered close to Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh. Apart from alleged corruption in the handling of DSGMC affairs, the SAD (Badal) plans to counter the Sarnas on issues related to educational institutions managed by the committee and leasing of gurdwara properties worth several hundred crores to private parties, claimed Ramoowalia. “Educational institutions are in a bad shape and the number of students has gone down drastically in such schools due to mismanagement.”
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Reining in the menace
Amritsar, December 18 Rajewal said they would launch a drive in March in support of their demands aimed at curbing the drug menace. He said if the state government failed to respond favourably to their demands, they would stage an indefinite dharna in the state capital. Highlighting their demands in a memorandum submitted to the Jathedar, Rajewal said the government should order closure of chemist shops in villages which did not have any doctor as most of these shops were resorting to selling banned drugs. He said the government should initiate measures to curb drug addiction instead of boosting its revenue through auction of liquor vends. The Jathedar said he would discuss the matter in the next meeting of the Sikh clergy and issue an edict aimed at curbing drug addiction.
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Excise dept cracks down on marriage palaces
Ludhiana, December 18 HPS Ghotra, Assistant Excise and Tax Commissioner, Zone III, said, "We have been carrying out sting operations on these marriage palaces. My team would book a marriage palace and record the conversation. “The marriage palace owners would make a deal and give the bill for half the amount, while the customer would be paying the full amount,” said
Ghotra. Ghotra further added, "Within the last two months, we have recovered Rs 40.27 lakh and are hopeful of recovering more in the future." It was found that many marriage palaces were evading Luxury Tax which is levied at the rate of 8 per cent. Moreover, they are also paying less tax. Estimates reveal that the marriage palace owners are evading nearly 40-45 per cent of the tax value. "We will be keeping a regular check on these marriage palaces that have been evading tax. In case, we find any irregularities in their documents, then they will be penalised Rs 10,000," said
Ghotra.
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Farmers to be given tips on crop diversification
Fatehgarh Sahib, December 18 The Agriculture Department has decided to hold camps in various parts of the district, to educate the farmers about other crops, such as maize, sugar cane, sunflower, oil seeds, pulses and fruits. Chief Agriculture Officer Dr Jasbir Singh Bains said agriculture experts should meet progressive farmers at the block level to encourage farmers to grow other crops. He said five farmers at the district level and one at the block level would be awarded Rs 10,000 each for diversifying into other crops. He also exhorted the agriculture experts to run field schools at the block level in the district to educate the farmers. Dr Bains said a camp was organised at Lohar Majra village to raise awareness among the farmers about the deficiency of vital minerals and vitamins in the wheat crop. He spoke about the varied deficiencies in the plant such as manganese and zinc. Zinc deficiency stops the growth of the plants and in order to check this, a farmer should mix one kg of zinc sulphate in 200 litres of water sprayed per acre, he said. He also directed the Agriculture Department officials to educate the farmers about the subsidy provided under various schemes. Deputy Director Krishi Vigyan Kendra Dr Harinder Singh, Project Director Dr Ravinderpal Singh Chatha, Agriculture Officer Dr Kirandeep Singh were among those present in the meeting. Progressive steps
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Demands not met, NRHM employees to protest today
Ludhiana, December 18 These employees are going to hold a state level protest rally tomorrow (December 19) in Chandigarh outside the office of the Director Health Services, Punjab. Rajinder Singh, spokesman of the NRHM Union, Punjab, said, “Our major demand is to implement the notification of regularisation of Contractual Multipurpose Health Workers (females) appointed under the NRHM. “It was in December 2011, when the state government issued the notification to regularise these workers but it has not implemented the notification till date. We also demand that we be given pay scales similar to that of the employees of the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan." The agitating employees also demand release of their strike period salary of about two months. Kiranjeet Kaur, president of Contractual Multipurpose Health Workers (females) Union, Punjab, said, "Last year the NRHM employees remained on strike for about two months. “We are yet to get the salary of this period although Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Madan Mohan Mittal had already approved it.'' It needs to be mentioned here that last year on October 4, a large number of NRHM employees had climbed atop a water tank at Gill village of Ludhiana district during a state
level protest and stayed there overnight. They came down only after getting an assurance from the government. Afterwards they held a 25-day-long dharna in Chandigarh at Sector 25. There are over 4,300 employees appointed under NRHM for the posts of Ayurvedic Medical officer, Homeopathic Medical Officer, ANMs (Auxillary Nurse Midwife), staff nurses, paramedical and clerical staff etc. Satish Chandra, Principal Secretary (Finance), Punjab Government said, “A few days ago, the Punjab Chief Secretary had a meeting with the Finance Department and asked them to examine how regular posts in various government departments could be filled up with contractual employees working under Government of India schemes. “It was suggested that contractual employees, who were appointed on merit, should be given priority while recruiting for a regular post at any government department. The Finance Department is preparing a proposal in consultation with the Health and Education Departments.”
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Demand dips, PSPCL shuts down 2 units
Patiala, December 18 If operated for 24 hours, one unit of 110-MW generates 26.4 LU of power in a day. “For the past two to three days, the load has decreased following which we have closed down two thermal units at Bathinda thermal plant. As and when the load picks up, we would start the units again,” said PSPCL Director (Generation) GS Chhabra. Even after shutting down the two thermal units, PSPCL comfortably managed to meet the demand of 887 LU recorded on December 17.— TNS
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CITU activists block highway in Ropar
Ropar, December 18 The local police, however, diverted the traffic along other routes during the blockade which inconvenienced commuters and prolonged their journey by at least 30 minutes. On November 4, the CITU leaders had announced to launch a Jatha March campaign from December 13 to 17 and block the road traffic for two hours on December 18. CITU has been demanding revision of minimum wages, abolition of the contract labour system, implementation of the May 30 notification issued by the Labour Department of Punjab, and coverage of all scheme workers under the Minimum Wages Act. The trade union members have been demanding Rs 10,000 as the minimum wage for unskilled workers, Rs 15,000 for semi-skilled workers, and Rs 20,000 for skilled workers. It was in the afternoon that the members of the unions gathered on the state highway near the bus stand of the town. Employees of the Transport Department, who have been protesting since last week to urge the government to regularise contract workers, joined them there. CITU district president Gurdev Singh Bagi said that over 10,000 workers from Punjab would participate in a march towards the Parliament on December 20 to protest against the anti-people policies of the UPA Government.
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3 months on, sangat darshan yet to be held in Patiala
Patiala, December 18 In this iniative, the Mayor was to hold a Sangat Darshan programme in one municipal ward every month to give the residents an opportunity to air their concerns. The Mayor has also not been able to keep his promise to start e-governance in the Municipal Corporation (MC) within a month. Even the Patiala MC’s defunct website has not been relaunched. However, Patiala MC has managed to take possession of the 7,700 square yards of land near the police station, division number 2, from the encroachers. MC has already passed a resolution to sell off this land to Patiala Improvement Trust and the money will be used to fund development projects.
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Infant drowns in pond Sangrur, December 18 He was the son of a driver, Gurdeep Singh. The Sandaur police said Maninder accidentally fell into a pond situated near his house. His father, who was watching him, jumped into the pond to rescue the child. Gurdeep took his son to a private hospital at Sandaur, but the doctor there declared him brought dead. Despite this, the family took the child to a hospital in Malerkotla.
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Farmer shot dead over monetary dispute
Fazilka, December 18 The police said accused Iqbal Singh had engaged victim Dalip Singh for cultivating guar crop on his 16-acre plot on an 80:20 per cent income basis. After harvest, both decided to store the crop at Iqbal’s residence as the prices were low. When the produce was sold later at higher prices, Dalip demanded payments at revised rates. However, Iqbal insisted on making payments on old rates, the police said. The matter reached the panchayat, which worked out a compromise. But yesterday when the victim was returning home from his fields, the accused, accompanied by his brother Sukhjit Singh and nephew Beant Singh, allegedly countered Dalip. Iqbal allegedly fired twice from his revolver at the victim, killing him on the spot. A post-mortem examination was conducted today at the local Civil Hospital. Roranwali police station, where the complaint has been lodged, in-charge Kuldeep Singh Randhawa said a case had been registered against Iqbal, Sukhjit and Beant. None of the accused had been arrested so far as they were at large, the police said.
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Factory employee robbed of Rs 5 lakh
Muktsar, December 18 Sources said Balwinder Singh, an employee of Miglani Cotton Factory, had withdrawn the money from the main branch of the State Bank of India on the Malout road. On his way to the factory, he stopped at an electronics shop near the railway crossings. Two youths who were allegedly chasing him on a red motorcycle broke open the boot and fled with the cash. A police party reached the spot and started investigating the matter.
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Acid Attack: Patiala police books victim's husband Patiala, December 18 Tanu, who was married to Jatinder Singh of Ajlaud village in Samrala in 2007, was living with her parents here because of differences with her in-laws. Her mother Santosh Sharma alleged that Tanu had been attacked at the behest of her estranged husband. The kotwali police has booked Jitender under Sections 34, 324, and 341 of the Indian Penal Code.
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The tug-of-war over appointing the successor to late Satguru Jagjit Singh took an ugly turn today when members of the International Namdhari Sangat took to the streets.
They endeavoured to maintain some connection with their mother land either through property or via marriage. But what they got in return was fraud played on them mostly by their trusted friends and relatives.
Patiala, December 18
A corrigendum issued by the Vidhan Sabha secretariat omitting Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s statement from today’s agenda became of a bone of contention, with the SAD distancing itself from the missive even as the Congress claimed it was “proof” of the agreement reached with the ruling coalition that today’s session would only discuss law and order in the state.
With at least two days gone on obituaries and one on the Governor's Address, the rest of the time is lost to walkouts, disruptions and adjournments. Punjab’s record in quality debates on the floor of the House is unlikely to be 30 to 40 hours a year. Often, Bills are approved at the fag-end of the session within minutes without a serious debate on issues of common interest.
A delegation of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), headed by its president Balbir Singh Rajewal, today met Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh and urged him to support their anti-drug campaign in Punjab.