Bathinda, October 2
The Municipal Corporation Bathinda (MCB) will soon be fixing rates for drawing water from the sewerage treatment plant (STP) on the Mansa Road for construction purposes.

The move is aimed at putting a fullstop to blatant use of groundwater for construction. Assistant municipal commissioner Kamal Kant Goyal said a hydrant had been installed at the sewerage treatment plant for this purpose.

“The rate of water available for construction may be pegged between Rs 50 and Rs 100 per tanker,” he said.

The Central Ground Water Authority had declared that some areas under the Patiala Urban Planning and Development Authority were grey zones, where the groundwater level was receding at a fast pace.

Following this, the local bodies department had directed all the municipal bodies to reduce the use of groundwater for construction purposes.

However, the Central Ground Water Authority has not termed any area of Malwa as a grey zone. Despite this, the MCB has taken a lead and decided to sell the sewerage treatment plant water for construction purposes.

“Since our pockets have not been declared as grey zones, we have decided not to press upon people to use STP water only. We will slowly and steadily streamline the system in such a way that people will get used to not using the groundwater for construction purposes,” said Goyal.

Under the Patiala Urban Planning and Development Authority, areas notified for saving and protecting groundwater resources include Patran, Dhuri, Sunam, Barnala, Sherpur, Malerkotla, Sangrur, Mehalkalan, Ahmedgarh, Sanour, Bhawanigarh, Amloh and Patiala.

Here, groundwater and tubewell water has been banned for use in construction activities and only water from a nearby sewerage treatment plant or surface water can be used.

It has also been ordered that water meters should be installed immediately and the meter reading should be noted on a daily basis. In case of non-compliance of these instructions, the department concerned would be asked to disconnect the electricity connection of the tubewell and bore.

Bathinda, October 2
The Dalit Maha Panchayat (DMP) was formed today with an aim to cater to issues of Dalits, who constitute 35 per cent of the total population of the state.

National Scheduled Castes Alliance and Chamar Mahan Sabha national president Paramjit Singh Kainth and Jan Lok Shakti Party state president Kiranjit Singh Gehri have been nominated as the convener and the co-convener of the DMP, respectively.

Addressing mediapersons at Dr Ambedkar Bhawan, Kainth said the Dalit Maha Panchayat would play a major role in the forthcoming parliamentary elections.

Kainth said the need for the formation of this organisation was felt as the state's scheduled castes were feeling "cheated" by the state government. He said the government was only using Dalits to gain political power in the state and not doing anything for their welfare.

It had been decided that the DMP would fan out in the state within a few days with the setting up of its units at the block level, he said.

He said the agenda was to work for the welfare of Dalits in the state and to provide them a strong leadership. The organisation would work to bring about reforms in the welfare schemes run by the state as well as the Union government for the scheduled castes in the state, he said.

Kainth said it would work for proper implementation of scholarship schemes for SC students. He said so far, due to the "insincerity of the state government", funds for these scholarships had not been released by the Union government, because of which such students were facing hardships.

Prominent among those who attended the meeting were National Dalit Council of India chairman Lachman Dass Jatti, Charanjit Singh Kainth, Jaswant Singh, Karnail Singh, Sukhwinder Singh Gharu, Gurtej Singh, Sham Singh Jora, Resham Singh and Jagdeep Singh Gehri.

Bathinda, October 2
Nirmal Rishi, best known for her portrayal of Gulabo Mausi in the Punjabi film, 'Laung Da Lashkara', regrets the fact that parents these days tend to guard their daughters fiercely to the extent that the girls have to settle for a profession of their parents' choice.

Rishi, who chose to be a part of theatre in an era when women didn't even step out of the four walls of their homes, said, "I am blessed that my parents were not shocked when I told them about my interest in theatre. At that time, in 1946, theatre was not a highly-reputed profession and more so for women. But my parents supported me."

"It saddens me to see that while the world is opening up new horizons for women today, parents are guarding their daughters more and more. They want comfortable jobs for their daughters wherein they earn more by working less," she added.

"There's no doubt about the fact that theatre makes an artiste work more and pays them less but for an actor, there can't be anything more satisfying than doing theatre," said the veteran actress who is also known for bringing to life strong female characters on stage.

In Bathinda to judge the giddha competition at the Zonal Youth Festival of the Punjabi University, Patiala, she dwelt upon the change of outlook towards the art form.

"These days, giddha has lost its sheen and no longer depicts our true culture. Now, it is prepared by teams in colleges just to win competitions," she said and added, "Giddha originated from the functions which were hosted to celebrate the homecoming of newly-wed daughters. While performing giddha, the tiyaan were given a chance to take out frustration and call the in-laws names in the form of boliyaan."

"Earlier, it was normal to use abusive language in giddha as the daughters sang about their in-laws in a carefree manner. But now, the same language is considered vulgar which is unfair," she added. 

Bathinda, October 2
On Day 2 of the Zonal Youth Festival of the Punjabi University Patila, being organised at the Malwa College here, play, mimicry, classical instrument (percussion), classical instrument (non-percussion), Western solo song, Western group song, Western solo instrument, debate, speech, poetry recitation, cartooning, collage-making, poster-making and photography competitions were held.

The chief guest in the morning session was the Education Minister of Punjab, Sikander Singh Maluka. Plawright and thespian Prof Ajmer Singh Aulakh was present was the special guest. The morning session was presided over by Dr Jaswinder Singh, dean, research, Punjabi University, Patiala.

During the evening session, Dr Jamsheed Ali Khan, Dean (Colleges and University), was the chief guest while the session was presided over by Preetam Singh Kotbhai, social activist.

While Maluka asked the students to participate in such competitions to hone their skills, Aulakh told the students that such festivals play an important role in the development of the students.

Also present during the function were chairman of Malwa College, Sewak Ram Singla, Rakesh Goyal, Raman Kumar Singla, Rikhi Ram Singla, president of the Bathinda Athletics Association, KPS Brar, honorary director of the college, Shardev Singh Gill, Prof NK Gosain, Darshan Singh and Raghubir Chand Sharma, Dr Satnam Singh Jassal and several other staff members.

In the classical instrument (percussion), Government Rajindra College won the first place and the second place went to Government Barjindra College. In the classical instrument (non-percussion), Government Barjindra College won the first prize while the second place went to Government Rajindra College.

In the Western solo song, DAV College bagged the first place while Barjindra College bagged the second place. In the Western group song, Government Rajindra College won the first place while DAV College won the second position. In the Western solo instrument, Government Rajindra College won the first place while the second position went to Gurukul College.

In declamation, GGS College of Education, Talwandi Sabo, was adjudged the winner while Government Barjindra College won the second place. In cartooning, BFGI and Malwa College won the first two positions, respectively, while in collage making, the first two positions went to Uman Red Cross Institute of Special Education and SSD Women's College of IT.

In the poster making competition, DAV College won the first place while the second place went to GGS College of Education. In the photography competition, Government Rajindra College bagged the first place while the second place went to Baba Farid Law College.

Bathinda, October 2
"Abb sabb menu budhiya hi kende ne, koi maa ni kenda (Everyone calls me an old lady, no one calls me a mother)," said an artiste playing the role of a mother, tugging at the heart strings of everyone present in the audience. The play, 'Mitti De Rishte', presented by DAV College, Bathinda, summarised how materialism has taken over the family relations.

Veteran thespians would swear by plays that would either make the audience cry their hearts out or laugh till their cheeks hurt. If this is any parameter to judge the quality of theatre, several plays enacted on the stage of Malwa College as part of the ongoing Zonal Youth Festival of Punjabi University, Patiala, did very well.

On Day 2 of the festival, as many as 11 teams presented plays most of which raked up social issues like division of families, female foeticide, child labour and atrocities against women among others.

Touching upon the theme of partition, a team of Government Rajindra College, Bathinda, got a big round of applause for its presentation of the play, 'Kali Salwar' based on a short story by Sadat Hassan Manto. As the play followed the story of a prostitute, it made the audience cry with the characters.

Students of Fateh College for Women, Rampura, made many cry as they retold the story of Mukhtaran Mai, a Pakistani woman from the village of Meerwala. In June 2002, Mukhtar Mai was the survivor of a gang rape as a form of honour revenge, on the orders of a tribal council of the local clan.

The play 'Izzat Ke Naam Par', followed her struggle against society and how her fight against the accused set an example for the other women. "Beizzat main nahi hui, beizzat hui thi tumhari soch," roared the girl playing the protagonist.

While Punjabi University Guru Kashi College, Talwandi Sabo, addressed the problem of child labour in 'Ghar Ghum Hai', Yadwindra College of Engineering, Talwandi Sabo, took up the challenge to showcase how poverty changes the lives of many through their play 'Gamaan Di Sanjh Garibi".

Swami Dayanand College of Education presented the play, 'Karze Di Pand", while Mata Saheb Kaur Girls College enacted the play 'Ajj Aakhan Varis Shah Nu'. 

Bathinda, October 2
“Women sitting in the audience may not like to hear and accept it, but it is true that they are the ones who are the root cause of the dowry system. Women of the family prepare a list of items which they want the bride to bring with her,” said state Education Minister Sikander Singh Maluka while addressing a gathering at the zonal youth festival of Malwa College here today.

The minister spoke on the issue after watching a play on female foeticide. He said, “We condemn female foeticide but do we realise that people kill their daughters as they cannot bear the burden of dowry. Therefore, we should fight against the injustices against women and the initiative should start from our homes.”

Maluka accused the Central government of crippling the education system in the country by introducing the Right To Education Act. “The Act says that no student can be failed till class VIII. Students don’t take their studies seriously and start failing in class IX. The education system should be the prerogative of the state governments and the Centre should stop interfering,” he said.

He said the SAD-BJP government in the state was the "first in the country to have curbed the menace of cheating".

He said rules were same for everyone and the state’s education system had given students the power to complain in case teachers remained absent or came to schools under the influence of liquor.

When asked if the party was paying special attention to Bathinda to ensure a Lok Sabha victory, he said the party would win not just the Bathinda seat but all the 13 seats of the state.

Taking a dig at the Opposition, he said, “Last year too, they were bragging about winning the Bathinda seat but had to leave empty-handed. This time too, we will register a landslide victory in Bathinda and the Opposition will have to run for cover.”

Bathinda, October 2
A district-level Kisan Mela will be held on October 5 at the Kheti Bhawan on Dabwali Road. The Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) will be holding a fair in collaboration with the agriculture department on rabi crops for the year 2013-14.

The chief agriculture officer said that the chief guest at the event will be MLA from Bathinda (Urban) Sarup Chand Singla. Deputy Commissioner Kamal Kishore Yadav will inaugurate the fair, while the director, agriculture, Dr Mangal Singh Sandhu will preside over the function.

Joint director, agriculture, Rajneesh Mehta will inform farmers about the different state-level schemes being run for the farmers. — TNS

Bathinda, October 2
Rich tributes were paid to the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi and former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on the occasion of their birth anniversary at the Congress Bhawan in the city today.

President of the city unit of the Congress Ashok Kumar said the need of the hour was to implement the path shown by Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri.

Prominent those present on the occasion were Jagmeet Singh, Nand Lal Singla, Niranjan Bhola, Jugraj Singh, Balvir Singh and Murlidhar Gaur.

Meanwhile, the NGO Sahara Welfare Society undertook a plantation drive in the city today to mark the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri.

The NGO has taken over the work of planting saplings starting from the railway under bridge along Santpura Road to the Sirhind canal. President of the NGO, Vijay Goyal said,” "After completing the project, we would then turn be turning the area from the railway station to the Mall Road into a green road," he said.

Goyal added that those interested in helping the NGO in its plantation drive, can contact at the mobile phone number 9855133353.

President of the Bathinda Coal Merchants Association Janak Raj Aggarwal inaugurated the project by planting Amaltas saplings.

Bathinda, October 2
As many as 2,200 participants will take part in the Punjab State Games for Women being organised by the Punjab Sports Department at the Multipurpose Sports Stadium, Bathinda, from October 3 to 5. This was stated by Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon, director, sports, Punjab, here today.

As many as 150 officials have been deputed by the Sports Department for the smooth conduct of the games. The aim is to encourage women and give them a chance in the field of sports.

Dhillon informed that the games will be inaugurated by Sikandar Singh Maluka, Minister for Education,Punjab. The closing ceremony will be held on Saturday and Janmeja Singh Sekhon, Punjab Minister for Irrigation would be the chief guest.

DC KK Yadav said Damanjit Singh Mann, SDM, Bathinda has been deputed to coordinate with the Sports Department and look after the arrangements.

According to the SDM, all the 22 districts have been lodged at different venues.

Karam Singh, District Sports Officer, informed that all the sports venues are ready for the games. The opening and closing ceremonies will be held at the Multipurpose Sports Stadium and play grounds for different games have been prepared. Rupinder Singh, assistant director, sports, Punjab, and Jasvirpal Kaur Brar, District Sports Officer, Patiala, have been deputed as the department's supervisor for the games.

SSP Ravcharan Brar assured that security arrangements for the opening and closing ceremonies are in place. The places of accommodation and venues are also being provided adequate security to ensure the safety of female participants, the SSP added.

Bathinda, October 2
A resident of Veer Colony area today accused the employees of a fuel station near Tinkoni of pouring less fuel in the vehicle as compared to the money charged for the same.

Rishant Joshi from Veer Colony had gone to the fuel station for a refill today. He accused the petrol pump staff of holding back fuel and not filling it in the vehicle.

When he objected to it, the employees allegedly misbehaved with him. Rishant, nephew of local BJP leader Umesh, then called his relatives. The crowd started asking for an apology and the SHO Kotwali was called up.

SHO Karamjit Singh said the petrol pump staff has apologised for its behaviour and the matter has been resolved.