Bathinda, December 6
The new Atta-Dal Scheme of the state government, which provides wheat to the below poverty line (BPL) blue card-holder families in the state, is proving detrimental for the depot holders said the Bathinda district Depot Holder Association during a meeting at the Teachers’ Home today.

Santokh Singh, president of the association, presided over the meeting. Terming policy of the state government of stopping the commission of depot holders and saddling them with burden, the depot holders have decided not to distribute ration without getting their dues cleared. Santokh said the decision has been taken on the directions of the Punjab Depot Holder Association.

“The depot holders have become unemployed. They do not have any work to do and have gone pauper. Over the years, due to the wrong government policies, the ration depots lie defunct and the poor are still not getting enough food on subsidy. We have served people for over five decades and now, we are out of business. The government should pay us salary grade of a government clerk or R 24,000 per month,” said Santokh Singh.

He added that earlier, the government used to give wheat, sugar, rice, ghee, kerosene oil, cereals and pulses. Earnings of the depot holders were the commission they got on selling the ration products. The government has now stopped giving commission on the ration products. Instead, the depot holders are now paying expenses of power, water and stationery from their own pockets. With the passage of time, except for wheat and pulses, all other items have been removed from depot distribution system.

Santokh added that under the Food Security Bill, 67 per cent of people in the state are to be given wheat from the stock Central Government has given. However, the SAD-BJP government in state has limited this benefit only to the BPL families having blue cards.

“The SD-BJP government is trying to ensure its vote bank through Re 1 per kg wheat scheme, which is actually a Central Government scheme. The depot holders have no margin in it. We are on the verge of closure,” he said.

There are 780 depots in Bathinda district and around 26,000 depots in the state. The Punjab Depot Holders Association has called indefinite strike. 

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Bathinda, December 6
Tobacco products sellers, hoteliers and general public was caught napping today for not complying with the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act under which Bathinda was declared smoke-free on August 14 this year. The team penalised 12 people under various sections of the COTPA and collected a fine of Rs 1,500. The team, headed by the District Health Officer, Dr Raghubir Singh Randhawa, started from the grain market and covered areas of Sirki Bazar, Mal Godam Road and the Bathinda railway station.

Two people were fined for smoking in public under Section 4 of the COTPA. Billboards and glow signs, mentioning tobacco and its products, were removed from a shop in Sirki Bazar area. Similarly, five vendors were penalised for not displaying the signage that states that the sale of tobacco and its products to people below 18 years, is not allowed. At one of the kiosks, a vendor had hidden the signage among stacks of the tobacco products. He was also fined for not properly displaying the signage.

Team visited hotels located on the Mal Godam Road. At one of the hotels, the signage put up was not the proper one. “Before declaring Bathinda smoke-free, we had distributed proper signages with specifications to all the hotels. However, this particular hotel had not put up proper signage and hence it was also penalised,” Dr Randhawa said.

During its visit to the Bathinda railway station, the team found improper signages installed at various places. The health department will now write to the railways requesting that proper signages be put up on the railway station dissuading smoking at the largest public place. 

Bathinda, December 6
The State Ministerial Services Association observed second day of its state-wide strike today crippling the working at government offices. The association members held protest rally on the district administrative complex premises.

Addressing the gathering, the president of the State Ministerial Services Association, Khushkaranjit Singh, said while the SAD-BJP government claimed to have enough funds, it was not releasing dues and arrears of the staff. The association members said the state government has not given daily allowance on the lines of the Central Government and was silent on the issue of paying the arrears.

They added that there were many departments wherein the employees have not received their salaries for the past few months. Didar Singh, a member of the association, said while the state government was splurging money on futile exercises like World Cup Kabaddi, it was not paying salaries on time to its ministerial staff.

Prominent among others present at the dharna included Kewal Bansal, Megh Singh, Tirath Batra, Gopal Singh, Meharjit Singh, Shyam Lal, Paramjit Singh, Varinder Singh, Bhajan Singh, Gurtej Singh Malhan, Gurmail Singh and others.

Bathinda, December 6
Literary competitions were held marking the Beti Bachao Andolan at the GNM Training School on the civil hospital premises here today.

Chief guest at the occasion was ADC (D) Sonali Giri. The ADC, along with civil surgeon Dr Ajay Sahni and district education office representative Kavita adjudged the competition.

Speaking at the event, Sonali said the need of hour was to bridge the disparity between males and females. "Women are the foundation of our society. Today's competitions should not only be considered as an event, but start of awakening and sensitising the society," she said.

Earlier, block level competitions of the school and college students were held. Winners of these competitions participated in the district level competition held today.

In the slogan writing contest Veerpal Kaur, Pappu Kumar and Arshdeep Kaur secured first, second and third places. In the collage making contest Lakhwinder Singh, Chanderdeep and Amandeep secured first, second and third places. In the essay writing competition Beerdeep Kaur, Harmesh Kaur and Palak Bansal secured first, second and third positions. In the poster making competition Karamjit Kaur, Birbal Singh and Ranjit Singh got first, second and third places.

As many as 60 students of different schools and colleges, teachers, lecturers and others participated in the seminar held on saving the girl child. District family welfare officer Dr Ravanjit Kaur thanked the participants, while district mass media officer Usha Singla was the stage convener.

Bathinda, December 6
The district president of the SSA-RMS/CSS non-teaching staff union derided the state police for lathi charging the EGS teachers who were holding a protest march in Harike in favour of their long-pending demands.

Expressing displeasure with the way the state government was handling the teachers and employees of the other departments fighting for their rights, the district president, Deepak Bansal, stated that if the government can’t fulfill the demands of the teachers and the employees of the other departments, it should not buy time by making excuses and fake promises.

It is pertinent to mention here that the SSA-RMS/CSS non-teaching staff union had ended its 44-day-long pen-down strike a few days ago. “We ended our strike on December 3 after the Director General School Education (DGSE), Kumar Rahul, assured the union members that their demands will be discussed with the Chief Minister and offered juice to two female employees who were on a hunger strike in Mohali,” Bansal said.

“He also assured us that after discussion, the CM had passed orders for increasing the pay of the SSA-RMS/CSS non-teaching staff by Rs 2,000 starting from December 2013. The DGSE also conveyed that the CM had also promised he would convene a panel meeting with the union members within a month. The DGSE also told the protesting union members that they would be marked present at work and would be given salary of all the days during which they were on a pen-down strike,” said Bansal.

“Although we have ended our strike, we would like to bring it to the attention of the state government that we have only postponed our pen-down strike believing the CM’s promise. In case, the said meeting is not convened or fails to bear fruit, we will resume the pen-down strike,” Bansal added. 

Bathinda, December 6
The Punjabi Department of Guru Kashi University at Talwandi Sabo today hosted a programme to celebrate the Pre Nirvan Diwas on its campus.

While addressing students of the Punjabi Department, poet Gurcharn Badhan said Dr BR Ambedkar did a lot for the cause of women empowerment.

It is of utmost importance for every Indian to remember him for spreading light of awareness among the neglected people, he added. He said he also learnt a lot from the teachings of Dr BR Ambedkar.

He read out some excerpts from his books "Lodhe Wele", "Geetan Nal Preetan", "Aabaad Rahe Gulshan", "Adhmoyian Sadran", "Tirakde Risthe" and "Chupp di Ibaadat".

Prof Gurbhajan Singh Gill, Director (Planning & Development) said Dr Ambedkar was the voice of the deprived and neglected people and following in his footsteps, equal opportunities should be provided to everyone without considering caste and creed.

Prof Gill also emphasised that best efforts will be made for the over all development of the students in Guru Kashi University in every sphere.

Bathinda, December 6
A glimpse of the adage, "Unity in Diversity" was shown at the national integration camp (NIC) held at Muktsar by Nehru Yuva Kendra. During this camp students from 14 districts of Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana visited the Baba Farid Group of Institutions (BFGI).

The students presented dance performances depicting the culture of their states. The chief guest during the programme was the district youth coordinator of Nehru Yuva Kendra, Jagjit Singh Maan, organiser of the camp Prof Ajay Kumar and Deputy Camp Commandant Parminder Kaur.

Vice-principal of the Baba Farid Senior Secondary School, Navninder Kaur, presented the welcome note. Chairman of the BFGI, Gurmeet Singh Dhaliwal, said, "It is a historical day for the BFGI as more than 150 students from various states of Northern India have visited the BFGI and showcased their culture on one platform." 

Bathinda, December 6
Bathinda Lawn Tennis Association will organise the District Level Lawn Tennis Championship for the Under-14, 16 and 18 (boys and girls) categories at the Police Public School, here from December 7 to 8. Prof NK Gossain, Dean of Malwa College, will be present as the guest of honour.

Senior Superintendent of Police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar will be the chief guest at the prize distribution ceremony on December 8. Monika Singh, principal of the Police Public School, will be the guest of honour during the ceremony. While giving the information, KPS Brar, general secretary of the association, requested the participants and the school heads to send the entries for the championship to tennis coach Vikramjeet Singh. — TNS

Bathinda, December 6
The Armed Forces Flag Day was observed at the district level here today. On this occasion, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sarup Chand Singla paid rich tributes to the martyrs who laid down their lives while defending the sovereignty and integrity of their motherland.

He said, "The serving defence personnel are doing human service in guarding over land, sea and air frontier round-the-clock and under extreme difficult conditions. They are maintaining a constant vigil over adversaries. It is our duty to look after them in their hour of need.”

Meanwhile, a special news bulletin was released for circulation among the ex-servicemen fraternity. He also distributed cheques to the needy ex-servicemen and their widows. District Defence Services Welfare Officer, Bathinda, Commander (Retd) Baljinder Virk, urged the fellow countrymen to honour the valiant martyrs.

He said the nation could express its solidarity by donating generously for the Armed Forces Flag Day Fund. These funds are utilised for resettlement of ex-servicemen, rehabilitation of battle casualties, welfare of ex-servicemen, serving personnel and their families.

Vice-president of the Zila Sainik Board, Lt Col (Retd) Shivdev Singh Mann, Col (Retd) BJS Gill, Staff Member of DSWO, Bathinda, ex-servicemen and their dependants were also present on the occasion.