Bathinda, January 7
Raising its pitch against the Shiromani Akali Dal, the Congress workers today held a protest in the city asking the state government to take action against Bikramjit Singh Majithia, who has been named by a drug lord, Jagdish Bhola, as the kingpin of a drug racket.

Burning the effigy of Majithia, the Congress workers (urban and rural) demanded a CBI inquiry into the matter. The workers also held a protest march and blocked traffic at the Fire Brigade roundabout.

Addressing a large gathering of Congress workers, the District Congress (rural) president, Gura Singh Tungwali, stated that at least two Cabinet Ministers of the ruling SAD-BJP alliance have been named in the case of drug smuggling and still the Chief Minister of Punjab, Parkash Singh Badal, is avoiding involving the CBI in the matter.

He added that on the basis of the fact that Jagdish Bhola has named Majithia’s involvement in the case, the state government should ask the minister to resign. He also accused the state government of pushing its youth into habit forming substances.

President of the District Congress (urban), Sohan Lal Jhumba, said this was not for the first time that the state government had landed in a soup. He also stated that the state government was avoiding letting the CBI handle the case since it was scared that more names of ministers may not crop up after the inquiry. Jhumba also added that an inquiry should also be marked into the charge on Bhola that he took a bribe of Rs 25 crore while serving in the Punjab Police.

Congress workers also threatened that if the state government fails to take an action against its tainted Cabinet Ministers, they would intensify their stir and will call for bandh in Bathinda as an indicator of what it plans to do.

Also present during the dharna were Rajan Garg, Gopal Jassi, Mahinder Kaur, Mandeep Kaur, Niranhan Bhola, Tulsi Ram, Vijay Goyal, Balvir Singh, Jasvir Jassa, Nacchattar Singh, Sardul Sigh, Sukhmander Singh, Rupinder Bindra and several others.

Bathinda, January 7
Members of the 7654 Sanjha Front Teachers Union, Punjab, today participated in a meeting convened at the Teachers’ Home here under the leadership of district president of the union, Shapinder Singh Brar.

Union members were assigned duties for dharna that the union is planning to organise in Mohali on January 11. Addressing the gathering, leaders of the union stated that despite the fact that the government had not paid the salaries of the teachers for the past three years, it was still retracting from its assurance that the jobs of the teachers will be regularised from April 2014.

The leaders also stated that a deputation of the union had met the Chief Minister of Punjab, Parkash Singh Badal, Education Minister of Punjab, Sikander Singh Maluka, and Principal Secretary (school education), Anjali Bhawra. They added that during the meeting, the District Education Officers had been asked to submit the files of the teachers with the education department and the teachers were assured that the process of regularisation of their jobs will start soon but now the government was stepping back from its promise.

Present during the meeting were Dr Ranjodh Singh, Maninderjit Singh, Parwinder Singh, Ajaib Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Lakhwinder Singh and others.

Meanwhile, members of the SSA/RMSA/CSS Teachers Union, Punjab, also convened a meeting here today during which they chalked out their plan of action for the demonstration that the union is planning to hold in Moga on January 11 and in Bathinda on January 16.

Raising slogans against the state government, the teachers accused the state government of turning a blind eye towards their needs and failing to heed their demands.

Bathinda, January 7
Membership drive of the Aam Admi Party (AAP) is rising with leaps and bounds in Bathinda. Apart from the registration of as many as 11,500 members in past 10 days, the BJP and Congress party workers and local leaders have also joined the party in Talwandi Sabo and Maur Mandi and Rama Mandi.

“People are so eager to get themselves registered with the AAP that 500 to 1,000 new registrations are being done every day,” said Amrit Lal Aggarwal, one of the nine executive members of the AAP in Bathinda.

He said prominent faces of the SAD, the BJP and the Congress are in touch with the AAP leaders and are eager to join. “But they are told to resign from their posts before joining the AAP,” he said.

Aggarwal said in view of the large turnout, 25 more members are now inducted into the executive committee making the number to 34. At a roadside counter on the Dabwali road, wife of an active local Congress leader was seen canvassing for the AAP today.

The AAP leaders said the women wing comprising 30 to 40 females is also underway and active women leaders will soon start working for the party after the election of its conveners.

Sukhwinder Singh, a truck owner, today parked his truck at a roadside on the Dabwali road after spotting AAP workers registration. He registered himself and his family members. AAP workers said people from all walks of life, including businessmen, employees, staunch Congress or BJP supporters, working, youngsters and women are getting themselves registered with the party.

Puneet Garg of the AAP at Talwandi Sabo said former vice-chairman of the market committee, Avtar Chopra, of the Congress and a BJP executive member, Somnath, have also joined the AAP along with their supporters.

Former BJP leader, Somnath, who had been associated with the BJP since 1990 while talking to The Tribune said he liked the ideology of the AAP leaders and the Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, more appealing as compared to that of the BJP and this was the only reason that he joined the AAP. Somnath said they have identified five party members who are not actively associated with any political party and will now work for the AAP. The five members comprise of government servants (retired from senior positions) and retired teachers and lecturers.

To tap the heavy rush of devotees outside the Gurdwaras in the city, special counters were set up where people got themselves registered with the party with a sum of Rs 10 per registration. Party workers said in a bid to capture people residing in slum and below poverty line, a free of charge registration will begin on January 10 till January 26.

The AAP leaders said they expect to register more than 50,000 members in the party by the end of January or first week of February.

Former Congress MLA, Harminder Jassi, said he was not aware of any party leader or worker of the Congress joining the AAP. “The Congress party is more than 100-year-old and its staunch supporters will always stick to it”, he said.

District president of the BJP (rural), Gurvinder Bhagta, said he was not aware of joining the AAP by Somnath. “He (Somnath) seeks the post of district vice-president (rural) and I refused to push his name for the same and this could be one of the reasons that he left the BJP,” he said.

The SAD and the BJP local leaders denied ‘losing’ any of their local leaders joining the AAP.

AAP workers said party workers from the SAD, the BJP and the Congress, who are asking for their induction in the AAP, are told to first resign from their existing posts. Only then they could join AAP. A female executive body is in the offing with induction of 30 to 40 active female party workers of the AAP in Bathinda. Workers plan to come out with a website for local users catering to the people and workers of AAP in Bathinda. The modalities of the website are being worked out. AAP workers expect registration of more than 50,000 people in Bathinda by January end or the beginning of February.

Bathinda, January 7
Member of Parliament and national president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) Anurag Thakur has claimed that India will not be a soft state under the governance of the Narendra Modi-led BJP government.

Talking to reporters here late on Monday evening after launching a National Security Campaign from the Indo-Pak border at Asafwala in Fazilka district, Anurag Thakur said the BJP government will take on terrorism with an iron hand and not remain silent like the Congress-led UPA government against the enemies across the border and within the country.

He said the youth wing of the BJP has started the national security campaign to underline the national integrity of the country. He said under the campaign, sand would be picked from all over the country and collected in Delhi where it will be mixed and distributed to the party workers. He also announced that the membership drive of the youth wing was in full motion and claimed that more youths saw the BJP as the future party in power.

Urging Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to break his silence over the alleged corruption charges against Himachal Pradesh CM Virbhadra Singh, Anurag Thakur sought immediate removal of the CM and initiation of a CBI inquiry into the charges.

On SAD-BJP coalition in Punjab, Anurag said both he parties worked together well and had won many elections. He said the coalition would win all 13 Lok Sabha seats in the elections scheduled for this year. He supported the candidature of MP Navjot Singh Sidhu, calling him one of the most dynamic leaders of the party.

On problems reported within the coalition, he said such relations are alike a marital union and difference of opinion over a range of issues does happen. He, however, evaded a direct reply on the BJP’s stand on Operation Blue Star and the construction of a memorial for those killed by the defence forces and said that in his opinion, the defence forces did their duty as per the circumstances of those times. On BJP’s policy towards Jammu and Kashmir, where he was not allowed to enter with his Rath Yatra three years ago, Snurag said the J&K CM Omar was gripped with fear psychosis of the BJP leaders. — TNS

Bathinda, January 7
The District Child Protection Society (DCPS) is all set to target child labour, crime and injustice against children and address several other issues related to children in the district. The society will work in tandem with various organisations and NGOs already working to ensure a better future for children.

The society works to implement schemes and follow the rules and regulations laid down in the National Plan of Action for Children 2005. The society will also make sure that every child in the district, who needs security, personal care, sponsorship, foster-care, adoption and after care gets it as soon as possible.

The action plan of the society also mentions that the society will collect information regarding such children and will collaborate with special adoption agencies, NGOs and other organisations to either rehabilitate them or ensure their security and welfare.

Aiming to implement the clauses of the Juvenile Justice (care and protection of children) Act 2000, the DCPS works towards forming organisational and infrastructural set-up to either strengthen the existing Juvenile Justice Board, Child Welfare Board, Special Juvenile Police Unit and a special home for needy children or formulate new ones.

The DCPS is also aiming to set up societies at the district, block and village levels, which will make sure that the programmes of the society are implemented at all levels in the district.

Tackling the rampant problem of missing or lost children, the District Child Protection Society aims to first try and get the children back to their families and in cases wherein the families can’t be traced, the society will work towards extending long-term sponsorship, in-country adoption, foster care, inter-country adoption or stay at societies meant for the welfare of such children, the data of which will be collected to segregate them for institutional and non-institutional care.

According to the chairman of the society Gurpreet Singh Maluka, the society will ensure that the laws pertaining to children, such as the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act 1956, Guardians and Wards Act 1890, Child Labour (Prohibited Regulation) Act 1986, Child Marriage and Restraint Act 1997, Immoral Traffic Prevention Act 1986, Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (prohibition of sex selection) Act 1994, are properly followed.

Bathinda, January 7
Voices of discontent in the BJP against the SAD became louder after the formal announcement by the BJP district president (rural) Gurvinder Bhagta to boycott all the functions of the SAD.

Talking to The Tribune over the phone, the BJP district president (Rural) lamented that the SAD leadership did not involve his party leaders in any of the official or social works.

“Party workers are continuously been sidelined by the SAD leaders from the past long time and this is the right moment to raise voice over the issue,” said Bhagta.

He added the boycott, however, would not leave any impact on the bonding between the two parties, which are in coalition in the state government. “The call of boycott is just to make the senior SAD leaders aware about our resentment,” he said.

He added party leaders from both parties would continue to work together, but they would not participate in any of the functions organised by the Shiromani Akali Dal.

“This will not affect the vote count or the settlement already reached by both the parties at the village level,” he said.

It is pertinent to mention here that earlier too, voices of discontent were heard from the BJP leadership against the SAD and even slogans were raised against the SAD leaders during a recently held function in the city, following missing photos of a BJP leader at the function.

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