People suffer as Ministerial Services Union goes on pen-down strike
Amritsar, February 24
Public work in all the departments of the state government suffered as the Punjab State Ministerial Services Union proceeded on a pen-down strike today in support of their demands.

The Tehsil Complex wears a deserted look due to a strike by the ministerial staff in Amritsar on Monday. Photo: Vishal Kumar

Amritsar, February 24
The Health Department has administered polio drops to 1,09,721 children on the second day of the pulse polio immunisation drive today.

With this, the department has so far immunized 81 per cent of the 3,34,537 children identified by the department. District Immunisation Officer Dr Jaspal Kaur said the department had immunised 1,65,009 children on the first day of the drive. The department hopes it would be able to cover every child during the three-day drive.

"We had to press a few people hard and convince them that it is for the benefit of their children that the government is running this extensive drive but they were unmoved," said a health worker.

The officials in the department too stated that it was always hard to convince people in some cases. "I personally believe that the people still are not aware. Otherwise, it should be on the first day that the maximum number of children are immunised if people bring their children to the booths on their own," said a senior official.

"The door-to-door campaign is planned because most parents don't bring their children to the booth for administering polio drops which is their responsibility,” he said. 

Amritsar, February 24
At a time when the MC is facing a tough time in clearing the pending house tax dues to the tune of several crores, its much touted house tax sub-committee has failed to keep its schedule for resolving the large number of cases which await arbitration.

The reason could be that the councillors are engaged in party meetings ahead of ensuing Lok Sabha elections or the rift in the ruling alliance over the administrative reshuffling of the MC officials.

When the lapse was pointed out to officials, they held a tentative programme to hold the meet tomorrow. There are over 1,600 cases which have been awaiting arbitration.

The sub-committee comprises of members like councillors Sukhminder Singh Pintu, Surinder Singh, Sultanwind, SE Jaswinder Singh and two house tax superintendents, Shushant Bhatia and Daljit Singh.

The officials have to hold the meeting twice a week on every Tuesday and Friday. The last meeting was held one and a half month ago.

Pintu agreed that the meeting could not be conducted on the scheduled dates for long. "Actually, we were occupied for one reason or the other. Then the focus shifted to property tax collection and several deadlines got extended. It was due to such circumstances that the meeting could not be conducted. But tomorrow, being Tuesday, it could be the day for it. I am going to co-ordinate with the other committee members," he said.

Even as the authorities have extended the deadline for achieving the set target of Rs 17 crore house tax, till March 31, yet some policy matters needs to be framed to attain this target.

Pintu said it would be impossible to clear such a huge pending lot within this time-frame

About the next course of action, Superintendent Shushant Bhatia said since the inception of property tax, there have been speculations that house tax may lose its significance, but it would not to be so. As per norms, the pending house tax had to be paid till the date the property tax came into being, i.e., since April 1, 2013.

"What we are going to do is prepare a status report, only to be submitted to the Local Bodies Ministry. Afterwards, it would depend upon the ministry's discretion to deal with the cases," he said.

"There are several big establishments, including hotels and shops on the Lawrence road and the Grand Trunk road whose cases have been lying pending on the arbitration table for quite some time," said Bhatia.

Amritsar, February 24
Public work in all the departments of the state government suffered as the Punjab State Ministerial Services Union proceeded on a pen-down strike today in support of their demands.

The visitors to offices were harassed as officials of the Excise and Taxation, Education, PWD (B&R), Public Health, Agriculture, Horticulture, Sanitation, Irrigation, Revenue, Treasury and Deputy Commissioner’s office went on strike.

General secretary of the association Jagdish Thakur said, "The association has long-pending demands related to education and medical allowances." He said the association has given time to the government to ponder over these demands and hold talks with the employees.

Thakur said they were forced to take the path of agitation as the officials were not even ready to talk to them on these issues.

"The responsibility for the loss of public work lies with the government and the union will end the strike only if the government fulfills our demands," he said.

The union has announced that it would continue its pen-down strike till February 26 and announce the next course of action after a state body meeting on 
February 27.

Meanwhile, the visitors at government offices fumed as the employees were not ready to work. "Whenever there is a strike like this, the ultimate sufferer is the general public and the government is not bothered at all," said Ram Lal, a visitor at Deputy Commissioner's Office.

Another visitor to the Excise and Taxation Office, Raghuvir Singh, said, "The employees have said that they will be continuing their protest for the rest of the week. Where will the people with urgent needs go." He said the staff and the government must find a solution to the problem at the earliest. 

Amritsar, February 24
The Sanjha Morcha would contest from 14 parliamentary constituencies in Punjab and Chandigarh while the CPI would fight from Amritsar Lok Sabha seat.

This was stated by Bant Singh Brar, state secretary, CPI, during a protest staged by the CPI and the CPM outside the Deputy Commissioner's office here today. He said the Morcha would announce its candidates in the next few days.

Hundreds of activists of the CPI and the CPM, a majority of them women, staged a protest demanding withdrawal of property tax, huge taxes in the name of regularisation of illegal colonies and slashing the power rates. They raised slogans against the state government for its alleged anti-people policies which has broken the back of the common man.

Earlier, they were holding a chain hunger strike since February 10 at the Putlighar and the Batala road. They demanded that electricity rates be slashed to Rs 2 per unit for domestic connections, Rs 3 for industrial units and Rs 4 for commercial connections, besides withdrawal of VAT on LPG cylinders and increase in the old-age pension to Rs 3,000 per month.

While speaking on the occasion, communist leaders pointed out that the SAD-led Punjab government has miserably failed to provide basic amenities to the people. They alleged that the high rate of inflation, deteriorating law and order situation in the city, pitiable condition of health institutions, higher education getting out of reach of people, ignorant attitude of the government towards trade and industry were among the several issues which directly concern the common man.

He said the plight of the common man has exposed the government which would have to face its consequences in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

The prominent leaders who participated in the rally were Bant Singh Brar, CPM leader Vijay Mishra, Amarjit Singh Asal, Amrik Singh and Daswinder Kaur. 

Amritsar, February 24
Hard days are ahead for the LPG consumers as the LPG Distributors' Federation of Amritsar and Tarn Taran has announced to go on an indefinite strike from February 25 against the alleged high-handedness of the gas companies.

The federation has announced that they would stop booking and delivering the LPG cylinders during the strike. President of the federation Anuj Sikka said, "The distributors want that multiple pricing of cylinders be stopped and the companies supply cylinders with pilfer proof seal." They also demanded a ban on the sale of 2/3/5kg spurious LPG cylinders in the market.

General secretary of the federation Rajesh Madaan said, "The proposed Marketing Discipline Guidelines, 2014, are against the interests of distributors. We want that clauses of cancellation of distributorship and harsh financial penalties be removed."

As the federation is demanding pilfer proof seals, the oil companies had earlier instructed the distributors to check the weight of at least 10 per cent of the cylinders at the time of unloading from a company vehicle and 100 per cent checking of weight while delivering them to the consumer.

"It is not possible for them to check the weight of all the cylinders,” said the federation leader.

The distributors are also claiming that granting new distributorship would be against their interests as they are already facing a problem in recovering their expenses. Sikka said the country had around 1,32,00 distributors and a proposal to have 2,700 new regular distributors besides 1,500 distributors in other categories was on

"Considering the distributors as responsible for all the lapses in the trade and terming them as wrongdoers, the industry is running away from the actual issues. The oil companies must take the responsibility for the lapses and should find solutions as suggested by the distributors,” he said.

Amritsar, February 24
The stalemate continues over the possession of the sanctum sanctorum of the Ram Tirath temple as the two warring groups are at loggerheads over the control of this historic shrine in the city.

The High Court has already ordered to hand over the possession of the part of the shrine to Mahant Baldev Giri but the administration failed to implement the orders till now due to the violent agitation by the Valimiki Samaj, headed by Mahant Malkiat Nath, who categorically refused to leave a portion of the temple.

To end the deadlock and for a peaceful solution of the dispute, the district and the police administration had sought time from the court on January 30, which was again extended on February 15. As the next deadline given by the court (February 28) is coming to an end, the district administration is still looking down the barrel.

“We have made some offers to both the groups but there is no solution to the dispute at this time,” said Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat. He said talks were on with both the factions and they were hopeful of a peaceful solution to the issue in the near future. Manjeet Singh, son of Mahant Baldev Giri, who claimed to have won the case of possession of the main sanctum sanctorum of the shrine, said they were never called for any meeting that the administration claimed to have held in the past one month.

About the offers which the administration has made, he said the officials asked them to leave the Dhuna Sahib (main sanctum sanctorum), the land where langar is distributed and half of the area of "paathshala" and shift to some other place on the temple premises.

“What is the fun of fighting a long legal battle for over 20 years in the court, if we will have to vacate a major portion of the shrine, including the Dhuna Sahib,” he said.

He said the administration had also offered them compensation, which was not acceptable. Therefore, the only demand is to hand over the Dhuna Sahib as per the court orders. It is evident to mention here that the Dhuna Sahib is occupied by Mahant Malkiat Nath, who is supported by ruling Akali leader Om Parkash Gabbar.

Om Parkash Gabbar said they only wanted a peaceful compromise but the other group had remained adamant and did not accept the administration's offer. 

Amritsar, February 24
A controversy has erupted over the Ram Tirath temple project after several organisations belonging to the Valmiki community held a press conference today and refused to give land to the Punjab Government for the construction of the temple.

They claimed that the land in Kaler village where the temple was proposed to be constructed belonged to the village panchayat that had handed over the land to Guru Gian Nath Ashram on contractual basis. They claimed that followers of the ashram were ploughing the land for the past 25 years. Notably, the Punjab government had organised a programme at the land a couple of months ago and the foundation stone of the temple was laid by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. The temple is to be constructed at a cost of Rs 125 crore.

Earlier, the Public Works Department and a private construction company had put up their machines at the controversial 11-acre land. They had to retract after a protest by the Valmiki community and followers of the ashram. Many organisations under the banner of the Dalit Action Committee had held a demonstration at Bhandari Bridge in this regard.

They threatened that if the government failed to accept their demand by March 15, they would intensify their agitation. They alleged that the earlier they were told that the temple would be constructed in the Sarovar but the now the government was looking to construct it on the panchayat land. 

Bathinda, February 24
Thirty-two food samples that were collected in the district under the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) have failed the purity tests. Of the samples collected, the health authorities have lodged complaint regarding 19 samples collected by the authorities.

Nodal Officer Dr Raghubir Singh Randhawa said the sample of gutka, which was collected during a raid conducted at Maur on June 26, 2013, was found to contain nicotine. “The sale of tobacco is banned if sold under the name of gutka. Lab results have shown that the samples collected from Maur had nicotine in them, which is unsafe for human consumption,” he said. The case now lies pending with the local court.

The Maur police have arrested one and booked two others for selling fake and sub-standard tobacco products. The accused Sikandar Singh was arrested and 80 quintals of tobacco was recovered from his possession.

The remaining 18 cases were filed with the Adjudicating Officer, ADC Rajiv Prashar. Of these, six have been decided including five penalised cases and the rest of the 12 cases are pending.

Only those cases are filed with the Adjudicating Officer in which the lab results show food samples to be sub-standard and not unfit for human consumption.

The ADC had imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on sub-standard milk-seller and a fine of Rs 40,000, Rs 20,000 and Rs 35,000 in cases of selling sub-standard mustard oil. The seller of over-ripened bananas was let off after being served a warning.

Amritsar, February 24
A delegation from National University of Singapore (NSU) visited Citizen Forum Vidyamandir School, an institute for the children belonging to drug-affected families, and donated 10 computers to the school.

The delegation also donated furniture for classrooms. The delegation was led by GohYong Lialg Kelvin, hall manager at NUS, and had three students, Praweel Raam, Hoeowah Kiat and Chua Gefri, as its members. A Singapore-based Punjabi businessman, Gobindpal Singh, also accompanied the delegation.

The caretaker of the school, Master Ajit Singh, said, “We were contacted by Prof Kuldeep Singh of NSU who hails from Faridkot. Professor Singh has also planned to hold a workshop for our students from May 21 to June 1.” — TNS 

Jalandhar, February 24
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Rahul S today formed a special investigation team (SIT) to investigate the case of a fudged appointment letter of a jail warden.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Satpal and Assistant Commissioner of Police, Special Branch, Somnath, would conduct investigation into the case, the DCP said.

Last week, a man claimed to have got the appointment letter as warden in the Kapurthala Central jail, which was later found to be fudged. He later complained to the police.Police sources said Vinay, a resident of Dilbag Nagar had alleged that he was issued an appointment letter of jail warden by two youths of the Rose Park locality here, adding that when he confirmed the status of his appointment, he was shocked to know that the letter was fudged.

The DCP said he had formed an SIT to probe the matter and if the allegations were found to be true, required legal action would be taken against the guilty, adding that the police was also inquiring if the alleged miscreants charged money from the complainant.

He said the SIT would call both parties for hearings and after thorough investigation only, legal action would be taken.Police sources said the police had summoned both parties for hearings, but none had turned up yet.

The police said apart from inquiring the role of the persons against whom allegations of issuing the fake appointment letter were levelled, the role of the complainant would also be thoroughly probed.— TNS 

Amritsar, February 24
Guru Nanak Dev University won the All-India Inter-University National Youth Festival, which was held at Kurukshetra University (KU) recently. The festival was organised by the Association of Indian Universities. As many as 77 universities from all over India participated in the festival.

Padam Bhushan recipient Dr Usha Sharma was the chief guest during the felicitation ceremony while KU Vice-Chancellor Lt Gen Dr DDS Sandhu and other officials of the university were present on this occasion. Dr Jagjit Kaur, Director, Youth Welfare, received the award on behalf of the university.

Dr Jagjit Kaur said teams from Guru Nanak Dev University participated in music, theatre, dance and fine arts competitions. She gave credit of the success to GNDU Vice-Chancellor, Prof AS Brar, principals of colleges, teachers and students from various colleges affiliated to the varsity besides the Youth Welfare Department of the university. Guru Nanak Dev University have won the trophy for the ninth time and is the winner of the North Zone Inter-University Championship record 14 times. 

Bathinda, February 24
The pensioners today held a massive rally against the state government to get their demands accepted.

They will hold flag marches in the Bathinda and Sangrur Lok Sabha constituencies whenever the elections are announced. The pensioners had held a meeting with government representatives on January 24 wherein seven of their demands were accepted. However, the government later refused to implement the same. President of the union Darshan Singh Bajaj said there were 3.5 lakh Punjab government pensioners fighting for their rights.

The pensioners are demanding hike in medical allowance from Rs 500 per month to Rs 1,000. Similarly, as per the government rule, the civil surgeons were earlier designated with the powers to issue certificates for chronic illness. But after 1995, these were delegated to the three government medical colleges of the state in Faridkot, Amritsar and Patiala. The pensioners demanded that civil surgeons be given powers to issue such certificates.

They said instead of giving medical reimbursements through the department, from which a pensioner had retired, the same should be routed through the office of the civil surgeon. They also demanded special allowance for the handicapped pensioners so that they could lead a comfortable life even after retirement. 

Amritsar, February 24
Despite the fact that the population of Amritsar has increased manifold and more than a lakh tourists visit the city every day to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple, the civic authorities have failed to provide adequate free public urinals to people. Availability of clean public toilets are generally wanted by tourists but they often get dejected after they do not find it in Amritsar.

Amritsar, February 24
The city police today claimed to have arrested five persons involved in different snatchings and theft cases in the city. Parampal Singh, ADCP (City-I) said the Sultanwind police nabbed Jaswinder Singh, alias Babbu of New Gurnam Nagar (now Friends Colony), Prabhjot Singh of Gurnam Nagar, and Gurpreet Singh of Kot Atma Ram area, in this connection. The police recovered intoxicant tablets and injections from Prabhjot while a .12 bore country-made pistol and two live cartridges were recovered from Jaswinder. A stolen motorcycle was recovered from Gurpreet Singh.

He said their interrogation led to the seizure of eight motorcycles, a scooter and 11 mobile phones. A case under Sections 382, 379, 411, 468, 420 of the IPC, 25/54/59 of the Arms Act and 21/22/61/85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against the accused. The ADCP said the accused used to forge documents and sell stolen vehicles to other people. He said more recoveries are likely in future.

In the second incident, the Division B police arrested two thieves, identified as Avtar Singh of Fateh Singh Colony, and Princepal Singh, alias Prince, of the Tarn Taran road area. The police recovered three LCDs, a home theatre, a DVD player, two LPG cylinders besides other household material from their possession. A case under Sections 457, 380, 411 of the IPC has been registered against them.