Bathinda, June 13
The schemes meant for the unemployed youth of the state have slowly started losing their steam either for want of funds or because of the need to fulfil requirements before availing them.

The Maharaja Ranjit Singh Kita Mukhi Hunar scheme, under which the qualified and educated youth of the state were entitled for a monthly unemployment allowance, is languishing due to shortage of funds. Earlier, the scheme was being run from the district employment exchange but was transferred to the District Social Security Department in September 2013.

Deputy Director, District Employment Exchange, Kuljit Singh, said, "As per the scheme, the unemployed youth of the district were to register themselves with the exchange to avail of the scheme. The scheme was running fine but it was transferred to another department last year."

As per sources, the state government has not released funds for the scheme for quite some time and the beneficiaries are losing the hope of getting any financial help from the state government. As per the scheme, a monthly unemployment allowance of Rs 1,000 will be given to those youth, who while pursuing their higher studies, enroll for vocational or technical courses in institutions recognised by the state government.

The annual income of the family of a youth applying for unemployment allowance should not be above Rs 1.5 lakh. Those in the 17-30 year age-group are eligible to get the allowance. Those seeking the allowance should be enrolled with their respective district-level employment generation and training bureau. All educational certificates and other documents must be submitted there.

Another scheme is known as the unemployment allowance under which the unemployed youth belonging to families having an annual income of less than Rs 12,000 are to be given a monthly allowance of Rs 150.

"On an average, we used to dole out funds worth Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh every year under the allowance scheme. In 2013, there were close to 3,800 beneficiaries of the scheme. But ever since the government changed the formalities for availing the scheme, the number of youth coming to register with us for the scheme is also dwindling," said Singh.

As per the new rules for registering for the scheme, the beneficiary should have an account in a nationalised bank and also an email ID to be shared with the department. While earlier, the money was sent to the beneficiaries through money orders, the beneficiaries are now shying away from opening bank accounts for claiming such a small amount since the banks have also made it mandatory to maintain some amount in the account as minimum balance.

Bathinda, June 13
With an eye on the bypoll in Talwandi Sabo, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal will be holding sangat darshan programmes in this assembly segment. It is pertinent to mention here that this is the seventh time in a span of a little more than a month that the Chief Minister (CM) will be visiting the villages in the region.

On Sunday, the Chief Minister (CM) will address residents of Tungwali, Teona Pujaria, Sangat Khurd, Jaga Ram, Bhagwanpura, Shekhpura, Lelewala, Chatthewala and other villages in Talwandi Sabo. The programme, which is scheduled to begin at 8.30 am, is expected to conclude by 7 pm.

It may be mentioned that the Talwandi Sabo assembly segment is all set for a byelection after the Congress MLA from the segment, Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu, left the party to join the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) just weeks before the Lok Sabha elections.

The Talwandi Sabo seat has been known to favour the Congress candidates. General secretary of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC), Harminder Singh Jassi had won the seat thrice for the party while Sidhu did the same before defecting to SAD. While the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) may field Sidhu for the seat, the real fight is within the Congress.

While various groups in the Congress are trying to propose one of their own as the party’s candidate for the seat, president of the People’s Party of Punjab (PPP) Manpreet Singh Badal declared that since the seat primarily belonged to its alliance partner, the Congress, it would support whichever candidate it would decide on to contest the election.

Bathinda, June 13
Members of the Democratic Teachers Front (DTF) today raised their voice against the transfer orders handed out to six ETT teachers on June 9. In a press release here today, the DTF leaders stated that the transfer of six teachers has been done under political pressure.

The leaders claimed that Kulwinder Singh (transferred from Burj Mehma to Selbrah), his wife Balwjinder Kaur (transferred from Virk Kalan to Bajuana), Surjit Kaur (transferred from Bajjak to Rampura, her sister-in-law Satnam Kaur (transferred from Nanafgarh to Rampura) and Lakhwinder Singh (transferred from Sardargarh to Raiya) have become victims of political pressure. They also claimed that transfer letters had also been issued for Gurjit Singh of Raike Kalan while there is no teacher in Raike Kalan by the name of Gurjit Singh.

The ETT teachers met the District Education Officer Amarjit Kaur Kotfatta on June 11 regarding the issue and argued that the transfers had been done purely on the basis of complaints filed by the panchayat members. But no inquiry has been initiated into the complaint. The DEO assured them that an inquiry would be done within seven days.

A deputation comprising Burj Mehma panchayat memebers, members of the school management committees and parents met the DEO and also Bathinda rural MLA Darshan Singh Kotfatta on Thursday demanding that the transfers be rolled back.

During a meeting convened in Burj Mehma today, leaders of the DTF and Bharatiya Ekta-Ugrahan decided that a rally will be taken out in Burj Mehma on Sunday evening to make the residents of the village aware about the wrong transfers and that the teachers who had been handed out transfer orders had been consistently good at their work.

Present during the meeting were Resham Singh, Paramjit Singh, Baljinder Singh, Jaswinder Singh, Gurmeet Singh, Amrik Singh Sivian, Gurjant Singh and Lakshman Singh Brar, among others.

Bathinda, June 13
As part of a reshuffle in the District Education Office in Bathinda, DEO (Elementary) Amarjit Kaur Kotfatta was made the DEO (Secondary). She took charge on Thursday.

Principal of the Government Senior Secondary School, Bhokhra, Sukhbir Singh was made the deputy DEO on Thursday. Both the officers pledged to discharge their duties towards the department and the teachers with integrity and to the best of their capabilities.

Bathinda, June 13
A new crisis has gripped the farmers this paddy season with a severe reduction in the arrival of migrant labour from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. It has led to an increase in the cost of paddy transplantation.

Paddy transplantation has gained momentum in the region with the temperature plummeting for the last two days. Due to shortage of farmers, women in the rural areas of Malwa belt have this time turned out in large numbers to transplant paddy in the fields.

Labourers, who otherwise charge Rs 1,800 for transplanting paddy on an acre of land, have now started charging Rs 2,500 per acre for the same job in the district.

With migrant labour in short supply, women are being engaged at many places to do the job. Charan Singh of Jodhpur Romana village near Bathinda says besides women, children of local labourers are also being engaged in paddy transplantation as summer vacation is on.

Women and children of farmers with small and marginal land holdings have started helping in the process of paddy transplantation to overcome the shortage of migrant labour. But farmers with big land holdings are totally dependent on migrant and domestic labour.

Labourers willing to plant paddy are being offered beds with mattresses, home-cooked meals, non-vegetarian food and even liquor, said one of the farmers.

Jasbir Singh, a BKU leader, said it is a common practice in Punjab for women to help in paddy transplantation. But this time, the number has increased due to the shortage of migrant labourers.

It is pertinent to mention that the number of farm labourers migrating here from Rajasthan, Bihar, UP and Jharkhand has been declining gradually as the Centrally sponsored Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has generated employment avenues for them in their home states.

Bathinda, June 13
The intense heat wave under which Bathinda and its adjoining areas are reeling, claimed one more life today. The body of an unidentified 45-year-old man was found near the bus stand in Jassi Baghwali in Bathinda. The body was brought to the Bathinda Civil Hospital by the volunteers of the NGO Sahara Jan Sewa. The hot and dry weather has claimed nine lives so far while several others are reported to have fallen ill.

On Thursday evening, residents of Bathinda and its adjoining areas heaved a sigh of relief after the sun hid behind the clouds. As per the agri-met department of the Punjab Agricultural University Regional Station, Bathinda, the region received 3.2 mm of rainfall on Thursday. While light rainfall lowered the temperature, it increased the humidity level thereby making people sweat throughout the day.

Due to the rainfall, the maximum temperature fell from 44.6 degree Celsius on Thursday to be recorded at 39.2 degree Celsius on Friday. The minimum temperature also fell from 30.6 degree Celsius on Thursday to be recorded at 24.2 degree Celsius on Friday.

The weather has been fluctuating during the past two weeks. While the temperature touched the 46 degree Celsius mark in the last week of May, it dipped over the next few days and rose again to be recorded at 47.2 on June 8.

According to the latest forecast released by the regional station on Friday, the relief from heat wave was short-lived as the temperature is set to soar once again. The weather report predicted sunny and clear weather over the next few days.

As per the forecast released by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the region will have to brave harsh hot weather over the next five days during which the maximum temperature will hover around 44 degree Celsius. The IMD, however, has predicted some relief towards the end of the week when there is a possibility of the region experiencing a partly cloudy sky with rain or thundershowers.