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2 police officers clash at Gurdaspur jail
Lambi villages to install ‘drug free’ boards
22 rehabilitation centres to be set up for addicts: Jyani
Dental colleges fear seats may remain vacant this year
MBBS admission Colleges keep medicos in dark on seats
Capt takes on Badal over Haryana gurdwara panel
Cong dharna outside CM’s house today
Youths in Iraq post video seeking help
Confusion over number of Batala youths stuck in Iraq
Desperate for help, families gather in Ludhiana
State wants Centre to hike funds for food parks
Five more die in heat wave
More farmers turning to groundwater
Strike called off as Sukhbir invites engineers
Punjab to emerge as global tourist centre, says minister
the tribune impact
Woman rickshaw puller gets bank support
Sale of broken grains can’t be restricted: HC
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Govt fails to tighten noose
around fake travel agents
Jalandhar, June 22 Obtaining the licence has been made mandatory by the state government under the Punjab Travel Regulation Act (earlier known as Punjab Prevention of Human Smuggling Act). The exercise was started in September last and the deadline has been extended four times, the latest being July 20. The government has been focusing on Doaba, an area that accounts for the maximum number of NRIs in the state. The Jalandhar police alone receive around 2,000 complaints against travel agents in a year. As such, the Act aims to tighten the noose around fake travel agents who have been exploiting the Punjabi youths on the pretext of settling them abroad. The abduction of 40 Indians, mostly youth from Punjab, in Iraq has once again exposed the human trafficking network. The families of the abducted youth have been alleging that though the travel agents had promised jobs in Dubai, the youths landed in strife-torn Iraq. After the Iraq tragedy, the Punjab Police have hastened its investigations into travel fraud cases. In Kapurthala district, from where 28 Punjabis are stuck in Iraq, not even a single travel agent has applied for registration. When DS Mangat, Deputy Commissioner, Kapurthala, was contacted for a comment on the status of applications by travel agents, he tried to put off the query: “I cannot access my computer to provide you the details as there is a power cut in my area.” In Jalandhar, from where 29 youth are stuck in Iraq, only 30 travel agents have applied for registration. Interestingly, not even a single travel agent has been granted a licence for the past six months by the administration due to objections or pending documents. The district has the maximum number of travel agents in Doaba. Jalandhar Police Commissioner Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh said they were receiving four to five complaints against travel agents daily. “The annual number varies around 2000. After the Iraq crisis, we are now scanning all the past complaints to speed up our investigations into travel fraud cases. Though all the complaints may not be genuine, those guilty will be booked,” he said. In Hoshiarpur, of the 14 applications filed by travel agents, not even a single agent has been granted a licence. Officials say the licences were not being cleared as travel agents were not fulfilling the formalities required under the Punjab Travel Regulation Act. In Nawanshahr, only four agents have applied. Jaspal Singh, Association of Consultants for Overseas Studies president, said, “Travel agents are not applying for registration as the government has not provided the updated guidelines under the new Act.” Jagpal Singh, Principal Secretary, Home Affairs, refused to comment saying: “Come to my office on Monday, only then can I provide information.” On wings of fancy
Iraq village residents turn to Almighty
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Badal urges parties to stop politics over Iraq issue
Lambi: Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal asked political parties to avoid politics over Punjabis trapped in the strife-torn Iraq, saying that the Centre was already making concerted efforts to ensure their prompt and safe return.
“Rather than indulging in politics over this sensitive issue, political parties should join hands and extend wholehearted support to the Union Government in its efforts to rescue Punjabis trapped in Iraq,” said Badal, while interacting with mediapersons. He further said that the Union Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj was regularly updating him about the developments in Iraq and steps taken by the Centre for their safe evacuation. He said, “The Centre has assured me that it would make sure that every Indian returns home safely irrespective of whether he/she possesses the relevant immigration documents.”
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2 police officers clash at Gurdaspur jail
Gurdaspur, June 22 Sources said Balbir Singh Bisla, DSP (Jails), and Harbans Lal Khanna, DSP (Security), both of whom had a long standing enmity, were on a round of the jail premises. Bisla pointed out to Khanna that one of the jail employees was sleeping while on duty. Both the officers then entered into an argument. Gulbadan Singh, jail superintendent, tried to intervene. Khanna, who resides on the jail premises, called up his sons. They allegedly beat up Bisla and Gulbadan Singh. While Bisla escaped with minor injuries, Gulbadan Singh was seriously injured. He was admitted to the local Civil Hospital. Balbir Singh, DSP (control room), Gurdeep Singh, Station House Officer, Gurdaspur City police station, and Mehar Chand, Additional SHO, reached the spot and diffused the situation. The police have recorded the statement of Gulbadan Singh. No case was registered till the filing of the report. Sukhwant Singh Gill, Senior Superintendent of Police, said he was monitoring the situation and had marked an inquiry to be conducted by SP (Headquarters) Salwinder Singh. "He will submit his report by tomorrow morning," he said. In another development, some women inmates of the jail, in a letter to DGP, Deputy Commissioner Abhinav Trikha and the SSP, alleged Khanna behaved in a derogatory manner with their kin who came to visit them. The SSP said he would inquire into the matter.
Old rivalry
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Lambi villages to install ‘drug free’ boards
Lambi, June 22 “The sarpanches and panches should take initiative to make the village free from drugs by taking the addicts to nearby hospitals for treatment and then install boards saying they are drug free. This step will motivate sarpanches and panches in other parts of the state as well,” said Badal, while addressing public during his Sangat Darshan programme in Lambi Assembly segment. The Chief Minister also appealed the youth clubs to support the state government in eradicating the drug menace. Later, he visited the Civil Hospital, Muktsar, and reviewed the arrangements for setting up a drug de-addiction centre. “The state government will be able to accomplish its goal only with the active involvement of the general public in this crusade,” said
Badal. CM’s directions Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today asked sarpanches and panches of Lambi Assembly segment to send drug addicts to de-addiction centres and after the completion of their treatment, install boards reading “drug free” on the entry points
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22 rehabilitation centres to be set up for addicts: Jyani
Phagwara, June 22 Jyani said this after visiting Phagwara Civil Hospital, Bhai Mati Dass Nursing College,
Goraya, and Sutlej Kushat Ashram, Phillaur, yesterday. He said elaborate arrangements had been made by the state government in various community health centres for the provision of "detoxification” under the guidance of expert doctors and
para-medical staff. He said a total of 34 drug de-addiction centres were being set up in the state, out of which 16 were ready. He directed health department officers to remove bottlenecks in providing proper treatment
facilities. Jyani said the state government was providing free medicines for the treatment of drug addicts, besides other free-of-cost facilities for indoor patients in the
hospitals. Jyani said at this juncture, effective treatment to drug addicts was a priority of the government. The health minister admitted that there was a shortage of doctors and nurses in government hospitals and said steps were being initiated to fill vacant posts. He told doctors to be friendly with patients to boost their morale. He said 234 types of medicines were being provided in government hospitals and now, Senior Medical Officers would be able to send their requirements to three main drug stores of
Amritsar, Kharar and Bhatinda. He expressed concern over doctors leaving government jobs after taking advantage of the post-graduation study. He said now, the department had set up strict norms for the PCMS doctors. He said according to these laws, no doctor could leave government job before ten years after doing the post graduation and any doctor willing to leave before the prescribed period will have to deposit Rs 50 lakh with the department. Earlier, the Health Minister distributed tricycles to five persons in Kushat Asram and announced Rs 2 Lakhs for the ashram. He said 250 more doctors would soon be appointed in the hospitals.
‘Eradicating drug menace a priority’
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Dental colleges fear seats may remain vacant this year
Chandigarh, June 22 Upset, members of the Punjab Private Self Financed Dental Colleges Association (PPSFDCA), recently held a meeting in Chandigarh and expressed their concern. The association has also sought the intervention of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Punjab Medical Education and Research Minister Anil Joshi in the matter. The association revealed that 1,389 students, who qualified AIPMT-14, have applied to Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Faridkot. Out of them, about 150 are from other states while 1,240 students are from Punjab (in general category) and about 200 candidates are from SC/BC category. There are a total of 2,410 seats in the state (1,170 in MBBS in nine medical colleges and 1,240 in BDS in 14 dental colleges). In AIPMT-2014, 5,23,701 candidates appeared and 46,271 candidates qualified the test for counseling for admission in various medical/dental colleges on the basis of the qualifying criteria prescribed by the Medical Council of India (MCI) and Dental Council of India (DCI). This means that just 8.8 per cent students from across the country qualified the AIPMT-2014. Dr Vikram Sharma, patron of the association, claims that there are grossly insufficient numbers of qualified candidates seeking admission to the BDS courses. If the present notification issued by the state government is strictly adhered to almost all seats in the private and government dental colleges across the state would remain vacant. The problem emerged this year as the state government instead of conducting the Pre-Medical Entrance Test (PMET) through BFUHS, relied on the AIPMT conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). The association members claimed that the AIPMT conducted by the CBSE was quite hard with provision of negative marking and 360 marks (50 per cent) as minimum qualifying marks. In 2013, the qualifying marks were 98 (50th percentile) in the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET), conducted by the MCI with prior approval of the Union Government. The state government had also followed the same procedure from 2008 to 2010 as per the Punjab Private Health Science Education Institution Act 2006 clause 2(e) which states admissions can be conducted on inter se merit of either common entrance test or qualifying exam (10+2, PCB). Aspirants’ parents have decided to approach the state government for letting the students seek admission on the basis of marks obtained in qualifying examination in various dental colleges of the state as being notified in the neighbouring states of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. Former Registrar of BFUHS, Dr PL Garg countered the claims of the association saying that there were enough students who have qualified the AIPMT and the college owners were un-necessarily raising a hue and cry. Punjab Medical Education and Research Minister Anil Joshi claimed to have received a representation from the PPSFDCA. "We will look into it and see what can be done," Joshi said. Vini Mahajan, Principal Secretary, Punjab Medical Education and Research refused to comment. The matter at hand
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MBBS admission
Faridkot, June 22 During the counselling at BFUHS today, many students and their parents raised the matter with the university authorities. They alleged many students from other states had falsely certified themselves as bonafide residents of Punjab by enrolling themselves as “dummy” students in some private schools in Punjab. “We have already given several representations to the state government and the university authorities to check this practice, but to no avail, said Dr Inderbir Singh Gill, father of a student from Moga. “We have decided to file a writ petition in the High Court against these dummy students from other states,” said Ashwani Sethi and Vikas Daga of Fazilka. Dr SS Gill, Vice Chancellor, BFUHS, said the university would make admissions as per the latest directions by the HC. But students said they would move the HC to seek directions to amend the June 1996 notification. Raging issue
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Colleges keep medicos in dark on seats
Patiala, June 22 Moreover, the MCI is yet to grant approval to colleges seeking an increase in the number of MBBS seats. Government Medical College, Patiala, seeks to increase its seats from 150 to 200, Sri Guru Ram Dass Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Amritsar, from 100 to 150 and Guru Gobind Singh Medical College, Faridkot, from 50 to 100. Aspirants from different parts of the state rue that there was ambiguity as to whether or not the colleges that were denied permission to conduct admissions in the past would be allowed to admit students. They said the MCI should have given its decision before the counselling started. “As of now the number of seats in Punjab is very less as the MCI is yet to grant approval to a few colleges. But on the other hand, waiting till the end of the third counselling session can be risky as counselling for medical colleges has also started in other states. If we deposit our fee in any college, it won’t be refunded,” a student said. Another student said that the counselling for management seats of Sri Guru Ram Dass Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Amritsar, had already been held and she had to pay the fee as the number of seats in general quota were few. Vini Mahajan, Principal Secretary of the Medical Education and Research Department, said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had taken up the issue with the Union Health Minister.
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Capt takes on Badal over Haryana gurdwara panel
Amritsar, June 22 He pointed out that people like Badal had spearheaded the campaign for a separate Punjabi suba (state) that led to the creation of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. He said there was a strong section within the Akali-controlled SGPC which favoured autonomy to Haryana Sikhs in running their gurdwaras. “In any case, a separate
body for gurdwaras in Haryana will be formed,” he said, urging Badal not to play petty politics on religious issues. The former Chief Minister said Badal should not be scared of a separate body for Haryana when all members in the ad hoc SGPC there belonged to his party. Moreover, there were already separate committees in Delhi, Patna and Maharashtra, he added.
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Cong dharna outside CM’s house today
Chandigarh, June 22 Congress Legislature Party (CLP) Leader Sunil Jakhar said all party MLAs would participate in the prptest. Punjab Pardesh Congress Committee president Partap Singh Bajwa was likely to address the legislators. He said the Chief Minister was yet to keep its promise made to voters during campaigning for the recently held Lok
Sabha election that the property tax would be withdrawn.
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Youths in Iraq post video seeking help
Hoshiarpur, June 22 A hostage to circumstances, they complain about their employers' unhelpful attitude. They say they are being held captive by their firms with officials refusing to hand them their documents and wages. The latest video has been received from Karbala. Posted by a group of workers to their relatives, the video shows around 450 Indians, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and Himachal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, stranded at a hospital under construction on the Najaf-Karbala road, 110 km from Baghdad. Several youths can be seen narrating that though they were willing to return, their employer had held them back. One of the youths who identified himself as Sunny Singh from Una in Himachal says, “We have been told to stay put till the hospital is complete. Our salaries have been held back as the company fears that once it is paid, we may flee.” He claims the travel agents who had sent them had been giving false assurances to their family members that they were safe. “We are not much far away from the troubled area. How can we be safe in a country where 13,000 rebels are giving a tough time to an army of 1,50,000 soldiers… We need help,” he avers. Sunny says all in the name of security they have there are two guards at the construction site. The men in the video claim that one of their colleagues was not allowed to visit India on the death of his daughter.
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Confusion over number of Batala youths stuck in Iraq
Gurdaspur, June 22 The official police list claims that 29 boys of Gurdaspur district — comprising the police districts of Gurdaspur and Batala — are stuck in strife-torn Iraq. Based on the information, Deputy Commissioner Dr Abhinav Trikha asked Batala SDM Lovejit Kalsi to meet the families of the missing people. Kalsi found that there were 33 men from Qadian police station (part of Batala police district) alone who were missing in Iraq. “The number is likely to increase,” confirmed Kalsi. Dr Trikha said the official list was based on people providing information to the control room about their missing relatives. “This is one of the reasons why the names of the six men who arrived in the district today do not figure on the list,” said a police officer.
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Desperate for help, families gather in Ludhiana
Ludhiana, June 22 "Twentytwo Punjabi youths, most of them working in Al Nijam company in Baghdad, are not being allowed to move outside the company building. Their passports have been taken away," claimed a woman, her face stained with tears. Ramneek Kumar from Talwara in Hoshiarpur district claimed his 34-year-old brother Rajneesh was being held against his will by his employers. "They ( the workers) are given one meal a day. The company building was bombed a few days ago. They are crying for help," he said. Satish from Bangia in Nawanshahr alleged that the company that had employed his maternal uncle Satnam Singh had demanded dollars 3,000 for his "release." Likewise, Shehbaaz claimed his friend Manpreet Singh Jandu, who was stuck in a building, had told him on the cellphone that his firm had demanded money from all workers for their "release." Neelam Kohli, an Akali leader, said the party was helping the distressed families reach the government. He said once the whereabouts of the stranded persons was known, the government would make every effort to bring them back.
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‘Agent promised me job, firm didn’t exist’
Jalandhar, June 22 Gagandeep, who worked as an iron smith with the US Embassy in Baghdad, spent more than three years in Iraq. “I paid Rs 1.5 lakh to a Nawanshahr travel agent for securing work permit in Iraq. The agent promised me a job at good wages. But the day I landed there, I was shocked to find out that the company in which I had been assured a job did not exist,” he says. For two days, he said, he had to sleep on the road. After failing to find any job, he reached the Indian Embassy. “The officials there not only provided me shelter but also helped me secure a job with good wages at the US Embassy,” he avers. When Gagandeep’s parents contacted the Nawanshahr-based travel agent, the latter backed of saying “he could not do anything”. After the Iraq crisis emerged, several cases came to light where youths had been duped by travel agents. In some cases, youths promised jobs in Dubai had landed up in Iraq. Gagandeep says many of his friends were working in other cities of Iraq and were living in constant threat of invasion for the past several days. “I was lucky to have landed at the US Embassy. The officials not only cleared my dues but also arranged an air ticket for me,” he says.
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State wants Centre to hike funds for food parks
Chandigarh, June 22 The Food Processing Ministry is with SAD's Harsimrat Kaur Badal and the state government expects a positive response from the Centre on the proposal. The state government has proposed to provide to the Centre 100 acres on a lease for a food park in Ludhiana. The project cost is estimated at more than Rs 136 crore of which, under the Ministry of Food Processing guidelines, the equity component will be Rs 26 crore, debt Rs 60 crore and the ministry’s grant Rs 50 crore. The state government says that the project may prove non-viable. The success of the project would depend on the units set up by entrepreneurs and the revenue generated from utilising the common infrastructure. The state government has urged the Centre to remove the debt component or lower it and provide 75 per cent financial support to the project or grant Rs 100 crore in lump sum. The state government has also urged the Centre to change the criteria for allocation of funds under the National Mission for Food Processing (NMFP). The funds are allocated to states on the basis of area and population. This system puts smaller states like Punjab at a disadvantage. The state government has sought that the funds be given on the basis of production of perishable and non-perishable crops in a state rather than its area and population. The Punjab Government wants various schemes for production, processing and marketing evolved and implemented in an integrated manner. This, it says, can be done by developing food processing clusters where testing labs, agriculture and horticulture service centres could be set up. Such clusters could be set up at Ropar, Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur districts. The government has also impressed upon the Centre to provide at least 25 per cent subsidy or Rs 25 crore, whichever is lower, to those setting up food processing units in mega food parks, arguing that the existing aid of up to Rs 50 lakh is too low. The government feels that investors may be reluctant to put their money in this sector owing to perishable commodities. The Punjab State Agro Industries Corporation has promoted 44 medium and large units with an aggregate investment of more than Rs 700 crore. These include Pepsi Foods, Agro Dutch Foods, Nijjar Agro and Rana Sugars. Proposed food park
About central funds
Wooing investors
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Five more die in heat wave
Amritsar, June 22 The body of a woman in her fifties was found by a resident of Radala village in the Chhehartta area. Three bodies were found near religious shrines where the poor often gather for food and alms. Two days ago, Hardip Singh of New Tehsilpura, Jagmohan Singh of Habibpura and an unidentified man were found dead under similar conditions. In all, 10 persons have died in the heat wave so far, most of them beggars.
2 ITBP men dead
Patiala:
Two officials attached with the local unit of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) reportedly died following high fever due to intense heat wave. Gurdev Dhaliwal, DSP, said the deceased officials had been identified as Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Sarwan Kumar (52) of Himachal Pradesh and Head Constable Shatrughan (46) of Uttar Pradesh. Both were posted with the local ITBP battalion. Sources said the two died following their daily parade despite running high fever, but there was no official word on the matter. Police officials said they would investigate the matter if a complaint was lodged.
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More farmers turning to groundwater
Amritsar, June 22 Dejected, many farmers of Neshta, Mahawa, Rajatal and Daoke villages in Attari have now started growing crops on the land where once the canal water flowed. There is not a drop of water in the century-old Kiran Nullah, once a a lift system-fed distributary that provided irrigation to dozens of high-lying villages such as Miadian, Nepal, Kotli, Kehra, Motla, Jaramkot and Poongae in the Ajnala subdivision.The room where pumps were installed to lift the water can still be seen at the nullah site. Such is the irony that farmers tilling land on the banks of the Ravi have installed pumps to draw groundwater even as the river flows just a kilometre away. Contrary to popular perception, about 75 per cent irrigation in the state is done with the help of groundwater pumps and only 25 per cent of the agricultural land is fed by canal water. The area under canal irrigation is decreasing continuously which is evident from the rising demand for tube well connections. From 1970-71 to 2005-06, the number of tube wells in the state have increased from a mere 0.19 million to 1.15 million. Sources in the Irrigation Department said the Upper Bari Doab Canal, that has a sanctioned
discharge of 9,000 cusecs, has little water. Farmers of villages in Ajnala have held demonstrations to seek repair of canals and to protest the "theft" of water by influential farmers. Rattan Singh Randhawa of the Border Area Sangharsh Committee said: “It is painful to see farmers employ every means to procure a tube well connection because they are not getting canal water. The system should be repaired so that the farmers do not have to spend money on installing tube wells."A farmer has to spend around Rs 1.5 lakh on a tube well. Sorry state of affairs
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Strike called off as Sukhbir invites engineers
Patiala, June 22 The decision comes after Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who holds the power portfolio, invited the engineers’ body to meet on July 7 to thrash out the issues. Sukhbir also wanted to discuss the tenure extension of senior officials in Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL). Engineers have been protesting for the past four months against the term extension given to KD Chudhary, Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD), PSPCL. Rules were amended to extend his term. Following the agitation, faults in the thermal plants could not be rectified in time several times. This resulted in loss to the consumers and extra burden on the PSPCL as it had to buy power from outside sources. After an indoor meeting, the PSEB Engineers’ Association decided to defer the announcement of the date of the mass casual leave that engineers were to take in protest against the government’s decisions. “The executive took the above decision after detailed discussions regarding the state’s power scenario and the urgent requirement of power for paddy and summer season,” said Baldev Singh Sran, president of the association.
Rs 1,300 cr project to improve power supply The PSPCL has commenced a project to augment power distribution system in 40 towns across the state at a cost of more than Rs 1,300 crore under the Restructured Accelerated Power Development & Reforms Programme (RAPDRP)
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Punjab to emerge as global tourist centre, says minister
Nawanshahr, June 22 He said a project of Rs 58 crore had been sanctioned for the development of Virasat-e-Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib. He said the first instalment of Rs 17 crore had already been released. In an endeavour to beautify the surroundings of Amritsar, work on the Galiara project was already going at a good pace, he said. Apart from this, special attention was being paid to bring places such as Ram Tirath, Ram Bagh and Wagah border on the map of tourism. Efforts were also being made to preserve historical buildings in Patiala. He said the second phase of development of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh Museum at Khatkar Kalan in Nawanshahr was also about to start soon.
Report sought from Tourism Dept
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the tribune impact
Abohar, June 22 The region had faced a month-long closure of
the canal system in April for repair work, delaying sowing of cotton and guar. Agriculture Minister Prabhu Lal Saini said, "I feel no discomfort in walking through water accumulated on the roads since the rain has brought down the minimum temperature to 20.6 degrees Celsius and maximum to 36.5 degrees Celsius in this remote district that had recorded the highest temperature at 48 degrees earlier this month.”
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Woman rickshaw puller gets bank support
Muktsar, June 22 Rakesh Kaushal, AGM, State Bank of Patiala (Bathinda regional branch), said, “The Managing Director (MD) of the bank, Ramesh Rangan, after reading the news in The Tribune told me to personally go and hand over a new rickshaw to this woman, who is facing all odds at such a young age and plying a rickshaw for a living. It is shocking that Jinder’s husband left her because she could not bear children. We have also offered her a loan at very low rate.”
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Sale of broken grains can’t be restricted: HC
Chandigarh, June 22 Earlier, the process of separating small and broken grains from the chaff, known as “chhan-phoos”, was carried out by women labourers after purchasing the same from the farmers. The small and broken grains were then purchased by petty retailers from the labourers. But later the consent of the contractor, who was purchasing only the whole grain, was made mandatory. Aggrieved, the women labourers, the farmers and the retailers moved the High Court. “How can the entry of women labourers to purchase chhan-phoos be restricted, subject to the whims and fancies
of the contractor?” they questioned. During the course of hearing, the Mandi Board and the Marketing Committee referred to stand already taken in another petition while asserting that “the farmers have every right to claim the broken/small size grains separated from the produce and can take it back home or sell it to anyone”. Taking up the matter, Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Arun Palli asserted: “The controversy, thus, sought to be raised is that when the sale takes place in the market, some waste or foreign matter is left, the cleaning of which is the responsibility of the contractor and that is why the arrangement was so made…. “It is completely impractical to expect that having spent money on transporting the material to the Market Committee area the farmers should take away the broken and small grains and the chhan-phoos to sell somewhere else. “This has left them playing into the hands of the contractors by compelling them to sell the product to the contractors for which they get lesser price, as urged by counsel for the petitioners, as compared to what they obtain from the women labourers who take away the chhan-phoos and the petty retailers who take away the small and broken grains…. “There can be no restriction on the sale of chhan-phoos and small-broken grains in the market itself in the manner the farmers have been doing. “It not only provides facilities to the farmers, but provides a source of livelihood to the small retailers and the women labourers who largely carry on the tasks of chhan-phoos….” The Bench concluded the Market Committees could lay down norms and authorise contractors to ensure the area remained clean by compelling the purchasers of chhan-phoos to clear it. The case
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There are more than 6,000 immigration firms and air ticketing offices across the NRI-dominated Doaba region but a mere 48 of them have applied for a
licence.
Families of several youths stranded in Iraq assembled in Ludhiana today and appealed to the government to ensure the safe return of their near and dear ones.
"Twentytwo Punjabi youths, most of them working in Al Nijam company in Baghdad, are not being allowed to move outside the company building. Their passports have been taken away," claimed a woman, her face stained with tears.
With the century-old canal system collapsing, farmers are being forced to draw more and more groundwater for irrigation. Owing to sheer apathy of the authorities, a number of canal distributaries in Amritsar and Tarn Taran have not received water for decades.
The State Bank of Patiala on Saturday handed over a new rickshaw to Jinder Kaur, the lone woman rickshaw puller of Muktsar. A report on her plight, “Muktsar’s Jinder plies a rickshaw for a living”, was carried in The Tribune on Thursday.
Iraq
(Machhiwara):
The state government has urged the Centre to change its Mega Food Park (MFP) scheme to make it viable for states like Punjab. In a detailed note submitted to the Centre, the government has sought that the debt component be lowered and the financial support enhanced.
