AGRICULTURE

Farmers asked to adopt modern techniques
Our Correspondent

Smooth sailing for farmers
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, October 27
With the arrival of paddy in grain markets in the district at the fag end of the season and small quantities still trickling in at some of the local mandis and other major centres like Khanna, Jagraon and Samrala, the procurement by government agencies and traders has been smooth, unlike last year, when the farmers had to face a host of problems and many of them had to resort to distress sales.

A quick tour of some of the mandis and purchase centres on the periphery of the city revealed that there was no glut of paddy and the movement of the produce was well organised. In the Salem Tabri grain market on the outskirts of the city, the staff concerned of the agencies was all set to conduct an auction and the crop was being cleaned before being purchased. Baldev Singh, sarpanch of Noorpur village, who had just sold his produce, told Ludhiana Tribune that he had sown paddy on about 50 hectare and the entire crop had been purchased and promptly paid for by the government agencies in this mandi.

In the Ayali Khurd mandi, the day’s arrival was an estimated 3,500 bags where the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and the Punjab Agro Industries Corporation are the official procurement agencies. Several farmers, including Sadhu Singh of Malakpur village and Piara Singh of Balloke village told that they faced no problems in selling their crop at the MSP. The farmers said that arrangements made for the farmers, both by the procurement agencies and the market committee were definitely better as compared to those in the last season.

“The purchase centre at Humbran, about 10 km from the city, where the average daily arrival was to the tune of 3000 bags, could claim to be a place where the farmers did not have to wait for a single day to sell their crop, claimed officials of the Food and Supplies Department and the Punjab State Civil Supplies Corporation (PUNSUP). Some of the farmers, present at the centre vouched for prompt payments for paddy and reasonably good arrangements for visiting farmers.

Later, the District Food and Supplies Controller, Mr Parveen Vij told Ludhiana Tribune that till yesterday evening, the total arrival of paddy in the district was to the tune of 12,48,573 metric tonnes against 10.74 lakh MT during the corresponding period last year. While the entire paddy, brought to the mandis had been purchased and the MSP ensured to the farmers, the government agencies had procured 93 per cent of the produce against 88 per cent during the last season.

In the agency-wise break up of the total purchase in the district, the FCI led with 3,74,576 MT, followed by PUNSUP with 2,35,561 MT, Markfed with 1,78,752 MT, the Punjab Warehousing Corporation with1,66,739 MT, the Food and Supplies Department with 1,27,851 MT and the Punjab Agro Industries Corporation with 82,187 MT. The millers had made a total purchase of 82,907 MT.

According to Mr Vij, the farmers had also contributed significantly to the smooth purchase of paddy in the mandis by responding positively to the appeal for bringing in cleaned and dried up crop.

‘5,000 schools to have computer education’
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, October 27
The state government has decided to introduce computer education in 5000 schools and 42 colleges in the state to provide vocational training to the educated and unemployed youth. Seven hundred schools will start providing computer training to students by the end of this year.

This was disclosed by Mr Tota Singh, Education Minister, Punjab, after the inauguration of a computer centre at Arya Senior Secondary School, Civil Lines, here.

Mr Tota Singh said the government was trying hard to upgrade the educational system.

The Education Minister said government schools had to suffer a lot because of the mushrooming of a number of private schools in the state. The government was also trying hard to curb the menace of copying. He stressed the need for teachers imparting moral values to the school and college students. He also expressed concern about drug addiction in schools and colleges.

‘Parchaian di Mehak’ released
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, October 27
A book of short stories, titled ‘Parchaian di Mehak’, by Gurcharan Kaur Thind, was released by noted Punjabi poet of Ludhiana, Surjit Patar, at Punjabi Bhavan this afternoon. Sirjandhara, a Punjabi Literary Society, had arranged the function, which was attended by many heavy weights of Punjabi literature.

M.S. Cheema, speaking at the function, said that the book was a record of her journey in discovering the genre of short stories for over two decades. He further said that she had made use of pungent satire to remark on contemporary realism and modern social sensibility. In the story, ‘Naina’, she uses psychological analysis to have a look into the interior of a person. He said he specially liked the story, ‘Gulabo’, which brings out the MCP attitude of the males of the society. Gulabo goes wayward, leaves her family and when she comes back, the door is shut on her face by her husband. On the other hand, the neighbour’s son also leaves the house, goes astray, yet the family members receive him as ‘prodigal son’. Dr P.S. Sohi also put forth similar views and condemned the different attitudes adopted by society towards men and women.

Kulwant Jagraon appreciated her story, ‘Gantantra di Maut’, which analyses the preparation for the Republic Day by the students of schools and colleges and their teachers.

The Principal, Mr Daya Singh of the Government Senior Secondary School, Dhaka, where the writer is teaching, appreciated her stories and the courage she displayed by writing about subjects which were considered taboo. Dr Parminder Kaur liked her story ‘Pagdandiyan’ that dealt with corruption. The other speakers, Gurcharan Koshar and Dr Joshan, all congratulated her maiden efforts at story writing.

Surjit Patar lauded her efforts in highlighting the degradation of women in our society. 

Urdu poets in city to attend Sahir Memorial Mushaira
Asha Ahuja

Shamsur Hassan Sohail Lucknavi Hina Taimoori

Ludhiana, October 27
A number of Urdu poets have arrived in the city to participate in the eighth All India Sahir Memorial Mushaira being organised by Kala Samriti. The mushaira will be held in the evening at the PU Extension Library tonight.

Ludhiana Tribune spoke to some of the poets who will be participating in the Mushaira. All the poets paid rich tributes to the poetry of Sahir. A senior poet, Shamsur Hassan, with Nazar Etvi as his pseudonym, said he had been influenced by the poetry of Alam Fatehpuri and Nusrat Gwalior. He said, “I have been taking part in mushairas since 1970. We attend 5-6 mushairas in a month. These days the genre of ghazal has become very porous and hence has come to include all the experiences of life. It even touches upon burning issues in society, such as cancer and AIDS.”

When this correspondent asked him if the present war would become the topic of ghazals, he said that in all probability, this topic would creep into ghazals in the near future. Asked if he would sing his ghazals in tune, he replied, “Yes, because the audience wants it. Though I prefer to read them out. I do not want the composition to be overpowered by ‘tarunum’ as then, the meaning of the ghazal is lost. His favourite couplet is ‘Chehre ke nakosh itne sadmon ne badal dale, logon ne mujhe meri awaaz se pehchana’ and the other favourite is ‘Tune chaha nahin, halat badal sakte the, mere ansoon teri ankhon se nikal sakte the’.

Prof Afzal Manglori belongs to a small town Mangalor, which has a historical fort. He chose the name ‘Manglori’ to highlight his little town. Presently, he is teaching at Brahman Sanskrit College in Roorki and has a good command over Hindi and Urdu languages. During his college days, he won inter-university poetry competitions 40 times and has travelled to Dubai, Nepal, Pakistan, South Arabi and Sharjah to attend various mushairas.

He says, “The Ghazal these days covers all kinds of events, whereas earlier ghazals were only confined to topes such as wine and various aspects of women’s beauty like her tresses or her daintiness He attended the mushaira that was held when President Musharaff of Pakistan came to meet Atal Behari Vajpayee for the historic summit.

His couplets found favour with Indian as well as Pakistani guests. One of them goes ‘Jwala nafrat ki jo hai , usko bhi jal karna hai, masla jang se nahin, pyar se hal karna hai. Sarhadon paar nai chahat nai umeed ka, humko tameer naya Taj Mahal karna hai.’ He feels that the status of Urdu poetry has increased in non-urdu states like Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra and Bengal, whereas in Urdu-speaking states of Lucknow and Hyderabad, Urdu poetry is not getting as much encouragements as it should.

Hina Taimoori and her husband, Sohail Lucknavi have also attended many mushairas. Hina’s couplet, which won her a lot of acclaimres ‘Mein Urdu zaban hoon, Hindi meri dil ki dharkan hain ,mein Hindi ki jaan hoon.’ Her ghazals revolve around love and are romantic in nature.Recently, both of them participated in a mushaira to celebrate the birthday of Sir Sayyed Ahmed Khan, the founder of Aligarh University on October 17.

Sohail writes about social issues that plague the society. He says, "No religion teaches hatred towards other religions, yet all battles are fought in the name of religion. If we follow our religion and let others follow theirs, there will be no conflicts.” He felt that every human should be treated with dignity. His couplet conveys this message tersely. ‘Accha nahin hain sholoon ko bhadka ke maaza lena, Is khel main tum apna daman na jalan lena. Allah ne baksha hain jannat sa watan, jannat ko kahin dozakh na bana lena.’