Gurdaspur, August 30
The alleged dispute between the SAD and the BJP over the posts of mayors, senior deputy mayors and deputy mayors in the newly elected municipal corporations in the state has been sorted out as Patiala and Ludhiana municipalities will go to the SAD and Jalandhar and Amritsar to the BJP.

The posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor will go to the BJP in Patiala and Ludhiana while the SAD will hold these positions in Jalandhar and Amritsar, SAD acting president Sukhbir Badal said.

Sukhbir was at Sekhwan village, near here, to inaugurate the Sekhwan group of institutions, being run by former SAD minister Sewa Singh Sekhwan.

Boasting of the achievements of the SAD-BJP coalition government, Sukhbir said, “Pachis saal tak kursi nahin chhodenge.”

He, however, remained mum over queries regarding main portfolios going to BJP MLAs in the government and checking corruption from government offices.

He also laid a foundation stone of a 66 kv sub-station at Babehali village. Public relation, water supply and sanitation minister Bikramjit Singh Majithia, Gurdaspur MLA Gurbachan Singh Babehali and chief parliamentary secretary Jagdish Raj Shani were also present on the occasion. 

Phillaur, August 30
Chander Shekhar, ADGP (Law and Order), today said the term human bomb used for some women followers of Dera Sacha Sauda was a creation of the media and no intelligence input had used such a strong word.

Talking to The Tribune after presiding over a passing-out parade of 1,213 trainees of various courses, Shekhar said the intelligence reports had only cautioned that these women could harm a VIP.

He said he still sticks to his stand about the threat perception from women and the police would keep an eye on any person suspected of disturbing law and order.

Meanwhile, the women constabulary in Punjab and Chandigarh got a fillip today with 150-odd women passing out from the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Police Academy.

The ADGP awarded the best trainees in difference courses. Constable Kashmir Kaur from Ferozepur won the best rifle shooter award while head constable Krishan Pal Singh of the GRP won the best revolver/pistol shooting prize.

Other winners were upper school course: ASI Rakesh Kumar (all-round first), ASI Sumer Singh (all-round second), ASI Rakesh Kumar (first in indoor subjects), ASI Yash Pal (first in outdoor subjects).

Intermediate school course: Head constable Satnam Singh of Tarn Taran (all-round first), Head constable Sudesh Kumar (all-round second and first in indoor subjects), Head constable Balwinder Singh and Head constable Sarwan Singh (first in outdoor subjects). The award for the best drill instructor course went to constable Amandeep Singh.

The parade was marked by a display of riot control, managing of demonstrations and dharnas , motorcycle show and horses riding, parade and a dance of Maldives.

Amritsar, August 30
Crying for care, the free dispensaries run by the Municipal Corporation in Amritsar could soon be handed over to the health department.

The newly-elected house of the corporation would take a decision on whether the dispensaries would be given a face-lift after filling up the vacant posts of medical officers or the health department would be asked to intervene and take over the three ailing dispensaries.

The dispensaries are a picture of neglect. Interestingly, the dispensary in Hargobindpura doubles up as Government Elementary School. As if the absence of a medical officer was not enough, the dispensary has been left with only a small room and the rest of the building has been “encroached” upon by the school.

Requesting anonymity, the dispensary staff said the issue had been taken up with the authorities several times but to no avail. “There is no place to give injections to women patients and the school should be shifted out of the building meant for the dispensary,” said one of them.

The parent of a school student said even the school does not have enough space to run classes. “During rains, the school teachers have to make temporary arrangements to cover the open area outside the two rooms. Students have to study with water dripping on their heads,” he said.

Similarly, things are so bad that the dispensary located in Chheharta area, near Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), that it doesn’t even have a regular electricity or power connection and the sole fan inside the main room is connected to the main line with a “kundi” connection.

The post of a medical officer has been lying vacant for a long time and the 10-15 patients coming to the out-patient department are examined by a pharmacist. .

“We have to borrow buckets of water from people living in the vicinity of the dispensary as there is no water connection. Even though Tuesdays have been fixed for vaccination of children, there is no qualified doctor at the dispensary to administer the shots. Only patients needing first-aid come to the dispensary,” said an employee. Municipal Commissioner Hussan Lal said, As of now, the corporation does not intent to make any new recruitment.”

Hoshiarpur, August 30
The Punjab government has decided against construction of any road under the build, operate and transfer (BOT) system in the state in near future to avoid burden on commuters. This was stated by Minister for Public Works Department, Punjab, Parminder Singh Dhindsa while talking to mediapersons here today.

Referring to the three toll plazas on the Balachaur-Dasuya and one on the Hoshiarpur-Tanda roads, Dhindsa said the previous Congress government had made a special agreement with the private companies to construct these under the BOT system. Despite the willingness of the present government to provide relief to commuters it was helpless on account of various clauses of the agreement. No relief would be provided to the commuters on these roads, the minister said.

To make the state roads better and for their maintenance, it has been decided to hold the contractor responsible for the quality of material and construction. The contractor would have to maintain these for six years for which some extra payment would be made to him. The total cost of maintenance and any damage would be borne by the contractor, the minister said and added that the National Highway Authority of India had decided to convert national highway No. 1 from Panipat to Jalandhar into six lanes.

Referring to the shortage of technical staff in the department, he said 40 to 50 sub-divisional engineers (SDE) were required for which a requisition for immediate recruitment of 18 SDEs had been sent to the government. Besides, 50 junior engineers were also required for which the case was being sent for approval.

Mohali, August 30
A Vigilance Bureau team checking wheat stocks at a Nabha godown of the Punjab Agro Food Grain Corporation has found over 400 quintals of wheat missing from the godown. Other than this, the bureau has also discovered wheat-packaging bags (bardana) and other material worth over Rs 6 lakh missing.

According to DSP Vigilance, Patiala, Anil Kumar Sharma, the checking of stock at the godown was completed today. Out of the total stock of about 1,18,000 bags of wheat, the team found 344 bags missing and many bags weighing less than the stipulated 50 kg. “Over 400 quintals of wheat is missing from the godown,” he said. As many as 10,640 packaging bags have also been found to be missing from the godown.

“The missing bags is worth at least Rs 2 lakh, the blue and black plastic tarpaulin and some other material used to cover the stacks of wheat bags worth Rs 2.5 lakh are missing. We have unearthed a scam worth at least Rs 15 lakh from this godown,” said Sharma, adding that the report of the checking had been submitted to SSP, Vigilance, Shiv Kumar.

The team has also reported that at least 15 per cent of the wheat stock in this godown is rotting after exposure to rain. “A large number of bags have fungus on them and the grain has swollen due to water retention. We have advised corporation officials to take remedial steps to save the grain.” said Anil Sharma.

After assisting the VB team on the first day of checking, the custodian of the godown Manmohan Singh reportedly vanished from the scene yesterday. “District manager of the corporation Sandeep Talwar remains unavailable,” added Sharma.

The team contacted the agro MD A.S. Chattwal yesterday to provide a team from the corporation to assist the VB team in checking. A three- member committee of R.N. Bhardwaj, Vikas and Inspector Avtar Singh were put on duty to help the VB. The checking was carried out in the presence of government witnesses Dr Vinod Mittal, Navneet Singh and Food and Civil Supplies inspector Gyan Chand.

The DSP said the decision to lodge an FIR in the case lay with senior officers of the bureau.

Ludhiana, August 30
For the first time since the assassination of former Chief Minister Beant Singh, the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) is not holding any function at Kotli, near Payal, his ancestral village. This is being attributed to the acute factionalism within the PPCC, which is practically leaderless this time. Only a sarva dharam sabha is being organised at Chandigarh.

Even the acting PPCC president, Shamsher Singh Dullo, who till recently equated Beant Singh with Shaheed Bhagat Singh has not shown any interest in organising the function at Kotli. His family members, including his MLA son, Tej Prakash, grandson, Gurkirat Kotli and close associate and former MLA Milkiat Singh Dhaka expressed their helplessness in holding a function on their own.

Amarjit Singh Tikka, senior party leader and close associate of Beant Singh recalled that Beant Singh's successor Harcharan Singh Brar had promised to "immortalise" his name. But the promises were soon forgotten.

"So far we were blaming the successive governments that they were doing nothing, but now even the party has forgotten him", Dhaka regretted, while adding, if Punjab was peaceful and prosperous today and people were enjoying power, it was because of the sacrifice of Beant Singh.

It is learnt that with most of the senior PPCC leaders busy in Delhi lobbying for the top post in the state, nobody seemed to be inclined to hold a state-level function. Tikka remarked that this would further demoralise the cadres as they were waiting for this function.

Chandigarh, August 30
A high-level panel was set up today under the command of Dr J.S. Bajaj, vice-chairman of the Punjab State Planning Board, to review the functioning of district, sub-divisional hospitals, community health centres and certain health and medical institutes in the state.

Heart surgeries at Amritsar govt hospital by  Dec-end

The panel has been set up following a meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal here today. Several senior officers of the health and medical education departments attended it.

The panel, comprising director of the PGI K.K. Talwar, director of the National Institute of Health and Family Welfare Devki Nandan, former director of AIIMS P.K. Dave, medical superintendent of AIIMS Shakti Gupta and senior officers of the state health department, would visit all district-level civil hospitals, 20 per cent civil hospitals at the sub-divisional level and 5 or 10 per cent community health centres besides medical education and para-medical services training institutes.

Dr Bajaj told The Tribune that the members of the panel would examine all aspects of functioning of such hospitals. Are available equipment and infrastructure is being utilised and maintained properly? Is there a need to provide further equipment for optimal utilisation of services available at these hospitals? What is the satisfaction level of patients?

The panel will submit its report soon, he said.

Meanwhile, Dr Bajaj said the government hospital in Amritsar was being provided with equipment required for surgical intervention. Doctors posted in cardiology department there had been asked to refresh their interventional skills at the cardiology department of the PGI. He said the best equipment was being procured for the Amritsar hospital.

“I had made a commitment with the people of Amritsar a few months ago to provide surgical interventional facilities for heart ailments at the government hospital in Amritsar by December-end. I am certain I would be able to keep my promise because things were moving at a good pace in the hospital”, said Dr Bajaj.

He said surgical intervention would be available at a far cheaper rate in the Amritsar hospital compared to those being charged by commercial hospitals in the country. 

Sangrur, August 30
Has the underground water of Bhasaur village, near Dhuri, become unfit for human consumption?

An answer to this question is to be given by the Dhuri SDM in about a fortnight as Sangrur Deputy Commissioner V.K. Ohri has marked an inquiry to him in this connection.

Some residents of Bhasaur village today handed over a complaint to the DC at a ‘sangat darshan’ programme here, alleging that a factory, namely KRBL, situated near the village, had been throwing its dirty water through a bore into the soil, due to which the underground water of the village had got contaminated and was unfit for drinking purposes.

The villagers have also alleged that not only drinking water, sometimes they also received “black water” from their tubewells. They also alleged that the chimney of the KRBL factory was spreading pollution in the air. They asked the administration to initiate the necessary steps in this regard.

At the sangat darshan programme, the DC sanctioned some amount for a poor girl student of Class VIII for depositing fee and purchasing books. He also ordered the district Red Cross Society to issue sewing machines to some needy women.

As many as 65 complaints and grievances were presented by the people at today’s programme, of which 45 were settled on the spot while the remaining were sent to the departments concerned for redressing the same at the earliest and submit report at the next sangat darshan programme to be held here on September 13.

Bathinda, August 30
Rajan Kashyap, chief information commissioner (CIC), Punjab State Information Commission, today said a particular mindset of officers of the state had been creating problems in the implementation of the Right to Information (RTI) Act in proper manner.

Addressing a press conference here today, Kashyap said some officers did not carry the attitude that they were answerable to the queries of the people and this was the main obstacle in the implementation of the RTI Act. Also, on the other hand, people were not much aware about their rights under this Act, which had given them vast powers.

He said the report on the functioning of the Punjab State Information Commission would be submitted in the next session of Vidhan Sabha. He had made a recommendation to the state government to launch a scheme under which the people could be made aware of their rights under the RTI Act.

The commission had disposed of 1,739 cases out of total 2,356 cases, which the commission had received so far. About 40 officials of the government had been penalised for refusing to give information to the applicants. The CIC said number of benches of the commission would be raised to nine.

Amritsar, August 30
When the two-and-a-half-century old ivory mosaic work, priceless murals, naqqashi and paintings, depicting mythological scenes were being destroyed in the demolition of Akal Takht in January, 1986, by radical Sikhs, it was on the intervention of Giani Mohinder Singh, former SGPC secretary, that the original podium where Guru Hargobind used to address the Sikh Sangat was protected.

The former SGPC secretary, who turned 99 today, told The Tribune that he immediately approached Bhai Gurdev Singh Kaunke, who had been appointed Jathedar of the Takht by militants, after he saw the structure being pulled down. There was nobody who knew the importance of the base of the Takht. It was the biggest achievement of his life that the SGPC agreed to preserve the structure, he added.

Giani Mohinder Singh is the oldest surviving Sikh leader who had witnessed the most significant historical events, including Jallianwala Bagh tragedy, pre-Partition Akali morchas, and had worked with the legendary Shiromani Akali Dal presidents like Master Tara Singh.

He said the priceless naqqashi, which fell prey to the militant diktat two decades ago, was a specimen of excellence attained by Sikh craftsmen. The craftsmen had dedicated their lives to complete the exquisite artwork in the interiors of the Takht.

Frescoes were introduced by Bhai Kehar Singh under the patronage of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Today, few artists pursue this “Sikh school of art”.

Now, the work of gold-plating of the Takht, which remained incomplete after Operation Bluestar in June 1984 for a long time, was re-started through kar sewa. After the reconstruction of the Takht, the gold-plating work on the Takht could not be completed in time.

However, hundreds of original frescoes, including that of Hindu gods and bhagats, are in the possession of descendants of Bhai Gian Singh, who belongs to the lineage of naqqashs.

The artwork, which has been lost forever, included “jaratkari”, which is known as “munavat”. In this technique a drawing is made on the paper first and later transferred on to a marble slab by the naqqash. The original drawing, complete with colours schemes, is passed on to coloured-stone dressers for cutting patterns from the multicoloured stones. These patterns are then set on the slabs by the “pather-gharas”. 

Amritsar, August 30
Activists of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) today burnt an effigy of the American government in protest against its decision for screening Sikh turbans at airports there.

Terming the decision of the American government as unfortunate, Gurpreet Singh Prince, organising secretary SAD, urged the Central government should take up the matter with the US government. He said the government of India would have to face dire consequences if it failed to take up the issue.

He said that the decision of the US government had hurt the religious sentiments of the Sikh community.

Sikhs around the world have been concerned as the Federal Aviation Administration in the United States had announced new procedures due to an emerging threat of improvised explosive devices (IED) and chemical weapons that could be hidden under head coverings by militants.

The protesters also wore black ribbons around their turbans to protest against the arbitrary and discriminatory procedure.

Barnala, August 30
To create awareness among the public about the drawbacks of caste based reservations, the General Category Association (GCA) organised a seminar on the issue of reservation here today. While addressing the rally, state president of the association Rajiv Barnala said, caste-based reservation should be relaced by reservation on economic basis only. Caste-based reservation had created a big distance between the general category and other castes as only the rich and influential were getting its benefits while the lower strata people were still neglected, he further added.

Ram Niwas Sharma, district president Brahmin Sabha said, the politicians in our country were creating a lot of hue and cry over reservation in the private sector as well. He also said, if such a policy was implemented it would result in the deterioration of the quality and standards of the Indian companies which would cause great damage to our economy. 

Chandigarh, August 30
The bail pleas of B.I.S Chahal and four Today Homes officials were taken up by Justice Surya Kant today. The Judge, after hearing their counsel’s arguments for over three hours, adjourned the matter for further arguments. Also, one of the main reasons for the adjournment was that the Punjab government’s investigating officer (IO) was not present in the court.

Shanti Bhushan, an eminent lawyer from Delhi appearing for Today Homes officials, argued at length on the parameters of pre-arrest bail and cited various apex court judgements to buttress his point.“Arrest is generally aimed at extorting a particular version by resorting to coercion, torture and what not. Individual’s liberty should not be ordinarily curtailed,” Shanti Bhushan averred.

He submitted that if the prosecution had ample evidence then the trial court would eventually convict the accused and therefore there was little need to arrest them.

Justice Surya Kant asked Shanti Bhushan if the corruption was unknown in our society. “We are in a position where a Chief Minister will never hold an inquiry against himself. But the moment he goes out of power, he starts alleging vendetta. Our system is really bad,” the Judge observed.

Shanti Bhushan acknowledged that to tackle corruption, some hard steps were needed. But he asserted that it should not be at the cost of an individual’s liberty, which enjoyed constitutional sanctity. This led to another strong observation by the Judge who said; ”Society’s liberty from corruption is more important than individual liberty.”

Shanti Bhushan then cited apex court guidelines and provisions of the Article 21 of the Constitution to asset that an individual needed to be protected from custodial torture. He also referred to Gurbax Singh Sibia case and other apex court judgements to highlight that the petitioners had a fit case for pre-arrest bail.Justice Surya Kant further observed that normally the High Court had been granting pre-arrest bail till the presentation of the challan.

Chandigarh, August 30
The Bharti Kisan Union president Balbir Singh Rajewal today urged the union government to pay Rs 728 per quintal more to Punjab farmers for the wheat which was procured from the state in April.

He said the union government was buying the wheat at Rs 1,578 per quintal from the international market but gave Rs 850 per quintal to Punjab farmers. He said the difference between the price at which wheat was being purchased from the international market and the price at which wheat was procured from the domestic market should be paid to Punjab farmers.

Even if it had given wheat price on the basis of wholesale price index, Punjab farmers would have got Rs 2,320 crore more for their wheat produce. He said the government had floated tenders to buy 5 lakh tonne of wheat. And price quoted by the international agencies was $385 to $434 per tonne. “It means that even if the wheat is bought at a minimum price quoted in the tender, it will cost Rs 1,578 per quintal”, he said.

“It is strange phenomenon that Punjab farmers are being made to supply to the national pool managed by the FCI at a subsidised price up to Rs 728 per quintal whereas in the US and other European countries, their national governments provided heavy subsidies to farmers.” 

Chandigarh, August 30
The government has scuttled the plans of thousands of government employees seeking out-of-turn transfers by using political clout.

Chief secretary Ramesh Inder Singh has issued instructions to the departments concerned, saying all transfers carried out against policy norms have to be cancelled and in future the existing policy and laid down eligibility parameters for transfers should be followed.

Several transfers have been cancelled following the development, sources in the government confirmed today. The transfers, which have been done following the laid down criteria, will, however, stand in tact.

The chief secretary has specifically mentioned in his orders “transfer-prone and sifarish-prone” departments of education, health and rural development.

In another development, health minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla put up a notice outside her office in the main-secretariat with the information that transfers have been banned.

The development has not come out of the blue. Things had been building up in the past few weeks. AG Hardev Singh Mattewal had expressed his concern over the increasing number of employees approaching courts with complaints pertaining to transfers. The criteria for transfers have among other rules that there has to be a gap of more than one year between two transfers, there has to be a vacant and existing post against which the employee is transferred and in case both husband and wife are employees they have to be adjusted at the nearest possible stations. Officials said since the ruling combine came to power, they had allowed MLAs and minister to make recommendations for transfers. 

Ludhiana August 30
The "neutral" group led by Manjit Singh Mahal has swept the Punjab Agricultural University Teachers Association elections held here today. The group won all the posts of vice-president, Baldev Singh, secretary Mukesh Siag, joint secretary, JS Kang and treasurer RC Sharma.

It was a surprise victory for the group since the contest was mainly claimed to be between the traditional rivals, the Joshi group and the Batra group. The Joshi group was led by SK Singla, while Batra group was led by KN Sharma.

Mahal is the professor on entomology and an international cricket umpire. The group projected the neutral stance in the elections which seemed to have gone well with the teaching community in the university.

The confrontation between the two rival groups was to severe. While the Batra group was considered to be too much anti-establishment, the Joshi group was understood to be pro-establishment. Both were accused of having personal prejudices and preferences at the cost of the teachers' interest.

The Mahal group capitalised on this sentiment and promised to present a neutral alternative to the two. He told The Tribune, "Our bottomline was and will remain to watch the interest of the teachers and the university, while at the same time maintain a cordial relationship with the establishment".

The Mahal group which emerged recently, prior to the polls, mainly consisted of those who were earlier aligned with the Brar group and dissociated from its successor the Joshi group. The Batra group has been alleging that it was a tactical move by the Brar group to field Mahal and his team to present them as "neutral and non aligned" to neutralise the resentment against the group (the Brar group) among the teachers and this seemed to have paid off well.

Patiala, August 30
Can the teachers of public administration check the examination papers of sociology, the subject with which they are out of touch since long? Believe it or not this kind of callousness with the future of students is possible in Punjabi University.

Harbir Singh, principal of Khalsa College, Patiala, has been a teacher of public administration. However, this year, Punjabi University, Patiala, gave him 165 answersheets of BA(I) sociology (Paper-A) April 2007 examinations for evaluation.

The principal evaluated the papers and took Rs 1,304 from the university, for the job entrusted on him. He, in fact, took payment twice for the same job.

Harbir Singh, when contacted, admitted that he has evaluated the papers of sociology subject though he is a teacher of public administration. He said that he had been doing it for a long time. “The university gives the task of evaluating papers of other subjects and I just do the job,” he said.

Baldev Singh Sandhu, controller examinations, when asked, said he would check the matter.

Sources in the Education Department, however, said the incident was unfortunate. They alleged that only a teacher of the subject concerned should mark the answersheets of the papers.

The way answersheets of the students are being given to teachers of other subjects, it depicts the callousness which the entire years labour of the students in being treated.

The association of numbers of papers checked with the amount paid to students has made the evaluation of answersheets a money-minting exercise for teachers. However, by doing this, they are playing with the future of the students. 

Lambi (Muktsar), August 30
Four new courses in the State Institute of Nursing and Paramedical Sciences, located at Badal village of this district, would be introduced in the next academic session to make it more relevant to the needs in the health sector.

A decision to this effect was taken at a high-level meeting of the governing body of the institute held here today. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal presided over the meeting.

Manpreet Badal, finance minister, J. S. Bajaj, vice-chairman, Planning Commission, Punjab, Jagjit Puri, secretary, medical research and education, K. K. Talwar, Director, PGI, Chandigarh, Ravinder Singh, vice-chancellor, Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) and Vikas Garg, deputy commissioner, Muktsar, participated in the meeting along with other senior officials of different departments. The four new courses are the Bachelor of Science (B. Sc.) in physiotherapy, B. Sc. in post-nursing (children), B. Sc. in post-basic (Psychiatry and Radiography).

The Department of Medical Research and Education has sanctioned these courses and the Punjab Government had also sanctioned Rs 1.38 crore for running these courses in the institute.

Patiala, August 30
The registrar of Punjabi University B.S. Sandhu resumed his official duties today after remaining in police and judicial custody for about 20 days.

The move to reinstate him has, however, evoked criticism from Forum for Educational Action and Reform (FEAR). In a press release issued here today the president of FEAR, Amarjit Singh Dhillon, alleged that S.S. Boparai vice-chancellor has violated the statuary provision of the Punjabi University as contained in its calendar. In volume-I, Chapter-II, of university calendar it has been stated that “in the absence of its own rules, the university would follow the rules applicable to the officers of the Punjab Government.

In the Punjab Government rules (Punishment and Appeal) Rules, it has been clearly stated in Rule 4.2(a) that the officer who remained in Police or Judicial custody for more than 48 hours, shall be deemed to have been placed under suspension.

Dhillon further said by not following the statuary provision of the university, VC has violated the University Act which bounds him to “faithfully observe” the Act, statutes, Ordinances and Regulations of the university.

By not suspending Dr Sandhu, Boparai has clearly and willfully defied the well-established rules which he himself has been following in the cases of others employees of the university.

Forum feels that VC has also cast aspersions on the Punjab Vigilance Bureau by saying that “it was a planted case on Dr B. S. Sandhu and would be treated as a planted case”.

The forum warned that if such a situation were allowed to prevail in the university campus, it would have serious repercussions in the other institutions of higher learning. The forum also demanded immediate intervention by the Punjab Governor and Chancellor in the case. 

Patiala, August 30
The department of gurmat sangeet of Punjabi University has introduced an open Gurmat Sangeet Competition on September 20 to 22 in collaboration with the Centurian Bank of Punjab, the sources disclosed here today.

The string instruments gurmat sangeet competition will be held on September 20, group shabad gayan in senior and junior category will be held on September 21 and individual shabad gayan competition will be held on September 22.

Dr Gurnam Singh, head, department of gurmat sangeet, said the purpose of this competition is to acquaint and equip the next generation about the projection and propagation of Gurmat Sangeet.

In this competition, attractive cash prizes of about Rs 1.5 lakh; medal and certificates will be presented to the winners. Senior category of group shabad gayan will be awarded Rs 31, 000 as first prize, Rs 21, 000 as second prize and Rs 11, 000 as the third prize. Similarly, in junior category, the prize will be Rs 21, 000, Rs 11, 000 and Rs 5, 100 for the first, second and third, respectively. For individual senior categories, the prizes will be Rs 5, 100, Rs 3, 100 and Rs 2, 100 and for junior categories the cash prizes will be Rs 3, 100, Rs 2, 100 and Rs 1, 100 for the first, second and third winners.

Dr Gurnam Singh further said the competitions will have to pass out the preliminary test for their final stage performance. For this competition the entry forms are available from the department.