B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

SAD leaders evasive on ticket for Gill
Moga, October 4
It is now an open secret that the former DGP of Punjab and the newly appointed Advisor to the Home Department, Paramdeep Singh Gill is ambitious about contesting the forthcoming assembly elections from Moga.
Paramdeep Singh Gill

PUDA colony in violation of norms?
PUDA authorities directed to produce revenue record
Fazilka, October 4
The Punjab and Haryana High Court, while hearing the civil writ petition today challenging the carving out of the proposed PUDA colony in Fazilka in the Badha Lake Wetland flouting the environmental norms, has directed the PUDA authorities to produce the revenue record before the court.

Relief work hampered by delay in DD power to DC
Fazilka/Ferozepur, Oct 4
Call it is the procedural bottlenecks or the snail’s pace at which the government files movethat even two months after a Deputy Commissioner (DC) was given the full charge of a newly carved district, he has no drawing and disbursement (DD) power to draw the funds from the government treasury and disburse the funds further.

SAD leaders evasive on ticket for Gill
Kulwinder Sandhu
Tribune News Service

Moga, October 4
It is now an open secret that the former DGP of Punjab and the newly appointed Advisor to the Home Department, Paramdeep Singh Gill is ambitious about contesting the forthcoming assembly elections from Moga.

The road show organized by his well-wishers in the town on Sunday has given an indication that he has flexed his muscles to claim the party ticket by showing his public strength in the area.

But still, there are doubts on whether the former cop would get the SAD ticket or not keeping in view the silence by the 'Taksali' Akalis of the area.

Jathedar Tota Singh, a senior Akali leader and member of the central core committee of the ruling party, his son Barjinder Singh Brar, a youth leader, Tarsem Singh Rattian, chairman of the District Planning Board and sitting SGPC member, district president of the SAD Tirath Singh Mallah, chief parliamentary secretary Sital Singh and the other 'Taksali' Akalis of the area have not yet shown their solidarity with Gill even as the circle of close friends of the former cop claims that the party president and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal has already promised to give him the party ticket.

Sources close to Sukhbir also claim that the party president is seriously considering his name but the old friends of the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal within the party circle have different views on Gill's nomination.

A senior leader of the party, in an informal chat, said that no Akali would ever favour Gill's nomination because his father, former MLA late Nachattar Singh Gill was a Congress leader, who always opposed the Akalis at a point when the SAD was passing through hard times during the days of militancy.

Sources close to Sukhbir further claim that when Sukhbir contested the 1996 and 1998 Lok Sabha elections from the Faridkot constituency, which comprises the Moga district, Paramdeep Singh Gill and his family helped the Junior Badal win these elections. "Sukhbir is indebted to the Gills and wants to lend a hand to the former cop in joining active politics," said a bureaucrat attached with the Deputy CM.

Political observers say there is no doubt about the loyalty of Paramdeep Gill to Sukhbir Badal, which he shifted from his inheritance, after the tragic demise of his father who was shot by the militants in the 1990s. But, will this loyalty to Sukhbir work in his favour in a party still dominated by the old time friends of Parkash Singh Badal who holds the key to all the 'strategic' decisions within the party.

Sukhbir, being the president of the party, is the only youngest leader in the central core committee of the party while all others are 'old war horses' who have their say within the party. Jathedar Tota Singh is also one of the members of the core committee of the party. Will he and his friends accept Gill's nomination?

The nomination of Gill for the party ticket from the Moga constituency is an issue that the core committee of the party is yet to discuss and take a final decision on.

Until then, everything appears to be speculation over Gill's nomination, feel political observers who firmly believe that the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and the core committee of the party would be the final authority to decide on the political future of the former cop because the SAD has by and large respected the principles of democracy within the party.

Balwant Garg adds from Faridkot: The conspicuous absence of almost all the Akali leaders from Gill's road show that was seemingly aimed at making contact with the average voter, sent strong signals about the challenges Gill is set to face in his ancestral town Moga.

About the absence of all SAD(B) party leaders from the road show, SAD(B) Moga president, Tirath Singh Mahla said as there was neither any invitation nor any information about Gill's visit and the road show, so the party leaders' absence is logical.

Former Education Minister and senior SAD(B) leader Tota Singh said it doesn't feel good to arrive uninvited to any place. "If Gill Sahib had such a road show planned, he is expected to inform (invite) the party leaders, at least the SAD(B) district president, some days in advance so that the show could have been more impressive," said Tota Singh.

"He (Gill) is a neophyte who does not have what it takes to become an MLA," reacted another senior SAD(B) leader in Moga on the condition of anonymity.

However, Tota Singh said that Gill or anyone else, who gets the party ticket, will get rock like support from party workers.

So far, Tota Singh is believed to be the unchallenged Akali leader in Moga assembly constituency but for some time now, after the delimitation of assembly constituencies, Dharamkot seat is the main area of focus for his political activities. The Moga constituency is being politically nurtured for his son, Makhan Singh Brar, the incumbent President of the Municipal Committee, Moga.

But Gill's jumping into the political fray in Moga has taken place much to the chagrin of Tota Singh, said sources in the party.

While the SAD(B) president has already announced Tota Singh's candidature from Dharamkot for the forthcoming assembly elections, the Akalis are curiously waiting for a formal announcement about Gill's candidature from Moga.

It was expected Gill would open his political cards on Sunday but his enigmatic silence on his contesting the election was fully calculated.

"Before giving his final nod, Gill wants to test his popularity graph, depending largely on the 'goodwill' of his father, Nachhatar Singh Gill, who was a two-time Congress MLA from the constituency," said an Akali leader in Moga.

PUDA colony in violation of norms?
PUDA authorities directed to produce revenue record
Praful Chander Nagpal

Fazilka, October 4
The Punjab and Haryana High Court, while hearing the civil writ petition today challenging the carving out of the proposed PUDA colony in Fazilka in the Badha Lake Wetland flouting the environmental norms, has directed the PUDA authorities to produce the revenue record before the court.

The court has directed the PUDA counsel to reply with ‘Khasra’ plan details on the next date of hearing on October 18.

The petitioner Navdeep Asija, general secretary, Graduate Welfare Association, Fazilka, (GWAF), who was present in the court, said the acting chief justice, while taking serious note of the reply of the PUDA counsel that ‘there is not even a single drop of water in the extinct Badha lake’ in Fazilka where the PUDA has proposed to carved out a colony, brushed aside the plea and said it is a concern related to environment health and biodiversity of the area.

As per Asija, the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology, Chandigarh, has in its affidavit today admitted that preservation of Badha lake in Fazilka is as important as other lakes in the state.

The Council also informed the PUDA authorities to take the necessary approval from the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) before moving ahead with the plan for the colony.

Notably, the Punjab Pollution Control Board is the nodal agency under the state wetland authority and responsible for preservation of the wetlands in the state.

Asija said reply by the Town and Country Planning Department also indicates that before proposing the colony, no such approval has been taken from the departments concerned.

As per the information, 552 applicants have applied for 56 residential plots in the proposed colony and have deposited around Rs 6.5 crores as the earnest money so far.

The fate of a large number of plot seekers has been at stake after the filing of the writ petition in the court.

Relief work hampered by delay in DD power to DC
Balwant Garg
Tribune News Service

Fazilka/Ferozepur, Oct 4
Call it is the procedural bottlenecks or the snail’s pace at which the government files movethat even two months after a Deputy Commissioner (DC) was given the full charge of a newly carved district, he has no drawing and disbursement (DD) power to draw the funds from the government treasury and disburse the funds further.

And it looks more amazing when the district is facing problems like the unprecedented floods.

Fazilka, a sub-division of Ferozepur district, was declared as Punjab's 22nd and newest district on July 27. The same day, Basant Kumar Garg was appointed as the full-fledged Deputy Commissioner of this new district. Days after joining as the first DC of Fazilka, over 40 villages of this new district were ravaged by the floods.

There are many regular and emergency funds to combat these unexpected situations. But as the DC Fazilka has no powers to withdraw the money from government treasury and use these funds further for various relief works, so he is relying on his counterpart in Ferozepur to get the funds for his district (Fazilka).

Besides meeting many day to day expenses, the Fazilka DC needed many emergency funds in the last two months, like Calamity Relief Fund (CRF) in the flood affected areas. But in the absence of the DD powers, the DC Fazilka was getting the funds through the DC Ferozepur.

Even at a meeting of the DCs with the Punjab Chief Secretary on September 9, the DC Fazilka, it is learnt, lamented that he has no DD power, thus causing delay in giving relief funds to the flood affected families and the dependents of those who died of drowning.

As per the government norms, the dependents of every flood related death are to get the relief funds within 24 hours and a person who has suffered loss of cattle, has to be compensated within 48 hours.

But as the funds in Fazilka is routed through Ferozepur in the absence of DD powers to the DC Fazilka, so there was delay in releasing the relief funds.

Basant Kumar Garg, Deputy Commissioner, Fazilka, however, said that the delay in getting the DD power did not affect the flood relief work in the district. "Routed through Ferozepur, the funds were reaching on time and did not hamper the flood relief or any other work,” he said.

As Fazilka is a new district, so it is a matter of procedue and giving DD power took some time, he said. "I got the DD powers on Wednesday (September 28) and now there is no problem,” said Basant Kumar Garg, the Fazilka DC.