Thursday, June 17, 1999
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Thursday, June 17, 1999 |
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Farmers prefer distress
sale, migrate CHANDIGARH, June 16 — The Punjab Government is of little help to the worried people migrating from the border villages of the state. War noises affect trade in Fazilka |
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Attestation by patwaris
dispensed with CHANDIGARH, June 16 — Keeping in view the state-wide strike by patwaris in Punjab, the government has dispensed with attestation/report by them for obtaining domicile certificates, dependants of freedom-fighters’ children and grand-children, S.C/Tribes, backward area of Punjab, border area of Punjab, police personnel/para-military personnel/civilian government employees of Punjab killed in terrorist action, dependants of terrorist victims and residence certificates.
Providing
succour to farmers Steps
to meet SYL canal threat Rs
60 lakh Central Excise evasion detected Prohibitory
orders imposed at Nabha Faridkot
lawyers to intensify stir Traffic
rules to be strictly enforced MD
held for taking bribe UK
envoy calls on Governor, CM |
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Farmers prefer distress sale,
migrate CHANDIGARH, June 16 — The Punjab Government is of little help to the worried people migrating from the border villages of the state. Punjab has 553 km long border and most of it is fenced. Reports reaching the state headquarters said that a large number of farmers now migrating were resorting to distress sale of wheat and other grains. One report said that in Khem Karan and Khalra areas, farmers had sold their wheat at Rs 300 a quintal and migrated to safe places. The town of Khem Karan which suffered heavily during the two previous wars with Pakistan, is nearly deserted, the report added. "Most farmers cannot take their wheat stocks to the places they are migrating. Transport is very costly and there is no way to store it at new places which could be schools or gurdwaras or houses of relatives. Hence the distress sale. The market price of wheat is Rs 650 a quintal in other towns and cities", a senior officer from Amritsar told TNS on the telephone. He added that transporters too were fleecing the hapless people. Gharuka, indigenous vehicles that ply in without permission, charges sometime Rs 2000 for transporting one family from Khalra to a safe place in Amritsar district. A large number of complaints have come to the police, which is trying to help, reports said. The villagers are facing another problem. Migrant farm workers have left the border belt and this has hit the sowing of paddy and other kharif crops. In fact, not much sowing has taken place beyond the fenced areas, reports said. The Chief Secretary's office, which is monitoring the migration and looking after the welfare activities, has received reports that nearly one lakh people have already left their homes and hearths to safe places. They are not scared, but wish to take precautionary measures as tension is building up along the border. From Khem Karan to Khalra up to Naushera Pannuan and even in some villages in Gurdaspur, migration has taken place. Interestingly , the civil administration woke up when the Chief Minister visited Amritsar two days ago to do something about the problem. According to Mr J.P. Birdi, Inspector-General Police Border Range, police pickets have been deployed in all villages and small towns like Khem Karan and Khalra and other areas to guard the houses. Reports from Ferozepore said that not more than two dozen villages that fall either in the corridor or encircled by Pakistani villages on three sides have witnessed migration. Also, some villages close to Hussainwala faced the same situation where earlier the Army has cut the bridge. Some villagers have migrated. The morale of the people is high and they are just taking some precautionary measures, the reports added. The Chief Secretary, Mr Rupinder Singh Mann who is monitoring relief and other measures on a day-to-day basis, has directed the civil officers to report everyday what exactly was the situation, and what they were doing about it. Deputy Commissioners of Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Ferozepore have also been asked to make surprise checks and report the measures they were taking. A cell has been set up
to oversee the situation. |
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War noises affect trade in
Fazilka FAZILKA, June 16 — After the migration from rural areas, the focus has now shifted to the town. Although a sizeable section of town residents believe that there is little threat of a full-fledged war, yet having borne the brunt of two previous wars in 1965 and 1971, some residents have sent their family members including children, women and the aged to relatives in safer towns. In Adarsh Nagar, Gandhi Nagar, Kailash Nagar and Radha Soami Colony, the most thickly populated localities of the town, some residents have removed their household goods and valuables to other places. A majority of townsmen, including the affluent and the rich, have withdrawn large amounts of cash from banks and vacated their lockers. According to official sources, bank withdrawals has gone up by eight to 10 times and touched crores of rupees per day. There is an acute shortage of currency notes of the denomination of 500. Trade in this town, otherwise humming with activity, has been hit hard. Cloth merchants, building material dealers and those dealing with vanity goods say the sales have come down steeply. Mr Alok Kumar Nagpal, a cloth merchant says, medium shopkeepers has lost his sale by at least 50 per cent during the past five days due to the war clouds. Construction activity in the town has virtually come to a standstill. Masons and labourers have been rendered jobless. Some migrant labourers have returned to their native villages in Bihar and UP for the time being. According to Civil
Hospital sources, the number of patients visiting the
hospital from rural areas has come down by 30 per cent. |
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Clean Sutlej plan on LUDHIANA: Work for the completion of the Sutlej Action Plan, part of the National River Action Plan for the abatement of pollution from 12 major rivers of the country, is on at full swing. Land has already been acquired for the construction of three sewerage treatment plants at Baloke (140) acre), Bhattian (90 acre and Jamalpur (40 acres). Waste water and effluents, would be lifted from the 25 to 30 feet deep sewers with the help of pumps at the three pumping stations. It would be released either into the river or diverted for irrigation through the effluent distribution channels," informed Superintending Engineer S.K. Verma of the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board, who is also in charge for the implementation of this plan. The three treatment plants being set up would be using the upward anaerobic sludge process for treating the polluted water. During the summer months the treated water would be released for irrigation purpose. Besides this, work is also on for the construction of outfall sewers of a carrier system to carry the sewerage from the existing sewers to the sewerage treatment plant sites at Baloke, Battian and Jamalpur. Another important component of this project is improvement of environment. As part of this plan, 120 public lavatory blocks five for each ladies and gentlemen would be constructed in Ludhiana. Forty such blocks are supposed to be completed in the first phase of the plan and 11 of these have already been constructed. The Satluj Action Plan was launched in October 1996 after the river was identified as highly polluted by the National River Conservation Directorate of the Ministry of Environment. This plan calls for providing main sewers, sewerage treatment plants, effluent distribution channels, pumping stations, capping of open drains, low-cost sanitation, afforestation, construction of crematoria and creating public awareness. The total estimated cost of the plan is Rs 22937.61 lakh, with Rs 16422.14 lakh being allocated for Ludhiana city alone. This plan is aimed at 12 towns in the catchment area of the Satluj. In the first phase, the plan is targeted at treating the major pollution caused to the river by four towns or cities — Ludhiana (contributing to the pollution through the Buddha Nullah Phillaur (situated on the bank of the river, Phagwara and Jalandhar (both adding pollution through the Bein, a tributary of the Satluj.) The plan, scheduled to be completed in 2001, was earlier a 50: 50 venture of the Government of India and the Punjab Government. Later succour was granted to the state government when it was asked to contribute by way of acquiring land alone and the Central Government shelled out money for the plan. As part of this plan, improved wood and electric crematoria were supposed to be constructed. The idea of constructing electric crematoria has now been stalled and only improved wood crematoria would be constructed. The plan also entails afforestation in the 270 acres acquired at Baloke, Bhattian and Jamalpur. A 50 feet strip would be created and perennial trees like safeda, poplar and ashoka would be planted. Besides, a sum of Rs 10 lakh has also been kept aside to create public awareness about pollution free environment. A sum of Rs 145 lakh had earlier been earmarked for collecting the solid waste of the city and then disposing it off before it reached the river. But this aspect of solid waste collection and its disposal has now been kept in abeyance. Sources reveal that the
Ludhiana Municipal Corporation had also approached the
Central Government to include the streamlining of the
Budha Nullah that runs through the city, as part of the
Satluj Action Plan, but this was met with a refusal. Now
the Corporation has undertaken this on its own. |
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Attestation by patwaris dispensed
with CHANDIGARH, June 16 — Keeping in view the state-wide strike by patwaris in Punjab, the government has dispensed with attestation/report by them for obtaining domicile certificates, dependants of freedom-fighters’ children and grand-children, S.C/Tribes, backward area of Punjab, border area of Punjab, police personnel/para-military personnel/civilian government employees of Punjab killed in terrorist action, dependants of terrorist victims and residence certificates. This was done through a circular issued by the state on June 14. Announcing this today, the Minister, Mr Sewa Singh Sekhwan, said strike by the patwaris was neither consistent with the rules and regulations nor did it fit into any government nomenclature. Patwaris could not be treated as "technical staff" because of their basic qualification being matric. They are given training after selection by the government. He said that the government had shown a "soft corner" in dealing with the misguided patwaris. They had been asked to return to work by June 15. Many have rejoined duty on or before June 15. A lenient view would be taken regarding their participation in the strike. Other patwaris, who are on strike, especially those on probation, will be dismissed immediately and those who are on deputation from other departments will be reverted to their parent departments. Disciplinary action will also be taken against those who continue to abstain from duty, he added. Mr Sekhwan stated that the government, after accepting the recommendation of the fourth Pay Commission had given patwaris a higher grade and conveyance allowance up to Rs 480 despite the fact that the patwaris were working within 8 km in respective circles for which no travelling allowance is permissible under the rules. After taking revenue
records from patwaris it has been found that there were
hundreds of such cases where permanent records had been
tampered with. He indicated that besides departmental
action, criminal cases would be registered in such cases.
A special cell was proposed to be set up soon to identify
all cases of tampering of records. |
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CM visits martyrs’
families NANGAL, June 16 — Mr Parkash Singh Badal, Punjab Chief Minister, today, visited Darroli and Munne villages besides coming here to express his sympathy with the bereaved families of three martyrs who laid down their lives recently, fighting with the Pakistani intruders in Kargil and other subsectors in Jammu and Kashmir. The martyrs are Capt Amol Kalia of Nangal, Lance Naik Malook Chand of Darroli village, near Nangal, and Sepoy Jaswinder Singh of Munne village, near Takhtgarh. Captain Kalia (25), an unmarried youth, sacrificed his life on June 11 during an operation in the Batalik subsector of Kargil in a seven-hour long gunbattle with the Pakistani intruders while recapturing the prime area, Batalik Top. Lance Naik Malook Chand and Sepoy Jaswinder Singh laid down their lives on May 10 and May 21, respectively, while fighting the intruders. Talking to mediapersons at his residence here, Mr Sat Pal Sharma, father of Captain Kalia virtually wept several times while remembering his son, saying that he felt proud that his son had sacrificed his life for the cause of the nation. Mr Sharma, who is a headmaster in Government High School in Heeran village, (Una), said the family had no fresh information about the body of Captain Kalia. Mr Sharma also showed the mediapersons the last letter written to him on June 2 by Capt Amol Kalia from Kargil. He received the letter on June 11. Mr Sharma said he (Amol) himself opted for Kargil. He said, his second son, Flight Lieutenant Aman Kalia, was also ready to join duty in Kargil if a call came for him. Mr Badal along with Mr Madan Mohan Mittal, Punjab Food and Civil Supplies Minister, and Mr Balwinder Singh Bhunder, a member of the Rajya Sabha, expressed sympathy with Mr Sat Pal Sharma and Mrs Usha Sharma, parents of Captain Kalia. He said, he would talk to Mr Surjit Singh Barnala, Union Minister to rename the NFL Model Senior Secondary School, where Captain Kalia studied till plus two. A statue of the martyr would also be installed here. Later, Mr Badal visited Darroli village of martyr Malook Chand and consoled the bereaved family. He announced there that the government high school at Kalitran where Malook Chand studied would be named after Malook Chand. He also announced a government job for a member of the martyr’s family and Rs 5 lakh for the purchase of a house or a plot. Mr Badal also gave a cheque of Rs 2 lakh to the family as ex gratia. Lance Naik Malook Chand is survived by a wife and three children. After visiting Darroli, the Chief Minister went to Munne village where he shared his feelings with the widow of Sepoy Jaswinder Singh who was married in January. Sepoy Jaswinder Singh is survived by his wife, his blind father, mother and two brothers. Mr Badal gave a cheque of Rs 2 lakh to the family, besides announcing an amount of Rs 5 lakh for the purchase of a plot or a house. He announced a job for the widow of the martyr. He also announced a grant of Rs 1 lakh for the development of the martyr’s village. Mr Badal said a memorial of this undeclared war would be built adjoining the newly built war memorial at Ropar. He also promised all type of help for the family of the martyr. DHOOLKOT (Ludhiana): Lauding the role of the Punjabis in the country's freedom struggle, the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, said the people from Punjab had made the maximum contribution. The Chief Minister here today consoled the bereaved family of Sepoy Ajmer Singh of Sikh Regiment Light Infantry on deputation to 19 Rashtriya Rifles who had died fighting for the country at Kangan, 100 km from Kargil, on June 8. The Chief Minister gave the assurance that a government job would be given to the widow of Sepoy Ajmer Singh. He also announced a grant of Rs 50,000 each to the wife, father and two children of the martyr. He also announced a grant of Rs 5 lakh for the construction of a house. He assured the villagers
that whenever the Punjab School Education Board undertook
to raise the level of government schools the government
middle school in the village would be raised to the level
of a high school on the basis of priority. He also named
this school after Sepoy Ajmer Singh. |
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BSF jawan cremated KAPURTHALA, June 16 — Sepoy Gurbhajan Singh had promised his pregnant wife that he would come home to attend the wedding of his niece Rani on June 16. But destiny had something else in store. His body was brought from Srinagar and cremated in his native village, Subuwal, late last evening. A BSF sepoy, Gurbhajan Singh had been posted since the past three years in Srinagar. He fell victim to the insurgents' bullets on June 13, three days before the wedding when he was scheduled to come home. I received his letter yesterday saying that although war was on in Kargil. I should not worry and take care of my health", weeps his wife Paramjit, who is merely 18 years old and illiterate. Gurbhajan wrote to her regularly." I used to ask the school boys to read my letters", she says. He came in February to be with his family. Since then Paramjit had received 13 letters from her husband. The son of a poor daily wage earner who died a few years ago, Gurbhajan was the youngest of four brothers and five sisters. His elder brother Dhan Singh retired as a Subedar while Atma Singh retired as a Havaldar from the Army. His 90-year-old grandfather, Thakur Singh, reminisces, "He was a good lad, worked in the fields and cleared his matriculation privately. Then we sent him to the Thai Kanjla Training Centre for poor children. While the mother of the gallant soldier was away to Kiratpur Sahib today to perform the last rites of her youngest son, a barat sans a band came to her house today for the wedding of her granddaughter. "We could not cancel the wedding at such a short notice", says Paramjit while sitting in the backyard of her two-room house. Paramjit does not release that she might not be entitled to the grants announced by the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal. The Sub Divisional Magistrate, Sultanpur, has already written to the Deputy Commissioner, Kapurthala, Mr V.K. Singh, asking whether the BSF casualty should be treated to benefits accorded to families of the soldiers who have been killed in Kargil. When contacted, Mr V.K. Singh said according to the notification by the government only Army personnel killed in Kargil were entitled to the benefits offered by it "but I am hopeful that something for this poor young widow will be done". Meanwhile, the villagers
of Sabuwal have appealed to the Chief Minister that Sepoy
Gurbhajan Singh had been killed by the same enemy, the
enemy the armed forces were involved in flushing out from
Kargil. They say the generosity of the state should be
extended to his widow also. |
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Badal visits Kargil
martyrs’ kin CHANDIGARH, June 16 — The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal today spent the day visiting grief-stricken families of Kargil martyrs in different districts. Among the families visited were of Capt Amol Kalia of Nangal (Ropar), L/NK Maluk Chand, Darol village (Ropar), Sep Jaswinder Singh, Mune village (Ropar), Sep Ajmer Singh, Dhurkot village (Ludhiana), L/NK Gurbhej Singh, Dhudi village (Faridkot), Sep Rashpinder Singh, Ghurkani village (Mansa), L/NK Buta Singh, Danewala village (Mansa) and Naik Nirmal Singh of Kosla village (Mansa). He was accompanied by Mr Madan Mohan Mittal, Food and Supplies Minister, Mr Balwinder Singh Bhunder, member of the Rajya Sabha, and Brig K.S.Kahlon, (retd), Director Sainik Welfare. The Chief Minister presented a cheque for Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of the martyrs and consoled the bereaved families. While assuring every possible assistance to the families of those killed during "Operation Vijay," he said the nation owed a debt to them. The countrymen would never forget their contribution in protecting the nation's boundaries. An official spokesman of the Sainik Welfare department said with effect from January 1, 26 soldiers had sacrificed their lives in J&K border while combating the intruders from across the border. The government had already announced several relief measures and concessions for martyrs as a token of respect. The Chief Minister has
directed the district administration to give full state
honour and respect to the martyrs at the time of their
cremation. |
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Ex-soldiers’ homage JALANDHAR, June 16 — A special meeting of the Indian Ex-Servicemen League, Punjab and Chandigarh, to pay homage to those who laid down their lives fighting in the Kargil sector, was held here today. It started with a condolence resolution and a two minutes’ silence observed to pay homage to all those who had laid down their lives in the Kargil sector. Lt-Col Daljeet Singh (retd), president of the league, said politicians had done a lot of ‘lip service’ for the services but materially a soldier was considered a ‘third rate’ citizen and hardly given any respect worth the name for his devotion to the country. To safeguard the
interests of the defence personnel and pensioners, the
league decided to create its political wing and field its
own candidates in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections. It was
also decided that the Government of India be approached
through its central league to establish a separate pay
commission for the defence services from the other
central services. |
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Providing succour to farmers CHANDIGARH, June 16 — Punjab has woefully lagged behind in providing relief to the hapless families of farmers who had committed suicide. Andhra and Karnataka have done much better in this regard. These are three states where a large number of farmers have been resorting to the extreme step to save themselves from the debt trap. Independent studies have revealed that farmers, mostly in their thirties, have been taking the extreme step in the district of Sangrur, Mansa, Bathinda and Ludhiana, though other districts too witnessed this sad happening. There are no exact estimates about the number of deaths. It varies from 200 in a three-year span from 1996 to 1998 to 800. Police and health department records underplayed as did the families because of the social stigma attached to suicide as such. But studies showed that the number was considerable. One study by Dr Gopal Iyer of the Panjab University conducted in July 1998 and January, 1999 in three blocks of Lehragaga, Andana and Barnala showed as many as 80 suicides. This is the worst area. But after having conducted a detailed study by the state intelligence and later by the Institute for Development and Communication, in practice, the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, had done much less than promised. The much-touted provident fund scheme for the farmers announced during the Budget speech is yet to be implemented. In Andhra Pradesh, the package of relief to next of kin of the deceased included Rs 1 lakh as ex-gratia, a house under the Indira Awas Yojna, admission to children in residential schools and hostels, poverty alleviation programme for the landless and rescheduling of the bank loans, besides old-age pension to the deserving. In Punjab the last help is available. It is another thing that for the last few months, very little has been given as old-age pension. Similarly, the Karnataka Government has provided Rs 1.10 lakh as ex-gratia, gave adequate compensation for the crop loss to all the affected families, and rescheduled the institutional loans to lessen the burden. Punjab, which first hesitated to recognise the seriousness of the problem when Mr Inderjit Singh Jaijee, a former Akali MLA and convener of the Movement Against State Repression revealed the spate of suicides. But when it did admit the dangerous trend, it did not announce any ex-gratia. In some cases it has only rescheduled the loans that too which these poor families owed to cooperative banks. But 67 per cent of the lending came from private commission agents and other sources. This study funded by Action Aid Bangalore, a non-government organisation gave several reasons for the suicide tendency among otherwise sturdy farmers in Punjab. It said major economic factors contributing to agrarian crisis and consequent indebtedness of Punjab farmers at the macro level, the declining proportion of cultivators and an increase in the proportion of agricultural labourers, pauperisation and proletarianisation of lower strata of peasantry, continuing decline in the net income of farmers, wheat-paddy rotation trap, crop loss, declining economic status of farm labourers and a rise in unemployment in rural areas. One of the major area of agrarian crisis relates to the decline in the percentage of cultivators and a rise in the proportion of agricultural labourers. The cultivators constituted 42.56 per cent of the total workers in the state in 1970-71 which declined to 32.83 per cent by 1990-91. In the same decade, the percentage of farm hands increased from 20 per cent to 23 per cent. This is a depressing scenario, indicating the process of pauperisation and proletarianisation. The operational holdings of the marginal farmers in the same period has declined from 37 per cent to 26 per cent which also reinforces the process of pauperisation and proletarianisation of peasantry. It was found that 24 per cent of small farmers and 31 per cent of marginal farmers were living below the poverty line. The proportion of marginal farmers below the poverty line has gone up. The crop loss has been the major factor for suicides in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. Punjab also experienced substantial crop loss in cotton consistently in the nineties and there has been a major crop loss in 1998 kharif. This fact has adequately been acknowledged by the Punjab Government in its report submitted to the Centre for compensation to Punjab farmers due to crop loss in kharif in 1998. The economic conditions of local farm labourers has become adverse in the nineties in particular. The mechanisation of wheat and paddy harvesting through harvester combine has displaced both local and migrant labour considerably. According to a latest study, paddy harvesting is now totally done be harvesters combine, thus replacing the manual labour completely. Even in respect of wheat, the study observes that in Sangrur district 40 per cent is harvested through the combine. This has cut considerably the number of effective days of employment for the local farm hands. Another important feature is that due to massive influx of migrant labour both the number of days of employment and the wage rates of the local agricultural labourers have been affected in the past 20 years. Social factors like changes in the family structure, low literacy rate and weakening of social values have also contributed a great deal to the accentuation of agrarian crisis and indebtedness. The practice of polyandry was prevalent among the Jat Sikhs in Punjab and one of the important reasons for the practice to continue was to preserve the land holdings of the family. This phenomenon is now greatly on the decline. The second important factor is the low literacy status of the peasantry. The 1990-91 census showed that the literacy rate in the state was 58.51 per cent. The third important aspect is the decline in the traditional institutions like the Biradari, the traditional village panchayats, religious and other humanitarian institutions which were traditionally providing mutual help and social security. The economic development, commercialisation and monetisation of the economy, dominance of the capitalist value system, emergence of consumerism and the role of the mass media have contributed generally to the degeneration of traditional value system. It was found during the
course of the field study that none of the social
institutions like the village panchayat, the SGPC or any
other religious and humanitarian social organisation
exhibited any sensitivity to the families of the
deceased. This was unlike the situation in Andhra and
Karnataka where some of the NGOs and voluntary
organisations were active in extending material and moral
support to the families of the deceased. |
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Steps to meet SYL canal threat PATIALA, June 16 — The need for dealing with the threat posed by the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal to the district was stressed at a meeting here yesterday. The meeting, which was presided over by Deputy Commissioner Jasbir Singh Bir and attended by representatives of the Army, felt that it was important to cross floodwater from one side to the other and urge the SYL authorities to strengthen the right bank to avoid breaches during the monsoon season. It was also stressed to request the Haryana authorities not to close the gates of the canal on the border with Punjab during the floods. It felt that the regulators on the Patiala ki Rao and the Jayanti Devi ke Rao bundhs to divert floodwater into the Siswan Nadi should be strengthened. It decided to check flooding due to the choking of the Dakala bridge and the Sanaur bridge for which two draglines were being arranged for being positioned at the sites before the rainy season. It was also decided to construct embankments on both sides of the Sagra Para on the Ghaggar drainage system, plugging of breach on the common bank of the SYL, clearing choked syphon on twin railway line on Pachisdara on the Ambala-Rajpura road and the Narwana crossing, besides construction of studs at various places. Presenting a paper on the genesis of the problem of floods in Patiala, Additional Deputy Commissioner R.S. Randhawa said the navigational channel and space between the defence bundhs had been disturbed. Touching upon detrimental changes which had proved counterproductive, he said while earlier the road between Patiala and Rajpura had been lowered by 3ft to ensure the flow of water across it, it had been raised four years ago. Capt Randhawa said due to this, pressure was exerted on the defence bundh. he cited the example of the floods in 1993 when a breach occurred when the water level in the Patiala Nadi reached 22 ft. He also highlighted the
problem being created at Khanauri where nearly 1.5 lakh
cusecs of water accumulated but the syphon taking water
below the Bhakra mainline could accommodate only 35,000
cusecs. He said there was need for taking water through a
nearby channel to tackle the problem. He also highlighted
contingency plans. |
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Rs 60 lakh Central Excise
evasion detected CHANDIGARH, June 16 — The anti-evasion wing of the Central Excise Commissionerate, Chandigarh-II, has detected evasion of duty to the tune of Rs 60 lakh by two manufacturing units of diesel engines and DG sets. Both units are based at Bathinda. According to Mr Inder Raj Soni, Commissioner, Chandigarh Commissionerate-II, the modus operandi adopted by M/s Azad Engineering Works and M/s Super Steel Industries was to suppress their production so that they remain within the exemption limit of Rs 30 lakh available to small scale units in a financial year. They allegedly maintained a duplicate set of invoices and manipulated the description of goods on the original copy of the invoices which contained the exact description of the product sold and the office copies had description as loose kits. Mr Soni added that they issued fake invoices of "loose kits" for fully manufactured diesel engines and diesel generating sets as the loose kits being "spare parts" constitute trading activity and does not attract Central Excise duty. He disclosed that these
manufacturing units were searched by Central Excise
Preventive Officers of Jalandhar division last year when
they were assaulted by these factory owners and
anti-social elements. Even incriminating documents
recovered by the officers of the Central Excise showing
huge evasion of excise duty were also snatched for which
an FIR No 60 dated March 6,1998, was registered at the
Civil Lines, Police Station, Bathinda. The Commissioner said that M/s Super Steel Industries had been routing its production through its sister concern in order to suppress its sales below the exemption limit of Rs 30 lakh whereas M/s Azad Engineering Works was maintaining duplicate sets of invoices. Both firms had sold large quantities of diesel engines and diesel generating sets valued at Rs 4.85 crores without the payment of Central Excise worth Rs 60 lakh during April 1,1994 to March 31,1998. M/s Super Steel Industries had evaded Central Excise amounting to Rs 38 lakh on the sale of excisable goods worth Rs 3.03 crore while M/s Azad Engineering Works had evaded Central Excise to the tune of Rs 22 lakh on clearance diesel engines and DG sets worth Rs 1.82 crore. Mr Soni claimed that
these parties did not cooperate with the authorities
during investigations. A show-cause notice for recovering
Central Excise amounting to Rs 60 lakh had been issued to
them. |
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Prohibitory orders imposed at Nabha PATIALA, June 16 — The district administration today again imposed prohibitory orders at Nabha to tackle a kar seva threat to "liberate" a Shiv Durga temple in the Punjab Public School (PPS) ground even as the board of directors of the school met in Chandigarh two days ago to take stock of the situation. The district administration today promulgated prohibitory orders to counter the threat posed by an announcement made by Swami Parmanand to start kar seva to liberate the temple in case it was not handed over to a temple committee formed by local citizens. The committee had taken over the temple after a mob demolished the boundary wall of the school on April 3. Deputy Commissioner Jasbir Singh Bir has forbidden holding of any religious procession or raising of slogans in public places till July 15. Sources stated that at the Chandigarh meeting the board of directors was presided over by Punjab Governor Lt-Gen B.K.N. Chhibber. The directors reportedly expressed readiness to rebuild the boundary wall of the school for which the support of the district administration was asked for. They also wished that the status quo as on April 2 should be maintained. They stressed that the ground adjacent to the temple belonged to the school and should be cleared of unauthorised occupation. Regarding the temple, they felt the Punjab and Haryana High Court had already given its decision on the matter and allowed devotees to pay obeisance which should be maintained. Apart from the directors, the meeting was attended by school Principal Col D.S. Khera and the district authorities, including the Commissioner of the division, the Deputy Commissioner and senior police officials. Meanwhile, a langar is being organised at the temple ever since the committee took over its management on April 3. Police personnel have been deployed round the clock to keep a watch over the situation. Swami Parmanand, the
temple committee and the Bajrang Dal had recently given
the district administration an ultimatum till June 23 to
hand over the temple to the committee. The temple
committee wants to construct a langar bhavan in the
playground adjacent to the temple for which donations are
also being collected. |
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Faridkot lawyers to intensify
stir FARIDKOT, June 16 — The local Bar Association which is observing a strike from June 8, today decided to intensify its agitation when the lawyers failed to get a positive response from the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, for accepting their demands. Mr Kaur Singh, President of the Bar Association, while talking to TNS said bar members had taken a decision to come to the streets to hold rallies and stage dharnas from tomorrow as the Chief Minister could not satisfy them when they met him at Dhudhi village today regarding their demands. He said bar members had been on strike since June 8 to press the Punjab Government to accept their demands which included the inclusion of about 100 villages surrounding Faridkot town in the district and the attachment of the Panj Grain Assembly segment completing with the district. He added that the Chief Minister had assured the bar members about two months ago that their demands would be considered sympathetically at the meeting of the District Reorganisation Committee but Mr Badal done the reverse. He pointed out that Faridkot district was divided into three districts when Moga and Muktsar were carved out as separate districts from it in 1995. Out of the total 571 villages of the old Faridkot district, the existing Faridkot district had only 170 villages. On the other hand, Moga district which had 235 villages with it when it was made a district had been given 150 more villages by the Punjab Government through its Cabinet decision recently. He said the Punjab Government had also added 11 more villages of Faridkot district to Muktsar recently. He said the strike would remain indefinite. He added that lawyers were also observing a relay fast and this would continue till their demands were met. On the other hand, the Bar Association, Muktsar, was also on indefinite strike since June 8 to press the government to attach Abohar subdivision of Ferozepore district to Muktsar district. The Bar Association of Abohar observed two days' strike on June 14 and 15 to press the government for Abohar's inclusion in Muktsar district. The bar members had decided to boycott the coming elections if the Punjab Government failed to meet their demands. Lawyers of Ferozepore
are also agitated over the transfer of Dharamkot, a
subdivision of this district, to Moga district by the
Punjab Government recently. |
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Traffic rules to be strictly
enforced PATIALA, June 16 — The district police has decided to strictly enforce provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act by coming down heavily on those using black films on car windows and those driving two-wheelers without helmets. Earlier last year the local traffic police had started a traffic rules campaign which fizzled out after a spate of challans for a few days. The police faced difficulty in enforcing the helmet rule in the walled city where it was flouted with impunity. Stating this here today, acting district police chief Narijinder Singh Sekhon said the police had decided to give some time to the public to conform to provisions of the Act besides spreading awareness about it and that challaning for any violations would start from June 20. Mr Sekhon said black films and fancy lights would have to be removed from four-wheelers. Two-wheeler drivers as well as those on the pillion would have to-wear helmets. He said Sikhs wearing turbans would be exempted from wearing helmets and those wearing ‘patkas’ or parnas would also be challaned. The acting police chief said it had also been decided to start a campaign to stop the misuse of red lights atop vehicles. He said anyone using unauthorised red lights after June 20 would be challaned. Vehicles of those driving without a valid licence would be impounded. Meanwhile, Patiala Range
Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) of Police Sanjeev Gupta
has also directed the traffic police to stop the misuse
of press stickers. |
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MD held for taking bribe FAZILKA, June 16 — Mr Rwail Singh Brar, Managing Director (MD) of Fazilka Cooperative Sugar Mill was caught red-handed by a vigilance team for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 2,000 from a sugar trader of Abohar at Bodiwala Pitha village, 15 km from here, yesterday. According to the police, a sugar trader, Mr Ved Parkash Snehi of Abohar town, had complained that the Managing Director was pressurising him (Mr Ved Parkash) to give a bribe for the supply of additional 200 bags of sugar to the firm of Mr Ved Parkash. He was caught red-handed while taking Rs 2000 as bribe from the sugar trader. A case has been
registered against Mr Brar at Vigilance Bureau police
station, Ferozepore. |
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UK envoy calls on Governor,
CM CHANDIGARH, June 16 — The British High Commissioner, Sir Rob Young, today called on the Punjab Governor, Lieut-Gen, BKN Chhibber (retd), at Punjab Raj Bhavan and also on the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal. The High Commissioner shared with the Governor his experience of last three days' tour to Punjab and interaction with a cross-section of people. He felt that Punjabis, with strong determination and grit, could overcome any challenge. The Governor informed the High Commissioner that the agriculture sector, the backbone of Punjab's economy, was doing well due to the bumper crop in the last two years. Even in the recession-hit economy, the small-scale industry of Punjab, registered a growth of 5 per cent to 6 per cent. Sir Rob Young, who was accompanied by his Political Adviser, Mr Kamaljit Rattan, congratulated Mr Badal on the successful conclusion of the tercentenary celebrations of the birth of Khalsa, which he had attended. Sir Rob Young informed
the Chief Minister that his government would open a 'Stop
Shop', a single window office, in Chandigarh, which will
have a library with all kinds of details about their
country, information for trade and commerce and visa
clearance facilities. |
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British envoy visits PAU LUDHIANA, June 16 — The British High Commissioner, Sir Rub Young, was highly impressed with the field application of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) research findings during his one-day visit to the university here yesterday. After his visit to the departments of plant breeding, farm power and machinery, animal science and discussions with scientists, the High Commissioner said the tremendous increase in crop and live stock production in Punjab during the past 50 years was a clear evidence of the impact on farmers of the technology developed by PAU. He also visited the farm of Punjab Kishan Club President Amarjit Singh Sidhu in Sidhwan Kalan village and held discussions with progressive farmers of the area. The High Commissioner
expressed his happiness at the new ties between the PAU
and British universities. |
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Dharna by patwaris PATIALA, June 16 — Patwaris and kanungos of the local tehsil today held a four-hour dharna in front of their office in support of their demands. Addressing the dharna,
District Revenue Patwar Union general secretary Paramjit
Singh Jindal criticised the government for suppressing
the peaceful agitation launched by the patwaris. |
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Follow path shown by Guru:
Badal CHANDIGARH, June 16 — The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, today called upon the people to follow the path shown by Guru Arjan Dev, the Guru of the Sikhs. In a message on the eve
of martyrdom day of Guru Arjan Dev, Mr Babal said,
"the Guru had sacrificed his life for preserving the
values of humanism, secularism and unity of
mankind." His sacred bani is a lighthouse and shows
the way for leading a pious and perfect life. |
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Usha Sharma posted as CEO CHANDIGARH, June 16 — In yet another posting transfer order issued today by the Punjab Chief Secretary, Mrs Usha R. Sharma has been posted Additional Chief Electoral Officer (CEO). The present incumbent, Mr R.L. Kapoor, stands shifted to the post of Special Secretary, Finance and Redeployment Cell-cum-Secretary Anomalies Committee. Mrs Sharma held the post
earlier too before she took over as Deputy Commissioner,
Kapurthala. On return, she was posted where now Mr Kapoor
has been working. |
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Blaze outside IAF Adampur base JALANDHAR, June 16 (UNI) — Sparks from a four-wheeler led to a big blaze outside the operational area of the Adampur airbase of the Indian Air Force this afternoon. Sources said there was no loss of life, though the four-wheeler was destroyed in the fire. The blaze in the afternoon engulfed the dry grass in a large area, forcing the airbase authorities to requisition fire engines from Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur and Phagwara besides deploying their own fire-fighting machines. The fire, which started
at 12.32 p.m., was raging but "under control"
when reports last came in, the sources added. |
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Swami Krishnanand operated
upon CHANDIGARH, June 16 — Swami Krishnanand, president of the All-India Hindu Maha Sangh, who was admitted to the PGI last week for prostate problem, was operated upon today. The 93-year-old Hindu
leader is said to be progressing well. |
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