Tarn Taran diary: Now, take your produce from fields to market

The district administration has given a mobile vending e-cart to a woman horticulturist Rajwinder Kaur of Khadoor Sahib, under the Punjab State Livelihood Mission (PSLM), to sell her produce directly in the market. The aim of the mission is to promote the trend of selling produce from the fields to the market, also known as Kheton ton Khapatkaar tak. Deputy Commissioner Kulwant Singh said the price of the e-cart is Rs 1.8 lakh in the market and under the PSLM, a subsidy of Rs 85,000 was given by the state government and Rs 15,000 were paid by the Horticulture Department, Punjab. The DC said the scheme would make the women folk self-sufficient by letting them market their produce. The state government had allotted only one cart for the district which has been given to Rajwinder Kaur. Harbhajan Singh, Deputy Director, horticulture said the scheme will motivate the horticulturists to adopt the trend of self-marketing.

How long does it take to repair a road?

The Congress had been claiming that the state government had released grants worth crores for the development of Tarn Taran for the past more than four years. But the town has been in a bad shape since then. The sewerage system is also not well developed while the drinking water is also not available to 70 % of the population. The residents say even the four-and-a-half-year period was not enough to repair potholes in Tarn Taran. The shopkeepers say they have been a witness to several accidents on this road and have even written to the SDM, Tarn Taran, to do the needful. The residents said it was ‘repaired’ last year and filled with sand which used to create huge clouds of dust after vehicles passed through the stretch. The residents said since the pothole was near the divider, sometimes, the drivers of the vehicles lose control over their vehicles which has led to several accidents. CPI Leader Tara Singh Khehra, in a letter to the Charanjit Singh Channi, demanded to take serious note of the indifferent attitude of the officials concerned.

Gearing up for Jor Mela

Residents of the district had been eagerly awaiting the holy annual fair (Salana Jor Mela) which is celebrated at Gurdwara Bir Baba Budha Sahib, Thatha (Tarn Taran). The mela could not be organised last year with fanfare due to the pandemic. Lakhs of devotees visit the place to pay their obeisance on the occasion of the mela. The administration of the gurdwara is managed by the SGPC. The place is of extreme importance to the childless couples who pay obeisance here. Large number of couples reach here from foreign countries too. The four-day mela this year would be started from October 4 with the beginning of Akhand Path Sahib and would be concluded on October 7 with the Amrit Sanchar (baptising Sikhs to be Amridhari). Colourful Nagar Kirtan too would be organised in the villages of the area as per the programme chalked out. The people of the nearby areas also offer their services during the fair. They also organise langar for the visitors.

(Contributed by Gurbaxpuri)