VOICE OF EX-SERVICEMEN PUNJAB

AAP, BJP trade charges

NEW DELHI: Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “political vendetta”, escalating the Delhi government’s fight with the Centre over 21 AAP legislators facing disqualification for holding multiple paying positions.

The BJP hit back, saying Kejriwal was obsessed with attacking the Prime Minister and also accused AAP of lying under oath that no perks were given to the parliamentary secretaries, specially created official posts to help ministers discharge their duties.

The latest confrontation between the Centre and AAP government was sparked by President Pranab Mukherjee’s refusal to sign a bill that would allow the 21 MLAs to hold the second paying position.

Kejriwal said the President’s decision was based on the Centre’s recommendation and questioned why similar action was not taken in other states which too have parliamentary secretaries.

“There are parliamentary secretaries in Haryana, Punjab, Gujarat, West Bengal and across the country. Those in Punjab get `1 lakh per month, car and bungalow as well. But they have not been disqualified. Why only Delhi? Because he (Modi) is scared of Aam Aadmi Party,” said Kejriwal, who has repeatedly clashed with the Centre over officers’ appointment, files and governmental jurisdiction. “Modiji says Sonia Gandhiji isn’t allowing the Parliament to function because she can’t digest defeat. Want to ask Modiji, is he not allowing Delhi government to function because he is unable to digest defeat in Delhi?” A 2003 constitutional amendment capped the number of ministerial berths to 15% of the House strength. Since then several states started appointing parliamentary secretaries, using the posts to keep legislators without ministerial berths happy. The BJP deployed two of its leaders to counter the AAP charges. “In its affidavit to the Election Commission, AAP had said no emoluments, perks or facilities were provided to the parliamentary secretaries. That amounts to perjury,” said party MP

Meenakshi Lekhi who released a list of rooms purportedly allotted in the assembly building to the 21 MLAs.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra criticised Kejriwal for questioning the decision of the President.

“You (Kejriwal) have certain political ambitions, rightly so under a democratic system, but for god’s sake don’t demean the credibility of the President of India because in the end you are demeaning the democracy of this country,” Patra said.

The Congress also attacked the AAP over the issue, seeking Kejriwal’s resignation for making false claims. “In no other state, one third of legislators have been appointed as parliamentary secretaries. The appointments were aimed at providing red beacons to the MLAs,” Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken said. Disqualification of the MLAs would come as a major setback for Kejriwal who stormed to power two years ago on an anti-corruption plank. The AAP has 67 MLAs in the 70-member assembly. The remaining three are BJP legislators. The Election Commission is examining the petitions seeking disqualification of the legislators, who are said to have replied to the poll panel’s notices.

Drugs, the devil that has Batala slum in its clutches

I lost my son Joginder Kumar, 31, to drug abuse. As cops are afraid to take action against the merchants of deaths (drug mafia), we are forced to witness the coffins of our sons. SHANTI DEVI, 61 GANDHI CAMP, A SLUM WITH A POPULATION OF 25,000, HAS THE IGNOMINY OF HAVING A SIZABLE NUMBER OF YOUTHS HOOKED TO ONE OR THE OTHER DRUG
I have lost three sons — Ramesh Kumar, 32, Pawan Kumar, 30, and Jassi, 16 — to drug addiction. The lack of action against drug smugglers is to be blamed for our plight. BACHNO DEVI, 70

From page 01 BATALA: Gandhi Camp, a slum in Batala that gets its name from the man who compared drugs to devil, echoes time and again with wails of elderly women who have lost their sons to this menace.

 day before his death, Sonu, a 32-year-old drug addict, had narrated his agonising story to 
mediapersons.

The irony was not lost on people once again when a 32-yearold addict from the slum, which has the ignominy of having a sizable number of youths hooked to one or the other drug, breathed his last recently.

A day before his death, Sonu had himself narrated his agonising story to some mediapersons. He had told them how he fell prey to drug abuse around four years back, and was consuming around 50 habit-forming capsules a day, before he was left with no money to fund his addiction.

One of his friends, on the condition of anonymity, said unable to procure drugs, Sonu was having withdrawal symptoms. Fed up of his addiction, his family had already left him. On Sunday evening, his condition had deteriorated and he was rushed to a private hospital, but he could not survive.

“Drug smugglers are becoming richer, while the addicts are forced to live in penury. The way youths of our locality (Gandhi Camp) are getting addicted to drugs, it won’t come as a surprise if it is left with only elderly people in coming days,” he said.

Blaming the laxity on part of the Batala police for the thriving drug trade in the slum, Shanti Devi, 61, who lost her son Joginder Kumar, 31, to drug abuse, said as cops are afraid of taking action against the ‘merchants of deaths’, residents are forced to witness one coffin after the other.“My daughter-in-law also died due to shock after my son’s death, and I am struggling to feed my 8-year-old grandson by doing menial jobs,” she said.

Not far from Shanti Devi’s house resides Deepo, 70, whose sorrows are too much to bear. The elderly woman has lost three sons — Tirath Kumar, Ashok Kumar and Puchi — due to drug peddling and addiction, and now fears for her only surviving son, who she suspects is also hooked to drugs.

Bachno Devi, 70, has a similar tale to tell. The Gandhi Camp resident remembers her three sons — Ramesh Kumar, 32, Pawan Kumar, 30, and Jassi, 16 — who died due to drug addiction a few years ago.

The elderly woman blames the lack of action against drug smugglers for the plight of her locality.

Sources said a sizable number of youths of Gandhi Camp, which has a population of nearly 25,000, with majority being Dalits, are hooked to one drug or the other.

Although illicit liquor and smack are the common drugs available here, people allegedly have free access to narcotic drugs as well.

Batala senior superintendent of police (SSP), Daljinder Singh said in the past two years, 457 cases have been registered and 460 suspects have been arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and Excise Act.

Police have recovered 5.3-kg opium, 4.1-kg heroin, 31,566 capsules, 1,166 injections, 15.6-kg poppy husk, 2,642-litre illicit liquor and 314-litre ‘lahan’ (brewed concoction from which illicit liquor is distilled) during this period, he said.

“We have increased patrolling, especially in Gandhi Camp, and I have chalked out an elaborate plan to constrict the supply of drugs. The results will be seen after a month,” said the SSP. OST CENTRE TRYING TO SAVE ADDICTS

To check the growing menace, the Centre had set up an opioid substitution therapy (OST) centre at Gandhi Camp, where more than 1,000 youths are provided injections of less harmful drugs every day, as part of de-addiction under medical supervision.

Besides running the needle exchange programme (NEP), the centre also provides methadone tablets to around 250 addicts daily. An operational manager of the centre said: “The NEP is a social service that allows injecting drug users (IDUs) obtain hypodermic needles for free. It is based on the philosophy of harm reduction, which attempts to reduce risk factors for diseases, such as HIV, Aids and hepatitis. The NEP requires users to return syringes to receive an equal number of new needles.”

SYL route again: Hit by drugs, Akalis refuel water issue via panchayats

STEPWISE PLAN Gram panchayats, in apparent orchestration from the top, are passing resolutions opposing construction of Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal via which state has to share water with Haryana

From page 01 CHANDIGARH: Finding it tough to counter the flak over drug abuse and also apprehending an adverse verdict from the Supreme Court, Punajb’s SADBJP government is looking to reignite the issue of interstate river-water sharing right from the village level, ahead of assembly elections due early next year. Gram panchayats, in apparent orchestration from the top, are passing resolutions opposing construction of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, via which the state has to share water with neighbouring Haryana.A recorded voice message from chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, in which the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patriarch appeals for “protection of Punjab’s waters”, is being sent to sarpanches on mobile phones.

The deadline to pass the resolutions is June 17; the urgency being attributed to the fact that the SC, following a presidential reference, last month reserved its judgment on the validity of the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act 2004, through which the then Congress government in the state had annulled all water-sharing pacts. The court’s final word is likely by the middle of next month, said a senior official of the state government who did not want to be named.

The stepwise plan — also close on the heels of the movie ‘Udta Punjab’ lending traction to the issue of drug addiction — is for the panchayats to submit these to the deputy commissioners, to be sent to the state governor, and then right up to the Prime Minister and President.Top officers of the rural development and panchayats department met district and block development officers recently, and handed them a set draft of the resolution. This draft says water issues “be resolved as per the riparian principle”, and also blames governments at the Centre for the SYL-related crisis in the state, sources have told HT.

Asked about it, minister Sikander Singh Maluka claimed, “We (state government) have not asked any panchayat to come up with such a resolution,” but added, “We are guiding them in drafting it.” He further said that panchayats “are following each other”, and the government “only wants that the wording is uniform, so that it doesn’t deflect from the main issue”.

Asked about the exact purpose, Maluka said, “We can’t eject ourselves from this fight. The government has passed a resolution in the Vidhan Sabha opposing construction of the SYL canal; and panchayats, being the smallest units of democracy, should also get involved.”

Department secretary Dipinder Singh did not share the number of panchayats who have done it so far, but said the number was “large”. There are 13,004 panchayats in Punjab, and he insisted the move was not mandatory.

The SYL issue had last grabbed headlines three months ago, after the state assembly passed a bill on March 10 to return the 5,376 acres acquired for the canal. Immediately after, Akali leaders from areas along the canal route — as also Congress leaders looking to take credit — started a canal-refilling exercise. That stopped after the Supreme Court intervened.

That bill, however, is still to turn into a law as the file is with the governor, Kaptan Singh Solanki, who is in fact the governor of Haryana with additional charge of Punjab. Meanwhile, at a ‘sangat darshan’ (public contact) programme in Malout area of Bathinda district, the CM again raised the issue, exhorting people to “be ready for any sacrifice to protect the state’s waters.” Maluka also told HT, “The SYL canal doesn’t concern all districts; only 8-10 districts along its route would see a direct impact; but if water flows, it will a loss to the entire state, especially to farmers.”