VOICE OF EX-SERVICEMEN PUNJAB

Sukhbir preparing ground to eliminate AAP leaders: Shergill

CHANDIGARH: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) alleged that deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal was laying grounds to eliminate its leaders in the state.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, AAP legal cell head party candidate from SAS Nagar (Mohali) assembly segment, Himmat Singh Shergill lashed out at Sukhbir saying his statement regarding Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI’s attempt to disturb peace of Punjab was a deep-rooted and well-planned conspiracy to lay the ground for violence in the upcoming assembly polls.

“It cannot be ruled out that under the garb of the ISI threat, Sukhbir may conspire attacks on AAP leaders in Punjab and also on party’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal. His statement smells of a conspiracy to disturb peace of Punjab,” Shergill alleged.

AAP candidates Harjot Bains from Sahnewal, Gurpreet Singh Lapra from Payal, Brig Raj Kumar (retd) from Balachaur, Santokh Singh Salana from Bassi Pathana and Amarjit Singh from Rupnagar were also present at the press conference.Claiming that the ISI had never got a single political leader murdered in Punjab in the past nine years, Shergill said the ISI bogey had been raised just four months before the election by Sukhbir to play “politics of fear.”

When pointed out if he was trying to “defend” ISI’s activities in the state, Shergill said he was not defending the ISI. “Sukhbir must clarify which leader of Punjab was eliminated by the ISI and who are on its target,” he said.

When asked if AAP leaders in Punjab would seek police security, Shergill said “We don’t require security by Sukhbir Badal, as people of Punjab have already provided us ample security in the form of immense support.”

When questioned if he had any proof to back his theory of Sukhbir hatching a conspiracy to eliminate AAP leaders, Shergill said his statement should be brought before the public just like deputy CM’s statement had been brought in the public domain.

Sangh spurns Badal govt’s offer for security to leaders

Tells it to use police for law and order and not for VIP security SNUB

They want us to give a list of RSS office-bearers who need security. Govt is blaming foreign hand but why has it failed to ensure its people are safe. DINESH KUMAR, Punjab BJP’s organisational secy Threat perception to RSS leaders is not that high as they keep lowprofile; factions of Shiv Sena, Hindu Suraksha Samiti members have been given security after provocative statements against Sikh radicals. A TOP PUNJAB POLICE OFFICIAL

From page 1 Sukhdeep Kaur sukhdeep.kaur@hindustantimes.com

CHANDIGARH: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has spurned the Punjab government offer for providing police security to its leaders and office-bearers after the attack on Sangh leader Brigadier Jagdish Gagneja (retd) in Jalandhar last week. Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal, who holds the home portfolio, and police top brass have sought a list from the RSS of its leaders who need security.

“The government has deputed cops in our offices in Punjab districts and asked us to provide a list of RSS leaders who need security. But there should be no need for police security. People of Punjab should be safe. The sequence of events in the past few months -- from attack on a RSS shakha in Ludhiana to murder of Namdhari sect matriarch Chand Kaur to attack on Gagneja -- have all shown that divisive forces are trying to vitiate the atmosphere of the state before elections. The Punjab government is blaming foreign hand but it is also a law and order failure,” Punjab BJP organisational secretary, Dinesh Kumar, an RSS representative, told HT.

Kumar was part of the Punjab BJP delegation that met Union home minister Rajnath Singh at New Delhi on Tuesday. He said the Sangh has never felt the need for security in any state of the country and nowhere else are political leaders and VIPs seen “flaunting security” like in Punjab. “The cops have been deployed for securing individuals rather than the people of the state. So instead of maintaining law and order, they are guarding VIPs. During our meeting with Rajnath, we flagged the deteriorating law and order situation in the state which has seen a spate of such attacks,” he added.Facing the heat, Punjab Police claims Gagneja had been intimated about the threat perception two weeks ago and allotted two guards. “But he refused security when the Jalandhar police commissioner visited him. We can’t be blamed if someone refuses security,” a top police official said. But the RSS questions why police could not prevent the attack if it knew about the threat to Gagneja’s life. “Why did police fail to prevent the attack despite being aware of a possibility. There was a police post nearby where Gagneja was attacked. The police took 45 minutes to reach there,” Kumar said. THREAT PERCEPTION TO RSS NOT HIGH: COPS

Though police have alerted all SSPs to step up security around RSS shakhas in districts, sources say the threat perception to RSS is “not high” as it maintains a “low profile” unlike leaders of various factions of Shiv Sena in Punjab and the All India Hindu Suraksha Samiti (AIHSS) who give “provocative” statements against Sikh radicals.

A Punjab Police intelligence report in December 2011 – ahead of assembly polls in January 2012 -- too had alerted on higher threat to RSS and AIHSS leaders following attack on Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terrorist Jagtar Singh Hawara inside the premises of district courts in Chandigarh in November that year. But the list of seven leaders that the report said needed security were factions of the Shiv Sena and AIHSS and none of the RSS.

One of these seven, Manish Sood, president of the Punjab unit of Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Suraksha Samiti was killed by his security guard at his residence in Sirhind Mandi of Fatehgarh Sahib in August last year. Others continue to remain under “high threat perception category” despite some of them now turning towards cow vigilantism such as Ramesh Kumar Dutt, an AIHSS leader of Mohali. Dutt, who has got two cops on security duty, however denies he uses his security for “cow protection”.

Claiming that his organisation cares for cows at many gaushalas in Mohali, Dutt says they inform the police about cow smugglers and help them in the “rescue operation”.

Punjab director general of police Suresh Arora says the security is provided to leaders of organisations based on threat perception. “The cops are for ensuring security and in case they are misused, they will be withdrawn. We would review the security provided to leaders of these outfits and make the mandate very clear,” he said.

AAP suspends three Sahnewal office-bearers for anti-party acts

LUDHIANA: Three office-bearers of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) from Sahnewal were suspended from the party for three months for alleged anti-party activities.

Those suspended are AAP’s youth wing zonal in-charge (Fatehgarh Sahib Lok Sabha constituency) Jagvir Singh Jaggi; Daljinder Singh Saini (vice zonal in-charge of the trade wing of Fatehgarh Sahib) and in-charge of Sahnewal constituency Ajay Panesar. Sources said the trio was opposing party’s candidate from Sahnewal, Harjot Singh Bains, and recently, a group of the volunteers had raised “Harjot Bains go back” slogans outside the party office there. The protesters claimed that Bains was an outsider and wanted either Jaggi or Panesar as the AAP candidate from Sahnewal.Ashutosh Tandon, media incharge of AAP for Fatehgarh Sahib Lok Sabha constituency, said the zone in-charge Varinder Khara suspended them for their alleged anti-party activities.

Badal behind violent incidents: Capt

HOSHIARPUR: Accusing chief minister Parkash Singh Badal for “spate of violent incidents” in the state, including the attack on RSS leader Jagdish Gagneja, Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday said the CM was deliberately trying to create fear and polarise people along communal lines for political gains.

He also expressed concern over the rising incidents of gang wars in Punjab and alleged that these were being patronised by deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of “Halke vich Captain”, Amarinder said Sukhbir could not pass off everything on Pakistan’s InterServices Intelligence (ISI). “We all know what ISI is up to, but what are you doing to stop it from executing its nefarious designs?” he questioned Sukhbir, adding that mere breast beating and blaming it would not solve the problem.Amarinder said there was a consistent pattern in what happened in Bargari, where Guru Granth Sahib was desecrated, followed by the desecration of Bhagavad Gita in Ludhiana, desecration of Quran in Malerkotla and the attack on the RSS leader. Warning that this was a dangerous game, the Congress president said, the party would not let it happen as Punjab could not afford another dark era.

Responding to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader HS Phoolka’s threat of filing a defamation suit against him, Amarinder said he was welcome to do so. He said Phoolka had charged money for case of 1984 riot victims. Former Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee president Paramjit Singh Sarna also used to pay Phoolka, he said.

REPLACE LUDHIANA (WEST) CANDIDATE, KEJRIWAL URGED

CHANDIGARH: Volunteers of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) from Ludhiana (West) on Thursday objected to the candidature of Ahbaab Grewal from the constituency, demanding a change in the candidate.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Col Dr DS Grewal (retd) and Dr AS Bains said more than 300 volunteers from the constituency had signed a petition, requesting the party chief and convener Arvind Kejriwal to change the candidate.

They said almost 90% of the volunteers felt that the party committed a mistake by choosing Ahbaab as the candidate.

They said that they had already conveyed the cadres’ feelings to the senior party leaders. “We have submitted a representation to the state convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur,” said Bains.They, however, said party’s observer for the Ludhiana parliamentary seat, Amrish Trikha, was not forwarding their representation to the leaders at the top.

“We are forced to hold this press conference so that our voice reaches the party chief Arvind Kejriwal,” said Col Grewal.

They said there was a collective feeling among the volunteers that Ahbaab lacked the qualities of a leader to qualify to be the AAP candidate. “There are allegations against him and his integrity is being questioned,” said Col Grewal.

High Court sets aside appointment of 21 Chief Parliamentary Secretaries

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 12

In a major embarrassment for Punjab’s SAD-BJP government, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday set aside the appointments of 21 Chief Parliamentary Secretaries.

The ruling by the Division Bench of Justice SS Saron and Justice Ramendra Jain came on two petitions filed by advocates Jagmohan Singh Bhatti and HC Arora.

In his petition filed more than four years ago, Bhatti had sought directions for declaring illegal and unconstitutional the holding of Chief Parliamentary Secretaries’ posts by the MLAs in Punjab.

Bhatti was also seeking directions for restraining the Finance Department from bearing the expenses of “illegal appointments, which were in violation of the 91st Amendment 2004 of the Constitution of India”. Directions were also been sought for the withdrawal of all the facilities extended to the respondent-MLAs “in the interest of the State, its people and its State Exchequer”.  

Bhatti had subsequently sought direction for directing the central government to dismiss the incumbent government “on the count of poor governance” and violating the mandate of the Constitution “while exceeding backdoor entries to their loyalists and burdening the empty government exchequers”.

Bhatti had claimed the appointments of Chief Parliamentary Secretaries and Parliamentary Secretaries in Himachal Pradesh was quashed by the Himachal Pradesh High Court. The SLP against the order was withdrawn.

He added the appointment of Chief Parliamentary Secretaries was previously also challenged by the BJP before the High Court. But the BJP-SAD government later appointed the Chief Parliamentary Secretaries in Punjab.

The high court, during the course of hearing, had directed the Punjab and Haryana to furnish the rules under which CPSs were appointed. The high court had asked the states submit a detail report on the job chart of the CPSs, their salaries and perks.

Another petition filed more than a decade ago challenging appointments of the Chief Parliamentary Secretaries and Parliamentary Secretaries in Punjab previously failed to come to a logical end after the appointees’ term ended before the petition could come up for final disposal.

The petition challenging the appointment of 11 Chief Parliamentary Secretaries and Parliamentary Secretaries was filed in 2004 against the Union of India and other respondents by the Lawyers for Social Action and another petitioner.

As it came up for hearing before the Bench observed “none for the petitioners” were present to argue the matter.

In its brief judgment, the Bench asserted: “Since, their term is over, the present writ petition has become infructuous. Dismissed as infructuous”.

The appointments that will be affected:

• Sohan Singh Thandal (Department of Irrigation)
• Chaudhary Nand Lal, (Department of Forest and Wild Life and Labour)
• Sant Balvir Singh Ghunas, (Department of Jails, Tourism & Cultural Affairs)
• Des Raj Dhugga, (Department of Animal Husbandary, Fisheries and Dairy Development)
•  Harmeet Singh Sandhu (Department of PWD)
• Mantar Singh Brar, (Department of Rural Development and Panchayats)
•  Bibi Mohinder Kaur Josh (Department of Medical Education and Research)
• Amarjit Singh Sahi (Department of Revenue and Rehabilitation)
• Avinash Chander, (Department of Higher Education)
• KD Bhadari (Department of Co-operation)
• Inderbir Singh Bolaria, (Department of Education)
• Amarpal Singh Ajanala (Department of Technical Education and Industrial Training Institutes)
• Gurcharan Singh Babehali(Department of Agriculture)
•  Virsa Singh Valtoha (Department of Water Supplies, Sanitation and Defence Welfare)
• NK Sharma (Department of Industry and Commerce)
• Nasaara Khatoon (Department of Social Security)
• Navjot Kaur Sidhu (Department of Health and Family Welfare)
• Parkash Chand Garg (Department of Food and Civil Supplies)
• Pawan Kumar Teenu (Department of Sports and Youth Services and SC/BC Welfare)
• Sarup Chand Singla (Department of Excise and Taxation)
• Som Nath (Department of Local Government, Punjab Civil Secretariat)

Punjab’s economy: What went wrong?

Nirvikar Singh
Punjab's political leadership has failed to understand the stages of economic development, and where it might develop a comparative advantage for the state. Even when it has made efforts in the right direction, it has circumscribed them with the overall environment of corruption and rent-seeking.LOOKING back over almost seven decades of the state of Punjab in independent India, it is easy, with hindsight, to see why things have gone so terribly wrong with the state's economy. The first years after Partition were spent in recovery and reorganisation, resettling refugees and marking new political boundaries. But after this was done, in the 1950s, there was significant public investment at both the state and national levels in dams, canals, electric power, rural roads and market towns. 

This investment laid the foundation for the Green Revolution of the 1960s, which was fuelled by technological innovation, again the result of public investment. Agricultural extension as a public service played a role as well. A national food procurement policy reduced the market risks faced by farmers. Developments in agriculture had implications for ancillary light manufacturing and services, such as tractors and pumps. Other light manufacturing such as woollen textiles and bicycles grew as well, spurred by rising purchasing power, though there was not any significant technological innovation in these products, and manufacturing equipment typically came from elsewhere. Punjab was India's richest state by some measures.

By the 1970s, however, warning signs were emerging. While farmers benefitted from the Green Revolution, larger, richer farmers did relatively better. The power of middlemen who provided credit, access to inputs, and a channel for quick sale of produce, also increased in this period — though moneylenders had always been a powerful group, even in the pre-Independence canal colonies. Although the local economy was not absorbing enough labour from agriculture, armed services recruitment provided a safety valve, as it had done for decades, and emigration to the West became an additional avenue for surplus rural labour. 

In these circumstances, state political leaders chose to focus on competing for nationally-controlled resources, such as river water and electric power, rather than figuring out how to move Punjab to the next rung of the development ladder.

Political ineptitude at the state level was compounded by national politics. The 1966 division of Punjab into Punjab and Haryana, while increasing the autonomy of the Sikhs as a small religious and language minority within India, had actually weakened their position in the larger national political game. Haryana became an explicit bellwether for political competition throughout the Hindi-speaking belt of Northern India, rather than a sub-region of Punjab, which would compete for resources within the larger state. Continued religious concerns further distracted from pressing economic policy needs. 

The global economic environment worsened in the 1970s, as did the level of conflict in national politics. By the 1980s, Punjab was in chaos, with enormous human, social and economic costs that are still being felt 30 years later. State-level politics no longer functioned in normal democratic channels for most of the decade.

Meanwhile, increased subsidies for water, electric power and fertiliser, another aspect of dysfunctional state politics, had created significant distortions in input use and cropping decisions. Water-intensive crops such as rice and sugarcane expanded in acreage, and created new lock-in effects for farmers to go with those for wheat under the public distribution system (PDS). Groundwater began to be pumped at alarming and unsustainable rates, as surface irrigation became less and less adequate. Attempts to introduce crop diversification went nowhere, and ecological disaster is now just a few years away.

When the national government began to liberalise the economy in 1991, Punjab's recent history meant that it was among the worst-placed of the richer states to benefit from this change. The removal of controls on industrial licensing did not create positive incentives to invest in the state. Agriculture, which might have benefitted from decontrol, remained heavily regulated, and dominated by the production of grains for the PDS. State politics did not stabilise (or perhaps normalise is a better word) until the middle of the 1990s. Over a decade without a state-level elected government had created a situation where corruption and rent-seeking were prevalent throughout the layers of government. For example, a corruption free-for-all was one of the factors that held back attempts to create a software industry in Mohali, near Chandigarh. A lack of attention to higher education compounded such barriers. Top-level corruption is common in Indian governance, but several states have been able to manage it enough to allow new economic activities to develop. In the case of Punjab, it seems that the ruling classes have sacrificed broad-based economic development to further their personal enrichment. National-level policies have not helped. 

Punjab's agriculture needs to be reoriented away from a doomed role as India's breadbasket: this will involve attention to issues such as credit markets, agricultural extension, supply chain infrastructure, water-saving technologies and much more. But the state government has not shown any realistic effort in pursuing needed changes. The excuse of the legacy of the 1980s can no longer be used — the problem is largely one of quality of political leadership (although the earlier violence and mistrust contributed to this current low quality). What is surprising is that this problem has persisted even with a political coalition that bridges the rural-urban divide.

Bright spots in the Punjab economy — dairy farming, some health care facilities, a campus of the globally-reputed Indian School of Business — are few and relatively insignificant. Punjab's political leadership has failed to understand the stages of economic development, and where it might develop a comparative advantage for the state, and even when it has made efforts in the right direction, it has circumscribed them with the overall environment of corruption and rent-seeking. Corruption has deterred private sector investment. At the same time, the state government has not managed the public finances well: revenue collection has been weak, and expenditure has been poorly conceived and profligate. As a result, there has been woefully inadequate investment in all aspects of Punjab's economy. A shift away from Green Revolution cropping patterns, which are leading to environmental disaster, requires such major investments.

Punjab's people have a reputation for being enterprising and resilient. This makes it especially poignant that they have been cheated by their leaders, already losing a generation’s worth of economic development. The structural features of Punjab's political economy have been part of the problem, but, as the current ruling coalition shows, not the only factor. Punjab is rapidly falling to the middle of the pack among Indian states. Remittances from abroad and the infrastructure built for Punjab's economic push 50 years ago both help to lessen the current pain and postpone the day of reckoning. But the current signs of social decay accompanying economic stagnation are stark indicators of worse days to come if Punjab's political leadership does not do its job better. Punjab’s people indicated their frustration by electing the Aam Aadmi Party’s only parliamentary representatives in the last General Election, but even that party has not demonstrated understanding of economic development or methods of good governance. Fixing what went wrong with Punjab's economy will be very hard work for all concerned.

The writer is Distinguished Professor of Economics,University of California, Santa Cruz.

Like in 2014, Akalis play sports kits game

Amaninder Pal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 11

Akalis are ready for the Assembly elections and so are their sports kits. Executing a populist decision targeting village youth months before the elections, the state government has approved tenders for the purchase of around 70,000 sports kits  meant to be distributed among youth clubs in all villages before elections.

Sources said the Sports Department has selected manufacturers and approved tenders for the purchase of 30,000 cricket kits, 30,000 volleyball kits, 4,000 multi-gyms, 2,000 football kits, 4,000 units of weights and 200 hockey kits.

The government had already allocated Rs 75 crore for the scheme in the budget. In the first phase, the department would purchase kits worth Rs 50 crore.

Although the scheme is being anchored by the Department of Youth Services, the kits will be purchased by the Sports Department. Last time, such kits were distributed to clubs before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, sources said.

The fact that the state distributes such kits only in election years suggests that apart from promoting sports, the aim is also to reap electoral dividends by reaching out to village youth clubs, insiders said.

While multi-gyms would be given to only select villages, almost every village will get at least two cricket and volleyball kits. Hockey and football kits will be distributed in villages popular as nurseries for these sports disciplines.

Rahul Gupta, Director (Sports), said, “We are going to purchase kits worth Rs 50 crore. Manufacturers have been selected and orders will be placed soon. The kits will be distributed to clubs through respective district administrations.” “We have set an upper limit of 30,000 for the purchase of kits for cricket and volleyball, besides other disciplines. The actual number of kits to be purchased will be known only after requisition comes from districts,” he said. “There are over 9,000 registered youth clubs in the state. The criteria for distributing sports kits will be finalised by the state government,” said another official.

Punjab’s ‘forgotten’ spy dies; district administration promises compensation

Ravi DhaliwalTribune News Service

Batala, August 12

Gurdaspur district administration has promised to recompense the family of a former spy after they refused to cremate his body on Friday.

Karamat Rahi (73) — who had earned the sobriquet ‘master spy’ for the way he would confuse his Pakistani counterparts — died in poverty at a hospital in Amritsar on Thursday evening.His family refused to cremate his body until the state government paid him compensation and promised a job for his son. 

Gurdaspur Deputy Commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal constituted a two-member committee of ADC (general) JS Grewal and Batala SDM Saurabh Arora to negotiate with the angry family.When they refused to budge, the district administration made them a written promise. 

A forgotten spy

A native of Khera Kalan village, Rahi lived in a poor belt of Gurdaspur district until Indian intelligence agencies spotted and recruited him to spy on Pakistan.He crossed the border in 1986. Two years later, he was arrested for espionage and sentenced to 14 years in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail while his family struggled to make ends meet.

Karamat’s wife Surinder Kaur said that she used to get a monthly allowance of Rs 300 after her husband was arrested. “But that too stopped after ten months,” she said.Rahi remained in prison until 2005, when Congress leader Captain Amarinder Singh, then chief minister of Punjab, had him released while he was on a goodwill tour to the country.

A neglected Karamat approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking pension and a job for his son, but court turned him down, instead imposing a fine on him for “wasting its time”.When he appealed the order in the Supreme Court, he was asked for proof of his espionage activities. “When the agencies recruit spies, theyare sold dreams of getting prosperous. They promise money and security all of which are forgotten when a spy is arrested,” his son Ranjeet Singh said

ARMS LICENCES

Amidst shootout cases, MLAs continue to issue recommendation letters

Deepkamal Kaur

TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

JALANDHAR, AUGUST 11

It is perhaps the unhealthy precedent set by Chief Parliamentary Secretaries (CPSes) and MLAs of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) of issuing recommendation letters to arms licence applicants from their areas that has led to rising shootout cases in the state in the recent past.

The SAD leaders have chosen this mode to appease their votebank ahead of the Assembly elections in Punjab where owning a weapon is considered to be a matter of pride. But the easy availability of arms is, perhaps, leading to more such incidents.

The Saturday’s attack on RSS leader Brig Jagdish Gagneja has sent ripples across the city which is yet to recover from the recent shootout cases, including those of killing of money changer Anil Kumar near Company Bagh Chowk, and a youth Rimpal at Gujral Nagar. Both incidents occurred in June.

Even the orchestrated attack on Shiv Sena leader Deepak Kamboj at Deen Dyal Upadhaya Nagar occurred in February this year due to the easy availability of weapons and the case kept the police officials concerned engrossed for over three months.

The bigger cases last year, including the self-killing of a family of four at Kapurthala and the murder of gangster Sukha Kahlwan on the NH-1 near Phagwara, had created a lot of sensation.

While earlier, the legislators had only been making calls for recommendation, they have now been issuing letters which are duly attached with the applications.

SAD CPSes Gurpartap Singh Wadala, Avinash Chander and Pawan Tinu, former minister Sarwan Singh Phillaur and even ex-MLA Sarabjit Singh Makkar have all been issuing such letters addressed to either the DC or ADC, who issues licences for the Jalandhar Rural police jurisdiction.

For instance, a letter signed by Gurpartap Singh Wadala reads, “Respected ADC Sahib, The bearer of this is letter - name, village, tehsil. He is applying for arms licence. Kindly allow his verification for the issuance of an arms licence.” The recommendation from Pawan Kumar Tinu reads, (translated from Punjabi), “DC Sahib, I personally know -name, village, police station. The applicant wants to get a licence for his personal security. I recommend his case for availing an arms licence for his personal security.”

Interestingly, while Tinu and Wadala had directly sought licences for the applicants of their areas, Avinash Chander, Sarwan Singh Phillaur and Sarabjit Makkar prefer a more diplomatic route, as their letters attached with the files for arms licences reads that they are sending some aggrieved people of their respective constituency, who be heard properly and their problem be disposed of sympathetically.

One of such letter one signed by Phillaur reads, “My Dear K. Kishore Ji (for DC Kamal Kishor Yadav), I am sending name, tehsil, to you, who will tell you about his work personally. Please listen to him well and do the needful.” A letter bearing the signatures of Avinash Chander, attached with the file of an applicant for arms licence, reads, “ADC Sahib, I am sending name, s/o and village. He has some personal problems. I will be grateful to you if you give him a hearing and resolve his problems compassionately.”

As many as 6,400 arms licences have been issued in Jalandhar Rural alone. The MLAs claim that they have only been recommending letters but it is up to the officials to actually decide the matter on merit.

Congress to unveil its election manifesto on Gandhi Jayanti

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 11

The Congress will unveil its manifesto for the Assembly elections in the state on Gandhi Jayanti (October 2). This was announced by Congress leaders Manpreet Singh Badal and Rajinder Kaur Bhattal.

As members of the election manifesto committee, they were in the city and interacted with cross sections of society to enlist their expectations from the next government.

Former Chief Minister Bhattal said they came here as a part of the second round, which will conclude on August 22. Subsequently, in the third round, the manifesto committee would hold meetings with unions, organisations and other groups which were not covered earlier.

Manpreet Badal, who had resigned from the post of finance minister in the previous Akali Dal government citing its lopsided economic policies, said the Congress now gave him the opportunity to draft the manifesto to put it onto the path of development, to reduce losses and indebtedness.