The damaged road outside Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s residence in Patiala. Tribune photo: Rajesh Sachar

Aman Sood

Tribune News Service

Patiala, March 20

Travelling on a road leading to the houses of Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and his Cabinet colleague Brahm Mohindra makes for one bumpy ride, thanks to potholed roads.Besides the CM and Brahm Mohindra, two more ministers hail from the city.The road from Theekriwala Chowk to New Moti Bagh Palace was repaired a few times during the SAD-BJP tenure in the past 10 years, but was never relaid.The stretch was last spruced up during the Capt Amarinder’s government when the city hosted the India-Pakistan Games in December 2004. “Funds meant for the district were always diverted to Bathinda. The past 10 years saw no development. My government will ensure that the city is brought back on the path of development,” Capt Amarinder had said while canvassing in Patiala in January.On the evening of March 13, when Capt Amarinder reached his house after winning the elections, a battery of ministers, workers, bureaucrats and heads of departments came from across the state to congratulate him. They were, however, surprised to see the state of the road.“Paucity of funds with the Local Bodies Department was said to be the reason for repairing or relaying only a few roads in Patiala during the past SAD-BJP rule,” claimed Improvement Trust former chairman KK Sharma, a confidant of the royal family.“It is hoped things will change when Capt Amarinder visits for the first time as the Chief Minister. His first visit is pending and we hope that the work will start soon,” he said, adding that development of the city is government’s priority.The condition of roads across the district is bad, with the Municipal Corporation (MC) and the Public Works Department claiming shortage of funds.“Substandard work is the reason for the poor state of the roads,” a Congress worker said.“The MC will soon start the patchwork on all roads in the city. There are certain issues pertaining to relaying of roads. The civic body will take up the matter soon,” said MC Commissioner Gurpal Chahal.

City residents pin hopes on Amarinder Singh

Old and new photographs of Rajindra Lake in Patiala. Tribune photos: Rajesh Sachar

Gagan K Teja

Tribune News Service

Patiala, March 20

With Patiala again becoming the powerhouse of the state, the focus has once again shifted back on various development projects under the Patiala Municipal Corporation that are either underway or in pipeline. The formation of Congress government has certainly raised hopes of Patiala citizens who are now pinning hopes on Captain Amarinder Singh.The work of revival of Rajindra Lake, which had been lying in a state of utter neglect for years, had started one year ago with the district authorities receiving Rs 4 crore for its revival. The underground channels that bring water here from the Bhakra canal had already been repaired, but the project got stalled due to demonetisation.The pride of royal city, Rajindra Lake had become a centre of attraction after one of the previous deputy commissioners Jasbir Singh Bir took personal interest in its revival after he was posted at Patiala in 2000. The lake had been filled with canal water about and three fountains were also installed around the central structure of the lake, which used to oxygenate the lake water.The authorities had even introduced boats at the lake and it was frequently visited by the city residents till it dried up all together a few years ago. Even lotus flowers had been planted on the lakebed and it even had fish which was a major attraction. Last year, a rare 72-kg turtle was also discovered from the lakebed and the lake also played host to a number of migratory birds.At one point of time, it was being mulled to handover the upkeep of the lake to the State Tourism Department. It had even been planned that a water treatment plant would be set up here to keep the lake water fresh, but the project was rejected by experts.The civic body had made several attempts to revive the lake to promote tourism in the city but nothing concrete could come up. In 2010, a grant of Rs 22 lakh had been sanctioned by the state government for carrying out the beautification of the lake, but grants lapsed and nothing could be done for the lake’s revival. However, now that the process of revival has already begun, the Congress government will be giving a further push to the same.Meanwhile, the Patiala Municipal Corporation had identified 40-acre of land at Dudhar village for the solid waste management plant in 2010. Mandatory permissions from the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) and the panchayat department had been taken. While, 20 acres of land was transferred for the project, the remaining could not be transferred as the sarpanch of the Dhudhar village refused to sign the required NoC. Since then, the issue has been raised time and again but the project continues to be in pipeline.Notably, the state of Punjab had taken steps for treatment of solid waste and had divided the state into eight clusters for setting up of Integrated Municipal Solid Waste Management Plants at Ludhiana, Pathankot, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Bathinda, Patiala, Mohali and Ferozpur.As per the state-level master plan, these eight Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Cluster projects were to be developed under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode for a concession period of 25 years. Each project included door-to-door collection of solid waste from all towns/cities of the state, transportation of the same, processing and scientific disposal in the common engineered landfill facilities to be developed in each cluster. Moreover, the project of shifting of dairy farming is also mid-way.

Revival of rajindra lake

The work on revival of Rajindra Lake, which had been lying in a state of utter neglect for years, had started one year ago with the district authorities receiving Rs 4 crore for its revival . The underground channels that bring water here from the Bhakra canal had already been repaired, but the project got stalled due to demonetisation.

Holland is such a beautiful country that it is difficult to associate anything negative with it. To even transit through Europe to the trans-Atlantic I would always prefer a few hours at Amsterdam airport for a change over halt. That positive image of the country, however, was under apparent threat as it went to the polls on Wednesday, Mar 15.  What was expected was a potential demonstration of what may happen to Europe in the coming year or the near future; the feasibility of political  parties adhering to the Far Right ideology, across nations, coming to power riding on the back of perceptibly increasing sentiments against immigrants, particularly Muslims. In addition an apparently emerging consensus against the concept of the European Union on the basis of increasing Nationalist ideology seemed to be on the cards.   The results have surprised many as Prime Minister Mark Rutte romped home successful but his Centre Right VVD party lost eight seats in the bargain. The Far Right Wing leader, Geert Wilders and his PVV party, mostly expected to garner a better standing came out second but did gain marginally from the third place that his party earlier occupied. For the well informed, it is premature to surmise anything from the elections. The real measure of the move of Far Right ideology into European politics will come once we have the results of the German and French elections later this year. UK was the trend setter but that was more specifically about the European Union and UK’s exit (Brexit), not necessarily a referendum on immigration and Islam. The arrival of President Trump, seen as an ideological turnaround, is also still not making enough sense to political pundits the world over.

For the mildly less informed there may be a need to delve a little deeper into the background which needn’t go as far as 1789, when France, Europe and the world received the first great ideological message of the proletariat; Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. Politics and ideology of the Right and the Left wing have never been fully identified and canned into compartments. The interplay has seen attempted demarcation but progressively this has changed on the basis of the order of international politics and ideologies.  In Europe’s current context it is more a competition between Centre Right and Far Right than anything to do with Left Wing. It is safer to assume that the Centre Right constitutes less isolationism, more liberalism and greater tolerance towards religious radicalism, though not necessarily linked to violent extremism and appeasement of immigrants. The Far Right which has a more populist approach today generally focuses against immigration and Islam while also harping on narrow nationalism and the need to dismantle the European Union; anti-globalization being the natural fallout.

In this election in Holland there were as many as 28 political parties in the fray leaving much to the post-election coalition politics but the significance does not lie in the details of Dutch politics; more in the agenda.  Geert Wilders’ one-page election manifesto included pledges to close borders to immigrants from Muslim nations, shutter mosques and ban the Koran, as well as to take the Netherlands out of the European Union. Where did this agenda come from?

It is important to know that post World War II liberal ideology proliferated as a result of the backlash against radical Right Wing ideas associated with the Axis powers. A country such as Turkey, the core center of the Ottoman Empire, Islam’s longest standing Caliphate, had in 1923 already been converted to the  liberal and secular model after the father of modern Turkey, Kemal Ata Turk (Mustafa Kemal) decided to  shun Islamism  and take the country closer to Europe. Western Europe’s progress after 1945 was also based upon immigration, especially from former colonies of the colonial powers to make up for the huge need for labor and many other lower end jobs. Germany got much of its immigrants from Turkey. The secular and integrative model was much in evidence by one look at the various football teams of European nations participating in the World Cup football tournament. The secular and liberal model worked well although racism never ever ended and demarcation of the types of jobs in the job market ensured it remained alive. Signs of things to come and strain in relationships within nations began to emerge once demographics started to be perceived as threats to security of the original inhabitants; the sons of the soil. Thus we had an Enoch Powell in Britain fuming against immigrants as early as the Seventies. In France, in particular the immigration from the Franco-phonic parts of the Maghreb continued through the Eighties.

Post 1989 things began to change, even as liberalism took greater hold, globalization became the buzz word, the European Union emerged strongly and the trends towards human rights became a political compulsion. However, the growth of Islamism and anti-West (read anti developed world) increased progressively almost in tandem. Violent extremism which accompanied it had an unnerving effect in the West. Post 9/11 and the series of violent incidents in Europe the seeds of cultural and faith based antipathy were sown and the effect was immediately felt by immigrants. Issues such as hijab, minarets and other cultural symbols enhanced the standoff. Disdain for immigrants took greater shape even as the need for labor increased. The intent of the Islamists was always to cause mayhem, disruption and turbulence in the Western societies and economies. The immediate effect was increasing struggle between the Liberals and the creeping ideologues of the Far Right. That is how the politics of Europe and to a great extent the US changed.

2014 is just recent times and perhaps not even within range of being termed history. Yet, it was a defining year. The emergence of ISIS (Daesh), the slick social media based propaganda, the attraction of western fighters to the battle arena, the employment of Lone Wolves in Europe and the US and larger terror attacks, changed the attitude of the sons of the soil. Anti-Islamism came to the fore, as also Nationalism, as a throwback from the events of 2014-16. It all happened at break neck speed. It was evident that Far Right ideology was taking shape faster than imagined and its grain was finding favor most in the US, France and UK with some strains in Germany too. It was the surge of human migration from the battle zones of West Asia and some of the failing states of North Africa which proved to be last straw. Much of 2016 witnessed barbed wire fences across national boundaries in Europe; the same nations which first believed in open borders. It strengthened the hands of the Far Right even further as nations squabbled on quotas of immigrants to be admitted and the general treatment to be meted out to them. That is where the current status is.

The emergence of Trumpism and Brexit have both been viewed as symbols of success of the Far Right, although they are not necessarily in congruence in ideological terms. 2017 has democratic electoral processes lined up in France and Germany among many other countries. All eyes were on Holland for the current elections which have somehow proven that the Far Right may have gained but not as substantially as was expected. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the champion of the Centre Right and rights of immigrants is possibly seeking re-election in a personal vindication of her open door policy on immigrants.   Far Right party the Alternative for Germany (AfD) has made gains in the wake of the migrant crisis and Brexit victory in the UK. However, events through to Sep 2017 when the German federal election takes place will decide her future and perhaps that of Europe. Prior to that France’s presidential election in April 2017 will attract much attention and is being viewed as one of the major political risks in Europe this year. Marine Le Pen of the anti-European Union National Front leader is the Far Right populist leader on the lines of Geert Wilders.

So Brexit, Trump and now Rutte (Holland) in progression do not give enough of what is in store ideologically in Europe. Perhaps France and Germany may give clearer indications. An event which cannot be forgotten in the rush of looking at the US and West Europe is the fact that Turkey too has a referendum lined up in Apr 2017. It’s a referendum for enhanced powers to Erdogan through conversion to a presidential system and would be counted as a vote for his ideology of taking Turkey on the opposite path from liberal secularism. Will that too have an impact on the coming elections in Europe is something that analysts will watch with much interest. 

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 16

The state government today ordered the transfer of 41 senior police officers, including two Additional Director Generals of Police (ADGPs) and 12 Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs).The SSPs and their new postings are: Alka Meena (Fatehgarh Sahib), Baljot Singh Rathore (Muktsar), Gurpreet Bhullar (Jalandhar Rural), Surjit Singh (Ludhiana Rural), Vivek Sheel Soni (Pathankot), Jagadale Nilambari Vijay (Ropar), Sandeep Goel (Moga), Bhupinderjit Singh (Gurdaspur), Parambir Singh Parmar (Mansa), Raj Jit Singh (Khanna), Sushil Kumar (Barnala) and Sandeep Kumar Sharma (Kapurthala).Satinder Singh has been appointed the SSP (Vigilance Bureau), Jalandhar.Gaurav Yadav will be the new ADGP (Administration), while Dinkar Gupta will take charge as the ADGP (Intelligence).Naunihal Singh has been appointed as the new IG (Border Zone), Amritsar; Naresh Arora, IG (Crime); Kunwar Vijay Pratap, Commissioner of Police, Ludhiana; Nilabh Kishore, IG, Special Task Force (Intelligence); Jatinder Singh Aulakh, IG (Law and Order); and Ranbir Singh Khatra, will take charge as the DIG (Administration), IRB, Patiala.

Capt Amarinder Singh with former PM Manmohan Singh, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Himachal CM Virbhadra Singh in Chandigarh on Thursday.

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 16In a first major shake-up in Punjab, soon after taking over as Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday transferred 12 top officers.Karan Avtar Singh, additional Chief Secretary, has been appointed Chief Secretary.Meanwhile, Sarvesh Kaushal has been appointed the Director General of Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Public Administration.Himmat Singh, who is the seniormost IAS officer of Punjab cadre, and a long-time faithful of Amarinder, has been given the charge of Horticulture Department.Anurag Aggarwal has been appointed Financial Commissioner of Taxation and Vivek Pratap Singh Excise and Taxation Commissioner.

Satish Chandra, though relieved of the Taxation charge, will continue to serve as Additional Chief Secretary, Finance, as the Budget exercise is going on and the government might not change him at this juncture.

SK Sandhu, who was Principal Secretary to former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, will now go to the Social Security Department.Tejvir Singh will be the new PS to the Chief Minister.Raji P Srivastava has been shifted to MGSIPA.Krishan Kumar, Secretary, Expenditure, has been given the additional charge of Secretary, Personnel.

Atul Nanda with Capt Amarinder Singh

Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 16

Supreme Court lawyer and senior advocate Atul Nanda was on Thursday appointed as Punjab Advocate-General. He replaces senior advocate Ashok Aggarwal, who resigned as the state’s top law officer soon after the change of guard in Punjab almost six years after he was appointed by the previous SAD-BJP government.

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A prominent lawyer, Nanda has even appeared for the Supreme Court in its cases and is familiar with Punjab and its politics. Among other things, he has dealt with alleged corruption cases against Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh. One of the first tasks before him would be appointment of law officers in terms of Supreme Court’s March, 2016, order.

The Apex Court order makes it clear that the State would have to fix eligibility criterion before constituting a search committee. After its nod, the names would be sent to the Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Shiavax Jal Vazifdar.

He, in turn, would get the names examined by a committee comprising High Court judges. The appointments would eventually be made after taking into account observations on suitability of candidates.

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 10

In a first-of-its-kind meeting, Russian military spares manufacturers are set to meet Indian industry for partnerships to produce equipment in India. The Ministry of Defence wants to improve the maintenance issues on fighter jets Sukhoi-30MKI, Mi-17 helicopters, T-90 tanks and the MiG 29K naval fighters.About 70 per cent of military equipment with the Indian armed forces — the Army, Indian Air Force (IAF) and Navy — is of Russian origin. With Moscow continuing to be the largest supplier of military hardware, this scenario will not change for the next three decades.Repairs and servicing of key equipment are hampered by lack of ready availability of spares. A rather circuitous route through a single agency in Moscow makes it lengthier.The Russian Ministry of Defence had given permission and communicated to India in January about the companies or original equipment manufacturers that have been allowed to sell spares to India directly without seeking permission for each tranche.Russia’s Minister for Industry and Trade DV Manturov will lead the delegation for a two-day meeting in New Delhi (March 17 and 18) wherein they will meet with Indian MoD official and trade captains. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar will address the meeting. The matter has been discussed during the summit meeting between PM Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin at Goa in October.Russian manufacturers of military equipment source key parts such as engines, avionics and weaponry from producers within Russia and sometimes even Ukraine to integrate them on planes or warships or tanks.All military equipment by the very nature of it needs consumable parts which have “run-life” and need to be changed or overhauled after its specified life. For example, the Sukhoi-30 engine needs to be overhauled after a fixed number of hours — about 800-900 hours of flying.The Sukhoi is serviced and maintained by public sector undertaking Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). There are four key suppliers. The Sukhoi has an availability rate of 65 per cent because of delay in spares. The IAF’s operated base repair depots maintain the fleet of Mi-17s.Sources here say once this is done, the HAL, IAF, Navy and the Army can source spares from Russia, have long-term supply contracts and even maintain a small stock on items which have a fixed “run-life”.

Maintenance hurdles

• Su-30MKI jets, Mi-17 helicopters, T-90 tanks and MiG 29K naval fighters have been facing maintenance issues because of lack of spares
• About 70% of India’s military equipment is of Russian origin. Russian makers further source key components from local producers or Ukraine
• The Russian defence ministry has now allowed certain companies to sell spares to India directly without seeking its permission

NEW DELHI: The armed forces, already grappling with critical operational gaps on several fronts ranging from submarines and tanks to fighters and helicopters, have hardly got any funds to go in for new modernisation projects this year.

The Army has got only 60% of the funds it had sought for modernisation in the 2017-18 budget. The Navy and IAF, in turn, got 67% and 54%. Out of the coming fiscal’s total defence outlay of Rs 2.74 lakh crore, incidentally, only Rs 86,488 crore has been earmarked for modernisation. What makes matters worse is that the bulk of this capital outlay will be used to pay “committed liabilities” of earlier arms contracts instead of new projects.

Slamming the government for all this, the parliamentary standing committee on defence on Thursday said this kind of “ad-hocism”, “casual” and “lackadaisical” approach would adversely affect the country’s defence preparedness as well as hit the morale of the armed forces.

Take the case of the 1.3-million strong Army. As opposed to a projection of Rs 42,500 crore, the force got only Rs 25,254 as capital allocation. With committed liabilities to the tune of Rs 23,000 crore, it leaves the force with a paltry Rs 2,254 crore for new projects.

“The Army’s budgetary provisioning is critically short and is likely to affect modernisation as well as operational preparedness,” said the committee, asking the government to give at least Rs 13,000 crore additional capital acquisition funds to the Army because it faces critical shortages of main-battle tanks, artillery guns, missiles, helicopters, assault rifles, bullet-proof jackets, surveillance and monitoring networks.

INS Viraat

After 30 years with the Indian Navy, aircraft carrier INS Viraat was decommissioned on Monday. In its earlier avatar, the warship had won the Falklands War against Argentina in 1982 for the Royal British Navy.It weighs about 27,800 tonnes and served in the British Navy as HMS Hermes from 1959 to 1984. In the late 1980s, the Indian Navy purchased it for USD 65 million and it was re-commissioned in 1987.On its last day in service, the fate of the aircraft carrier remained unclear as to whether it will be converted into a luxury hotel or head to scrapyard to be broken up. The decision is to be taken by the Defence Ministry. 

The flag post stands near the retreat ceremony area on the Punjab government land; the ₹4­crore project was completed by improvement trust

This is the right place for this project as thousands of people come here every day. This will inculcate a feeling of patriotism in their minds. ANIL JOSHI, local bodies minister, Punjab

From page 01 A 120-foot-long and 80-foot-wide Tricolour was hoisted on India’s tallest 360-foot flag post at the border here on Sunday. Till now, the Ranchi had the tallest flag mast at 300 feet.

The flag post stands near the retreat ceremony area on the Punjab government land and the ₹4-crore project was completed by the Amritsar Improvement Trust.

The project was inaugurated by Punjab local bodies minister Anil Joshi at a ceremony attended by officers of the Border Security Force and BJP leaders, including former state chief Kamal Sharma. Officials of the district administration didn’t attend the ceremony due to poll code of conduct.

As the Tricolour was hoisted on the imposing iron mast, it became an instant attraction for the tourists, who took selfies and pictures to capture the flag in the background. Floodlights have been installed around the flag post that will make it visible during the night. The flag will be visible miles away from the border.

Terming this as his dream project, Joshi said he took special permission from the Election Commission for the inauguration. “This is the right place to this project as thousands of people come here every day. This will inculcate a feeling of patriotism in their minds,” he said.

BSF inspector general for Punjab Frontier, Mukul Goel, said, “It is a matter of great honour that the Tricolour has been hoisted on the highest flag post here. We appreciate the effort of the Punjab government.” On there was any objection to the project from Pakistan, he said no reservations were received from the neighbouring country. BSF DIG JS Oberoi was also present.

Mandeep Singh

Vishal Joshi

Tribune News Service

Kurukshetra, February 25

Nearly four months after its announcement, the Haryana Government today released Rs 50 lakh for martyr Mandeep Singh’s family.A cheque for Rs 25 lakh was issued in the name of the sepoy’s widow, Prerna, and Rs 12.5 lakh each in the name of his parents, Phool Singh and Nirmala.Mandeep died during an anti-terror operation near the LoC in the Machil sector of Kupwara in Kashmir on October 28. His mutilated body was found along the LoC.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had announced Rs 50 lakh and a job to the next of kin. The delay in awarding compensation to the family, living at Anteri village was blamed on the Army. Sources denied reports that there was an official assurance on allotting a fuel station or promoting Prerna, a Haryana Police constable, to DSP.She and other members of the family tried to meet the Prime Minister on Friday to complain about the delay in compensation. She said she refused to accept the compensation in the absence of male members of the family.“I only want a martyr to be treated with respect,” she said. “The promise of a job for Mandeep’s younger brother should be met soon.”

Rs 50 lakh for Maj’s kin

• The CM has announced an assistance of Rs 50 lakh for family of Maj Satish Dahiya, who died battling militants in Kralgund, Kupwara district, on February 14. He also announced christening a government college at Nangal Chaudhary after him.

State govt takes four months to give ex gratia to Machhil braveheart

ANTEHRI (KURUKSHETRA): It took 86 days for the Haryana government to disburse ex-gratia payment to the family of Machhil braveheart Mandeep Singh, whose body was mutilated by terrorists near the Line of Control.

HT PHOTONirmala, mother of martyr Mandeep Singh (seen in a poster above), at Antehri village in Kurukshetra district.

A cheque of Rs 50 lakh was given to the family on Saturday afternoon only after the family members recently met chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar and threatened to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

But other promises made by the CM are yet to be fulfilled.

“The chief minister had announced to give an ex-gratia of Rs 50 lakh and a government job to my younger son Sandeep. Apart from that he had also promised to construct a memorial on the funeral ground where my son was cremated. But most of the promises are not fulfilled”, martyr Mandeep’s mother Nirmala told Hindustan Times.

Khattar had visited the family and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 50 lakh to Singh’s kin and promised a government job to a family member.

They also claimed that the CM had also promised a promotion for Mandeep’s wife Prerna, who is a constable with the Haryana police.

“Even when we met the chief minister four days ago at his residence in Chandigarh, he assured the demands will be fulfilled, but he refused to accept the demand for Prerna’s promotion,” she said.

She said the chief minister made it clear that the government won’t be able to promote Prerna. “The CM told us that he alone cannot take the decision (of her promotion) and he needs to discuss the matter with his cabinet colleagues,” Nirmala quoted Khattar as saying.

“But the government should think about the future of this girl who lost everything at the age of 26,” she added.

As they have failed to get any immediate assurances from the chief minister, Mandeep’s younger brother Sandeep has reached Delhi to meet the Prime Minister. “We are going to meet the Prime Minister in Delhi and will return only after meeting him”, Sandeep told HT over phone.

“The government should also think about my sister-in-law. If they can promote a medal winner to the post of DSP, why can’t a widow of martyr get a promotion”, he asked.

In October last year, the 26-year-old Sepoy Mandeep Singh of the 17th Sikh regiment was martyred in a gun-fight with militants along LoC in Machill sector of Kashmir. Militants mutilated his body.

On October 30, when his mutilated body reached his native village, thousands of people, including chief minister, Kurukshetra deputy commissioner Sumedha Kataria and other officials of the district administration reached the village to console the family and assured all the support. But now the family members are running from pillar to post to get what had been assured after Singh’s death.

Haryana chief secretary DS Dhesi said , “The martyr certificate which is an essential document for release of financial assistance was received from the army authorities on February 5 and the compensation has now been released.”

Kurukshetra deputy commissioner Sumedha Kataria said she issued the cheque of Rs 50 lakh on Saturday and the money will reach the family member soon. About the delay, she said, “The file was pending with the Sikh regiment and it took 86 days to complete the process.”

She said there was no delay on the part of the state government.

On other demands of the bereaved family, she said steps were being taken to fulfill them, including the construction of the memorial.

BJP’s Kurukshetra MP Rajkumar Saini demanded of the government to fulfill its promises made to the martyr’s family.