Jakhar’s comeback

Punjab Congress head faces many challenges

THE Congress high command has done rather well in naming Sunil Jakhar as head of the Punjab Congress, as Capt Amarinder Singh, on becoming Chief Minister, could not possibly continue to don the party hat as well. Jakhar, a three-term MLA, had lost from Abohar in the last Assembly elections, and the Cabinet that formed was thus deprived of a serious talent. Jakhar made a competent leader of the Congress Legislature Party in the last assembly and worked companionably with Capt Amarinder Singh once he took over as Punjab Congress chief. The party high command had, obviously, no problem in accepting the Chief Minister’s proposal that Jakhar take over the organisation’s burden. Jakhar is the right man for the job. Being a Hindu, he helps the party reburnish its secular credentials. An educated, approachable, veteran politician he may well be, but Jakhar faces some tough challenges. Although the party won handsomely in the elections, its organisational health is far from robust. Being in the wilderness for a decade, followed by an abrupt reversal of fortunes, makes it difficult to summon the discipline and diligence to tone up for the next challenge: the 2019 parliamentary elections. Jakhar had made a positive impact on both sides of the aisle as the Leader of the Opposition earlier. As state Congress chief, he can help the Chief Minister rein in MLAs and other functionaries, whose muscle-flexing has led to a spate of violent incidents in the past few weeks; even ministers have overstepped their brief. Apart from what Jakhar does, his very appointment has sent a clear message down the party chain in the state that it is Capt Amarinder Singh who shall have the last word on all party matters. His success will be critically dependent on his ability to resist the ancient rites of factionalism as also his willingness to hammer out a working relationship with the Chief Minister. If the Congress manages to give Punjab a modicum of coherent and purposeful governance, the impact will be felt beyond Punjab. Jakhar’s task is cut out for him.

Need law for organised crime: DGP

Rachna Khaira

Tribune News Service

Phillaur, May 5

Batting for the enactment of the Punjab Control of Organised Crime Act (PCOCA), Punjab DGP Suresh Arora today said this had become all the more imperative to deal with the prevailing law and order situation in the state. He was addressing top police officers at the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Police Academy here.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Arora said the proposed legislation was a must as Punjab shared its borders with a hostile neighbour and had also to deal with terrorist attacks besides local gangs of criminals. “The biggest difficulty  is finding witnesses to depose against gangsters. Owing to lack of evidence, a majority of them are released by courts.” The DGP said of the 195 cases involving gangsters, there had been convictions in only 10 and none at all after 2012.Former Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal had proposed PCOCA too. The move has now been revived by the Capt Amarinder government. As per the proposed Act, loosely based on the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), confessions before an SP-rank officer will be admissible as evidence, all electronic evidence will be “valid proof” for 10 years and an officer of the rank of DIG or above will be eligible to invoke PCOCA,.On the attacks on Akali leaders, Arora said he had asked officers to ascertain if these were cases of political rivalry and resolve them.

Capt orders survey to oust fake pensioners

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 5

Adopting a tough stance on ineligible old-age pension beneficiaries, the government today replaced ration cards with Aadhaar cards as identification proof.To ensure that the applicants fall in the eligibility criteria regarding the land ownership, verification will be done by revenue officials.The CM today set in motion the process of enhancing old-age pensions. The process for both urban and rural pensions is being simplified with the applicants only required to provide a self-declaration instead of the current system of verification from the area municipal councillor in case of urban pensioners and two panchayat members in the villages.Acting tough on the applicants who furnish wrong details, the government will recover double the pension amount under the Arrears of Land Revenue Act. To make the system more foolproof, action would be taken against the officer who includes ineligible beneficiaries.The District Social Security Office (DSSO) and the applicants would be intimated of the acceptance or rejection of their applications in a month.The CM also directed the Department of Social Security and Women and Child Development to undertake a survey of the existing beneficiaries which could be clubbed with the ongoing review of the Atta-Dal scheme beneficiaries, to weed out the ineligible candidates.All beneficiaries will be required to fill new forms by June-end and will be eligible for drawing pension from April 2017. A provision for five per cent random check by the DC and SDM has been evisaged.It was also decided to introduce a quarterly pension system to bring about greater transparency.

No ration cards

• The government on Friday replaced ration cards with Aadhaar cards as identification proof for old-age pension beneficiaries. The move is aimed to weed out ineligible pensioners.

Punjab to weed out ineligible pension beneficiaries

CM ALSO DIRECTS THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SECURITY AND WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT TO UNDERTAKE A SURVEY OF THE EXISTING BENEFICIARIES

CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday set in motion the process of increasing old-age pensions while approving new criteria to ensure that only bona fide candidates benwefit from the state’s financial assistance schemes.

He also directed the department of social security and women & child development to undertake a survey of the existing beneficiaries, which could be clubbed with the ongoing review of the ‘Atta-Dal’ scheme beneficiaries, to weed out the ineligible candidates from the list.

Chairing a department meeting here, Amarinder directed the introduction of new forms, with the new criteria, to be filled up by all pensioners, including the existing ones, in order to streamline the process and free the beneficiaries from the clutches of sarpanches and nambardars.

The existing pensioners, however, will continue to get the pension benefit pending review of the list, it was decided at the meeting.

All existing beneficiaries will be required to fill new forms till June-end to become eligible for drawing pension from April 2017 onwards, with a provision for 5% random check by deputy commissioner, SDM, etc., as per the new norms agreed upon at the meeting.

Disclosing details of the meeting, an official spokesperson said the CM also initiated the process of implementation of the Congress promise to enhance old-age pension.

The meeting decided to introduce quarterly pension to bring about greater transparency in the system.

As per the new criteria, Aadhaar card will replace ration card as certification document for all applicants, who would also be required to verify their land ownership, which would then be re-verified from the Patwari.

The verification process for both urban and rural pensions will be simplified with the applicants only required to provide a self-declaration instead of the current system of verification from municipal councillor in case of urban pensioners and, in case of rural, from one either two Panchayat members or one panchayat member along with sarpanch/numbardar/block samiti member, zila parishad chairperson or member.

All applications would be received by the district social security office (DSSO) and the applicants would be intimated of the acceptance or rejection of their applications within a month, it was further decided at the meeting.

During the check, if an applicant is found ineligible then recovery of the double amount shall be made from those who recommended/certified the case. This recovery shall be made under Arrears of Land Revenue Act.

Capt-Jakhar team will deliver: Rahul

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 5

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said today that he was sure newly appointed PPCC chief Sunil Jakhar and Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh would “do wonders” in Punjab.“I’m always there if you need my help for anything, but I’m also sure you and Capt Amarinder Singh will not require me. Both of you are enough as a team…,” Rahul told Jakhar, who met him this evening.Rahul also offered to accompany Jakhar for a meeting with party president Sonia Gandhi tomorrow morning.Speaking to The Tribune after the 20-minute meeting at Rahul’s residence, Jakhar said, “The party vice-president reposed faith in the leadership potential of the new Punjab team comprising myself and Capt Amarinder Singh.”The two discussed the political situation in Punjab, with Rahul asking Jakhar to work for strengthening the state organisation. “He asked me to work for the party cadres and ensure harmony between the government and the organisation. His message was that we need to take everyone along,” Jakhar said.Rahul has been stressing the need to build the Congress bottom up in every state, having realised that it was the party’s booth-level weakness that cost it heavily in most of the elections.

Govt teachers submit memo on syllabus

Tribune News Service

Sangrur, May 5

Government teachers submitted a memorandum to District Education Officer Indu Simak, demanding opening of pre-nursery classes in government schools and change in syllabus so that their students could also compete with private school students.The main demands of teachers are regularisation of all contractual teachers, promotions of teachers who have completed the mandatory period, transparency in transfers to curtail political interference, implementation of the old pension scheme and the recruitment of required staff in government schools.“The government should make the required changes in the syllabus of schools so that government school students can compete with students of private schools,” said Harjit Singh, district president, GTU.He also demanded that the government should provide required facilities to schools.

PROBE INTO PREPARATION OF FAKE BLUE CARDS

Food & Civil Supplies doing it for namesake only

RTI activist Varun Sareen approaches DC, seeks speedy investigation

Tribune News Service

amritsar, May 5

The Food and Civil Supplies Department is conducting an inquiry into the preparation of blue cards for fake beneficiaries just for “namesake” only. This was alleged by Varun Sareen, an RTI activist, who had filed a complaint in this connection.He has now approached Deputy Commissioner Kamaldeep Singh Sangha to depute administrative officials to probe the matter in an impartial manner.Sareen had alleged that a large number of blue cards of fake beneficiaries were prepared in Ward No.14-B of the Old Cantonment area and this was done to in order to siphon off a huge quantity of government wheat.A resident of the Sadar Bazaar area, falling under the Old Cantonment, had alleged that over 60 per cent names of beneficiaries that figure in the list of ration depot holders of the ward, are suspected to be fake. “There are only a few families belonging to the Sikh community that live in the Old Cantonment area. But the list taken out from a website named a large number of Sikh families in the list of beneficiaries. Ironically, there is no address of the beneficiaries given in the list. I live in the Old Cantonment area and I don’t know the people whose names are given in the list,” he said.The ration allocated to the beneficiaries was also disbursed to another depot holder in the Putlighar area. This has raised suspicions. He claimed that this is beyond doubt that there was some hanky panky going on.He alleged the officials of the department were going in the area and said whether they had got any wheat. But my question was who had prepared those cards and what are the residential addresses of the beneficiaries in the list which was given online.Food and Civil Supplies Department officials said the probe was on and anything in concrete could be said only after the completion of the inquiry.

What the issue is

• A probe by the Food and Civil Supplies Department into the preparation of blue cards for fake beneficiaries is underway
• RTI activist Varun Sareen says the investigation is nothing more than a formality
• Sareen had alleged that a large number of fake blue cards were prepared in Ward No. 14-B of Old Cantonment area to siphon off a huge quantity of government wheat

Capt opts for ‘compassion’ to rehabilitate drug addicts

CHANDIGARH: In his fight against drugs, chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh is now set to change the government strategy for treating and rehabilitating the addicts while making the use of the existing infrastructure.

The first step in this direction was taken on Friday with Captain setting up a two-member committee to prepare a comprehensive de-addiction and rehabilitation plan after studying the new model suggested by Dr Kanwar Ajit Singh Sidhu, a US-based drug therapist and consultant, during a presentation.

Additional director general of police (ADGP) Harpreet Singh Sidhu, who heads the newly formed special task force (STF) against drugs, came up with the idea to involve the addiction psychiatrist in the ambitious drive. Sidhu, an Indian citizen, has many awards to his credit.

The principal secretary, medical education, and his counterpart in the health and family welfare department will develop the new model along with specialists from the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGI), Chandigarh, based on the Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment (OOAT) model suggested by Sidhu.

WHAT IS OOAT MODEL?

The proposed OOAT model focuses on cure through compassion and is designed to prevent relapse. A panel of six psychiatrists will implement the model, with one monitoring 10 centres. Specially trained duty medical officers will be deputed at each de-addiction centre to supervise the five-stage treatment: induction, stabilisation, maintenance, termination and follow-up. The patients will also have to mark biometric attendance.

“Peer involvement will be integral to the programme. These former addicts will keep motivating the patients,” Sidhu told HT, adding that societies such as Narcotics Anonymous and Indian Drug User Forum will assist the authorities in hiring them.

Sidhu envisages a separate division to run the programme, which will also involve services of nearly 200 counsellors and other staff. They will be trained by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, Dr Sidhu told Captain.