CURFEW-LIKE SITUATION PREVAILS IN GOBINDPURA

Normal life is being completely thrown out of gear in this tiny village situated about 40 km from Mansa, as all roads leading to it are sealed and no vehicles, except those of the police, are allowed entry.

The village has been cordoned off to thwart the entry of members belonging to the 17 farmer labour unions which announced the decision to reach the village in large numbers to uproot the pillars and barbed wire fencing on the controversial 166 acres of land being “forcibly” acquired by the administration for setting up of a private thermal plant, on Tuesday.

No one was allowed to enter Gobindpura except the residents of the village. They too were allowed entry after proving their identity. During a visit to the village, The Tribune observed all religious places and educational institutes were wearing a deserted look. Fear was quite visible on the faces of the villagers, who feared a clash between the police and the activists of farmer unions to take place on Tuesday.

“Police force to such an extent has never been deployed in the history of this village. The heavy deployment of police is indicative of the apprehension of an untoward incident taking place tomorrow. We are praying that the day passes off peacefully,” said Harditt Singh, an octogenarian, while pointing towards the cops who have made a camp office at the village health centre. Fearing the imposition of curfew, many residents preferred to leave the village this morning, after locking up their establishments. “Our school is closed tomorrow since there is a curfew in the village,” said a student, who said his teacher had announced it in the classroom.

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Government on recruitment spree

With an eye on the forthcoming assembly elections, the state Cabinet has decided to recruit medical and paramedical staff and fill hundreds of vacancies in jails besides raising the age bar (up to five years) for recruitment of pharmacists in zila parishad dispensaries.

Posts will be filled for recuiting staff in the newly constituted units of the NCC in the NCC Academies at Ropar, Malout, Guddha and Bathinda. Nearly 910 vacancies will be filled in the Jail Department. Besides, 141 posts will be filled through the promotion quota.

The Cabinet has approved the filling of 3,669 vacancies in the Health Department- 1,188 medical officers, 1647 paramedical staff and 373 ministerial cadre. These are to be filled through direct recruitment and the remaining 404 posts will be outsourced. The Cabinet gave its approval to the draft Bill for establishing a self-financing private university by the name of Guru Kashi University at Talwandi Sabo in Bathinda .

The Cabinet approved the amended draft of the Punjab Private Universities Policy-2010 for establishing self-financed private universities in the state.It gave the green signal to transferring land and buildings of Cooperative Sugar Mills at Buddhlada and Jagraon in the name of the Punjab Government so that these can be disposed of by the Punjab Urban Development Authority under its OUVGL scheme to settle pending liabilities of these sugar mills.

The Cabinet approved the launching of a special campaign to provide ration cards to eligible beneficiaries by September 30. The Cabinet also approved a grant of Rs 1 crore for langar at Darbar Sahib, Amritsar, and registration fee and stamp duty exemption on documents for loans (up to Rs 5 lakh) through the Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes Corporation.

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