Spurious seed scam: One more in police net
CHANDIGARH : Punjab Police on Wednesday arrested one more person linked with the seed scam, taking the number of people in the police net so far to three.
Lakhwinder Singh alias Lucky Dhillon, owner of Karnal Agri Seeds of Dera Baba Nanak in Batala, was arrested by the special investigation team (SIT) constituted on Tuesday by DGP Dinkar Gupta to get to the bottom of the scam involving alleged sale of non-certified seeds of new paddy varieties that were being tested/grown by Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana.
Gupta said Lucky had unauthorisedly purchased PR-128 and PR-129 seed varieties from some farmers who had been given the seeds for trial by the PAU. Investigations show that Dhillon supplied these seeds to Brar Seeds of Ludhiana, whose owner Harwinder Singh alias Kaka Brar was the first person to be apprehended in the scam.
AMRITSAR/PATIALA: Protesting against the state government’s decision to hike the MBBS fee by around 80%, doctors and students of Government Medical College (GMC), Amritsar, wore ‘black badges’ on Wednesday while workers of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) gheraoed medical education minister OP Soni’s residence at Rani Ka Bagh. The protestors said the Punjab government had taken an ‘anti-people and antipoor decision’ .
Also, MBBS students and junior resident doctors protested at GMC, Patiala, seeking rollback in the fee hike. They also demanded increase in their stipend.
Dr Anil Ravish, vice president of the Resident Doctors Association, Patiala, said, “MBBS fee in government medical colleges in Punjab is already the highest in the country. Instead of increasing stipend, they have hiked MBBS fee by 80%.”
‘FEE ALREADY 55% HIGHER THAN OTHER STATES’
“The government hiked the MBBS fee by 160% in 2015. The fee of MBBS courses in Punjab is already the highest in India. It is around 55% higher than other states. Non-meritorious students from rich families will now get admission,” he said. Also, APP workers held a protest march from Valmiki Chowk to the residence of the medical education minister.