While Rs 37.45 lakh will be spent on establishment, Rs 5.89 lakh has been earmarked for the contingency fund. The Market Committee will spend Rs 7.31 lakh for providing amenities to the farmers while Rs 3.25 lakh has been earmarked for development works, he added and informed that Rs 8.8 lakh has been kept aside for giving donations, licence and audit fee to Mandi Board. Rs 7,000 has been provided for travelling allowance while Rs 35,000 will be spend on other works.

Singh further stated that the committee planned to earn Rs 40 lakh from market fee, Rs 15 lakh from registration and entry fee, Rs 2 lakh from suspense account, Rs 1 lakh from other sources, Rs 30,000 from compromise fee, Rs 20,000 from interest, Rs 11,000 from licence fee and Rs 2,000 from surety bonds.

In a reply to a question, he said a total of 55 apni mandis were being organised by the Kharar Market Committee per month in various parts of Kharar, SAS Nagar and Chandigarh. He added that an apni mandi would be held in Sector 37, Chandigarh, on public demand shortly.

Patwaris on strike: On a call given by the Punjab Revenue Patwar Union to protest the non-fulfillment of their long-pending demands, the patwaris of Kharar tehsil today observed a complete strike for the second consecutive day and staged a massive dharna in the tehsil complex here.

State vice-president of the union Satnam Singh and local president Balwinder Singh, while addressing the dharna, strongly criticised the state government for its indifferent attitude towards their long-pending demands and urged that they be fulfilled soon. They threatened to intensify their stir if the government failed to fulfill their demands. The patwaris plan to stage district-level dharnas on February 25.

Stone to be laid: Kharar MC chief Ranbir Singh, will lay the foundation stone of a new school building, Little Blossoms School here tomorrow at 11 a.m.