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Monday, December 14, 1998
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C H A N D I G A R H & V I C I N I T Y |
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Monday, December 14, 1998 |
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Work on community centre hangs fire SAS NAGAR, Dec 13 — The construction of a community centre by PUDA in Phase V here has been hanging fire for more than two years with residents expressing unhappiness over the delay in starting work on the project. ‘Favouritism’ in cops’ recruitment CHANDIGARH, Dec 13 — Serious irregularities, including favouritism, have been alleged in the recruitment of constables in the Chandigarh Police. The allegations have been made in petitions filed before the Central Administrative Tribunal as well as in complaints made to the Chandigarh Administration. |
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US
chest doctors to expand chapter Children's
"home" celebrates 15th year Talk
on corruption in bureaucracy Postal
strike on Dec 21, 22 |
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Work on community centre hangs
fire SAS NAGAR, Dec 13 — The construction of a community centre by PUDA in Phase V here has been hanging fire for more than two years with residents expressing unhappiness over the delay in starting work on the project. The residents say they have been deprived of an important facility for the holding of various social functions, including weddings. Not all can afford to pay the ever-increasing expenses on booking hotels for such purposes. Besides, as Phase V adjoins the industrial area, the centre could be used for temporary stay by persons coming on business. After meetings of residents with officials concerned, the PUDA authorities had approved the proposal for the community centre in 1995. It was later confirmed by the Additional Chief Administrator in a letter in October, 1996, indicating that the matter had been approved at a meeting of the Regional Planning and Design Committee held in July, 1996. The General Secretary of the House Owners Welfare Society, Phase V, Mr A.S. Shyan, said despite meetings of society representatives with the Additional Chief Administrator, construction work had not started. In 1997, a memorandum on the centre with the signatures of residents was handed over by Ms Satwinder Dhaliwal, MP, to the then Minister for Housing, the late Sarup Singh. The minister, in a letter to the MP, had stated that instructions for the start of the construction work were being issued on a priority basis. Later, Ms Seema Jain,
Additional Chief Administrator, asked for a plan from the
welfare society which was supplied in June, 1998. She
gave an assurance that work would begin on the centre
along with that in Phase XI, but so far nothing had
happened, Mr Shyan added. |
‘Favouritism’ in cops’
recruitment CHANDIGARH, Dec 13 — Serious irregularities, including favouritism, have been alleged in the recruitment of constables in the Chandigarh Police. The allegations have been made not only in the petitions filed before the local Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal but also in complaints made to the Chandigarh Administration. In one of the petitions before CAT, the top brass of the local police has been accused of "favouring" certain candidates who are either related to those working in the Chandigarh police or have something to do with one member or the other of the Selection Committee. The petitioner said at least 15 such candidates were selected because of their "police connections". Sixtyseven vacancies of constables were advertised on June 7,1997. Thirtytwo of the vacancies were for candidates belonging to the general category, 10 for the Scheduled Castes, seven for ex-servicemen and 18 for Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The committee comprised Mr C.S.R. Reddy, Chairman, Mr Baldev Singh,Superintendent of Police, and Mr B.D. Bector and Mr Daya Nand, both Deputy Superintendents of Police. The physical fitness test was conducted from July 8 and the result was declared on August 17. The written test was held on October 5. The final interview was held on November 17. The final selection was announced on March 11 this year. The petitioner maintained that 15 candidates "favoured" by the committee had police connections. They are: Jaivir Singh, son of Sub Inspector Umed Singh; Sandeep Rana son of Mr Kewal Rana, Personal Assistant to SSP; Lajwinder Singh and Balwinder Singh, both sons of Sub Inspector Darshan Singh; Tarlochan Joshi , a domestic help of Mr Bhagwan Dass Bector, DSP; Mr Bajinder Kumar, a close friend of Mr Bhagwan Dass Bector, DSP; Ashwini Kumar, relative of Mr Vijay Pal Singh, DSP; Rishi Mehta son of Assistant Sub Inspector Subhash Mehta; Rattan Singh, a Home Guard who worked as a caddie for police officers at the Golf Club; Suresh Kumar, nephew of Mr Naresh Kumar, telephone attendant in the office of the SSP;Gurjant Singh, nephew of SP Baldev Singh; Virender Kumar, nephew of Mr Daya Nand,DSP; Ashwani Kumar, a relative of DSP Vijay Pal Singh; Parvesh Kumar son of Ameer Singh, constable at police headquarters; and Dalbir Singh, son of Sub Inspector Shamsher Singh. Further, the petitioner said three candidates — Rajiv Datta, Saatvinder Singh and Jit Singh — had not cleared the physical fitness test and naturally their names did not appear in the result. Two candidates - Rattan Singh and Gurjant Singh - were older than the higher upper age limit of 25 years. In the selection list it was mentioned that Gurjant Singh was over age by two months and 15 days and his selection was subject to relaxation of age by the Inspector-General of Police. The advertisement, however, did not provide for any age relaxation for the candidates belonging to the general category, the petitioner said. The petitioner further claimed that seven candidates never appeared in the physical fitness test and yet were selected. The candidates were Sandeep Rana, Lavjinder Singh, Bajinder Kumar, Ashwini Kumar, Rishi Mehta, Rattan Singh and Dalbir Singh. One candidate, Arvind Kumar, of general category was selected subject to relaxation in chest by the Inspector-General of Police. The advertisement had made it clear that no benefit of relaxation in physical fitness would be given to candidates belonging to the general category. On the basis of this petition, the local Bench of CAT issued notices not only to 19 candidates but also to all members of the committee, the Inspector-General of Police and the Home Secretary. The petitioner demanded
scrapping of the entire selection as it was vitiated by
bias. |
Insurance officers seek parity CHANDIGARH, Dec 13 — The General Insurance Officers' All-India Association has demanded from the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, a level playing field and an environment of commercial working for at least two years before the opening up of the insurance sector. According to Mr Gurinder Raj Singh, president of the association, keeping in view the interest of the nation and productivity at stake, the association had decided not to go on strike from December 11.Instead, members of the association were sending telegrams to the Union Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, to oppose privatisation. Besides, the members would also hold gate meetings at the head office and regional headquarters. Mr Gurinder Raj Singh said the association had been deeply pained by the attitude of the Government in the past few months as it was bent upon privatisation without going into the details of the effect this could have on the insurance sector as well as on the economy in general. The association maintained that the Malhotra Committee report had even suggested reforms in the existing insurance sector, including privatisation. Surprisingly nothing was done in the subsequent six years and the insurance sector had not been allowed to change its working or reform itself. Comparison of the Indian insurance industry with the West was totally without a basis. Mr Gurinder Raj Singh also raised a number of pertinent questions in a letter addressed to the Prime Minister. The questions pertained to financing of the government at virtually no interest, provision of jobs to the unemployed, including those belonging to SC/ST categories, and provision of cover to the weaker sections of the society. The association doubted that the private sector would be able to do any of the things as was being presently done by the insurance sector. He also pointed out in the
letter that the private sector was not efficient, the
quantum of frauds committed by the private sector was
very large compared to the complaints against the present
insurance sector and the pendency of cases against the
private sector were much more than against the insurance
sector in consumer courts of the country, he added. |
Acquire shamlat land, UT told CHANDIGARH, Dec 13 — Mr Surinder Singh, President, Chandigarh Rural Area Welfare Society, in a memorandum submitted to the Deputy Commissioner of Chandigarh, Mr R.K. Rao, has demanded the immediate acquisition of 57 kanals and 18 marlas of shamlat land at Mani Majra. Mr Surinder Singh said even late Dr P.N. Chhuttani had demanded the acquisition of this piece of shamlat land by the Administration. He alleged that the land was being grabbed by an influential family of Mani Majra though the said land was the property of the entire land owners community of the town. There were 16,129 shares of the Patti Upparli and 12,561 shares of Patti Tharli. Mr Surinder Singh further
said the issue was discussed with the Adviser to the
Administrator last month when he along with a Municipal
Councillor, Mr Raj Kumar Goyal, met him. The land should
be acquired for any public purpose after the payment of
due compensation to share holders. A probe may also be
conducted into the illegal grabbing of the land and
annual proceeds from this land may be recovered from
those who had been in its illegal possession, he added. |
Silent war against armed forces:
Nath CHANDIGARH, Dec 13 — The Strategic Research Centre has accused bureaucrats of waging a silent war against members of the armed forces by misusing their proximity to the political leadership. In a letter addressed to the Union Defence Minister,Mr George Fernandes, the Director of the centre, Major-Gen Rajendra Nath (retd), has assailed the bureaucratic apathy towards resettlement or rehabilitation of widows of defence officers who die while fighting to protect the honour of the country. While in the case of a civilian, any death in the service, even when the deceased himself was to blame, the resettlement of the widow or any of his eligible wards was quicker while in the case of a defence personnel, this aspect was being completely ignored, he said. Referring to the case of Mrs Savita Rana, widow of Ashoka Chakra recipient, Col Shanti Swarup Rana, General Nath said the spirit behind the order of the political government for the rehabilitation of war widows was invariably ignored. It was because of these bureaucratic wranglings, he said, there was a big deficiency in the defence forces of the country. There were shortfalls of both officers and other ranks, he added. General Nath said Lieut-Col Kuldip Singh Ludra met Mrs Rana who was informed that the Directorate-General of Resettlement issued a priority category I to her for the allotment of an LPG agency. However, when the local office of the Indian Oil Corporation was contacted, the reply Mrs Rana got was that the matter was under consideration and she would be called for an interview to determine her eligibility. The General pointed out that when Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister, a war widow was given an LPG agency in Panchkula in less than two months from the time she met the Prime Minister. Secondly, Mrs Rana got only Rs 2 lakh as an ex-gratia. Since Colonel Rana got killed on November 2,1996, she was declared not eligible for all allowances and the ex-gratia which has been raised to Rs 7.5 lakh. She has been denied the enhanced compensation on the plea that the new directive was issued in August,1997, and cases after August 1,1997, would be eligible for the revised compensation and ex-gratia. The General felt that this discrimination against a soldier widow was uncalled for. General Nath also referred to the denial of a flat by the Chandigarh Housing Board to her on the plea that she was ineligible. "It is surprising how the Administration is trying to molly coddle the so called freedom fighters, whose sole qualification was that they enjoyed a political status imprisonment for four to six months and have been encashing on that little inconvenience for the past 51 years yet the real martyrs are facing the ignominy of being ignored by the thankless nation," he added. General Nath also referred to the refund the centre could secure for Mrs Rana from the Directorate of Estates. She got a refund benefit of nearly Rs 16,000, he added. General Nath also referred
to the denial of special privileges to families of the
recipients of Ashok Chakra, the highest peace time
gallantry award, of free travel by Air India. He urged
the Defence Minister to look into all these areas and
ensure that war widows were not made to suffer. |
US chest doctors to expand
chapter CHANDIGARH, Dec 13—The American College of Chest Physicians is planning to expand its Indian chapter, the immediate past President of the college, Dr D. Robert Mc- Caffree, told The Tribune on the concluding day of Chest India 1998 at the PGI here today. Dr McCaffree informed that under the new proposal Indian doctors would have more say in the organisational and decision-making matters. Besides, the fee structure would be made more appropriate with a view to broadbase the chapter, he added. He said the incidence of all chest diseases like heart attacks and lung infections were on the rise. Smoking, excessive drinking and dietary habits were the causes of these diseases, he added. He was all praise for the clinical expertise and interest in education among the Indian doctors. Prof Yash P. Kataria, Director of the Sarcoidosis Clinic, Section of Pulmonary and Critical Care, East Carolina University, North Carolina (USA), said the incidence of sarcoidosis, a TB-like disease affecting the quality of life, was on the increase all over the world. Professor Kataria, who runs one of the biggest clinics in the world having 1,200 patients, informed that its main symptoms included fever, weight loss and fatigue. Over 75 per cent of the patients were in the most-productive age group— 20 to 40 years— he added. A majority of the patients were confused about the symptoms of TB, with the result that the exact diagnosis was not possible and valuable time was wasted. If the disease was diagnosed properly, the quality of life of the patients could be improved significantly, he claimed. The Organising Secretary of Chest India ’98, Dr Dheeraj Gupta, while saying that TB still remained the major threat to the world, said other chest diseases should not be ignored as they were preventable. Terming TB as "global emergency", he said the resistance of the TB virus had put an additional burden on the poor countries. Over 500 delegates,
including 25 from abroad, took part in the conference.
The foreign delegates shared with their Indian
counterparts the latest techniques in the critical care
in the management of pulmonary diseases, he added. |
Children's "home"
celebrates 15th year PANCHKULA, Dec 13 — Inmates of Bal Niketan, a home for orphan and destitute children, beamed with joy as they celebrated 15 years of the existence of their "home" with the Chief Secretary of Haryana, Mr R.S. Verma, here today. They sang group songs and gave a yoga demonstration drawing applause from the audience. The children and staff of the niketan had every reason to hold their heads high as 20 of them brought up since the birth of the institution have been rehabilitated and are earning their livelihood. Four girls have also been married off. Mr J.D. Sharma, President of the home, said some boys had joined the Army and Merchant Navy as officers. While addressing the audience at the function, he said members of the public had been quite generous in devoting their time and money for the children. What started as a home for orphan children in a rented accommodation today has a building of its own with a capacity to house 75 children. Besides, it has a vocational training centre for children belonging to weaker sections of the society. Over 500 children have benefited from the vocational training centre, Mr Sharma added. Mr Sharma urged the Chief Secretary to increase the financial aid given by the Social Defence and Security Department, Haryana. He suggested that the department should also act as a coordinator between different organisations supporting the destitute and orphan children. Mr Verma assured Mr Sharma
that he would look into the request for increasing the
grant provided by the government. He announced that he
would donate Rs 1,000 per month in his individual
capacity. |
Talk on corruption in
bureaucracy CHANDIGARH, Dec 13 — Janshakti, a social organisation, organised an open discussion on bureaucracy, corruption and the common man at Lajpat Rai Bhavan here today. Mr G. V. Gupta, a retired IAS officer, called for reduction in the functions of the Government with a view to reducing corruption. He pleaded for more powers to the local bodies so that power could be decentralised. Dr Satya Deva, a retired Professor, wanted a special agency such as a parliamentary commission to check corruption in the bureaucracy. He also wanted that the misuse of public offices should be declared an offence. Mr P. C. Suri, another retired IAS officer, decried the mediocre level of recruitment of IAS officers and lack of emphasis on their training. He also advocated that the state-level bureaucracy should be given an equal chance to reach the top level. Mr Onkar Chand and Mr P.
P. Arya, secretary and convener of Janshakti, were among
those who spoke. |
Postal strike on Dec 21, 22 CHANDIGARH, Dec 13 — On the call of the Postal Joint Council of Action, New Delhi, postal employees will go on a two-day strike from December 21 in protest against the Centre's failure to honour its commitments after the strike in July. A press note alleged here
today that none of the demands of the 10-point charter of
demands had been implemented so far. |
Survey of measles cases CHANDIGARH, Dec 13 — In the wake of the reported outbreak of measles in the city, a team of Government Medical Hospital, Sector 32, surveyed Colony No 5 today. A press note of the Lions
Club, Chandigarh Midtown, said here today that the team
suggested the immunisation of children between the age of
nine months to five years. |
Mini-chrysanthemum show held CHANDIGARH, Dec 13 — Ten varieties of chrysanthemum were on display at the CII lawns here today. The show, organised by Mr Virender Sharma, evoked good response from chrysanthemum lovers of the city. A number of visitors could be seen making detailed inquiries about the varieties. Terming the cancellation
of the chrysanthemum show, an annual feature, by the
Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) as a
"wrong step" Mr Sharma said that the
chrysanthemum lovers would organise the show themselves
in future if the authorities did not help. |
CHANDIGARH, Dec 13 — As many as 23 Senators have opted for new faculties with the elections for the new Syndicate just five days away. Change in faculties is allowed every four years after two years of the term have elapsed. Eightyone Senators will elect the 15-member Syndicate in the five major faculties of arts, science, medicine, language and law, besides the combined faculties. The law faculty has seen the entry of six members of the Chatrath group which has backed out completely from the language faculty where the Deepak Manmohan group, after withdrawing all but three candidates from law, has made a stronghold. Permutations and combinations reveal that it is likely to be a cakewalk for Prof Deepak Manmohan and Mr Rajinder Deepa in the Language faculty. Mr G.K. Chatrath and Mr Anmol Rattan Sidhu are front-runners in the law faculty. An understanding amongst the medical community goes to show that the two seats in the medical faculty are likely to go to the PGI and Ludhiana though the possibility of an election cannot be ruled out. Neck-and-neck contests are expected in the remaining faculties of arts, science and combined faculties. Thus, a total of nine seats will see the two groups battle it out on December 18, the date fixed for the elections. Each faculty has three seats to its credit in the Syndicate. Meanwhile, the opposing groups, old hands at the game, are trying their best to wrest these seats from the others' grasp. They are trying different tactics, the most popular ones being trying to impress upon the neutral members of the Senate and attempting to establish breakaway groups for the extra edge. The term of the present
Syndicate expires on the last day of this year. |
PANCHKULA, Dec 13 — The decomposed body of a woman in her late twenties was found dumped at the back of a house at Raewali village in Raipur Rani near here last light. The body which bore injury marks was noticed after it started emitting a foul smell. The police suspect that the victim was the wife of a 40-year-old man who was found dead on the roadside near the same village on December 7. Sources in the police said the couple — engaged in making baskets in the village — was apparently murdered by someone known to them. The body of woman was then dumped behind the house in which the couple had been living while the body of the man was thrown at a distance from the site of the incident. The police said the identity of the ‘couple’ could not be ascertained as other members of their community, who were also engaged in making baskets, left the place soon after the incident. Incidentally the arms of the woman have "Rahe Ram" and "Kahe Ram" tattooed. A similar tatoo was also found on the man’s arms. The body has been sent for an autopsy to Rohtak as it was highly decomposed. CHANDIGARH Body found: The body of one Surinder Nath was found in Sector 29 here on Sunday. According to the police the body has been sent for a post-mortem to the General Hospital, Sector 16. Further investigations are on. Accidents: Two
accident victims were admitted to the PGI on Sunday.
Sohan Lal, a cyclist, was injured by an unidentified
vehicle near the KC theatre. In another accident, the
motor cycle of Anop Singh skidded near Transport Chowk,
Sector 26. |
PANCHKULA, Dec 13—The setting was perfect with the hills in the backdrop and the clear blue sky gradually changing to black as Arjun Jaipuri and Rinku Sharma sang their way through the "Sham-e-Ghazal" here today. Jaipuri sang ghazals of Humdum, a local writer, Jagjit Singh and Jaan Nisar Akhtar among others. He also presented some of his own ghazals like "Jag ma ga uthe gi yeh raat" and "Yeh haseen raat". The singer is the Director of Welcome Theatre group. Rinku Sharma's "Dhal gaya chand, gayi raat, chalo so jayen" of Katil Shifai set the ball rolling for a pleasant evening. Some popular ghazals she sang were "Ranjish hi sahi", "Aaj jane ki zid na kar" and a Punjabi one, "Sun charkhe di mithi mithi kook". She is a lecturer at Government College for Girls, Sector 42. The programme was organised by the Youth Hostels Association of India, Panchkula unit, in collaboration with Ghoomar group. Mr Alok Mittal, SSP, Panchkula, was the chief guest and Mr Anurag Aggarwal, Additional Deputy Commissioner, presided over the function. Police at the receiving end CHANDIGARH: The police force, in general, is in for a good shaking. People have expressed frank opinions about it in the form of cartoons. Cartoons are the best medium to make a dig at with a sprinkling of humour. But whatever has been expressed in these caricatures does not speak highly of the subject concerned. These cartoons are a part of the Police Cartoon Contest and can be placed as a prelude to the Punjabi film "Mahaul Theek Hai" to be released shortly. The movie, produced by Jaspal Bhatti Film Limited, also rips apart the police. In this contest, all notorious aspects associated with policing have been brought to the forefront. They have been compared to Gandhiji’s monkeys who, unlike the old ones, see, hear and speak evil. Entrusted with the authority to carry weapons they can keep law and order intact at pistol point. Policemen touch the feet of politicians and the common man the feet of policemen to lead life peacefully. The common tendency affiliated with this force is that as long as they keep getting their "requirements", they can ignore all crimes taking place. The winner of the first prize, C.A. Rosario, has depicted in his cartoon, "Want to see my driving licence?" In response the scooterist shows him a 100-rupee note. The second winner, Satwant Singh, has shown a policeman as a "jinn" who can do anything. In the second cartoon, the police has been shown as a puppet in the hands of the mafia and politicians. The most interesting of all is, "Kya bolta tu? Banega kya police wala?" The response is, "Khayenge peeyenge, lootenge, peetenge, rape karenge, aur kya?" If this is the image the law enforcers convey, they had better watch out. Lampoons with
tongue-in-cheek kind of humour are on display at the
local Government Museum and Art Gallery. —Priti
Verma |
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