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| Sunday,
July 14, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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No attempt to upgrade power system Chandigarh, July 13 It taken hours to attend to routine complaint as there is shortage of staff. Fresh recruitment is banned and the administration does not have a system to engage people on contract. The existing staff is short on equipment, vehicles and communication gadgets. The story of woes is endless and this has a cascading affect on the maintenance of power, says a senior engineer. The 12 complaint centres in the city have lorries for transporting men and equipment, however, the driver is available only for eight hours. For the remaining 16 hours, linesmen and assistant linesmen, who attend to complaints, reach the spot on their cycles. They have no mode of communication with the complaint centre. So if they go to rectify a fault at some place and come back to the complaint centre after two hours, it is only then that a fresh complaint is conveyed. During the time, a team does attend to complaints but it has no connection with the complaint centre, which means if another fault occurs in the area, the complaint centre staff cannot inform the staff in the field. The linesmen have no safety equipment and they have to carry the ladders on their bicycles. “Can anyone cycle for 6 km in the sun carrying a ladder and provide prompt service,” an engineer asks while advocating faster mode of communication for the field staff besides a wireless to issue on the spot directions. A proposal to have a truck fitted with an automatic ladder is lying pending just like the well-earned
funds which are not being directed towards needs of city residents. A source says three round-the-clock drivers are required on an eight-hour shift. No one knows what stops the administration from having men on contract as the wing which keeps street lights working, has done. It is a known fact that no new posts are going to be sanctioned even as the number of connection is rising everyday. The condition is the worst in sectors south of Dakshin Marg. The entire UT has about 1.82 lakh connections. Out of this, sectors south of Dakshin Marg have about 1.10 lakh connections. So lopsided is the management that only four of the 10 SDOs have their offices in southern sectors, while only one of the four XENs has office in these areas. One XEN has his office along Madhya Marg and another XEN in Sector 19 while partly managing areas in the southern sectors as far as Sector 48. The minimum number of lines staff is posted at Sector 32 sub-division which has the maximum number of connections that is 32,000. The entire effort is aimed at keeping the distribution system in the northern sectors in shape. |
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Bodies not to oppose electronic meters installation Panchkula, July 13 A meeting of representatives of resident welfare associations had been called in by the Executive Engineer, UHBVN, Mr M.R. Murari, and the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Mr M.S. Yadav. The officers along with Mr Hemant Kinger, president of the Panchkula Public Peace and Welfare Association, clarified that the electronic meters were accurate and did not give a false reading, as alleged by Mr Kinger earlier. Mr Kinger said the department had installed a parallel meter along with the electromagnetic meter already installed at his residence and the readings of both the meters were found to be same. After Mr Kinger had raised the issue, a large number of residents had protested against the installation of electronic meters here. It is learnt that the UHBVN had decided to replace at least 5,000 meters in all houses where air conditioners had been installed and other high power consuming buildings here, during the first phase. The meters in the remaining dwelling units and business and commercial establishments would be replaced later on. Mr Murari said the installation of electronic meters in the township would help curb power thefts and tampering of meters. It was estimated that line losses would come down by approximately two per cent from the present average losses of about 14 per cent. A stock of 2,000 electronic meters was recently received by the department. Mr Murari also clarified that old meters owned by the residents would not be taken away. |
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Auto theft on rise in southern, central sectors Chandigarh, July 13 FACTFILE
In the southern sub-division of the Chandigarh Police, at least 94 vehicles were stolen between January and June — which constitute around 30 per cent of the total vehicles stolen from the southern sectors. Around 300 vehicles had been lifted from the city over the past six months, says the official record of the police. The Inspector General of Chandigarh Police, Mr Bhim Sain Bassi, said they were open to registration of cases. He said the police carried our regular campaign to make people aware of the basic steps to check auto thefts. Not denying the fact that the system of paid parking had checked the number of cases of auto thefts from the commercial area of Sector 17, hardly a day passes
without the registration of an auto theft case from the commercial area of Sector 22. A police official in the Sector 17 police station said during May this year, two cars were stolen from Sector 17. He claimed that no car was lifted from Sector 17 during the month of June. However, a total of 74 vehicle were reportedly stolen from Sector 17 in the past six months. The southern sub-division, especially the Sectors falling under the 34 and 36 police stations, registered 94 cases of theft during the six months. According to the IGP of Chandigarh Police, Mr B.S. Bassi, “the crime cannot be swept under the carpet. The vehicle owners are advised to
install anti-theft gadgets and park their vehicles properly”. Sources in the police said, 13 cases of auto theft were reported in the sectors falling under the Sector 3 police station. |
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Counselling concept yet
to catch on in city schools Chandigarh, July 13 While the policy passed in 1983-84, had specifically
directed every school to appoint counsellors in the ratio of one
counsellor for every 600 students, only five among the entire
government schools have one counselling assistant each. The schools
that enjoy the privilege of having a counselling assistant are
Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 18, GMSSS, Sector 23,
GMSSS, Sector 8, GMSSS, Sector 20 and Government Senior Secondary
School, Mani Majra. “Considering various personal, growth-related
and career-related problems the children go through at this age, the
schools do need counsellors to assist them but appointing full fledged
counsellors in proportion to strength of students in each school will
be an uphill task as it is a very expensive affair,” said Mr. D.S.
Mangat, DPI (Schools). Though a midway approach had been adopted by
the Institute of Education, Sector 32, by imparting training to the
teachers of various schools to take up the tasks of psychologists, the
exercise has failed to have a desired impact. “It is wrong to
expect the teachers to act as counsellors because it is difficult to
form a rapport and win the trust of the students to enable them to
come forward with their problems. Teachers who have been taking part
in the seminars conducted by the State Institute of Education on
tackling the adolescents’ problems say the efforts have been wasted
as no student come forward to confide their problem in them. “In a
time like this when children go through complex psychological and
physical problems and need proper guidance but in the absence of a
proper counsellor they often turn to the television or magazine
columns to solve their problem, which many a times compounds it rather
than solving it, said one of the teachers. To overcome this problem,
the Education Department is toying with the idea of mobilising the
Parent Teachers Association (PTA) funds to appoint part time
counsellors in government schools. “With the funds generated by PTA
funds we can appoint counsellors in each school,” said Ms Preetpal
Kaur. The concept has one more advantage that while using the PTA
fund their will be some accountability as for the proper functioning
of a counsellor to the parents. “Though Delhi schools have appointed
counsellors but it has again failed to serve the purpose as most of
them are used as stop gap teachers, taking classes when the subject
teachers are absent from duty,” said Ms Preetpal Kaur. The
Education Department is also planning to use their psychology teachers
for this purpose. “As the condition of one counsellor for every 600
students is not feasible, mobilising the psychology students as
helpers can serve the purpose,” said Ms Preetpal Kaur. |
Safety measures in city
cinemas discussed Chandigarh, July 13 The meeting was presided over by Mr Bhim Sen Sehgal, Chairman of the Chandigarh Parents Association. He stressed upon the Uphar Cinema (Delhi) tragedy and also highlighted the inquiry report of the tragedy and apprised the cinema hall managers of the shortcoming in the city cinemas besides requesting the managements to make sure that the functioning of the public address system and emergency lights are checked up regularly; no exit door was locked either from inside or outside as long as the cinegoers are inside the cinema halls, the management should immediately inform the Fire Control Room as well as the Police Control Room in case of an emergency. Mr Baldev Singh, SP city, suggested that the entire staff should be trained to cope with emergency situation and all the gatekeepers must be well versed with the procedure to immediately help the people to vacate the hall in the shortest possible time. He also suggested that there should be direct hotline connections between the city cinemas and the Police Control Room and the city fire headquarters as one cannot depend upon the telephones these days as most of these remain out of order and could hamper the rescue operations. The Chief Fire Officer of Chandigarh Administration, Mr G.S. Bajwa, apprised the meeting of the steps taken by his department recently to carry out inspections in various cinemas and improvement brought out in various fields. Recently fire appliances have been checked in all cinema halls and special drill classes have been conducted to ensure that the cinema staff is well trained in the fire fighting and rescue operations. Some of the managers expressed the parking-related problems faced by them and wanted the administration to do the needful. It also suggested that a separate place be earmarked for the entry of the fire tenders and the ambulances as at present these vehicles were not able to reach near most of the cinemas in the city due to traffic problems. |
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Training programme for Afghan cops concludes Chandigarh, July 13 The Inspector General of Chandigarh Police, Mr B S Bassi, was the chief guest on the occasion. Maj Gen Gul Mohammed of Afghanistan Police, who led a contingent of 30 officials, said “ Our country is ravaged by over 20 years of war and number of people had died and others had been rendered homeless. The freedom has brought an opportunity to rebuild our country and India is helping us in the effort”. Mr Bassi said peace was must for a country. During peace, the role of police was important as it had to maintain law and order. He said in a democratic set up, investigations had been done in a systematic manner. The basic queries about what, why and who committed a crime had to be addressed. He assured all possible help in the future. An SI of Chandigarh Police, Mr Neeraj Sarna, who participated in the training programmee, said he had learned a lot about the social fabric of Afghanistan. Maj Gen Sharafuddin also shared his experiences with the participants. The Principal of the Central Detective Training School, Mr BNS Negi, said the participants were told about collecting circumstantial evidence and writing FIR’s of heinous crime like rape, murder, narcotics trade. The training programmee was conducted on the directions of the Union Ministry of External Affairs. Mr Jagdeep Singh, the course coordinator, also spoke on the occasion. |
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CTU staff check private buses Chandigarh, July 13 The members have alleged that State Transport Authority responsible for checking private buses from picking commuters has failed to put a tab on the practice, thus causing loss to the CTU. The union members today stopped a private bus for picking passengers near Sector 20 petrol pump. Yesterday, a private Tata Sumo was challaned after the members stopped it near Industrial Area roundabout. The Sumo driver had allegedly picked commuters waiting to board buses. A union member claimed that they would continue the drive to check private buses and taxis from picking commuters. |
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Mango Mela offers rare treat Chandigarh, July 13 The mela which aims at popularising mango varieties, not only the commercial ones but the rare ones also, is exhibiting varieties like Rani Pasand, Dil Pasand, Jehangir, Krishan Kaili which are not only unique in their regal names but also in shape and colour. Behat and Marwa, main producers of mango in Saharanpur, have come up with 70 varieties of mango while Pinjore has come up with 15 varieties. Besides raw mangoes, there is an assortment of mango products like mango kutli, pickles, sherbet and chutneys made from raw mangoes. A number of competitions marked the inaugural day of the mela. Painting, dance and mango-eating contests were organised for the children. The children belonged to the age group 6-12. The theme of the painting contest was environment. Madan Maddi, a local Punjabi pop singer, enthralled the audience towards the evening. Earlier, the mela was inaugurated by the Chief General Manager of CITCO, Mr N.S. Brar. The result of the dance competition is as follows: In the 5-10 year category, Surbhi Sood won the first prize followed by Nisad Ansari. Kirti won the third prize. In the 10-15 year category, Gurvir Singh won the first prize while Heena and Aseem Pathak bagged the second and the third prizes, respectively. The results of other contests will be declared tomorrow. |
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Consumer body elects chairman Chandigarh, July 13 The official members will be Secretary Health, Secretary Food and Supplies, Secretary Industries, Secretary Co-operation, Deputy
Commissioner-cum-Director Food & Supplies, Principal General Manager, Telecom, Chandigarh, Director Bureau of Indian Standards and State Co-ordinator oil companies. Non-official members: Chairman of the Consumer Forum Chandigarh; president Consumer Welfare Organisation; president Consumer Welfare Association; president National Consumer Awareness Group; president Chandigarh Beopar Mandal; president Chandigarh Industries Association; general secretary Federation of Small Scale Industries; Chairperson Social Welfare Advisory Board; Chetana Society; Mr K.C. Shenmar, Mr Amarnath Sarhadi, president Indian Medical Association and president of the Bar Association of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The term of the council will be three years. |
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Illegal jhuggis coming up in Sector 57 SAS Nagar, July 13 Residents of the 434 LIG dwelling units have objected to the illegal jhuggis which, they say, have become a source of nuisance for them. The residents say that jhuggi dwellers have kept a large number of pigs. These animals often enter homes and dig up the ground. Small children are usually afraid of going out of their houses for fear of being attacked by pigs. When the animals are chased away, jhuggi dwellers often pick a quarrel. Unhygienic conditions prevail in the area. The affected residents had approached the Municipal Council to get the illegal jhuggis removed from that area. The civic body had written three letters to the Additional Chief Administrator, PUDA, requesting him to get the jhuggis removed. Such encroachments mushrooming in the area were adversely affecting the beauty of the town. The council said if no action was taken now, it would be difficult to evict the encroachers at a later stage. Despite letters sent by the council of May 29, June 13 and June 25, the PUDA authorities are yet to remove the encroachments. The Rehishi Social Welfare Society of Sector 57 has also complained that the skinning of carcasses in their area have added to their woes. At times garbage was also being dumped in the area which was later burnt. This led to a lot of pollution. |
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Improve sanitation: ADC SAS Nagar, July 13 Mr Garg, who had met representatives of various welfare bodies of the town and some municipal councillors at the Municipal Council office here yesterday, said proper supervision was not being done on the sanitation front. He said a week’s time should be given to the private contractors to improve the situation failing which their contracts should be cancelled. However, the Additional Executive Officer of the civic body, Mr Sarabjit Singh, said councillors of the town were satisfied with the sanitation work and that welfare bodies were levelling unnecessary allegations in this regard. On this the ADC asked the SDM to personally check sanitation work and submit a report. Ms Manmohan Kaur, a municipal councillor, said the problem of stray dogs existed in the town but the authorities failed to find any solution in this regard. She said the stray dogs, who were suffering from various diseases, should be put to sleep as they were spreading infections of various kinds. However, a representative of the SPCA said dogs could not be killed. The councillor also objected to PUDA’s move of selling parks to educational institutions and not maintaining vacant plots even after charging extension fees from allottees. The issue of illegal parking of vehicles in the town was also discussed at the meeting. The ADC suggested that as the town does not possess a recovery van, it could be hired for lifting vehicles parked at unauthorised places. |
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READERS WRITE THE newly introduced Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) in Chandigarh has brought about deterioration in the health standards of the employees. It has been imposed on the staff in an arbitrary manner. No adequate dispensaries, paramedical staff and laboratories have been provided. With one or two allopathic doctors in a single dispensary, that too, located far off, the CGHS cannot cater to the needs of retired employees of Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula. Patients accompanied by attendants visit the CGHS dispensary where medicines are prescribed. They are asked to collect medicines the next day as they have to send the requisition to a particular chemist. Medicines are not given the next day due to non-availability or non-receipt of the same from the chemists. This is causing hardship to us. The authorities’ claim that the scheme has reduced the cases of fake medical bills for reimbursement has brought disrepute to the image of highly qualified doctors and lowered the reputation of staff. If an employee submits fake medical bills, he is always subject to disciplinary action. The authorities should explain the rationale behind introducing the scheme which has resulted in wastage of funds and equipment with no help to anyone. In all fairness, the scheme, if at all, should have been implemented for pensioners alone who are small in number vis-a-vis serving Central Government employees in Chandigarh. Its scope should have been expanded later. It is a good scheme but its hasty implementation, without examining the pros and cons, has multiplied the problems. For smooth and effective implementation, the following suggestions need urgent and sympathetic consideration. First, the scheme should be made optional for serving employees and compulsory for pensioners. Secondly, in tune with the government’s policy of ‘Health for all at the doorstep’, dispensaries (say, five in Chandigarh, two each in Mohali and Panchkula) should be opened with adequate doctors, paramedical staff and minimum basic laboratory facilities at a centralised place convenient to the majority. Thirdly, homoeopathy, ayurvedic and unani system of medicines should also be provided, at least in two dispensaries in Chandigarh and one each in Mohali and Panchkula. Fourthly, medicines prescribed by doctors should be issued then and there and in case of non-availability, ‘NAC’ issued. Chemist in each sector should be enlisted from whom medicines could be procured on presentation of the prescription slip. At best, a photo copy of the prescription slip could be given to the chemists before issuance of medicines. A few private clinics for pathological tests should also be nominated. Fifthly, local CGHS authorities should regularly hold meetings with heads of offices of the Central Government employees in Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula wherein representatives of recognised trade unions of the staff of Government of India in Chandigarh should be co-opted as members so that the difficulties being faced by the staff could be discussed and minimised. Sixthly, reimbursement of the medical claims may be stopped and in case of emergency, after office hours, consultation from government dispensaries, hospitals or PGI should be allowed with instructions to procure medicines from enlisted chemists and lab tests etc., if any, carried out from private enlisted centres. And finally, the 5-km limit for consultation from the AMAs should be withdrawn as it is arbitrary and retrograde. H.R. BANSAL Boycott pay channels Cable charges are being increased indiscriminately. There is absolutely no mechanism to check this menace. Clearly, people want good and variety entertainment on TV, that too, on as many channels as possible. This is the main reason why cable charges are going up almost every month in Chandigarh. On the face of it, cable operators should not be blamed for the menace. The main fault seems to lie with the telecasting companies. They are simply filling their coffers both ways — charging the viewer and the advertiser. And we suffer both ways. As viewers, we make payment to the pay channels through the cable operators. And as consumers, we patronise the sponsoring companies by buying the advertised products at inflated prices. We need to evolve some strategy to teach a lesson to these companies. All residents should unite to fight the menace. Without unity, no movement against the cable companies will succeed. Let us boycott all pay channels immediately. There are still many free channels which we can make best use of. Undoubtedly, some of these free channels are of great entertainment value. We need to tell our local cable operators to show only free-on-air channels for a reasonable fee per connection. We cannot allow foreign companies to fill their banks with our hard-earned money. I appeal to Chandigarhians to consider my suggestion. In fact, once we stop watching TV, we will enjoy our family life more. Honestly speaking, after this cable TV boom, our family life has suffered. There is no social or inter-personal interaction among family members or between families and relatives/ friends. We have become silent statues. Let us unite and say no to pay channels. P.R. KANSAL II The cable operators have again increased the charges. They are of the view that most of the channels are paid channels. But I fail to understand how they can go on increasing the charges day by day. Many channels like Sony plus, Discovery Zee plus, Star package,Ten Sports, ESPN, Star Sports, Fashion TV and so on pay service charges to Siti cables. Just as the service charges go up, the cable operators have also been increasing the rates every six months. They have also slapped a 5 per cent service tax. Add all these rates and the total cable fee for a connection will come to Rs 260 per month. Surprisingly, the cable rates vary from sector to sector, even from place to place. It is, of course, common knowledge that there are different rates for the people of Chandigarh, Panchkula and Zirakpur. In Chandigarh, the cable operators at present charge Rs 150 to Rs 200 per month on the basis of the number of channels and connections one would like to have. The
common man and the middle class are the worst affected because of the unilateral approach of the cable operators. If they are forced to curtail their entertainment, this will be unfair and
unjust. The cable users are helpless and no body seems to bother about their sad plight. Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sushma Swaraj had assured that the issue of cable rates will be resolved with TV channels. In developed countries, the cable charges are not as high as in India. TV channels cannot maintain that they are forced to hike the charges because of losses in the business; they make huge profits from advertisements. I appeal to Ms Swaraj to intervene on this very important problem and resolve it to the satisfaction of the people of Chandigarh. MADAN LAL GARG |
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Arrangement
for filing returns Chandigarh, July 13 Tax payers residing up to Sector 25, Industrial Area and Manimajra can file their returns at the Engineers Institute and from Sector 26 onwards and Mohali can file their returns at Bassi Building. Those from Nangal and Ropar can file their returns at the Batra Building in Sector 17. |
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Need to save Punjabi language highlighted Chandigarh, July 13 Inaugurating the seminar Mr Khushal Bahl, Education Minister, Punjab said though it was not easy to escape from outside influence in culture and language due to globalisation, “but we have to adopt a liberal attitude while remaining within the gambit of our own culture.” However, he emphasised on the need to translate more and more technology-related books into Punjabi to attain self sufficiency in our own mother tongue. The Hindi Sahitya Sammelan also honoured Mr S. Tarsem, Prof Kirpal Singh, Prof Preetam Singh, Dr Santosh Singh Dhir, Padamashree Guru Dayal Singh and Dr T.R. Sharma for their contribution to Punjabi and Hindi literature. The sammelan will conclude tomorrow. |
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Major’s death mourned Chandigarh, July 13 |
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Fire Committee elections Chandigarh, July 13 |
Charas worth Rs 75,000 seized Chandigarh, July 13 As per police sources, Ajay was carrying the drug in a bag. The victim’s family is in Bihar and he has six children, including a daughter. Ajay has been arrested under the NDPS Act. Scooter stolen:
Mr Ajay Kumar, a resident of Sector 37, reported that his scooter (CH 01 V 3230) was stolen from his residence on the night of July 1. A case has been registered. Man beaten
up: The police has registered a case of assault and injury against four persons here on Friday. As per police sources, Mr Jagat Ram, a resident of Dhanas, was allegedly beaten up by Darshan Singh and his three sons on July 10. Mr Ram was admitted to the General Hospital, Sector 16. Liquor seized: The police on Friday arrested Vikram and Shashi, both residents of Mauli Jagran, under various sections of the Excise Act and claimed to seize 64 pouches of liquor from their possession. |
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Mohali
couple killed in accident Khanna, July 13 According to the police the victims were identified as Subhash Chander Abrol and his wife, Ramna. The driver of the tempo and its cleaner were injured and taken to the Civil Hospital. A case under various sections of the IPC has been registered. PTI |
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Booked for selling steroids Lalru, July 13 Sources in the police said Maan Singh, a
resident of Jaroth village, had been running a private clinic here for
the past a couple of years and selling steroids. Steroids are the
drugs which can be sold and prescribed by a qualified doctor only. Maan
Singh has been booked on the complaint of Dr Daler Singh Multani, SMO
of Lalru. A case under Section 15(2) of the Medical Council of India
Act was registered against him at the Lalru Police station on June
27. Dr Multani complained to the police that the man was unqualified
and selling steroids which was not in public interest. As the police
“ignored” the case, a reminder was given on June 26. In the
reminder, Dr.Multani said if the local police was unable to take
action against the person he would approach senior police officials at
Patiala. Finally, the case was registered against the ‘doctor’ on
June 27 but no arrest has been made so far. Sources alleged that Maan
Singh was enjoying political patronage and the police was reluctant to
arrest him. |
BIZ CLIPS The price is slightly less than Rs 50,000 and the bike is available throughout the country. Medicine reintroduced Audio systems |
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