Ludhiana, April 28
Unending greed of her in-laws for dowry has put a 30-year-old woman on the brink of death. She is fighting a nearly lost battle for survival at the local DMC Hospital.

Rajinder Kaur, a resident of Najibabad village in Uttar Pradesh, was married to a man of Rattan Nagar in Patiala in April 1988. On April 15, her in-laws, who had allegedly been demanding dowry from her, poured kerosene on her and set her ablaze. She was taken to a local hospital by her parents, whom she had called earlier on the phone.

Infection spread in her body and she was admitted to the Burn Intensive Care Unit at DMC, where she is now on a respirator. According to her relatives, the doctors have given up on her.

Her brother Happy alleges that Rajinder, who has a four-year-old son, was being harassed for dowry since the day of her marriage. Her family had paid Rs 1 lakh to Sarabjit Singh, her husband, who wanted to set up a medical store at Patiala. Happy alleges that her in-laws were demanding Rs 3 lakh and a car and she was beaten mercilessly.

On the night of April 15, she had given a call to her parents, complaining that she was being beaten. Listening to her tale, the parents reached Patiala, only to be told by the neighbours that she had received burn injuries. They took her to the hospital immediately.

Rajinder has given her statement to the Tehsildar-cum-Magistrate, Patiala, alleging that her mother-in-law and sister-in-law had poured kerosene on her and set her on fire. A case has been registered against her husband, Sarabjit Singh, father-in-law Amar Singh, mother-in-law Satpal Kaur and two sisters-in-law at a police station in Patiala. All accused have absconded.

Her brother says that the family is camping in a dharamshala as they have no relatives here.

Ludhiana, April 28
Anita (not her real name), a 27 year-old girl from Ludhiana, who got married four months ago to a boy of her own choice, has left her husband’s house as she found her in-laws “interfering”.

She also blames her husband for showing his “true colours” after marriage. At present, she is being counselled by a city-based psychologist.

This is not an isolated case. Several city-based psychiatrists maintained that there was a rise in the number of cases of marital disputes and domestic violence in the city. The problem was prevalent in both rural and urban society. More awareness, higher education, women being more assertive about their rights were some of the major reasons due to which more and more such cases were being reported.

Dr Ravinder Kala, who works with Roshni, an NGO said in such cases, problems were on both sides. The husband, wife, in-laws and parents, were at fault. We are getting a number of such cases daily. Fortunately, a majority of the conflicts are resolved. But at times, the end comes with a divorce. Conflicts start where husbands are uneducated or less educated than girls, unemployed, drug-addicts, violent or in-laws are interfering or over demanding. Very few girls sit at home and blame their fate, while a majority of them come to us with their problems seeking advice or consultation”, said Dr Kala.

Dr Kala further stressed that such girls and families need thorough counselling. They should not be encouraged. They should be told that new relationships needed time to develop. “We are always there to help. But instead of being biased, we need to listen to both the sides patiently and draw conclusions after that. The parents should try to be non-interfering and should give ample time to their children to understand each other”, she said.

Ms Manju Mahendru, Reader in Psychology, feels that any kind of violence should not be tolerated by the girls. “But these days, girls, too, have become very short-tempered. They do not want to be dominated by anyone. This attitude should be changed. They need to get themselves adjusted to the new environment. Minor problems can be sorted out easily. They should demand liberty but to a certain extent”, stressed Ms Mahendru.

Ludhiana, April 28
Alleging tremendous pressure on her by the management for admission of some students, Ms Neena Khanna, Principal, Kundan Vidya Mandir, today said that she would resign on May 1.

The Principal said she was being told to admit a few students who otherwise did not perform well in the interviews. She said since she could not bear injustice being meted out to other deserving candidates, she decided that she must resign. She said she had already conveyed the message to all members of the school management.

Not only Ms Khanna, Mr Prem Aggarwal, manager of the school, has also been replaced by Ms Inderjeet Gill Vashisht, former Principal of Government College for Women, some time ago.

The decision in this regard is said to have been taken in view of the ill-health of Mr Aggarwal for the past few months.

Lala Lajpat Rai, president of the management, was not available for comments. Ms Inderjit Gill Vashisht, when contacted, said that she had not received any communication from the Principal. Pertaining to allegations of being pressurised, she said it had never happened. She said that she or any other member of the management had never tried to put pressure.

Ludhiana, April 28
There is a good news for the MBA and MCA aspirants from Punjab. The students will no longer have to appear for independent entrance tests of the state universities. Instead, a common test will be conducted by Punjabi University, the exact date of which is yet to be decided.

This was stated by Mr K.K. Bhatnagar, Principal Secretary, Technical Education and Industrial Training, Punjab, during his visit to the city today. He was invited as the chief guest during the sixth annual prize distribution function organised by Satguru Ram Singh Government Polytechnic for Women, Rishi Nagar.

Mr Bhatnagar said earlier Punjab Technical University, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar and Punjabi University, Patiala were conducting independent tests for admission to MBA in the affiliated colleges. But this year a common entrance test will be conducted by Punjabi University. He said Punjabi University would conduct the entrance test for two consecutive years while Guru Nanak Dev University will hold the test for the next two years.

Mr Bhatnagar said decision in this regard had been taken as the department had received several letters from the students pointing out that a common test should be conducted for them. The students had complained that in the present circumstances they were being forced to waste their money, time and effort to appear for different tests. He said students would no longer have to buy separate admission forms and appear for three entrance tests at three different places.

The Principal Secretary said for the next four years Punjab Technical University was not being given a chance to hold the test as it was being felt that the university was already burdened with the task of conducting entrance test for engineering courses. He said since PTU was just five years old, in another four years it would get sufficient experience of conducting the tests.

The joint test will cover only three universities of Punjab. All those aspiring to take admission to MBA in Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, will have to appear for Management Aptitude Test (MAT) to be conducted by the All- India Management Association (AIMA) to be held on May 2. Besides, those interested in taking admission to Panjab University, Chandigarh, will have to appear for the Combined Entrance Test (CAT).

Talking about the recent decision of the state government to privatise all ITIs and polytechnic institutes, Mr Bhatnagar said only 10 ITIs of the state that have a building but were yet to appoint a staff, will be privatised. He said the rest of the ITIs and polytechnic institutes would continue to function as it is as the staff in such institutes was not willing to work under private sector.

Ludhiana, April 28
Quite a stir was created in the Civil Hospital here around midnight when a woman patient forcibly frisked other patients and their relatives claiming that her purse containing cash and valuables had been stolen.

The woman, a patient in gastroenterology ward, claimed that her purse that contained two gold rings, a mobile phone and Rs 800, that was lying near her bed had been stolen.

The patients alerted the authorities who in turn called cops from the Division No. 2 police station. The policeman had a tough time convincing the woman who insisted on checking all patients and their luggage.

Ludhiana, April 28
More than 12 councillors belonging to the SAD and the BJP here have joined issue with the City Mayor Mr Nahar Singh Gill, challenging his claim that all 70 councillors in the city were working for the success of Congress candidate Manish Tiwari.

Addressing a press conference after a meeting of the councillors and other senior functionaries of the combine here today, the group leaders of the party councillors Mr Harbhajan Singh Dang (SAD) and Mr Parveen Bansal (BJP) said the Mayor was trying to draw political mileage through misuse of his position, which ought to be above party politics. The SAD-BJP councillors asserted that Mr Gill, belonging to the Congress, had every right to work for the party candidate, but at the same time, he should not deny the same right to councillors from opposition parties.

The district president of SAD, Mr Avtar Singh Makkar, who was also present on the occasion, observed that the Mayor had shown political immaturity by his unfounded claim just in order to impress the Congress nominee Mr Manish Tiwari, and to please his party leaders. “The fact is that Mr Gill has been neglecting his real duty towards the development of the city and improvement in the delivery of civic services to pursue his political ambitions for the past more than two months.

Among others Mr Hakam Singh Giapsura, Mr Bhairaj Singh, Mr Jaswinder Singh Bhola, Mr Amarjit Singh, Mr Surinder Sharma, Mr Gurdip Singh Neetu, all councillors, attended the meeting.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader and former Deputy Speaker of Punjab Assembly Sat Pal Gosain went on a door-to-door campaign in the Shivaji Nagar area in Ludhiana East Assembly segment in support of the alliance nominee Mr Sharanjit Singh Dhillon. Addressing a series of meetings, he described the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, as a political giant, who had an open and clear mind and strong moral values.

The BJP district president, along with other party activists Mr Sat Pal Saggar, president, BJP East Mandal, and Mr Ashok Solanki, president of Ward No 53, maintained in a statement that sensing its defeat in the coming Lok Sabha polls, the Congress was resorting to falsehood and gimmicks to misguide the people. Referring to a function organised at the residence of the Punjab Minister for Higher Education, Mr Harnam Das Johar, in which certain residents of Islam Ganj locality, described as BJP workers, had joined the Congress party, they claimed that the said persons had nothing to do with the BJP, nor were they primary members of the party.

Reacting to the Opposition propaganda that the Congress government had done precious little to improve the lot of farmers, the former director of Housefed, Mr Krishan Kumar Bawa, blamed the Akali Dal leadership for exploiting the farmers and ignoring them during the five years of SAD-BJP rule in Punjab. He said on the contrary, the Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, had sat on a dharna in Delhi to plead the case of the farmers.

Mr Bawa said the very fact that the SAD still had a representative in the central Cabinet in Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa while the farmers were being given a raw deal negated the claim of the Akali leadership of championing the cause of farmers.

Ludhiana, April 28
The Congress candidate for the Ludhiana Lok Sabha seat, Mr Manish Tiwari, has charged the local administrative machinery with committing excesses and over-reacting to minor violations during the election campaign. He said he was made to waste time in making representations.

In a written communication to the Election Observer, copies of which have also been sent to the District Election Officer and the Election Commission, Mr Ajay Tiwari, election officer in charge of the Congress nominee, has alleged that some bus shelters erected by the Municipal Corporation were rented out to put up banners, each of which cost about Rs 6000.

However, the banners, put up at Fountain Chowk and the Jagraon bridge, were removed by the administration without bothering to ascertain the real position from the Congress candidate, he alleged.

Ludhiana, April 28
With the countdown for the elections having begun, the candidates in Ludhiana Parliamentary constituency have intensified campaigning. Several top leaders of the Congress and the BJP are expected to visit here as the campaigning enters its final phase.

All three main contenders for the seat, Mr Munish Tiwari of the Congress, Mr Sharanjit Singh Dhillon of the SAD-BJP alliance and Mr Balwant Singh Ramoowalia of the Lok Bhalai Party have intensified their campaigns.

It was Mr Ramoowalia who took the lead in launching his election campaign. He had announced much before the elections that he would be contesting from Ludhiana Parliamentary constituency. It is his spadework during that period which is paying him dividends at least in terms of the turnout at his rallies and public meetings.

Moreover, the sensitive issue of the girls deserted by NRI grooms is finding so many listeners. But now he seems to be going for the kill. He begins his day early in the morning and ends it late in the night moving from place to place to ensure maximum contact with as many people as possible.

Mr Tiwari of the Congress was last to join the campaign as it took sometime for the Congress to finalise its candidate for Ludhiana. But Mr Tiwari seems to have made up the delay. Besides, the strong network of the Congress workers in the rural and urban areas is standing him in good stead. Moreover, during his tenure as the president of the Indian Youth Congress he has enrolled lot of workers in the area.

Supported by a strong network of the workers he has already gathered the much needed momentum. Moreover, the results of the exit polls, which show the Congress performing far better than expected has added to his confidence. He claims himself to be on a strong wicket. He hopes that some senior Congress leaders will visit the city in the first week of May.

The Akali-BJP alliance candidate, Mr Dhillon too is not leaving anything to chance. He tries to handle each and everything himself and work out the minute details himself. He is expecting some senior BJP leaders would come to Ludhiana. The results of the exit polls do not seem to bother him much, but these have definitely made him meticulous.

Ludhiana, April 28
It is no longer Vajpayee versus Sonia here. The two exit polls predicting a “not so feel good” situation have once again brought the attention of the voters in this parliamentary constituency to local issues and candidates’ profiles. The election campaign that began with the Vajpayee factor eclipsing traditional election issues like caste, problems of roads, water, electricity, etc, is now moving towards personal contact and ability of each candidate to deliver. Every candidate is now using his own charms to mesmerise the voter, making the contest keenly contested.

With the focus moving away from national politics, factors that were being mentioned in whispers have become loud with the voters expecting each candidate to make their stand clear on the subject. With the absence of any celebrity in the fray or during campaigning, the election remains dull and lacklustre. The microscopic scrutiny of the poll process by the election observers has only yielded united protests from rival candidates, besides further dampening the hullabaloo.

The Lok Bhalai Party President and two times Union Minister, Mr Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, has resorted to exploiting his personal contacts and is seeking votes on the basis of work he has done for the people over the last two years. His campaign is spearheaded by Punjabi pop sensation, Harbhajan Mann, and the crowds the two pull are becoming uncomfortable for the rivals. Highlighting issues such as “exploitation of women by NRI grooms” and educating women about their rights have helped Mr Ramoowalia make a sizeable dent in the vote bank. However, it remains to be seen whether Ramoowalia, the crowd puller, can manage to turn the heads that gather to listen to him into votes.

The caste factor will play its role in both the rural and urban segments. In the rural areas, Mr Ramoowalia and the Akali Dal nominee, Mr Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, being Jat Sikhs will garner support from this community. But on the other hand in the city the Congress nominee, Mr Manish Tewari, is hoping to cash on the sentiment that a Hindu has been awarded a ticket from this constituency after a gap of 20 years. The last Hindu candidate to contest elections from here on the ticket of a national party was Mr Joginder Pal Pandey of the Congress.

Militancy in Punjab during the 1980’s still casts its shadow here. While the Congress candidate is seen as a victim of militancy (his father Dr. V.N Tewari, a Rajya Sabha M.P was gunned down by militants) that earns him a lot of Hindu sympathy, the Akali candidate is bearing the brunt due to the close proximity of his family members to the police during the days of terrorism. This reported closeness of Mr Dhillon’s family with the police during the days of terrorism is being exploited by his opponents.

The ruling party nominee will benefit from the quick procurement of wheat from the farmers and almost instant disbursement of money for the produce. But it is yet to be seen how many votes the Congress is able to get from the rural segments of Kila Raipur, Dakha, Kum Kalan, Jagraon, etc which will be heavily contested between the Akalis and Mr Ramoowalia.

Ludhiana, April 28
Industrialists of this city are indifferent to the election campaign. They are sore over political parties not having shown any sympathy with the industry suffering from the continuous rise in steel prices and labour hassles. They express disillusionment with all three major parties, the Congress, BJP and the SAD.

Mr Inderjit Singh Pradhan, president, and Mr Avtar Singh, general secretary of the Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings, maintain that industries suffered during SAD-BJP rule as well as under the Congress government.

The SAD-BJP government made several promises during its tenure but did not fulfil any, they say. Similarly, the Congress government during the past two years has not done anything. The Chief Minister fixed meetings with the industry and then cancelled those, they complain. In fact, the Congress ignited labour trouble in the cycle industry and some other units in September last year, the industry representatives allege.

Both the Central and state governments, they allege, have failed to effectively handle the labour problems. The Punjab Government has the responsibility of maintaining industrial peace in the city, while the Centre has failed to check the rise in steel prices, which is crippling the small-scale industry, he says.

Mr Pradhan and Mr Avtar Singh said a meeting of the industrial association is being convened to discuss the situation and take a decision regarding the Lok Sabha elections in Punjab.

Mr V.P. Chopra, president of the Federation of Small Industries Associations, Punjab, also said the industry was indifferent to the elections because the state government had not done its duty. Mr Chopra said the Centre had taken steps for the welfare of the small-scale sector but had miserably failed to check the “loot of steel producers.”

Mr P.D. Sharma, president of the Apex Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was of the view the political parties had never thought of putting up good and competent persons who could look after the interests of the industry and trade. Parties were putting up lightweight candidates or outsiders who only looked after their bosses or selfish interests and never bothered about the interest of the trade and industry.

Ludhiana, April 28
The Bharti Kisan Union (BKU), alleging that the Congress government in Punjab has been pursuing anti-farmer policies, has said that the party would have to pay the price for this in the coming elections.

In a statement here today, BKU president Ajmer Singh Lakhowal and general secretary Manjit Singh Kadian lamented that as a result of non-payment of sugarcane arrears and denial of the announced bonus for paddy, farmers were feeling frustrated.

The government was using repressive measures to suppress the voice of the farming community.

Ludhiana, April 28
The state unit of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) and the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (labour and employment wing) have urged the government to declare a holiday on International Labour Day on May 1.

Mr Balwant Rai Kapoor, president, INTUC, and National Organisation of Government Employees (NOGE) general secretary Dr Shiv Gupta and Indian National Bank Employees Congress (INBEC) president K.R. Tripathi, said they had appealed to Union Labour Minister Sahib Singh Verma, Union Finance Minister Jaswant Singh and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to declare a national holiday on the occasion of International Labour Day which is celebrated throughout the world to pay homage to the labour leaders who had sacrificed their lives for the unity and integrity of the labour movement in Chicago.

Ludhiana, April 28
In a move to persuade politicians to take up the issue of the construction of a Kartarpur corridor to link Dera Baba Nanak with Gurdwara Dera Sahib in Pakistan, the Sangat Langha Kartapur, an organisation working for such a corridor, has appealed to the voters in this constituency to vote only for the candidate who declares open support for the project.

The chief sewadar of the organisation, Principal Harjinder Singh Randhawa, has issued an appeal saying since the politicians are not willing to come out openly in support of the corridor, the voters must take the opportunity to get the candidates in the fray to commit themselves to taking up the issue in Parliament. Leaders have not shown interest despite the fact that nearly 10 lakh Indians visit Dera Baba Nanak to have a glimpse of the gurdwara from a distance. It was during Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s Lahore visit in 2000 that Pakistan offered to build a 2 km corridor to enable Indians to visit Gurdwara Dera Sahib without a visa or passport, he points out.

Dera Baba Nanak, the appeal says, is sacred to all religions as three shrines of Guru Nanak exit in the form of an Islamic grave, a Hindu samadh and the Sikhs’ angitha. Nowhere else in the world three shrines of a single person coexist.

Even in the government developed colonies there is water scarcity which refutes the false claims of 100 percent drinking water supply in the notified area of the city. Closing eyes to the realities on the ground situation and believing blindly in the false claims of the administration is not going to help either politicians like the Mayor or the public at large.

For example the drinking water problem in government developed colony of Dugri Urban Estate-II continues and the people living on the Ist and II nd floor of the HIG flats have been suffering ever since the Congress took over. All complaints lodged with the water works staff of the corporation posted in Dugri have not been attended to till date.

In case of electricity failure in the area, which is quite frequent these days, the condition of water supply becomes more acute because the generating sets kept for running the tubewells do not function due to want of diesel, which the staff claims, is never supplied to them. They claim this was being done on the instructions of the Municipal Commissioner in the name of economy. Unless the present day politicians and the administration check the realities on the ground nothing will improve and the public will keep suffering.

Will the Mayor care to check the correctness of the complaint made as above by visiting the HIG flats, Dugri, Phase-II and see for himself the sample of the quality drinking water.

Khanna, April 28
The local police arrested a satta operator and seized a few slips and Rs 190 in cash last night.

Ludhiana, April 28
An Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police has been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act for allegedly taking bribe from a wheat floor trader .

The case was registered today on the complaint of Bittu, who runs a flour mill near Dholewal.