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Endless queues, pestering agents and pending passports
No Divali in Butala village
State govt to rope in NRIs for rural development
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Jalandhar
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Supervisor of Dana Mandi held for taking bribe
Powerless in Shakti Nagar
Police DAV team wins swimming championship
Amit wrote suicide note: Experts
Festival comes a day late
for policemen
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Endless queues, pestering agents and pending passports
Jalandhar, November 3 Desperate to shift abroad, residents of the region— famous for its string of NRIs— start lining up outside this passport office by 6 am, all aiming to be the first ones to enter the gate that opens at 8.30 am. When the doors finally open, they are made to enter inside in groups of 10 to 15 to avoid chaos. During that anxious period, agents keep pestering the visitors to buy application forms Rs 15 (Rs 5 higher than the printed price) or get a file prepared for charges that vary from Rs 150 to 200. And before the Regional Passport Officer arrives, the agents do a swift disappearing act. From January till October this year, as many as 1,48,501 residents of six Doaba districts— Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, Nawanshahr, Amritsar and Gurdaspur— to which this office caters to, have already got their passports made. “Had there not been a shortage of passport booklets, the numbers could have swelled by at least 10, 000,” said Mr Amarjit Singh, Regional Passport Officer. “The figure is bound to touch 1.8 lakh by the yearend.” The number of people coming to get passports has been rising steadily for the past few years, the officer informed. “Last year, the figure stood at 1.7 lakh. Till year 2001, the highest number of passports dispatched was 1.2 lakh.” The officer attributes the quicker clearance of passports to the efficiency and promptness of his staff. “A passport here shouldn’t take more than 21 days to be cleared if the police inquiry is completed within 20 days after they receive the application.” But some visitors have another story to tell. “I have been coming to this office to get my passport renewed since April. Every time I’m told to furnish one affidavit or the other”, said a frustrated young girl. A government employee from Begowal said she had applied for a passport almost three months ago, but has not yet been issued one. “I came to know its status but now they have asked me to wait for an hour.” A Nawanshahr-based woman, donning her bridal churra, was also seen moving from one counter to another in an effort to know the status of her passport. She is waiting to join her husband in Canada. “We got married recently. I was to accompany my husband but couldn’t, as my passport got delayed,” she said sadly. |
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No Divali in Butala village
Kapurthala, November 3 On October 3, Gurdev Singh had hanged himself to death at the Nadala grain market after waiting for buyers of his discoloured paddy lying in the market for one week. Residents of Butala village are agitated over the inaction of state administration in redressing their grievances which include the lack of measures taken to save lands from eroding in the wake of the altered course of the Beas River, and compensation to families whose lands have already eroded. |
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State govt to rope in NRIs for rural development
Jalandhar, November 3 As another incentive, the government has agreed to offer a share of up to Rs 50 crore for the scheme. Earlier, the upper limit was Rs 1 crore. A communiqué in this regard has reached the offices of the Deputy Commissioners concerned. The communiqué says the decision was recently taken under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. As per the directive, ministers and MLAs of the state have been asked to identify five villages in their respective constituencies where the Matching Grant Scheme can be implemented in collaboration with the NRIs of the village. The District Commissioners and the NRIs will be asked to maintain a panel of certified engineers who will check the detailed estimates made by the investors. The cost estimates will then be forwarded to a committee headed by the Deputy Commissioner concerned, says the letter. After a project is cleared, the funds for it will be transferred to the Deputy Commissioner concerned. The letter also makes it clear that under the 50/50 Scheme, the NRI or the NGO must incur 25 per cent of the cost first and then ask the government for the releasing its 25 per cent share. To get the next 25 per cent from the government, the NRI or the NGO will have to spend its remaining 25 per cent to claim the second half of the government share. The Deputy Commissioner concerned will also be asked to push for the completion of the project within a year from the date the funds are released. The officials have also been directed to process the projects in a time-bound manner as per the guidelines released last year. The department will decide the quantum of the matching grant to be given to a particular project. The projects cannot just be limited to the setting up of hospitals, street lights, libraries, drinking water, sewage disposal and sports stadium but must affect people from all walks of life, adds the communiqué. |
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Supervisor of Dana Mandi held for taking bribe
Phagwara, November 3 According to the Vigilance Bureau (VB) inspector, the Mandi supervisor Dilawar Chand had demanded Rs 20,000 as a bribe from Mr Krishan Bhardwaj, the Mandi vice-chairman, also working as a commission agent in the local Dana Mandi. “Dilawar Chand, alias DC, had been demanding 20 paise per bag of paddy as a bribe from me. My firm had procured one lakh bags and the amount added up to Rs 20,000. He had been harassing me for quite some time. At last, a deal was struck at Rs 10, 000,” alleged Mr Bhardwaj, adding that he had contacted the Vigilance Bureau in this regard. The VB team raided the supervisor’s house located at Bhagatpura, his shop at Palahi Gate and his office at the local Dana Mandi. “All notes that the accused was taking as a bribe were of the denomination of Rs 500. An FIR has been registered against the accused at the Jalandhar police station number 4,” said Vigilance Bureau DSP Jagdish Mitter. The accused was produced before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kapurthala, today who sent him to two days’ police remand. |
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Powerless in Shakti Nagar
Jalandhar, November 3 Residents of the area rang up media offices to report the disruption in the power supply. A bank official residing in the area flayed the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) for its “repeated failure” in supplying power to the area. On Divali too, Sakti Nagar was without any power in the afternoon, he added. According to a PSEB official, the blackout resulted due to some technical problems at the Maqsudan sub-station. The employees were changing the battery charge that was not functioning, he claimed. |
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Police DAV team wins swimming championship
Jalandhar, November 3 The school team clinched most prizes in the Under-11, 14 and 17 categories while the team from Sain Dass Senior Secondary School won medals in the Under-19 category. In the Under-19 100-mt freestyle competition, Sachin Khanna and Prince Sharma of Sain Dass School got the first and second prizes respectively. In the Under-17 100-mt backstroke swimming, Manpreet and Vipin of Police DAV Public School got the first and second prizes respectively while Mathur Kalia of Parbati Jain Senior Secondary School secured third rank. |
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Amit wrote suicide note: Experts
Jalandhar, November 3 The suicide note was found in Amit’s hostel room on October 13. Later, the note was sent by the Railway Police to the forensic experts. A senior official of the Railway Police said that a team had been sent to Bihar to arrest the girl whose name had figured in the suicide note. |
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Colourful start to youth fest
Jalandhar, November 3 The function was presided over by the university Vice-Chancellor, Dr S.P. Singh. Events, including classical music percussion non-percussion, vocal music, shabad/bhajan and vaar singing, were held. All fine arts events like clay modelling, sketching, painting, poster making, collage, fresh and dry flower arrangements were also organised. Items like mimicry, histrionics and one-act play were organised in the main hall of Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall here. The results of the festival would be declared on the last day, said Dr S.S. Sangha, Associate Dean Student Welfare, Regional Campus, Guru Nanak Dev University. The zonal contest for girls would be held from November 8 to 11, he added. |
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Festival comes a day late
for policemen
Kapurthala, November 3 As such, Mr Rajiv Ahir, SSP, Kapurthala, decided to celebrate the festival with his colleagues and their families at the police lines on Wednesday. The SSP distributed crackers and sweets to the children of the personnel. |
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