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MC to spend Rs 116.3 cr on developmental projects
‘Stitching’ a bleak future
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‘I want to devote my life to singing hymns’
PAP Class IV employees want permanent posts
Youth jumps before train, killed
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MC to spend Rs 116.3 cr on developmental projects
Jalandhar, March 13 The councillors alleged that no discussion over the budget was held. They also rued the fact that the budget report was not even opened once, as the meeting, especially scheduled for the purpose, was scrapped at the last moment. Two meetings of the House were planned for the day. As the first meeting was about to conclude, one of the Congress councillors said the budget be passed then and there, “so that there is no need to come again”. The MC officials immediately endorsed the proposal. But the Opposition members protested against the move. Mr Krishan Dev Bhandari, MC’s leader of the Opposition, alleged that he signed the copy of the budget “under pressure”. Earlier also, pandemonium was created in the House, as leaders of the Opposition raised issues pertaining to the proposed BOT projects, non-functional street lights, stray dogs menace and illegal multi-storey hotels and hospitals. Meanwhile, the highlights of the MC’s budget proposals include allocation of an amount of Rs 116.3 crore for various developmental works in the forthcoming financial year, the income and recovery of Rs 146.5 crore with cent per cent expenditure, and the loans and encashment to the tune of Rs 35 crore. From the development funds, an amount to the tune of Rs 28.2 crore has been sanctioned for water supply and sewage works. Construction and re-laying of roads is also on the priority list and an amount of Rs 24 crore has been approved for the purpose. An amount of Rs 10.2 crore has been earmarked for the construction of flyovers and subways, while Rs 7.8 crore is expected to go for street lights, which have been non-operational in many areas for a long time. The corporation has also earmarked an amount of Rs 3.5 crore for slum improvement, Rs 1.7 crore for the purchase of new machinery and vehicles, and Rs 25.78 crore for the payment of bills and repair of tubewells and street lights. |
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‘Stitching’ a bleak future
Jalandhar, March 13 It’s evening. The sun is down. And in the cramped one-room quarter (their home) in Basti Danishmandan here, nine-year-old Sunil, twelve-year-old Sahil and thirteen-year-old Sagar, all brothers, are busy stitching footballs. The floor is strewn with rubber pieces, and their parents are giving final touches to the footballs. Tomorrow morning, these children have to appear for their examination, but that is not at all on their mental horizon. Their talk is laced with adult jargon and they ramble on about “responsibility”, “two square meals”, “economic hardship”. There’s almost a chilling clarity that these children have about their life. “I am a bit weak in studies. I don’t secure any position in my class,” says Sagar stoically. He hates stitching footballs. “My arms ache. But there is no choice. I understand my responsibility well.” He says he would go abroad and work there. “I’ll do there whatever I am told to. At least, I will get money. Here, you cannot earn much,” he adds, with maturity beyond his years. And he would never play football. Too many unpleasant memories are associated with it. On his part, Sunil knows he would not go far in school. “I usually secure 26th rank in my class,” he remarks. When asked how many students there were in his class, he replies curtly, “Twentynine”. He wants football to vanish out of his life. But he, too, is aware of the importance of football-stitching for his family. His brother Sahil, without taking his eyes off the football he is stitching, says that “no work” would mean “no food”. “I wish my children could have a carefree childhood. But if we don’t involve them in our work, we may well have to go without food. It’s not that our earnings are great. We can barely manage Rs 3000 per month,” says Chanchal, their mother. Almost similar story is repeated in the homes of Raju, Perdip, Dolly and many more children in Basti Danishmandan and Basti Mithu here. In many cases, fathers spend their evenings in drinking and gambling, while the children are saddled with the responsibility of stitching footballs. When contacted, Deputy Commissioner, Jalandhar, Mr Ashok Gupta, said the Labour Department had started a special programme to wean these children away from this work and encourage them to join schools. “We have more than 20 such special schools here. Every three months, we hold meetings with industrialists. Recently, I went to Mussoorie to attend a workshop on child labour. The issue of child labour is high on our priority list,” he added. |
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Chatha for separate Sikh gurdwara panel in Haryana
Jalandhar, March 13 Mr Chatha was here as the chief guest of the annual prize distribution function of the Lyallpur Khalsa College today. The Haryana minister claimed that there was resentment among the Sikhs in Haryana against the functioning of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). He said the community there had been demanding the setting up of a Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee. The minister said most of the Haryanvis in Akali Dal were disgruntled with the SGPC, alleging that they were being discriminated against by the party leaders. “They have told us that only Punjabis were being assigned duties in gurdwaras in Haryana.” Mr Chatha said they were also agitated over the fact that no SGPC-run institute had been set up in the state. “The Sikhs in Haryana have also been complaining that their share out of the total SGPC funds was meagre,” he added. The minister in the Hooda government alleged that Sikhs in the state had been telling him that they were getting dictations from the SGPC to vote for Akalis during the elections and later their rights and their demands were not being conceded to. He said many veteran Akali leaders in Haryana, including Mr Harbans Singh Dachar, were among the lot who had been demanding a separate Sikh body for the state. He added that they were peeved with the “indifference of the Akalis” over the recent incident during which 27 deras were demolished in a day in the state. The minister said his panel was consulting various scholars, sociologists and educationists of Haryana for taking a decision on the matter. He denied any delay on the part of the committee to submit its report due to the forthcoming elections in Punjab. The Haryana Agriculture Minister said that he was aiming at converting at least 25 per cent of the land under paddy for cultivation of alternative crops. He said he would do this by giving farmers of the state an assured price for the new crops. He added that during the previous years, farmers who had cultivated sunflower were disappointed, as they did not get a good price for the produce and had to come to Khanna and Doraha to sell their yield. |
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‘I want to devote my life to singing hymns’
Phagwara, March 13 As memory led him, the singer had both a literal and figurative walk down the lanes of Mehligate, Jalotian Mohalla and half a dozen other places in Phagwara. This Sunday, he remembered the baby steps that he had taken in these by-lanes clutching the finders of his father, Mr Purshotam Jalota. He went to the house of his ancestors, as well as the room where his father used to do “riaz” and “sadhna”. Anoop Jalota also gave a mesmerising performance in the Shiv Lok Sadhna Ashram for nearly one hour, permeating spiritual aura in the air with “Ramnaam”. The singer was cheered when he started his trademark bhajan “Aisi lagi lagan”. The ghazal maestro said that his father was a disciple of Master Ratan Hadiabadi and that he was the disciple of his father. When asked about the reports of his joining BJP sometime back, Mr Jalota said he did have friends in the party, but he could not even imagine dabbling in politics. “I want to devote my life to singing hymns. I also wish to sing shabads from Gurbani”, he said. Anoop Jalota would soon make his Bollywood debut with a film highlighting the rich Indian culture and ethos. His three new albums — Ram, Krishan and Nirgun — recorded by Music Today, would soon be released. The singer said he had released over 200 albums and recorded over 1200 bhajans, ghazals and songs in six languages including Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali and Marathi.
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PAP Class IV employees want permanent posts
Jalandhar, March 13 They said that they had been working in the PAP,
IRB, and Commando as barbers, cook, washermen, sweeper and tailor, for the past more than 15 years for a paltry sum of Rs 2,671 per month. The employees lamented that they did not get any other allowance like TA/DA and
HRA. “Despite the assurance from the Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, no step has been taken in this direction so far,” the employees regretted. |
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Youth jumps before train, killed
Phagwara, March 13 The railway police sent the body to the local Civil Hospital for a post mortem examination. The police has registered a case in this connection. The officials said they were trying to
identify the deceased. They added that investigations were on into the case. |
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