J A L A N D H A R

Delay in payment of claim proves costly to Life Insurance Corporation
Jalandhar, May 20
Delay in making a payment of Rs 5 lakh for a claim to a nominee of a Nakodar-based resident proved to be costly to the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC).

146 booths set up for pulse polio drive
Phagwara, May 20
The Phagwara administration today appealed to residents to bring their children up to five years of age to the booths near their homes for the Pulse Polio Immunisation campaign to be held on May 21.

Fraud by travel agent alleged
Jalandhar, May 20
In another case of fraud, two youths, Amit Kumar Verma and Vir Bahadur, have sought the police action against a Preet Nagar-based travel agent, who they alleged had sent them to Dubai on a false promise of jobs.

Woman arrested for robbing her in-laws’ house
Phagwara, May 20
The Phagwara police headed by ASP, Dr Sukhchain Singh Gill, claimed to have succeeded in unearthing a conspiracy allegedly hatched by one Surjit Kaur, who with the connivance of a few others, allegedly attacked and robbed the house of her in-laws on May 16.

Atwal in favour of reservation for backward classes
Phagwara, May 20
The Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker, Mr Charanjit Singh Atwal, has justified the reservation for other backward classes, and the proposal of the Human Resource Development Ministry to introduce reservations for the OBCs. He expressed his support to the proposal to increase the seats in different professional institutions also.

State electricity board employees to observe ‘Black Day’ on
May 22
Jalandhar, May 20
The Joint Action Committee of the PSEB employees would observe May 22 as a “Black Day” in protest against construction projects of pilot workshops, civil projects and micro-hydel projects going to private companies.

Delay in payment of claim proves costly to Life Insurance Corporation
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, May 20
Delay in making a payment of Rs 5 lakh for a claim to a nominee of a Nakodar-based resident proved to be costly to the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC).

Even as the LIC officials contested the claim before the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, they later paid an amount of Rs 6, 03,470 to the nominee during the pendency of the proceedings and asked for dismissal of the complaint, as they said that the payment had been made with interest.

But the forum of Mr M.M. Bhalla, President, and Mr Surinder Bhalla, member, decided otherwise. They observed that the complainant was entitled to 9 per cent interest on the amount paid from the date of three months after submission of the claim up to the date of payment. They also asked the LIC to pay an amount of Rs 2000 as the cost of the complaint.

Chatranjan Singh, the policy holder, had passed away on July 27, 2003, at the age of 33 years on account of a respiratory arrest. At that time, the policy had run for more than three years from the effective date of insurance. He had made his minor nephew, Harkamal Jit Singh, as his nominee. His case was put forward through the designated appointee, Ms Rajwinder Kaur, a guardian.

The complainant said that she had completed and complied with all requirements and submitted claim forms for its speedy settlement. She alleged that the LIC had dilly-dallied and harassed her. She alleged that the LIC officials kept silent over her letters and did not even show courtesy to acknowledge the same.

She added that no reply was made to the legal notice served by the complainant’s counsel. On account of this, she asked for Rs 5 lakh as sum insured with bonuses, interest at the rate of 18 per cent per annum from July 27, 2003, till the date of payment, compensation of Rs 1 lakh and Rs 10,000 as cost of complaint.

But during the course of proceedings, on July 23, 2005, the LIC made a payment of Rs 6,03,477 through a cheque and pleaded for dismissal of the complaint.

However, the counsel for the complainant, Mr K.C. Malhotra, urged that the forum rely upon observation in case 2004 (1) Judicial Reports Consumer Page 11 and 199 (II) CLT 485 of Supreme Court for the support of his contentions that when the claim had been paid during the pendency of the case, the complainant is entitled to interest for the delayed payment.

Therefore, the forums asked the LIC to make a payment with 9 per cent rate of interest, and Rs 2000 as the cost of complaint.

146 booths set up for pulse polio drive
Tribune News Service

Phagwara, May 20
The Phagwara administration today appealed to residents to bring their children up to five years of age to the booths near their homes for the Pulse Polio Immunisation campaign to be held on May 21.

The Phagwara Senior Medical Officer (SMO), Dr Yash Mitra, asked the residents to make the polio eradication drive a success.

He urged them to cooperate with the health authorities in getting their children immunised. He said polio vaccine would be administered to the children at 146 booths, including 102 in rural areas and three mobile ones, all over Phagwara.

“There are about 30,000 children in the age group of below five years. This is the second round of national immunisation, and as a result of the effective steps taken by the Kapurthala Health Department, no polio case has been detected in the past three years,” said Dr Mitra.

Fraud by travel agent alleged
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, May 20
In another case of fraud, two youths, Amit Kumar Verma and Vir Bahadur, have sought the police action against a Preet Nagar-based travel agent, who they alleged had sent them to Dubai on a false promise of jobs.

In his complaint to the police, Amit Kumar Verma claimed that in August last year, the travel agent approached him and assured him of sending him to Dubai, claiming that his brother-in-law lived there.

The deal was settled at Rs 1 lakh. The agent, the complainant alleged, also took Rs 15,000 as file charges, and his passport.

He got a visa in ten days and the next month went to Dubai. There he found that the visa was only for a period of three months, which could not be extended.

Amit alleged that when he approached the travel agent, he refused to return the money and instead threatened to register a case against him.

Vir Bahadur said he, too, was sent to Dubai by the same agent on a visitor’s visa and the latter had not yet returned his money.

The travel agent, however, could not be contacted.

Woman arrested for robbing her in-laws’ house
Tribune News Service

Phagwara, May 20
The Phagwara police headed by ASP, Dr Sukhchain Singh Gill, claimed to have succeeded in unearthing a conspiracy allegedly hatched by one Surjit Kaur, who with the connivance of a few others, allegedly attacked and robbed the house of her in-laws on May 16. Surjit Kaur has been arrested by the police.

ASP Gill told The Tribune here today that the police had also arrested one Ashok Kumar, a resident of Denewal village in Garhshanker, while Naresh Chand from Dogerpur village, Tilak Raj from Denewal village, Amritpreet from Hayatpur village, and another accomplice Sukhbir, were still at large. The ASP said the police had recovered cash worth Rs 45,000, one motorcycle, one scooter, and sharp-edged weapons from Ashok Kumar.

“These accused, in connivance with Surjit Kaur, attacked and wounded her father-in-law Amar Singh, and mother-in-law Rashpaul Kaur,” said the ASP.

“We got suspicious as Surjit Kaur had not raised any alarm after the incident. She confessed to her crime during the interrogation,” added the ASP.

Atwal in favour of reservation for backward classes
Tribune News Service 

Phagwara, May 20
The Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker, Mr Charanjit Singh Atwal, has justified the reservation for other backward classes, and the proposal of the Human Resource Development Ministry to introduce reservations for the OBCs. He expressed his support to the proposal to increase the seats in different professional institutions also.

Talking to media persons after distributing grants worth Rs 28 lakh to 32 villages of Phagwara subdivision here today, Mr Atwal said he was personally in favour of “reservation”. He, however, added that equal opportunities for education should be provided to all.

Replying to a question, he advised all state Assemblies to hold lengthy Assembly sessions to discuss people-related issues in detail. He asserted that long sessions could be fruitful to discuss and solve the people’s problems.

State electricity board employees to observe
‘Black Day’ on May 22
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, May 20
The Joint Action Committee of the PSEB employees would observe May 22 as a “Black Day” in protest against construction projects of pilot workshops, civil projects and micro-hydel projects going to private companies.

The members of the committee would hold black flags and protest in front of PSEB’s sub-divisional offices and also submit memorandums to the PSEB authorities.

The employees have alleged that despite statements by the government not to go ahead with privatisation, works like taking meter readings, making bills, distributing these and collecting cash were being given to private hands, conveners of the committee, Mr Gurdial Singh Bhangal and Dev Raj, today said.