Jalandhar, July 19
Going against the Punjab government’s order regarding technical posts in municipal corporations, the town planning wing of the Jalandhar MC is being run by non-technical staff.

According to the state government specification, only technical employees should fill the technical slots. But most of these inspectors were either matriculates or graduates whereas norms stipulated by the state government specify that the person holding the slot of building inspector should at least be a diploma holder in civil engineering.

About the non-technicality of staff, the Punjab local bodies department has sent many reminders to all the corporations in the state, including the Jalandhar municipal corporation, to stick to the rules prescribed by the government but everything has fallen on deaf ears. The local bodies department had even sent two letters in this regard to the MC but those too failed to work any wonder.

In addition to the problem of non-technical staff, there is a severe employee crunch in the building and town planning wings. The MC has seven building inspectors, all non-technical, in the town planning wing whereas the sanctioned number is 20. And many in the civic body believe that this is the reason that illegal buildings have mushroomed in the city with tremendous speed. According to an estimate, there are around 3,000 illegal buildings in the city. “The biggest problem is that a non-qualified person cannot understand and implement the building bylaws properly. They (inspectors) just hand over notices to violators and nothing moves beyond that,” said an official of the town planning wing of the MC on the condition of anonymity.

“This delays the entire process, and as such gives more encouragement to the violators. And by and large this results in the growth of illegal building,” the official added.

According to the sources, this scenario regarding non-technical staff not only prevails in Jalandhar but also in the Ludhiana civic body and several other corporations.

Meanwhile, the Amritsar municipal corporation had to withdraw about 15 of its non-technical officials following a directive of the Punjab and Haryana High Court last month. “If such a development can take place in Amritsar then why can’t it be done in Jalandhar,” questioned an employee of the civic body.

When contacted, Jalandhar MC commissioner C.S. Talwar said he was not aware of the deployment of non-technical officials in the town planning wing of the civic body. “I will look into the matter as and when it comes to me,” said Talwar.

Kapurthala, July 19
Jalandhar MP Rana Gurjit demanded Kapurthala DSP Sukhdev Singh Chinna should also be booked in the case regarding the suicide case in Tarlokpura locality.

In the same case, district BJP chief Hira Lal Dhir has been booked for abetment to suicide of deceased Sukhdev Singh.

Rana alleged that the DSP was more responsible for Sukhdev’s suicide. “As politicians usually ask police to take action in cases when persons concerned contacted them to do so, it was the duty of the policemen not to cross their limits,” he said.

He alleged that Dhir asked the DSP to take action against Sukhdev regarding theft at a contractor Jamir Khan’s house. After which the DSP asked city SHO Satnam Singh to call the deceased to police station. There he was tortured, the MP added. SSP Rakesh Agarwal defended the officer saying the DSP had no role in the case and termed Rana’s statement as biased. According to him, he was trying to put pressure on DSP Chhina by issuing such a statement as he was investigation a criminal case against Rana’s son, the SSP added. The FIR was registered against Dhir and Jamir on the same day on the basis of Sukhdev suicide note.

Jalandhar, July 19
City-based writer Dr Ajay Sharma’s acclaimed work ‘Basra Ki Galiyan’ has become the first contemporary Hindi novel to be translated into English from Punjab. Prof Sandeep Chahal, lecturer in English at Doaba College here, has translated the work, now titled as ‘Basra’s Streets’.

Interestingly, the novel, plot of which deals with the invasion of Iraq in 2003, has also been included in Guru Nanak Dev University’s curriculum (MA-1, Hindi).

“Dr Sharma has successfully created a microcosm out of the macrocosm by drawing an exquisite parallel between the Vietnam-US war and US-Iraq imbroglio,” said Chahal when asked what inspired him to go-ahead with the translation work. “It’s also a stinging attack on oil politics and arm-twisting technique of developed countries to dominate the developing nation. Moreover, it’s also the first-ever novel on the estranged US-Iraq relationship in an Indian language,” claimed Chahal.

He admitted that it was indeed a Herculean task to translate the work into English.

“The greatest challenge was to keep intact the spirit of the original work. I have tried to retain the original emotions, punch lines, feelings and spirit,” he added. Regarding the book, Dr Sharma said he went to Basra (Iraq) in 1985 and was greatly moved to see the miserable plight of the people. “And that’s how ‘Basra Ki Galiyan’ was born,” said the writer. The 168-page translated version will be formally released by GNDU dean languages Dr Harmahinder Singh Bedi and AIFUCTO general secretary Dr VK Tiwari on Sunday.

Jalandhar, July 19
Fourteen students from Apeejay School have made it to the final round of the National Talent Search Examination (NTSE). The students have passed a written examination conducted at the national level and are preparing for the most rigorous hurdle, a viva, to be held in the first week of August.

Phagwara, July 19
The police has registered a case of fraud against three fake travel agents, Anil Arora, Amit Arora and Jaswant Singh of Kurukshetra in Haryana, under sections 420, 465, 407 and 471, IPC, on the charge of cheating Charanjit Singh of Sandhwan and Harjit Singh of Palahai village of Rs 18 lakh on the pretext of sending them abroad.

DSP H.P.S. Khakh told newsmen here this evening that the complainant had alleged that they came in contact with the accused through Sukhjinder Singh of nearby Zandiali village who was running a taxi in Delhi and the three fake travel agents made a deal of Rs 18 lakh with them and took Rs 16 lakh on July 20 in 2004, and asked them to be ready for going to Canada within one month.

The complainants alleged that the travel agents asked them on August 22, 2004, to give Rs 2 lakh and reach Delhi. They arranged for their stay. The complainants gave Rs 2 lakh more to the accused. The next day, they handed over their passports along with fake visas. They got suspicious, but the accused advised them not to go to the airport as the CBI was conducting raids.

The DSP said the accused neither send them abroad nor returned their money. No arrest has been made so far.

Jalandhar, July 19
Accusing the Shiromani Akali Dal of deceiving people of Punjab in the name of religion, the Janata Dal (S) said the party had virtually delinked itself from its 90-year-old background.

Addressing a press conference here today, Balwant Singh Khera and other leaders of the Janata Dal (S), including Mehar Chand Bhumbla, Hukam Chand Sunkar, Vijay Nayyar, Harjinder Singh Hoshiarpur and Balbir Singh Garshankar, alleged the SAD had disassociated itself with its background and history.

The leader said, “The SAD has sent copies of its constitution to the Election Commission wherein it has projected itself as a secular and socialist party and has said that any citizen of India can become a member of it. On the other hand, the party has been seeking votes from Punjabis in the name of religion.”

“It means that the SAD has been befooling people of Punjab for long. It is also a fact that in 1920 the SAD was formed at Akal Takht as a religious party. A CBI probe and perusal of the records of the SAD can reveal the truth,” said Khera.