Jalandhar, January 21
The dialysis unit in the Civil Hospital here may meet the same fate as that of other important equipment like mammography, X-ray machines and lifts. The dialysis unit is out of function for the past few days. Due to the unavailability of any qualified technician, doctors and staff of the dialysis unit are unable to provide timely treatment to patients suffering from kidney disorders.

“A private technician was hired at the time of starting the unit. No permanent or contractual post of technician was created to run the machine. Now that the technician has moved to some other place, staff are bound to sit idle for the whole day,” said an employee of the hospital.

It is important to mention here that this unit, which costs around Rs 14 lakh, serves two patients per day on an average. Dialysis cost Rs 700 per sitting in this unit which otherwise costs around Rs 1500 to Rs 3,000 in private clinics.

Civil Surgeon Dr S.S. Walia said there was a problem in the payment to the technician. The matter had been sort out and the same technician would be back to work shortly, he added.

Jalandhar, January 21
The new policy mooted by the Municipal Corporation for cleanliness in the city has not gone down well with the councillors and residents here.

In a meeting held for the purpose on Tuesday, it was conveyed that the recently appointed regular safai sewaks would work ward-wise instead of population-wise (one karamchari for 265 voters) as was the mode till the last few months. As per the new policy, 31 safai karamcharis will work in each of the 60 wards.

The new policy faced criticism from the councillors, who are of the opinion that since the road length varies in each ward, the division of safai karamcharis should also have been done accordingly. Councillor of Ward 57 Balraj Thakur said, “My ward is vast. The number of roads is far high in my area and even in surrounding wards, including Ward 56 and 60. It is rather unwise to have same number of employees for small and big wards.”

He suggested, “The sweepers should instead work in beats. Each employee should have been allotted a kilometre or half a kilometre stretch of road.”

Kuldeep Singh Oberoi, a SAD councillor, too seems upset with the new arrangement. “There are as many as 100 to 150 lanes in my ward. Most of the ward includes congested market areas where footfall is high and the volume of garbage is huge. Majority of the shopkeepers have the tendency to throw the waste outside the shops. Clearly, more safai sewaks are needed or else the situation will be bad,” he said.

President of the Model Town Market Association Manoj Arora said the ward in which the market fell earlier had 52 safai employees. “We will face a shortage of 21 karamcharis which will be difficult to tackle with,” he said.

Kirpal Singh Booty, councillor of Ward 42, who has been appointed the Chairman of the new sanitation committee, outlined the reason for the same. “We were finding it very difficult to allot work to safai karamcharis. All councillors wanted maximum employees in their area. Everyone had his own reasoning. We then decided to distribute these men equally ward-wise,” he explained.

He elaborated further, “We had 1,098 employees who were recently regularised, of whom 1,078 turned up. We had 1,000 old employees, of whom 122 had started working as peons or sent to workshops. We had a total strength of 1,956 employees, of whom nine passed away, leaving us with 1,947 people. Of these, 24 are of supervisor-level, leaving is with 1,923 safai sewaks. The 1,860 sweepers have been assigned work in 60 wards while the remaining 63 employees have been included in a group which would clean up entrances to the city through all main roads, common areas between two wards and be a part of special drives ahead of public functions.”

He added that it would now be mandatory for the karamcharis to mark their attendance in the new muster rolls in the presence of their respective councillors. “This will ensure their physical presence in the area allotted,” he hopes.

Jalandhar, January 21
At a time when women are competing in universities and embarking upon careers than ever before, a majority of them is still at a disadvantageous position in society. Doubly marginalised hitherto, they face constant discrimination at home and workplace. Pay inequality and gender gap are starkly visible in many professions. The condition of women in low-paying unorganised sector is much more precarious.

The daily human indignity suffered by female workers in male-dominated construction industry remains outside the social consciousness and active politics. They are made to work hard for longer hours. Violation of basic rights like equal pay, equal treatment, maternity protection and medical insurance is rampant. Even the basic facilities like toilets, shelters, changing rooms or creches are not provided to the female workers in the industry.

Jalandhar, January 21
The prices of essential commodities and vegetables remained mixed as compared to last week. Barring a few items, the prices of vegetables witnessed a slight fall. Sugar and eggs also witnessed a decrease in their prices.

However, the prices of pulses remained the same.

Essential vegetables like onion and potato saw a decrease in prices.

Onion and potato sold at around Rs 22 and Rs 10 per kg last week. However, onion and potato remained at around Rs 22 and Rs 8 per kg this week, respectively.

Similarly, the prices of peas and radish also witnessed a decrease. Peas remained at Rs 18 per kg this week as compared to Rs 20 last week. Radish, which remained at Rs 8 per kg last week, sold at Rs 7 this week.

The prices of ginger, lemon, garlic and carrot remained nearly the same as during last week. Ginger and lemon remained at Rs 60 and Rs 35 per kg last week and this week.

Similarly, garlic and carrot remained at Rs 130 per kg and Rs 13 per kg this week. Beans also remained at Rs 32 per kg.

Capsicum witnessed a rise in its prices. It remained at Rs 38 per kg this week as compared to Rs 32 last week. Sugar witnessed a fall in price of around Rs 2-3 per kg this week. It was around Rs 45 per kg last week and remained at Rs 42 this week. 

Jalandhar, January 21
Members of the Sewa Mukti Umar Wadhau Mulazim Manch Punjab today welcomed the announcement made by the state government regarding enhancement in the retirement age of government employees from 58 to 60 years.

Addressing a press conference, the members urged the government to announce this decision on January 26 and implement it immediately as a Republic Day gift to the employees.

The manch also demanded that the government should fill the vacant posts in different departments. “The government should take steps for the due promotion of employees and stop the contract system of employment in the state,” said Jagir Singh Kahlon, a member of the manch.

Jalandhar, January 21
It seems that there is no end to the ongoing tussle between the computer teachers and the Punjab Education Department as they are at loggerheads over the computer test which has become a bone of contention. The teachers find the test illogical while the department feels that the test is inevitable.

Recently, the computer teachers across the state registered their protest by boycotting the test announced for January 17. This was the fourth phase of computer test declared mandatory for the teachers. However, nobody appeared for the test. Earlier the teachers have been given three chances to appear in the test during the past one and a half years.

At present there are approximately 400 teachers who are yet to clear the test. As many as 15,050 computer teachers had appeared for the previous test, conducted by C-DAC, Mohali. Of them only 85 had cleared it.

Director-General School Education Krishan Kumar said, “Despite giving them the fourth chance the computer teachers failed to appear for the test. We had given three months’ time and informed the teachers about the detailed syllabus of the test on our official website. However, it seems that the teachers wish to bypass the test, which is simply out of question,” he added.

The Education Department has now forwarded a detailed report of the boycott of test by the teachers to Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal and sought his opinion on the issue. “We have moved the file. And now it is for the government to decide what is to be done next,” he added.

The disgruntled teachers have also been demanding regularisation of their jobs. “There are some teachers who managed to clear the test and have been recruited in the department as well. If other teachers can also clear the test,” the DGSE said.

It needs to mention here that the Education Department had put up a public notice pertaining to the test but to no avail. Computer Teachers Union (Contractual), Punjab, adviser Pawan Sharma said the union had now decided to organise rallies in all the districts of the state on January 31 to register their protest against the Education Department. “The union is forced to adopt the path of agitation as the department is not fulfilling their genuine demands,” he added.

Jalandhar, January 21
Employees of the Life Insurance Corporation today held a protest rally in front of the local divisional office to demand a wage revision pending since August 2007.

Around 100 members raised slogans against the dilly-dallying tactics of the LIC management and the Government of India towards their demand of wage revision.

While addressing the rally, speakers said that in the previous years the LIC had been continuously growing leaps and bounds on all counts. “Last year alone, when all the private insurance companies were incurring losses, the LIC recorded a 5 per cent growth in its total premium income in spite of worldwide economic recession,” said divisional secretary Surjit Ram.

As per the information, the LIC maintained an impeccable record of claim settlement by settling 149 lakh cases with overall claim ration of more that 99 per cent. “But the employees’ wage ration too has come down drastically since the last wage revision from 6.02 to 3.19 per cent,” said divisional president Ved Kumar.

While expressing concern the speakers said the LIC, despite being a big financial conglomerate with assets worth more than Rs 9,00,000 crore, was not being given the autonomy to settle the wage revision of employees.

The employees resolved to intensify the struggle in case the LIC management failed 
to come up with a suitable wage revision.

Jalandhar, January 21
“I always come to this center with an empty pocket. Leave alone treatment charges of my son, I am even unable to fetch money for the bus fare needed to come to this center after every 20 days. Had the center not helped me, my child could not have survived,” says a mother, who comes with her son, after every 20 days, to the Thalassemic ward of the Civil Hospital, as he is suffering form a rare disease, Thallassemia.

The Thalassemic Children Welfare Society has been running a special ward for children suffering from this rare blood disorder, which manifests itself in the form of absence of the natural phenomenon of production of blood in the human body. This ward, which was set up around one-and-half-years back, provides free blood to 62 children across the region.

“Kids suffering from Thalassemia require new blood after an interval of 15 to 30 days. The life of donated blood is nearly one month. Therefore, we transfuse one-week-old blood to thalassemic children. Blood is provided by us, free of cost, which otherwise cost around Rs 2,500-3,000 per transfusion in private hospitals”, said Dr Gagandeep Singh, Blood Transfusion Officer in Civil Hospital.

The society is being run with the relentless efforts of TS Bhatia, a retired engineer of Punjab State Electricity Board, whose grandson is also suffering from Thalassemia.

“I went to every big hospital of the state to provide treatment to my grandson. Only then, I came across the hardships of those parents, whose children are suffering from this disease. This prompted me to start a center meant exclusively for Thalassemic children.”

Apart from high charges, the kin of patients were in continuous search for a donor.

However, there is no problem of donors in this center. Moreover, there is no chance of transfusion of infected blood in this as blood is tested under the direct professional’s supervision, added Bhatia.

Apart from registration fees of Rs 500 per children, the center is still waiting for economic aid from the government. Moreover, response from private clinics and big hospitals is also not very positive.

“Two of my children are suffering from this disease. I approached few big hospitals of the city and spent tens of thousands of rupees in those hospitals. However, nobody in those hospitals told me about this center”, said Israr Ahmed, who is a labourer and has been getting his children treated at the center for the last few months. 

Jalandhar, January 21
Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) secretary Dr Ram Lal Jassi said here today that the SAD-BJP government had been fully exposed for its poor management of fiscal resources and its strong bias against the poor section of society.

Dr Jassi said with proposed increase in various taxes and withdrawal of incentives to raise Rs 4,000 crore, the common people would be hit hard in the state. He said while rich people owned cars, common people mostly travel in buses.

The proposed increase in the bus fare would hit common people. He said, moreover, the increase in the bus fare would benefit big transporters who owned big fleets of buses.

The SAD-BJP government had also planned to harm the poor section financially by proposing to slashing free power units to 100 from 200. He said it showed the clear anti-poor attitude of the SAD-BJP leadership, which wanted to keep only a particular section in good humour.

He said the subsidy element had stalled work on all other projects. Only Rs 60 crore had been released from the Rs 257 crore, which were sanctioned for schemes meant for SCs.

He said the welfare schemes meant for the section of the society were in doldrums for want of money. No measures had been taken to reduce corruption.

There was no agenda for the welfare of Dalits and other poor people.

He said it appeared that the government was also playing a joke with farmers by promising to give them productivity bonus. “How the government, which has no money to meet its even bare minimal needs, will spare money to pay bonus appears?” he quipped.

Jalandhar, January 21
The wonders of science were at its best as the students came out with innovative models depicting importance of science in the daily life. It was a platform for the learners to hone up their skills in the world of science.

The highlight of the fest was innovative static and working models from the field of physics, chemistry, botany, zoology, mathematics, biotechnology, food science and quality control and bioinformatics.

The occasion was a one-day-long science fest at the local Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya (HMV) during which students from 20 different institutions took part. Host college HMV put up 55 models on display.

A model on nuclear reactor by the host college effectively taught the students about its functioning, highlighting the prospects of nuclear power in the country. “Though we have read a lot about nuclear rectors, but the model virtually helped in understanding some basic facts about its functioning. Above all, this is a current issue across the globe as well,” said a student from M.K.D. DAV Public School, Attari.

Another section, which received huge crowd, was models displayed by the department of physics. The students especially gathered to view Chandrayan and solar eclipse viewing models.

The phenomenon of natural disasters, mobile telecommunication, automatic car parking was also brought to the fore through models. It also highlighted the journey of the Chandrayan, moon probe mission, and much more.

The inquisitive students were also seen watching and learning the basic fundamental concepts of bigger experiments. Especially the models on possible potential in the dairy sector was highly appreciated. The department of zoology held live show of animals like piglets, fish and cattle.

Awareness charts on swine flu were also put on display.

Simranjit Kaur, a student of DAV International School, Amritsar, appreciated the models on the future prospects of dairy animals by the department of zoology. “The models have brought to the fore the potential in the dairy sector. Even a layman can also make a good earning out of this field,” she added.

Earlier, Mayor Rakesh Rathore inaugurated the fest and highlighted the significance of science in daily life. Principal of the college, J. Kackria said the science fest was an initiative to acquaint the students with the experimental and logical world of science.

The model of the local Swami Sant Dass School bagged first position in the physics, biology, chemistry and mathematics section, while Police DAV Public School secured second position in the computer science and biotechnology section. In the environment science section, MKD DAV School, Attari, stood first.

Jalandhar, January 21
Basant Panchami was celebrated at State Public School on Wednesday, during which students came dressed in yellow and participated in kite flying. School director B.L. Verma apprised students of the importance of the festival and the spring season.

Students of Darshan Academy celebrated Yellow Day on the occasion of Basant Panchami. Prayers were held on the campus. Inter-house kite flying and poem recitation competitions were also held.

The home science department of the Prem Chand Markanda SD College celebrated the festival during which the students participated in a cooking competition. Students also put up an exhibition of dresses.

Basant Panchami was celebrated by the primary wing of Guru Amar Dass Public School. Children presented a traditional dance. The students also participated in kite flying on the school campus.

Lally Infosys organised a kite-flying competition for students to mark Basant Panchami. Navdeep bagged the first position, while Deepak and Parveen were the second runners-up. Winners were given prizes.

Jalandhar, January 21
Thieves broke into two places and decamped with goods and jewellery worth lakhs of rupees last evening.

Thieves broke into the office of a transport company in Transport Nagar and decamped with cash and goods.

In a complaint to the police, Jagjit Singh, a resident of Lamba Pind, said he found his office ransacked this morning. He subsequently informed the police about the incident.

The Maqsudan police pressed into service a team of forensic experts and a dog squad in an effort to trace the culprits.

In another case, thieves broke into a house in Green Avenue, located along the Kalasangha road and took away jewellery and other valuables, besides cash.

The thieves committed the crime in the absence of house owner Varinder Kumar, who, along with his family, had gone to attend a religious discourse at Harbans Nagar.

The police has registered a case in police station Division No. 5 in this regard.