Jalandhar, May 17
In a tragic incident, the owner of a factory on Sodal-Saipur road today got burnt to death in a major fire that engulfed the premises here at 11 am.

Harish Jairath (59), a resident of Basti Sheikh, was reportedly running a factory supplying oil for industrial use. The fire is said to have emanated as one of the drums filled with oil caught fire owing to spark due to short circuit.

The impact of the explosion was so intense that the entire premises were reduced to ashes in minutes. The cement sheets put up for roofs fell down and huge flames started emanating from within.

The only labourer Kamleshwar had a miraculous escape as he managed to come out quickly. His house in the backyard of the factory also got caught in the fire. His wife rushed out hearing the explosion while the three children had gone to school.

Three fire tenders were pressed to service immediately and it took them an hour to douse the flames. The area was cordoned off. MLA KD Bhandari was also at the spot.

SHO Gurmit Singh said the spark probably came from a cooler in the office building at the site. “Since a drum containing thinner was lying close by, it resulted in a blast,” he opined adding that an investigation was on. 

Gurdaspur, May 17
The Punjab Government has constituted a four-member committee to take up the case pertaining to 17 Punjabi youths who have been sentenced to death for allegedly murdering a Pakistani youth in Sharjah. The committee members, led by Public Relations Minister Sewa Singh Sekhwan, will visit Dubai from May 24 to 26, where they will take up the issue with the Indian Consulate General.

The other members are President of the NRI Sabha Kamaljit Singh Heyar, Batala-based advocate Naveen Gupta and Commissioner (NRI Affairs) Vikas Partap Singh.

Sekhwan said he was convinced that the Centre as well as the Punjab Government would not leave any stone unturned to save the 17 Punjabi lives.

He also urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to direct the Union Law Ministry, the Attorney General and others concerned to take up the issue with the UAE head of the state through diplomatic channels.

Meanwhile, Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa said he was making efforts to meet the Prime Minister and request him to engage the services of top UAE lawyers to save the youths. He said he was also making efforts to rope in all Punjab MPs after which he would seek an appointment with the Prime Minister.

Jalandhar, May 17
Scores of ex-servicemen who recently appeared for the post of inspector, Food and Civil Supplies (grade-II), are up in arms against the Food and Civil Supplies authorities as only a handful of them have been recruited against the sanctioned quota of 13 per cent.

The authorities had advertised 1,289 posts of inspector, of which 168 were reserved for the ex-servicemen. However, only 14 ex-servicemen were recruited. The results were declared on May 2.

About 5,000 ex-servicemen, especially PBORs (personnel below officer rank), and their wards appeared for the test on April 18. Ex-servicemen had gathered at Desh Bhagat Yaadgar Hall yesterday to register their protest against the Food and Civil Supplies Department.

Havaldar Surinder Kumar from Bholath (Kapurthala) said, “We want to know the criterion as to how only 14 of them were able to clear the examination.”

Surinder filed an application under the RTI Act on May 14 seeking information regarding the cut off marks list, selection criterion and even the answer sheets too.

“Ex-servicemen, especially PBORs, survive on petty jobs. The department should look into this matter at the earliest,” said Sgt Varinder Kumar from Hoshiarpur.

Even District Sainik Welfare Office Deputy Director Lt-Col Manmohan Singh has written to the Director, Food and Civil Supplies, and the Director, Sainik Welfare Board.

The ex-servicemen have decided to hold another mass rally at Desh Bhagat Yaadgar Hall on May 23.

However, despite repeated attempts Food and Civil Supplies Director D.S. Grewal was not available for comments.

Hoshiarpur, May 17
The ever-increasing menace of stray animals, especially dogs, cows, bulls and pigs, abandoned by their owners, has been posing a serious threat to the residents. A number of cases of dog bite and violent behaviour of bulls are being reported in the Civil Hospital daily.

According to information provided by the Municipal Council, under the Right to Information Act (RTI) to Democratic Socialist Party of India president Jai Gopal Dhiman, there are 564 stray dogs and 435 other stray animals within the municipal limits.

Dhiman said since the Supreme Court had imposed a ban on the elimination of stray animals, neither the MC nor the veterinary department had campaigned to control this menace.

There was a time when the MC used to catch stray animals and keep them in its cattle pound adjoining the city police station, which was later shifted to Khanpuri Gate.

The owners of these animals, after paying the fine, took their animals home. But this practice has also been discontinued since long.

Almost all the owners abandoned their cows after they go dry. Since the cow calves of cross-bred cows were of no use in agriculture, these were also abandoned by their owners.

Madan Lal Sharma, a local businessman, was seriously wounded when a stray bull recently attacked him in front of his house at Gautam Nagar.

Senior Medical Officer of the Civil Hospital, Dr Gurdev Singh, said the number of dog bite cases had been on an increase during summers.

More than 150 cases were being reported in a month. The hospital had no stock of anti-rabies injections.

The said injection was available in the open market for Rs 365 and at least five injections were required to be administered to each patient. Patients had to purchase them from the market through their own sources.

The Punjab Health System Corporation had supplied about 2,000 injections last year, which were provided to the patients at subsidised rates of Rs 100 each.

Dhiman said the government should formulate some scheme to control the population of stray dogs and other animals to solve problem.

Jalandhar, May 17
In spite of the same nature of work, working hours and conditions, doctors in the district are drawing unequal salaries.

Nearly 40 doctors out of a total of 93, who were appointed as Rural Medical Officers (RMOs) in dispensaries run by the Department of Rural Development, are drawing a salary of Rs 30,000 against the other 53 doctors who are getting Rs 37,250 per month.

While talking to The Tribune, a doctor said around 20 doctors who were drawing less salary, were appointed as per a contract signed between them and the department in November 2009.

“As per the terms of the contract, Rs 30,000 was fixed as a lump sum salary for us. However, the government again advertised for posts in March 2010 and offered Rs 37,250 as salary. Even those who were appointed in 2006 are getting Rs 37,250 per month. In this way, all those who were appointed before and after November 2009, are getting a salary more than those who were appointed in November 2009,” he added.

In addition, another 20 doctors in the district, who were appointed in 2007 and 2008, are getting a salary less than the others.

Doctors, working on less remuneration, hold the view that the government must pay equal salary as there is no difference in the nature of the job and work conditions of them and those working on a higher wages.

A.S. Bains, Chief Executive Officer, Zila Parishad, could not be contacted. However, it is learnt that the department is considering the genuine demand of pay parity among doctors.

Jalandhar, May 17
Members of 22 farmer and worker organisations held a three-hour-long protest against the unbundling of the Punjab State Electricity Board and to press the government to put the guilty behind bars in the murder case of farmers’ leader Sadhu Singh Takhtupura, in front of the district administrative complex here today.

Various speakers said on the directions given by imperialist powers, the SAD-BJP government was cutting subsidies given to farmers and workers in the state.

The state government was adopting unjust measures to suppress the democratic voice of struggling masses of the state.

Protesters demanded that the orders of resumption of electricity charges to farmers and workers should be taken back immediately, ownership rights of the pieces of lands should be transferred to the workers on which they had been residing for decades and NREGA scheme in villages be implemented impartially.

Phagwara, May 17
Though the Census-2011 in the country is believed to be the biggest administrative exercise and time-bound operation which is simply not only a head count of population but also a complete process of collection, compilation, tabulation and analysis of data. But a major shortcoming has come to the fore. The census form (No 35) doesn’t have a column for the third gender.

Now the question is how the third-gender people would be mentioned in the census data book. It may be mentioned here that in Tamil Nadu, the third sex has been granted official status. When contacted, Phagwara SDM Amarjit Paul said the Punjab Government had instructed to include the names of eunuch in the “male column” of the form.

The Tribune has observed that by including the names of “eunuch” only in the male column of form 35, the gender ratio of the state would again be considered as imbalanced as all eunuchs would be counted as males.

It was further observed that “the national population register” is considered to be the unique feature of Census-2011. This would contain information on specified data items for each individual. It is expected to be a comprehensive identity data base for the country.

Besides strengthening security of the country, it would help in better targeting of benefits and services under various government schemes and improve planning process.