Jalandhar, October 7
It is the time for tipplers to beware! Drinking in the open, especially in front of shops selling eatables, around liquor vends in the city, is under police surveillance.

As drinking at public places could result in brawls and quarrels, causing serious injuries and even deaths, besides damage to public and private property, the police has asked owners of all liquor vends to install CCTVs cameras in their establishments and record the activities of tipplers within 50 metres in front of their vends.

The police has asked them to submit a CD (recording of the activities) to the police.

Exercising his powers under section 144, CrPC, Arun Pal Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Jalandhar city, has issued a notice directing all liquor vend owners to strictly comply with the orders.

The notice also reads that the CCTV system should become operational within 45 days from the date of issue of this order. The recording system shall preserve a digital record of the CCTV coverage for not less than 10 days.

The vend owner or his employee has to submit a copy of the CCTV footage on a CD on daily basis to the area SHO against a proper receipt in a register to be maintained at the liquor vend.

Before standing sales for the day, the manager of the liquor vend should ensure that the CCTV system is in proper working order. An entry should be made in the register and intimation sent to the area police station.

The police has also ordered vend owners to display at least two bilingual signboards mentioning prominently “drinking at public places is an offence and standing or unauthorised vendors outside the liquor shop are strictly prohibited”. Apart from this, telephone numbers of the nearest police station should also be mentioned on the signboards.

The order came into force with effect from October 5 and will remain in force for 60 days.

The liquor vend owners, however, claim that they have not received any such notice as yet. Moreover, the police has not invited them to have a discussion on the issue.

Jalandhar, October 7
Twenty-two children of poor, illiterate labourers sit huddled around a middle-aged woman in a small evening tutorial set-up in her house’s car parking area.

Started just eight months back, this free tutorial service started by Shiv Vihar resident Neha Khanna is nothing short of a blessing for these children. The change reflects in their performance.

It all began when Neha heard her maid’s decision about making her two kids discontinue studies since they were not learning well at school.

“I advised her not to take the step in view of a better future for them. As I am a housewife and free in the evening, I told her to send her children to me for support and guidance,” she recalled.

Neha started teaching the two kids for an hour or two, after which they started doing well in school. They were soon joined by two more children of her another part-time maid. As word spread in the labourer quarters they were living in, the group grew bigger.

“Since there are several under-construction houses in the vicinity, there are many children of poor labourers whom I could not refuse to teach,” Neha explained.

“While we sometimes feel that children from well-to-do families have to be forcibly made to sit for studies, these children, on the contrary, have been showing keen interest in studies. Their handwriting has improved and so has their reading. Even as all of them are migrants from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa or Madhya Pradesh, they have all started speaking and writing in Punjabi pretty well,” she beamed.

To cope with the growing rush, Neha has started taking help of her friends in the neighbourhood. “As and when they have time, they too join me and try to offer personal attention to a few weak students. My daughter, who is in class XI, is also a big support,” She added.

Neha’s husband Rajiv Khanna, who has a computer business, said he too was doing his bit by bringing home some nice interesting story books or motivational write-ups for them. “We are planning to give them some basic computer knowledge as well,” he revealed.

Jalandhar, October 7
The Model Town market area is all set to get cleaner and greener with the development of the main park in the central place at a cost of Rs 18 lakh.

The park, around which five roads from various parts of the locality meet, has been in complete disarray for the past five years.

But the park will soon be properly landscaped and beautified with the installation of musical fountains, walking paths, high-mask lights, fancy lights and speakers (to play light music) along the path. It will also have the facility of public toilets.

Local business group HR International has volunteered to make the total investment and later maintain it as well.

Disclosing details, Manoj Arora, president of the Model Town Market Association, said, “The owner of the group, Sudarshan Sharma, has shown keen interest in the development of the park in the memory of his daughter who was a regular visitor to it.”

The park has remained undeveloped ever since there had been a proposal by the Municipal Corporation to develop the area as a multi-tier parking lot. Certain shopkeepers and residents of the market, led by Manoj Arora, had then legally challenged the matter, the judgment of which had come in their favour.

Arora’s wife Aruna is the councillor of the ward. Asked about the need for parking provisions, she said it had been decided to move the boundary of the park inwards by 15 feet from all sides to leave parking space around it. She added, “There is also a plan to shift the electricity transformer from outside Mayor House and use the entire space for parking purposes. This place will be used by shopkeepers to park their own vehicles. The shoppers, however, will be allowed to park their cars outside shops within the yellow lane.”

Jalandhar, October 7
As the decision of the scores of Rural Medical Officers (RMO) working in the rural dispensaries to not to employ Class IV workers in their respective dispensaries has left them waiting for their salary for over two months, the doctors have decided to go on pen-down strike from next week.

The representative of RMOs had met the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) Sarojini Gautam Sharda this week and apprised her about their inflexibility towards their original decision.

Earlier also, when the Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj issued the orders in this regard few months back, the doctors across the state have submitted their resentment against the decision and expressed their inability to implement the decision.

“Although few of our colleagues have bowed before the authorities. However, we are still committed to go on strike, if the department failed to accomplish our demand”, said a doctor, who was a part of representation.

Dr Aslam Parvez, State President, Rural Medical Services Association, said, “We are trying to amicably settle the issue in the various districts. However, we will be left with no other but to agitate if authorities in remain rigid over their stand.”

As per the orders, the doctors have been asked to appoint a class IV employee and create a separate bank account for each of the class IV employee so that department could deposit salary directly to such accounts after deducting it from doctor’s salary.

Agitating doctors are justifying their reluctance to employee class IV workers by saying that the contract signed between them and the department is silent regarding the employment of such employees.

ADC (Development), Sarojini Gautam Sharda, could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

Jalandhar, October 7
Two persons were killed in two separate road accidents during the past 24 hours in the city. Migrant labourer Jagdambe Prasad was crushed to death under an unidentified vehicle in the Model House locality late last night. The vehicle driver fled from the scene.

In another accident on the Jalandhar-Jammu highway at Jallowal village, a truck reportedly rammed into a tractor-trailer from behind leaving its driver dead on the spot today. With the impact of the hit, Saif Ali, a resident of Hariana, fell on the road and was mowed down under the tyres of the trailer.

The police has handed over the bodies to the family members after post-mortem examinations at the Civil Hospital. Cases of rash and negligent driving have been registered.

Jalandhar, October 7
The members of the Veteran Brothers Officers Welfare Society held a meeting and demanded implementation of recommendations of the 4th Pay Commission ‘Rank Pay’ and releasing the arrears.

The meeting was held at the local District Sainik Welfare Society. Society coordinator Major S.J.S. Kohli (retd) said 24 years had passed but the commission recommendations had not been implemented nor arrears paid till date.

“This despite the fact that the Supreme Court gave its judgement and rank pay was allowed to officers at an interest of 6 per cent. The UPA government is playing a step-motherly treatment in the payment of rank pay”, he added.

While Major I.S. Bhinder said ex-servicemen were running from pillar to post for pension anomalies. He said we had already made representations to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on August 30 but to no avail. The members also demanded that a special committee to settle pension anomalies should be formed and Rs 22,777 should be fixed as pension of a Major. The veteran officers from Punjab, Chandigarh and Haryana said in case their demands were not met before November 15 they would hold a big rally in the first week of December. — TNS

Jalandhar, October 7
In an endeavour to study the working of courts of executive magistrates in the recently introduced Police Commissionerate system in Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Amritsar districts of the state, the Punjab Police organised a seminar here today.

Moreover, the seminar was also focused on the powers conferred under section 8 of the Punjab Police Act, 2007, and section 20 of the Criminal Procedure Code by the state government to the police officers of particular ranks.

Though the mediapersons were kept at bay from the seminar, a press note issued by the Commissioner of Police, Jalandhar City, said Rajan Gupta, Additional Director General of Police (law and order) presided over the seminar.

He said the police officers working as executive magistrates in the commissionerates of Jalandhar, Amritsar and Ludhiana should apply themselves and pass correct and balanced orders.

He also emphasised the importance of record maintenance and asked the officers to keep themselves updated about latest developments in the field of law and procedure.

There was an open house discussion in which advocates, the guest speakers and the police officers participated. Many issues including the scope of arrest under section 151 CrPC, the clubbing of section 107 CrPC with either section 150 or 151 of the CrPC, the misuse of section 109 by the police sometimes, the use of section 110 CrPC as an effective tool for controlling crime and criminals and many others were also discussed.

Police officers from the three commissionerates, including Parampal Singh Sidhu, Commissioner of Police (Amritsar), Gaurav Yadav, Commissioner of Police (Jalandhar), Ashok Kumar Gandhi, President, District Bar Association, Jalandhar, Navtej Singh Toor, Advocate and member of the Punjab and Haryana Bar Council, Dr Roopa Jagota from the law faculty of GND University regional centre at Jalandhar and certain others also attended the seminar.

Jalandhar, October 7
Guru Nanak Dev University College, Basti Nau, organised a seminar on variables of personality. Prof K.K. Ghai from DAV College was the key speaker, while Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) Sarojini Gautam Sharda was the chief guest.