Phagwara, January 2
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued a notice of motion to Phagwara Nagar Council President Balbhadhar Sein Duggal to appear before court on March 4 and file his reply on the complaint of Arvind Gupta, a Phagwara resident and retired bank officer.

Notices have also been issued to the Secretary of the Local Bodies Department, Director and Deputy Director of the department, to serve their respective replies.

Gupta had filed the PIL against Duggal on the charges that the NC president had shown favouritism by allotting contracts of more than Rs 89 lakh to a company owned by his (Duggal’s) brother.

Gupta made the move on December 23, 51 days after the Local Bodies Department’s vigilance team conducted raids at the Phagwara Nagar Council on November 12.

When contacted, Chief Vigilance Officer AK Kansal told The Tribune a month back that the inquiry would soon be completed, but no result was brought to light despite repeated assurances.

NC President Duggal, however, said he did not do anything wrong and has been working in an honest and transparent manner.

Phagwara Nagar Council Executive Officer Sandeep Tiwari confirmed the 
vigilance action and told The Tribune here today that the vigilance team only took records related to the complaint.

Phagwara, January 2
The Punjab Police has launched the Road Safety Week from January 1 to 7 throughout the state. SSP Kapurthala Sukhminder Singh Maan yesterday inaugurated the drive in Phagwara and tried to educate people to obey traffic rules. A medical checkup camp was also organised, in which six teams of doctors examined people, including bus, taxi and truck drivers. The SSP advised people to discipline themselves to prevent mishaps.

As many as 250 reflectors were installed by the police on several vehicles, including buses, cars, trucks and tractor-trailers, on the second day of Road Safety Week here today.

In Hoshiarpur, the event was inaugurated by Deputy Commissioner Dharam Dutt Tarnach and SSP Rakesh Aggarwal. Tarnach said during this week, the District Transport Department, in collaboration with other departments, would install reflectors on vehicles, help conduct free eye and medical checkup of drivers, hold meetings and conduct seminars to make drivers and students aware about traffic rules. It would also distribute about 50,000 handbills on traffic rules in the public. He appealed to the drivers not to use mobile phones while driving. Rakesh Aggarwal said five highway patrolling parties were working to provide priority service to the people on the national highways and the number of these parties would go up in the future.

In Nawanshahr, as part of the Road Safety Week, the traffic police put up nakas at different places here and presented flowers to wish road users a very Happy New Year. The police made them aware about the need and importance of road safety measures.

Besides, the district police, in collaboration with different NGOs and educational institutions, organised an awareness seminar here at the Vishvakarma Mandir.

SSP Narinder Bhargav exhorted NGOs, teachers and students to launch concerted efforts to make people aware about traffic rules and to mobilise them to develop the habit of compliance to traffic rules in their daily routine.

“Precious human lives are being lost in road accidents. The accidents not only cause loss of human life or make people physically handicapped, but a number of social problems are also caused by the tragedy,” said Bhargav, while citing some examples where the sole bread winner of the family fell victim to a road accident, consequently, shattering the family economically.

Amritsar, January 2
The police resorted to mild baton charge on the agitating members of the Paramedical Contract Employees Union when they scaled the wall of Gol Bagh to hold a protest in front of the house of Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla here today.

Union president Vajinder Pal Singh flayed the Health Minister for using force against the peaceful agitating employees.

He alleged that some of the members sustained injuries. He said the police smashed a rickshaw and a public address system of the agitators. Earlier, demanding regularisation of 2,500 contractual employees, the union members held a rally at Gol Bagh.

Though majority of union members were stopped from proceeding towards the Health Minister’s residence, some of the union members managed to reach the residence of Chawla and raised slogans against her.

The agitators lifted the protest only after Director, Family and Health Planning, Ashok Nayyar assured that the minister would raise the issue of their regularisation in the cabinet meeting to be held at Chandigarh on January 3.

Jalandhar, January 2
Scores of businessmen held a dharna in protest against delay in VAT refund of crores of rupees to them deposited with the Excise and Taxation Department since October, 2009, outside Punjab Industries and Commerce Minister Manoranjan Kalia’s house in Central Town here today.

Businessmen under the aegis of the Jalandhar Traders and Manufacturers Association staged a dharna and candlelight protest in front of Kalia’s residence for abut one hour.

The association president, Raj Kumar Sharma, told The Tribune that they had held the candlelight protest to wake SAD-BJP government from its slumber to act at the earliest in the direction to issue notification for immediate VAT refund without submitting Form C.

Sharma said the traders and industrialists were getting VAT refund without any difficulty from April 1, 2005, to October, 2009, but the Badal government issued a notification with which it was made mandatory that no VAT money would be refunded without prior submission of Form C.

He said it took two to three years for the businessmen to get Form C from the parties concerned. As a result, crores of rupees of the businessmen were pending with the Excise and Taxation Department.

Sharma said they had met Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and Kalia several times who assured them of restoring the earlier system of refunding VAT without Form C. Though a decision had been taken in the Cabinet’s meeting about four months back that 75 per cent of VAT refund would be given immediately without submitting Form C and balance 25 per cent would be refunded after getting Form C, but the decision could not be implemented as no notification was issued in this regard.