The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	NRHM staff strike hits health services Amaninder Pal/TNS Jalandhar, April 10 The health services provided under the various components of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and the national family planning programme have been badly hit in the entire state due to the ongoing strike of NRHM employees. Demanding regularisation of their services and shifting to the Department of Health Services, the NRHM employees, including homeopathic and ayurvedic doctors, had launched a statewide indefinite strike on April 5. Besides the NRHM schemes, including the crucial Janani Suraksha Yojana and Surakshit JanepaYojana, the performance of various population control procedures, vasectomy and tubectomy, has also been hampered as the implementation of such schemes at ground level largely lies with the NRHM employees. Moreover, the ambitious Mobile Medical Units (MMU) project, launched under the mission to provide healthcare services in the peripheral areas, also come to halt as the entire staff working in such units was recruited under NRHM. The component which is the worst affected is of the daily performance report, which has to be submitted everyday by the NRHM employees from all the health centres across the state to the state NRHM office. Satish Chandra, Principal Secretary, Health, Krishan Kumar MD, NRHM, and, Dr CL Bhatia, Assistant State Project Director, NRHM were not available for comments. “The job of institutional deliverers, mobile medical units and daily reporting is largely performed by NRHM employees. Therefore, all these crucial services have come to halt and the picture would be grimmer if the government failed to entertain the employees’ demands,” said a district in charge of NRHM requesting anonymity. Sarbjot Singh, president, NRHM Employees Association, Punjab, said the meeting with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was scheduled on April 11 and the employees would intensify the agitation if the government did not accept their demands.
	Love-struck youth throws chemical on girl Tribune News Service Jalandhar, April 10 A youth, Vijay Kumar (20), threw some chemical on a girl, whom he liked for the past seven months, here on Saturday. The girl was returning home along with her niece. The chemical fell in the eyes of the girl while her niece too sustained minor burns. Police Station Division 1 Inspector Nirmal Singh said on the statement of the victim, Rajni Bala of New Ratan Nagar, Nagra village, a hunt has been started for Vijay, who happens to be her distant relative. “The youth had been after her for the past seven months as he was in love with her. However, unsuccessful attempts to convince the girl all these months led to this incident”, he added. The police maintained that it was owing to this one-sided affair that the boy committed this crime. Meanwhile, the police today raided the house of Vijay at Brahmwal village near Nadala in Kapurthala district. “Vijay and his family members are at large and their house was locked”, he added. Some passersby informed the parents of the victims, who later got them admitted to the local Civil Hospital. Rajni sustained severe burns in her eyes, which led to panic among her family members and the local people in the locality. Later, she was shifted to some private hospital for further treatment of her eyes.
	holding of ett first semester exam HC gives 10 days to SCERT to decide Parmod Bharti Nawanshahr, April 10 The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT), Punjab, to decide about holding the ETT examination of the students admitted in the member colleges of the Association of Punjab Self-Financed Colleges of Education (ETT) within 10 days from the receipt of the certified copy of the orders. The HC gave the direction while disposing of a civil writ petition, filed by the Association of Punjab Self Financed Colleges of Education (ETT). It is pertinent to mention here that more than 3,000 students pursuing their ETT course in the self-financed colleges in the state were left in a quandary as their first semester examination did not start along-with the ETT students studying in as many as 7 District Institutes of Elementary Training ( DIET) from March 14 by the SCERT. Taking a serious view of the issue, the Punjab Students Union chalked out a comprehensive programme of holding protest demonstrations at the district headquarters on April 11 to press the state government to take immediate steps to ensure justice to the ETT students. Giving details, Anil Chopra, SK Sharma and SS Sandhu, patron, chairman and general secretary, respectively, of the Association of Punjab Self Financed Colleges of Education (ETT), said the association had submitted a written representation to the director, SCERT, on March 4 requesting him to hold examination of the ETT students admitted in the member colleges of the association. Besides, the member colleges are duly recognised by the NCTE and the students have completed 100 days of their course to fulfil the eligibility criteria for appearing in the first semester examination. When the issue remained undecided for a couple of weeks, the association decided to knock the doors of the court to seek justice in the larger interest of the students. The association has also urged Education Minister Sewa Singh Sekhwan and SCERT Director to make immediate arrangements to hold the first semester examination of the ETT students. Avtar Singh, Director, SCERT has assured the ETT students pursuing their course in self financed colleges that the issue relating to holding their examination would be resolved soon.
	Need to open Indo-Pak border for trade: Bajwa Dharmendra Joshi/TNS Jalandhar, April 10 The Congress MP from Gurdaspur, Pratap Singh Bajwa, is of the view that Wagah and Hussainiwala borders should be opened for trade for economic benefit of both the Punjabs. Talking to The Tribune here today, Bajwa said he accompanied by PPCC spokesman Fateh Singh Bajwa had also discussed the issue of opening of the Indo-Pak border with Pakistan PM Yousuf Raza Gilani in an informal chat at the Air Force Airport in Chandigarh during his recent visit. Gilani’s response was positive on the issue of opening the border for trade, he added. If the border is opened, Punjab will become a trade hub as Amritsar, Lahore and Afghanistan has been considered as the traditional trade route. The opening of the border will help the residents of both the Punjabs in their economic growth, he added. If borders are opened, the issue of unemployment will be solved automatically. Thus, there will not be any possibility of youths of this border state to be misguided again to become militants as no one will remain idle, he added. Bajwa said he had also talked about the construction of an open corridor from Dera Baba Nanak in India to Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan to facilitate Sikh pilgrims to pay obeisance at the holy place. At this, Gilani informed him that bilateral talks between India and Pakistan on constructing the corridor were already on. Gilani further informed him that there were several hitches in constructing the corridor and efforts were on to settle them, he added.
	‘SAD-BJP combine registering false cases against Cong workers’ Tribune News Service Pathankot, April 10 Former Pathankot MLA Raman Bhalla, who was a minister in the Beant Singh government, has claimed that the SAD-BJP combine had become edgy following which it has started registering criminal cases on frivolous grounds against Congress workers of Pathankot assembly segment. Addressing media men at his residence, Bhalla said the latest criminal case to be registered against a Congressman of the region was against Rohit Sayal, a wrestler and a Congress worker. He added that Sayal was not at all involved in a fracas but the cops, allegedly acting on orders of some influential BJP leaders, slapped a case under Section 307 (attempt to murder) against him. He said similar false cases were being registered at different police stations against Congressmen who enjoy a clean image. “I will be taking up the issue with the central leadership in New Delhi and also with Gurdaspur MP Partap Bajwa. I have also written to senior police officers in Chandigarh and have requested for an impartial inquiry into the Rohit Sayal case.”
	2 killed in mishaps Phagwara, April 10 Two persons, including an assistant lineman of Powercom, were killed in as many road mishaps. Charanjit of Daulatpur village, working with the Powercom at Goraya was killed on the spot when his motorcycle, he was riding, dashed against an electricity pole near Miherru village here on Saturday. In second accident, migrant labourer Keshav Bahadur of Kanshi Nagar was killed after being hit by a speeding vehicle near Madhopur on Friday night. One Gambhira (35) and his wife Rajni (30) sustained serious injuries when their motorcycle was hit by a speeding car near Rawalpindi village on the Phagwara-Hoshiarpur road today. — OC
	Youth ends life after being slapped by wife Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, April 10 Insulted by his wife in presence of his in-laws, Kanwarjit Singh (21), a resident of Nonne village, who got married just four months ago, committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance. A case under Sections 306 and 148 of the IPC has been registered by the Sadar police. Besides Kanwarjit’s wife Simarnjit Kaur, others booked included Paramjit Kaur (mother-in-law), Inderjit Kaur (sister-in-law), Bikramjit Singh, Sukha Singh and Raj Kaur. According to the information, Simarnjit Kaur following an argument slapped her husband in the presence of others at Nonne village last evening. Kanwarjit immediately went inside a room of his house and consumed some poisonous substance. He was brought to a local nursing home from where he was referred to Amritsar hospital but he breathed his last on the way to the hsopital. The post-mortem examination of the body was conducted here today.