Jalandhar June 11
A private security company here has been hired for providing security at “non-risk” Army establishments like the Army Public School and the CSD canteen in Jalandhar Cantonment.

The Army authorities have signed an MoU with Field Marshal Security for deploying private security personnel at the Army Public School, the Army canteen, Shauriya Public School and a part of officers’ accommodation like Manekshaw Vihar and Zoravar Enclave.

Personnel of the firm will also be manning road barricades at certain points in the cantonment area.

“We have already deployed guards at the Army Public School and Shauriya Public School. Their number will gradually grow to 300,” said Vikas Prashar, MD, Field Marshal Security Private Limited.

Apart from having managed a challenging contracts to manage more than 700 guards in a high-risk area of Sydney during the prestigious 2000 Sydney Olympics, Vikas and his firm has been engaged in providing security cover at a number of important landmarks in Australia and India. These included, the Australian Naval Security offices, Fox studio, Sydney International airport, Sydney Opera house, local councils of Australia and a number of Sydney-based retail outlets like Woolworth, Benetton, Orton, Calvin Klein’s, Spotlight, Armani X-change and Gucci.

Vikas claimed that his company was the first private organisation in the country for having been selected for undertaking ‘non-active’ yet, security-related jobs within any cantonment in the country.

The Army move, it was learnt, was an outcome of an exhaustive review of the existing security set-up particularly, in the view of rising input costs relating to deployment of regular army personnel for non-combative and ‘gate jobs’.

“The Army spends huge money for jobs which, could easily be undertaken by any well-trained personnel coming from the civil side at much lower costs. Moreover, this model could enable the Army authorities to utilise its well-trained jawans for active border duties in a better way,” confided an Army officer adding that there was no question of putting the private security guards to any active assignments.

Vikas Prashar said his security outfit has been making its personnel undergo extensive and rigorous in-house training with an objective to enable the guards to attain and match their skills with the stringent physical standards required by the Army for performing security-related duties.

“Not only that they are getting physical training, they were also being familiarised with normal day-to-day etiquettes of the Army life,” said Prashar. “The current duty is mostly on one person, one gate basis. The biggest benefit to the army was that it was getting personnel for gate duties at one third costs as compared to the regular army jawans,” said Prashar.

Jalandhar, June 11
The Water Supply and Sanitation Department has contested the claims of the health authorities, who said the supply of substandard drinking water was the cause of diarrhoea outbreak in Kasupur village.

The sharp reaction have come after the health authorities concerned had told the media that the water samples collected from the village water supply system have failed to pass the bacteriological analysis. Over 70 individuals have fallen ill in the village after the outbreak.

Terming the claims of the Health Department hollow, Paramjeet Singh, XEN, Jalandhar Division II, maintained that the team of Health Department collected samples on May 3, however, the water supply of the village was already discontinued since May 28.

He claimed that the failed samples were collected from the private water sources but not from the public water supply system. He also alleged that the health authorities had flouted the ideal sample collection norms while recollecting samples from public water works on May 8.

“The samples should be collected in the sterilised Borosil bottles. However, the health personnel collected the samples in simple bottles and did not pay heed to the on-spot objections raised by an engineer of our department,” said Paramjeet Singh.

He said to make the picture crystal clear, the water supply department has separately tested the water samples in its own laboratory. The tests resulted negative for any bacteria or other infection-causing microorganism, he claimed.

On the other hand, Dr RL Bassan, District Health Officer, maintained that mixing of sewerage waster with public water supply system was responsible for the diarrhoea in Kasupur.

Phagwara, June 11
The Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana is mulling to recall the licence of those lawyers who are either convicted or facing trials in crime cases, said Lekh Raj Sharma, newly elected chairman of the council, while talking to newsmen here today.

He disclosed that the council had urged the Union Law Minister to bring a bill in Parliament to restrain persons convicted or booked in any crime from becoming a lawyer.

He said a formal communication has been sent to the high court bar and all the district bar associations of Punjab and Haryana, seeking details of lawyers who are convicted or facing trials in criminal cases.

He said a lawyer facing a trial or convicted would not be enrolled in future.

Sharma said details collected on tainted lawyers would be discussed in the general house meeting of the council on July 10.

On the arrest of lawyer Om Parkash Sharma (vice-chairman of the bar council) by the Haryana Police in a case of attempt to murder, the council chairman said Sharma should have resigned immediately from the post on moral grounds. — OC