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Endless wait for ‘Shagun’ for 6,080 poor families
10 more jaundice cases confirmed
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Technical snag stalls process to recruit constables
Buses to Gadri Mela hijacked for Kabaddi World Cup
speaking out
MC to issue debentures to feed fund crunch
Man accused of helping criminal flee, arrested
Land acquired for Surya Enclave extension
Weak response to MC camp
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Endless wait for ‘Shagun’ for 6,080 poor families
Jalandhar, November 1 Even though all these families have been officially declared as beneficiaries with their file work complete, a total amount of Rs 9.42 crore to be handed over to them has been withheld. Most of these cases pertain to the 17-month period between November 1, 2009 to March 31, 2011. A resident of Rama Mandi, Darshan Lal got his daughter wedded on February 12, 2010, and had applied for the scheme around that time. But he has not got the grant so far. Similar is the case of Resham Singh of Baupur Bet who married off his daughter Surinder Kaur on November 21, 2009, but is yet to receive the shagun amount. Interestingly, many married couples even had children but they are yet to receive the shagun from the government for their marriages. Married on November 18, 2008, Rajinder Kaur, daughter of a painter, based at Suchi Pind here, had a year-old son Krish, but her parents are yet to receive the grant. Her mother Manjit Kaur said, “Time and again we have been making rounds to this office Social Welfare Department but to no avail. We are made to sit here for a while and then sent back.” A resident of Mangu Basti, Bhula Ram, too claims that he has been making rounds to the office of the Social Welfare Department but he has not yet been able to get the cheque for shagun scheme. “My daughter Reena was married on April 1, 2011. I have had to make so many rounds to this office, spending Rs 50 for each round. I really wonder whether it was worth applying for the scheme,” he said. Hearing impaired Kamla Devi too has been vying to get the grant after marriage of her daughter on April 11 this year. “I made a mistake by entering my wrong caste. I wrote Dhamik instead of Megh which has cost me dearly. I have told them to correct the entry but the staff has not been cooperative”, she said. District Welfare Officer JS Purewal said all applicants post April 1 this year have been provided grants. “The data of those who applied between November 1, 2009, to March 31, 2011, has been uploaded on our systems with details of the bank accounts. As and when the government will release grant under the scheme, the amount will be directly entered into their respective accounts,” he said. Regarding other pending cases, he said there were little issues or some documents pending owing to which they had not been issued grants. official speak The data of those who applied between November 1, 2009 and March 31, 2011 has been uploaded on our systems with details of bank accounts. As and when the government releases the grant under the scheme, the amount will be directly transferred into their respective accounts. — JS Purewal, District Welfare Officer My daughter Reena was married on April 1, 2011. I had to make numerous rounds to this office, which cost me Rs 50 per visit. I really wonder whether it was worth applying for the scheme. — Bhula Ram, a resident of Mangu Basti
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10 more jaundice cases confirmed
Jalandhar, November 1 District Health Officer RL Bassan said, “All the four samples taken by the health department have failed. The extent of ecoli bacteria found in the potable water of the area is one lakh per cubic millilitre. Normally, the extent the bacteria shouldn’t exceed 10,000 ecoli per cubic millilitre. The water supply to the area has to be discontinued immediately. It has also been found that there is no mixing of the sewerage water with the drinking water supply,” Bassan added. He said there might be more cases. “It takes some time for jaundice symptoms to surface. Residents of the area must have been consuming that water for weeks. The incubation period for infected jaundice patients is 15 to 45 days. So it might take us months to know about all the infected patients and it can’t be ruled out that hundreds of patients in the area may show signs of the disease in the near future.” Even as residents of the area revealed that area hospitals and clinics had patients lined up and tests had already been conducted on hundreds for jaundice, the health department just confirmed 10 patients for today. Interestingly, not a single patient has approached the Civil Hospital for treatment, even as former Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia announced free treatment for them at the hospital. Bassan said, “I am mot aware of a single jaundice patient from the area getting treatment at the Civil Hospital. They had the option to call 108 for emergency but there have been no such calls as yet.” Earlier in the day, the health department got surveys conducted in the area and held a medical camp at gali no. 2 where two patients were treated. official speak The water supply of the area has been stopped. Now, the water is being supplied to the area through MC tankers. We are awaiting reports of water samples that had been sent to Chandigarh to begin work in the area accordingly. — BS Dhaliwal, Municipal Commissioner
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Technical snag stalls process to recruit constables
As the rural police had decided to issue roll numbers to the applicants on October 30 and 31. On the very first day, the software developed a technical snag as a result of which two roll numbers got issued to each applicant. The authorities had to stop the process of issuing roll numbers immediately. Sources say roll numbers had already been issued to more than 1,000 applicants which had to be cancelled later. The police has fully computerised the record of 30,000 applicants and stored in the especially-developed software. Sources said the data in the software got corrupted and the problem is yet to be rectified. Rural police said the snag is yet to be rectified and till then, the process of recruitment has been stopped for an indefinite period of time. “After rectifying the problem, we will inform the applicants through advertisements in the media. Now the software will again be updated and personal details of the applicants will be refilled in the software once again,” the police officials said. The delay in the admission process has led to resentment among the candidates. Applicants from across the state has applied for the post of constables and after knowing about the problem, applicants felt angry and even cursed the police authorities for delaying the recruitment process. |
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gadri mela
Jalandhar, November 1 Many people missed a chance to come to the fair due to many buses from Bathinda and the neighbouring region being hired to ferry crowds for the Kabaddi Cup’s opening ceremony. But still, the multitude of crowds from other Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and the city itself made the fair a success. Post the ‘jhande di rasam’ (flag-hoisting ceremony) and choreographies in the morning, the crowds flocked to the various stalls. As fiery speeches wrung in the background and kawishars took digs at the establishment, shopkeepers said their books had takers both in the young and old. There were a total of 63 stalls at the fair till yesterday and today the number increased to 84. Paramjit Singh of Panj-aab Prakashan said, “We have mostly had returns (total) returns of Rs 10 lakh from the fair and this year too we expect collective returns of at least Rs 10 lakh.” Sunita Kumari from Daanish Publications, Delhi, has been coming to the fair for the past nine years. She said, “It seemed the sales would plummet this year. The first three days were not too good. We have had average sales worth Rs 60,000 every year. The crowds today, though, have picked up substantially and it stays this way till the night, we hope to meet our target.” |
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Buses to Gadri Mela hijacked for Kabaddi World Cup
Jalandhar, November 1 Amolak Singh convener of the cultural wing of the Desh Bhagat Yadgaar committee said, “At least nine to 10 buses that had been booked by people who wanted to come to the fair were summoned for the Kabaddi World Cup at the last minute.” “People from Gobindapura, Barnala and Bathinda had to cancel their plans to come to the fair because the vehicles, which they had booked, were hired to ferry crowds to the Kabaddi World Cup being held at Bathinda. Same was the case with people from Fazilka and Ferozepur but they informed us later that they will reach by train. Up to 500 people could not come to the fair,” Singh said. At least nine to 10 buses that had been booked by people who wanted to come to the fair were summoned for the Kabaddi World Cup at the last minute. People from Gobindapura, Barnala and Bathinda had to cancel their plans to come to the fair because the vehicles, which they had booked, were hired to ferry crowds to the Kabaddi World Cup being held at
Bathinda — Amolak Singh, convener cultural wing of Desh bhagat yadgar committee |
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speaking out
Jalandhar, November 1 What is noticeable is that many youngsters sit, listening intently. Some go out of curiosity, others out of a love for the Gadar ideology, but clearly all sections of youngsters go to understand better what they thought no other place could teach them. Very few of the youngsters that The Tribune talked to, knew much about the history of the Gadar Movement but they acknowledged the fact and said an intention to understand their past (and future) better is the reason they were visiting the mela. The Tribune talked to some of the young visitors at the Mela Gadri Babeyan
Da: Places like these make us feel empowered. Although I never thought violence is a good way to convince governments; discussions, rallies and protests are very important to drive the point home. I liked it a lot here and I’m sure I’m coming back again next
year — Manjinder Kaur, a student I have been visiting the fair for the past three years. I began reading more about it after my visits. This year, too, I plan to buy many books to have a sound knowledge of the history of the Gadar movement. Once I understand that better, I will be equipped to deal with the future. These are our
roots. — Gurinder Singh, a teacher to understand what is happening in the society, who is exploiting whom, This place gives many answers. Revolution is an answer to the constant exploitation of the poor and is one of the many things I learnt since I first began visiting this
place. — Jasvir Kaur, an activist for the Stri Jagriti Manch I had first seen this place as nothing more than a stage to perform, just a medium for me; just a show. Now I’m slowly trying to understand the ideology too. Performances here make me feel like a part of the movement and I like it. I’m still learning,
though. — Jatinder Suri, actor |
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MC to issue debentures to feed fund crunch
Jalandhar, November 1 It has been proposed that of the total amount, Rs 100 crore would be used to develop Burlton Park as a world-class sports hub and the remaining Rs 40 crore will be used for other development works. The MC proposes to appoint a private company Dara Shah as consultants for the same. Mayor Rakesh Rathour said, “It is a foolproof venture. The company will ensure proper marketing of the bonds. The company is also ready to buy all bonds in case there are no buyers.” “We are not doing this for the first time. It has already been done in Ludhiana 10 years back. I am sure the move will help solve all our problems,” he said. The Mayor said the step had to be taken as the HUDCO has not been able to release Rs 140 crore loan as had been proposed for Burlton Park owing to some technical glitch. “We have some land in Burlton Park which is to be developed for commercial purposes. We had thought that we will return the loan as and develop this land before selling it. We do not want to sell the land as such as it will not fetch us good income. So, we had to go in for debentures,” he added. The MC office has proposed that the additional income that the office would soon be able to generate after regularisation of water connections and recovery of house tax. “A survey of five wards under Global Information System points to an additional income of at least Rs 5 crore, through such recoveries. The buyers of the bonds would get 12 per cent dividend out of this income every year,” the proposal points out. Congress leader Manoj Arora has raised doubts over the scheme, “I do not think there will be any response to the scheme.” Leader of the Opposition in the MC Jagdish Raj Raja said he was not aware of the issue. A BJP councillor and F&CC member Sunil Jyoti said he was yet to go through the copy of the agenda. official speak It is a foolproof venture. The company will ensure proper marketing of the bonds. The company is also ready to buy all bonds in case there are no buyers. We are not doing this for the first time. It has already been done in Ludhiana 10 years back. I am sure the move will help solve all our problems — Rakesh Rathour, Mayor, Jalandhar
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Man accused of helping criminal flee, arrested
Jalandhar, November 1 The in charge of the CIA staff, Sukhjit Singh said the accused had been declared Proclaimed Offender (PO) after he had got the criminal flee police custody. The accused Balvir along with three other miscreants had helped jail inmate Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi escape after throwing chili powder into the eyes of Assistant Sub-Inspector Raj Kumar. Some cops had also sustained injuries in the incident. A case under Section 307, 323, 325, 148, 149 was registered against the accused in Jalandhar Police Division No 2, the CIA in charge said. The accused had a criminal past and many criminal cases had been registered against him in various police stations. The accused was arrested this afternoon from Basti Adda locality of the city on a tip off, the CIA in charge said. |
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Land acquired for Surya Enclave extension
Jalandhar, November 1 “The remaining part has not been taken as there are a few litigations involved. In the acquired part, the owners have already received an award of Rs 1.28 lakh per marla”, said the SDM-I-cum-Land Acquisition Collector, Iqbal Singh Sandhu. The Jalandhar Improvement Trust had earlier planned the draw for the scheme on October 21, but the same had to be postponed owing to delays in the process of land acquisition. The Trust has got 2,520 applications for 431 plots that are likely to be cut in the proposed colony in the first phase. The Trust had fixed the rate of Rs 17,000 per sq yard. Of the total plots available under the scheme, there are 66 of 100 sq yard area, 50 of 153 sq yard area, 130 of 200 sq yard area, 65 of 250 sq yard area, 65 of 250 sq yard area, 66 of 356 sq yard area and 54 plots of 500 sq yard area. Residents had been asked to pay up 10 per cent of the total area as earnest money. |
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Weak response to MC camp
Jalandhar, November 1 The office received 10 applications for waiver of water charges as residents claimed that their plot size was less than 5 marlas. The office also received an application for double billing. Several residents poured in for regularisation of illegal water connections but they were sent back as the last date for the amnesty elapsed yesterday. |
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Jalandhar, November 1