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No end to residents’ woes
Benevolent MLAs to dole out
Rs 5 crore for illegal colonies
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Testing time: Police runs short of vehicles
Man held for pasting posters
against his estranged wife
Civic body in tizzy over water bill charges
Visa glitch keeps Pak guests away
PSPCL told to shift tubewell connection
‘No more free rides to oblige govt’
HMV wins athletics championship
Students learn to have fun with theatre
House burgled
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No end to residents’ woes
Jalandhar, November 28 While the tentative delivery date was November 23, Charanjit was again asked to visit the Suvidha Centre today just to be finally informed that the certificate will not be available this week due the strike of the ministerial staff. “I went on November 23 and then visited the Suvidha Centre again today. But after waiting for almost half-an-hour, I had to return empty-handed. This was my second visit in the past one week and now, I will come to receive my forms only after the strike is over,” he lamented. This is not the lone case. As the ministerial staff remained on strike last week, the number of pending cases have already gone up and this number would further go up by the end of this week. The clerks and superintendents have gone on a week-long strike from today onwards. An NRI from Italy, who had come all the way from a village near Phagwara for getting his affidavits attested, had to return disappointed. “We were told that some clerks were on strike, hence the work was not being done. The government should ensure some alternative arrangement, at least for NRIs who have a time bound stay in India,” rued Prabhjit Singh. Even the applicants of the learners licence had a tough time at the Suvidha Centre as the counter is non-functional owing to a technical snag for the past 10 days. Although a notice was put up outside the Suvidha Centre stating ‘inconvenience regretted’, but still those who reached the centre were a harried lot. The staff at the Suvidha Centre, too, maintained that pending cases were piling up in all the departments. “We are accepting fresh applications and forwarding the same to the departments concerned, but since the ministerial staff is on strike, the services would be badly hit in the coming days,” said a staff member at the Suvidha Centre. Incidentally, the work of marriage registration, one of the most occupied counters at the centre, was not affected due to the strike. Jessica Dhillon, a newly wedded NRI girl, soon to fly to the UK said, “Thank god, marriage registration has nothing to do with the strike else we would have been badly struck. We have to rush to the UK within a month.” Another staff member at the Suvidha Centre said: “We receive some 50-plus applications from every counter at the Suvidha Centre, but the number of these applications is higher in the counter of ration cards, marriage registration, learner’s licence and the revenue cases counters. Once the strike is over, the ministerial staff will find it tough to clear the backlog.” l
Public services badly hit l Residents who came to receive their applications had to return empty handed l Ministerial staff to remain on strike till December 2, but that will be followed by Saturday and Sunday further creating problems for residents l Learners licence counter remained closed today following a technical snag l Departments of district administration wore a deserted look |
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Benevolent MLAs to dole out
Rs 5 crore for illegal colonies
Jalandhar, November 28 The Trust has already issued tender notices for 14 road construction and sewer works worth Rs 3.85 crore for the areas falling in the Municipal Corporation. All works that have been put up are for unapproved colonies of the city for which the MC is not officially authorised to get works done from its own funds. As per the decision taken by the political bosses, the MLAs submitted the lists of priority works through the Deputy Commissioner who had forwarded the same to the JIT chairman. There are four constituencies falling in the urban area with three sitting BJP MLAs. The Jalandhar Cantonment seat is lying vacant. From the three seats, only two MLAs, including Manoranjan Kalia from the Jalandhar Central and KD Bhandari from the Jalandhar North, have submitted the lists. MLA from Jalandhar South Bhagat Chunni Lal is yet to put up a list to take his share. Works in Jalandhar North Of the Rs 5 crore that the JIT is to spend, a share of Rs 2 crore has gone to KD Bhandari, who has listed nine concrete laying works in lanes of various colonies falling in Ward numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 22 and 39. As many as 23 colonies in the list are illegal, including Greater Kailash, Subhash Nagar, Moti Nagar, Amandeep Avenue and Kalia Farm. Works in Jalandhar Central Manoranjan Kalia has got a share of nearly Rs 1.85 crore. The works listed include those of road laying using inter-locking tiles, laying drains and installation of tubewells. The wards will be done in Ward numbers 9, 10, 12, 13 and 15 with colonies, including Karol Bagh, Kamal Vihar, Sainik Vihar and National Avenue. Jalandhar South far behind This leaves MLA Bhagat Chunni Lal with just Rs 1.15 crore share for development works in his constituency, which if he avails will be the least of all. The Jalandhar South constituency, which he represents, is the most neglected one and covers Bhargo Camp, Abadpura and Basti areas. No siding Interestingly, while the MLAs have been spending more money on wards represented by the councillors of their own party, the wards of opposition councillors have got a
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Testing time: Police runs short of vehicles
Jalandhar, November 28 Police sources revealed that there was dearth of vehicles even before the Jalandhar commissionerate came into force. Though with the launch of the commissionerate in 2010, the city police had got a number of new vehicles in its fleet, but the shortage still persists. Data collected by The Tribune revealed that city police had been sanctioned 245 vehicles in its fleet. However, it has only 157 vehicles in its fleet, a shortage of 88 vehicles. Sources said there is a dearth of light commercial vehicles, motorcycles, including Police Control Room (PCR), light motor vehicles, prisoners' vans and a bus. The shortage of motorcycles tops the list. The city police has been sanctioned 108 motorcycles, but it only has 60 bikes in its kitty, hence a shortage of 48 motorcycles. Police sources said with the launch of the commissionerate system, the police had 60 Police Control Room (PCR) bikes in its fleet, the numbers of which has now declined to 44. The reason: Some vehicles were damaged and some are under the process of replacement. The sanctioned limit of light commercial vehicles is 50, but the police has only 19 vehicles, including two Tata-407, eight Swaraj Mazda and nine mini buses, hence having the huge shortage of 31 vehicles. The city police is even short of a bus. The Jalandhar Commissionerate was sanctioned four prisioners' vans, but it is having only two of them, sources said. The city police had been sanctioned 72 light motor vehicles, including Jeep, Gypsy, Sumo, Tata 207, Qualis, Trax, Invader, Mahindra Scorpio, Bolero etc. However, it has only 66 of them, a shortage of six vehicles. As many as 20 vehicles have been abandoned, declared condemned or have been taken off the road due to their bad condition. Out of these, 11 are motorcycles, two Tata 407, a mini bus, a Sumo, a B/Camper, a Qualis and a bus. The police has also disposed of a number of condemned vehicles a few months ago, but have not purchase new ones, sources said. Out of 20 off road vehicles, many have not been auctioned since long. The reason being vehicles have turned case properties as these have been damaged or put to flame during communal clashes. Officials said the police could not auction these vehicles due to pending court cases. When contacted, Navjot Singh Mahal, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Headquarters), said: "We cannot term it a shortage as it is a continuous process. When some vehicles become useless, police declares them condemned and take them of road and with the time, new vehicles will be purchased."
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Man held for pasting posters
against his estranged wife
Nakodar, November 28 The accused along with his accomplice, Rajni, had pasted posters of his estranged wife commenting on her character. The police said Hardeep got married to Pretty in March 2008 and they were blessed with a child. The police said the accused and his mother, Gurvinder, used to torture Pretty. The victim was later thrown out of the house and she started living with her parents at Jalotiyan Mohalla here. The Nakodar police had also registered case against Hardeep and his mother under Sections 406 and 498-A for subjecting the victim to cruelty. On Thursday evening, the police received information from one Vimal Kishore of
Jalotiyan Mohalla that the accused along with a woman were roaming near his estranged wife's residence and they were reportedly carrying posters containing abusive remarks against her. The police arrested the duo and recovered posters from their possession. A case under Sections 298, 509 and 34 of the IPC has been registered against Hardeep and his accomplice Rajni, the police said. |
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Civic body in tizzy over water bill charges
The office received a copy of the order on Wednesday following which it has stopped sending fresh water bills to residents. The staff of the O&M branch revealed that the authorities were in the process of seeking a legal opinion on whether the order applied on the city-based complainants or all MCs in the state. There is much change in the charges levied on water from 2003 onwards or the previous rates applied in 1999. Sources revealed that the monthly water bill charges levied from owners of 5 marla residential plots was Rs 50 and sewerage charges Rs 20 in 1999. Those owning properties between 5 marla to 10 marla were paying Rs 75 for water and Rs 20 for sewerage. For plot sizes exceeding 10 marla or more, the charges were Rs 100 for water and Rs 20 for sewerage. The commercial rates were Rs 200 for water and Rs 20 for sewerage. The charges hiked after a notification in 2003 were Rs 105 for water and sewerage each (Rs 210 total) for 5 marla to 10 marla houses. For those owning houses of 10 marla or more, the charges were Rs 140, each for water and sewerage connections. The commercial rates were hiked to Rs 200, each for water and sewerage. After the Congress government took over in 2006, the owners of 5 marla houses were exempted from water and sewer charges. After the stay order, the MC took charges as per 1999 rates from those coming for payment of bills for two days. Now, however, the office has again started charging as per the new rates. The office has also stepped down its recovery for the time being. No notices are being issued to defaulters for the office is not clear on whether it could amount to defying of court orders. The low rate of recovery and holding of the dispatch of water bills is also bound to reflect on reduced income in the coming days. The MC is already relying on grants from other local bodies, including Jalandhar Improvement Trust and PUDA. SE (O&M) AS Dhaliwal said there were certain doubts over the judgement. "We have referred a copy to our lawyer to ascertain the scope of the stay orders. We are yet to get the reply," he added.
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Visa glitch keeps Pak guests away
Jalandhar, November 28 While the youth from Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh were on their way from Delhi and were likely to reach late in the evening, youngsters from various other Indian states have already made it to the venue of the camp-Youth Hostel, Burlton Park. As many as 20 youngsters from Pakistan were expected to participate in the camp. Assistant Director Youth Services, IS Dhami said reportedly the Pakistani youth will not come for the camp and we are Earlier in the day, the department of the youth affairs set up reception counters at the city railway station and the bus stand to assist the guests. “More than 500 youth will attend the camp who will take part in the cleanliness drive at Burlton Park, visit orphanages, the Golden temple, Jallianwala bagh, the birth place of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh and the recently started Virasat-E-Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib,” said Dhami. This Asia-level national integration camp is being held under the aegis of National Youth Project Trust, Delhi. Trust Director SN Suba Rao also reached the youth hostel today and highlighted the importance of the camp. “The aim of the camp is to inculcate a feeling of integrational brotherhood among the volunteers. India is a nation with diversified religions, languages, cultures and traditions and the camp will be a peak into our strength of unity,” he added.
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PSPCL told to shift tubewell connection
Jalandhar, November 28 The Forum has directed PSPCL to transfer his tubewell connection from Lohian Khas sub division to Majitha II sub division in Amritsar zone on the condition that he would fulfil all requirements. In his complaint against PSPCL through its Patiala based MD and SDO at Lohian Khas in Jalandhar, Kuldip Singh stated that he had agriculture electric connection bearing account No. l-4/203 which was earlier in his father Kartar Singh's name. After his father's death, the same was got transferred in his name. The connection was being used for agriculture purpose for self-employment and the power connection in question and tubewell came to the share of the complainant. To shift to Amritsar, he disposed off his share vide three separate sale deeds, but retained the power connection of the tubewell. The complainant applied for a change of name which was allowed by the opposite parties on furnishing the requisite formalities. The complainant applied in July, 2009, for the connection to be shifted to Majitha-II Sub Division at Amritsar. The opposite parties permanently disconnected the same on September 1, 2009. Permission from Chief Engineer (Commercial), Patiala, was rejected after some discrepancies were found. The case was again rejected by Chief Engineer (Commercial) on July 7, 2010, without giving any reason. The complainant asked the reason under the RTI Act. The Forumte directed PSPCL to shift the tubewell connection.
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‘No more free rides to oblige govt’
Jalandhar, November 28 The association members said so far they have been obliging political parties for various functions and rallies without a hitch. But, if the government failed to fulfil their demands, this facility will become a thing of the past, they said. Annoyed at the indifferent attitude of the government, Surinder Singh Goraya one of the association leaders told the media that, “During any programme of the state government we face a loss of Rs 1,000 per day. We have been rendering our services without any second thought but the government is least concerned about our welfare." The association has now decided to hold 'Chakka Jam' of all mini buses on December 6 and take out a state-level rally at Mohali. Association president Harinder Sharma said they were already witnessing losses in the business and to add to the problem the government has issued notification to launch Maxi cabs in the state. “The recently launched Maxi cabs have been given a permit to cover 16 The association members highlighted that such wrong policies of the state government will bring the existence of mini buses to a dead end. “The government should do away with the token tax for mini buses out of the Motor Vehicle tax, provide special permit for marriage parties and tours, withdraw bus stand fees and increase the mini bus route from 25 to 45 km," they demanded. Tirlok Singh, another association member, said they had raised the issue of implementing these demands with the state transport minister and the officials concerned but to no avail. “The government is least interested in fulfilling our demands and we have been forced to take the decision ,” they said. |
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HMV wins athletics championship
Jalandhar, November 28 Gagandeep Kaur won a gold medal in half marathon of 10 km, Amandeep won gold medal in hammer throw. In triple jump Amardeep won a gold medal, Renuka Kumar bagged gold medal in the pole vault event, Kulwinder Kaur won a gold medal in the 1,500 m and silver medal in 800 m while Harmanpreet won gold in javeline throw, Rajinder and Amandeep won silver medal in long jump and 100 metres respectively. Amandeep won silver medal in the pole-vault and javeline, Manpreet won gold medal in 5,000 and 10, 000 m and Jaskaran won a gold medal in 4x100 and 4x400 m relay race.
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Guru cool
Jalandhar, November 28 While the last one was about communal harmony, this one will be about a story of transition. Agnihotri is presently the artistic director of The Play House Educational Consultancy based in Vadodara. He has won worldwide acclaim for his theatre-in-education concept. What makes him sensitive about children, is a childhood he spent in the prestigious Shiv Niketan. In a world where parents believe in strictly rearing their children, wary of their exposure to reality TV, media, gloss and bias, he still believes in giving them what he got as a child. Talking about his 'open-schooling' and the adorable woman, Elizabeth Gauba, who gave him his foundation, he says, "At Shiv Niketan we were never shouted at, we had no grades. Promotion or demotion meant just shifting tables (not classes or changing friends). We could take our pets to school (his was a tortoise) and if we were studying the pre-historic man, we were supposed to build tools." When space constraints at the school caused him to shift to a "regular" school, he lost what he had always loved. He walked 10 kilometres to go stand in front of Shiv Niketan and cried. When Gauba found out, she took him back to the school. So now, when he teaches children, he first de-schools them. No wonder he is wary even about being called a theatre person. "I'm just sensitising students," he says. Different as his approach is about theatre and education, he has been pretty much a rebel all through. He did not accept his scholarship at the National School of Drama because he didn't agree with what was happening there at that time. A multifaceted personality, Agnihotri has been known as much for his love for wildlife as for theatre. He is the founder director of the 'Living with the Tiger' project and director of the Corbett Foundation. He has had done various teaching stints at Denmark, Norway, Australia and Japan. “I never plan. Whatever happens, comes from inside,” he says.
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House burgled
Jalandhar, November 28 The police said, the owner of the house Dr Aman Sood had gone to Chennai while his wife Monica Sood was away to meet her relatives. This morning, when doctor’s wife returned home, she noticed locks of the rear door of the house broken and found the house ransacked. Thieves stole cash and other valuables after breaking open the main
almirah.
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After waiting for over a week for availing a non-encumbrance certificate from the Suvidha Centre, Charanjit Singh, a resident of Basti Sheikh, had to return empty handed today as the certificate was not available.
Jalandhar, November 28
Several Pakistani youth failed to meet youth from the city as the last minute visa problems restricted their chances of attending the Asia-level national youth integration camp. The Pakistani youth was expected to reach the city today for the eight-day camp, which is beginning from tomorrow.
Jalandhar, November 28