The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Centre to spend Rs 2-cr on facelift of hospital Anirudh Gupta Ferozepur, December 18 The Union Government will spent an amount close to over Rs 2 crores on the renovation and upgradation of the Cantonment General Hospital (CGH), situated in the cantonment here. Established in 1915, the hospital, which was once the most preferred place for the ailing, has witnessed a gradual decline in the number of patients notwithstanding the free medicines and highly subsidised charges for treatment. The family wing of the hospital was built in the memory of the 15 British and five Indian officers besides 386 other Indian ranks of King George's own Sikhs and the Patiala state infantry, killed in Gallipoli in 1915. Congress leader Parminder Singh Pinki, who was instrumental in arranging the funds for the hospital, said that out of the sanctioned amount, a part of it will be released by HK Dua, Member of Rajya Sabha, through the MPLAD funds and the rest will be provided by the Union Government as a special grant. "The hospital has a rich legacy and it enjoyed a very good reputation. It is unfortunate to see the sorry state of affairs," said Pinki, adding that if needed, more funds shall be arranged for the hospital so that it can offer better medical facilities to the underprivileged and deprived who cannot afford costly treatment. Dr Promila Markan, Medical Officer, posted here, said that on an average, around 30 patients come to the OPD daily. However, there are no indoor patients here, she said, adding that the OPD fees is Rs 10. Besides, medicines are given free of cost to the patients. Dr Promila Markan said that in the absence of any medical assistance at night, the patients do not stay indoors. At present, besides the MO, there is another doctor posted here. However, the posts of three staff nurses, ANM, male nurse, radiographer and two ward servants are lying vacant. The only staff nurse posted here retired last year. Since then, the cleaners are making up for the nursing assistance. Though, the X-ray machine is available but in the absence of a radiographer, it has also become redundant. JV Singh, CEO, said that though no official intimation has been received regarding the allocation of funds, the Board will welcome any such move for the development of the hospital. He said that medical specialists have been roped in on part-time basis to provide specialised treatment to the residents. He further said that outdoor camps have been started in every ward which has evoked a good response, adding that the vacant posts will be filled up on contractual basis soon to give a fillip to the functioning of the hospital.
	Sunday goes without drinking water in Abohar Raj Sadosh Abohar, December 18 The stalemate over removing the blockade from the sewage disposal channel on the Defence road here continued on the 11th day resulting in suspension of drinking water supply to more than 1.5 lakh consumers in the sub-divisional town for the fifth consecutive day on Sunday. Intriguingly, none of the senior administrative officials or the civic body top brass tried to solve the problem. The worst affected were the women who normally chose Sunday being the week-end day to wash their hair. A working woman, Namrata in Nai Abadi locality, said. The groundwater pumped by submersible pumps has been declared salty by the Health Department in most of the localities and is not worth domestic use. The private water purification plants were finding it difficult to meet the rapidly increasing demand for filtered water containers.” The Municipal Council had suspended drinking water supply from both water works located inside and outside the town for past five days to reduce pressure on the make shift storage tank that too had suffered minor breaches twice inundating streets in some residential areas in the walled city. The farmers had blocked the main channel by filling sand, using JCB machines, ruing that the authorities had not taken steps to check reoccurrence of breaches. The authorities had not paid compensation to the affected farmers for the losses suffered during past two-three years. While finding no convincing solution now, the Municipal Council officials replayed the argument that the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board had floated tenders worth Rs 10 crore to extend the sewage channel but it will take time to execute the project. Till then, the farmers and urban consumers will have to bear the brunt, they admitted. Notably, breaches on December 1 and 8 in the main sewerage water disposal channel located on the Abohar-Killianwali bypass near the strategically important Defence road (Abohar-Hindumalkot road), had wreaked havoc. Its ambit had enhanced from 500 to about 700 acres of prime agricultural land. The Central and state food grain procurement agencies have sought more goods train rakes to shift the huge stock of wheat from the godowns located near the disposal water tanks as leakage had hit the complexes twice during past week. The officials have to run the affairs by taking away furniture to the railway goods yard, as they were unable to get the accumulating dirty water drained out.
	Security agencies gear up to thwart bid to push fake currency Anirudh Gupta Ferozepur, December 18 With the assembly elections round the corner, the security agencies are apprehensive about the possible attempts by the anti-national agencies operating from across the border to push huge consignments of fake Indian currency notes (FICN) and drugs into the Indian territory for use during the polls. Officials said that due to the impending elections in Punjab, there was a likelihood of FICN being used amidst the electorate, especially in the rural areas along the Zero Line for which the security agencies were maintaining extra vigil along the border. BSF officials at the frontier headquarters revealed that till date, FICN amounting to Rs 31,87,500 has been apprehended by the BSF this year in Punjab besides recoveries made by the other agencies including the DRI, police and other intelligence agencies. According to sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), during the current year, from January 1 to October 31, a total of 19,46,712 FICN notes with a face value of Rs 96,15,60,797 was recovered from various parts of the country this year. Alarmed over it, several agencies like the RBI, MHA, security and intelligence agencies of the Centre and states, besides the CBI are already working in tandem to check the circulation and usage of FICNs. Another official said that the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) was using organised gangs as well as cross-border smugglers to push FICN into India to subvert the economy as well as for funding terrorist activities, adding that the FICN seized by the security agencies during the various operations exhibit a high degree of sophistication. When contacted, Rajesh Gupta, DIG, BSF said they have already stepped up the security along the Indo-Pakistan border in Punjab due to the onset of winter conditions. About attempts to push FICN into the state during the polls, he said, "We are taking all precautions as per the standard operating procedure (SOP) chalked out in this regard." Meanwhile, DPS Kharbanda, ADC, said the Election Commission has issued fresh directions to check the practice of distribution of money during the polls. "No one will be allowed to carry more than Rs 20,000.”
	EGS teachers still atop water tank Archit Watts/TNS Muktsar, December 18 Even after 30 hours, six Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS) teachers, who had climbed atop an overhead water tank on Husnar-Madhir road near Gidderbaha yesterday, were still carrying on their protest there. These activists have been demanding regular jobs for those EGS teachers who have completed their ETT course, saying that the state government had earlier promised them. Pritpal Singh, President, EGS Teachers' Union said, "We stick to our demand and our activists will come down only when the government will issue a notification in this regard." He added that the SSP Mukstar, Indermohan Singh, today came to the spot and assured them of a meeting with the CM in Bathinda tomorrow. "Now, we will again meet the CM, but the protest will continue," said Pritpal. Meanwhile, the villagers have provided them with blankets and quilts. A large number of the EGS teachers have also camped near the tank.
	Freedom fighter passes away Our Correspondent Ferozepur, December 18 Freedom fighter Harbans Singh, who was an old associate of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh, passed away here following prolonged illness at the age of 104. His pyre was lit by his son Kulbir Singh. Naib Tahsildaar Narinder Kumar and the SHO City Jaswant Singh attended the cremation and paid respects to the departed soul on behalf of the administration. Earlier, DC S. Karuna Raju also visited the ancestral house of Harbans Singh and shared grief with the family. Kulwant Singh, grandson of Harbans Singh, said that the state government did not provide any financial assistance to his grandfather notwithstanding all the promises which were made to him. He said that Master Mohan Lal, former Cabinet Minister, had also promised monetary aid to his ailing grandfather but that too was not forthcoming. A large number of people attended the cremation though no senior politician from the ruling SAD-BJP could join because of the rally in Moga.