Amritsar, July 17
The general public is not welcome it seems at various government offices. These government departments exist to serve the very people for whom there are no reception areas. All there is are few windows with small openings. With no fans or even shade, visitors brave hot and humid weather conditions in wait to get their work done.

The District Transport Office has few windows at the backside of the office building without any shade for the visitors. Applicants snug up to the walls to avoid the sun. The food and civil supplies office is no better. It does have a cemented covering at the windows but no fan. A fan is a basic necessity, said Sarab Dayal Singh, a visitor.

The residents rue that even during rains people need a roof on their heads outside these windows.

Another resident Jaspreet Singh said, “The general public has a right to demand facilities for them. But I do not know why people have become insensitive to the needs of their fellow beings.” He said cold drinking water should be madeavailable here. Frequented by a large number of people, the District Transport Office and the Revenue Office are deprived of these basic facilities. The small number of fans installed at these offices is not enough for the huge crowd. At the office of the revenue department, the situation is such that people can’t find even an empty chair. Another visitor, Pritam Singh said, “Because of the large rush, visitors have to wait for a long time and the suffocation is unbearable.”

Amritsar, July 17
The CIA staff today arrested six persons in separate cases for loot, possession of intoxicants and currency. A woman accomplice of the accused dodged the police and fled.

In the first case, the police arrested a 27-year-old man identified as Jaspal Singh, a resident of Anngarh. During a raid conducted by the Gate Hakima police, Jaspal’s mother Rani fled the spot. The police party seized 140 gram of smack, 160 gram charas, 188 intoxicant injections, 15 plastic syringes and Rs 73, 000 in cash from the house.

ADCP (Crime) HS Brar claimed the woman accomplice would be arrested soon. “On a tip off, our team raided the house number 117 in Anngarh area. When the police team reached the main road in Anngarh, the miscreants carrying plastic bags were coming out of their house. On seeing the police party, they tried to flee but we could arrest only one of them. The woman accomplice was the mother of the accused, it was found later. They were both involved in drug trafficking. This drug peddler was never an addict himself,” he said. “The police party is conducting raids at the probable hideouts of the accused,” he said.

The police has registered a case under Section 20-21-22-61-85 of NDPS Act at police station Gate Hakima.

In another case, the police arrested four occupants of a Bolero-make jeep who had fled from the petrol pump in Sultanwind area after filing the jeep with petrol two days ago. They had refused to pay for the fuel. They also threatened the petrol pump attendants with sharp-edged weapons. The police party was on the look out for the miscreants who fell in the net yesterday. The accused have been identified as Navpreet Singh, Prince Malhotra, Gagandeep Singh and Jasmeet Singh.

The police also seized 125 gram intoxicants and 5 gram heroin from their possession. A case under Section 130/12, 131/12, 22/61/85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against the accused. The police spotted the vehicle on the Sultanwind Road. On seeing the police occupants of the jeep tried to flee from the spot leaving the vehicle behind, but were arrested.

In yet another case, the CIA staff arrested an autorickshaw driver who used to loot passengers visiting the Golden Temple shrine. He has been identified as Maninder Singh Meena, a resident of Chheharta.

ADCP Brar said the accused was arrested while trying to loot a Delhi-based tourist on way to the shrine on July 13. “As soon as the tourists took their purse out to pay him he used to snatch it and flee,” he said. The police has registered case under Section 382/34 with Kotwali police station.

Amritsar, July 17
Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Health & Family Welfare, Punjab, has written to Amritsar Police Commissioner RP Mittal asking him to deploy of police personnel and start patrolling outside schools for girls to prevent eve teasing.

In her communication, she has asked the Police Commissioner to do the needful at the earliest.

Dr Sidhu said she had received repeated complaints from various sections of the society regarding incidents of eve teasing. “During my visits to various government and private schools for girls, I had observed scant police security arrangements outside these schools. Boys roam freely on bikes and cars around these schools and tease girls with no guilt or fear. I have requested the Police Commissioner to start patrolling before and after the school timings and also to challan boys who drive rashly,” she said.

Amritsar, July 17
The power tariff hike will have an adverse effect on the micro and macro level industry of the district, feel economists and industrialists.

A majority of industrialists are thinking of moving court against the government decision.

A city-based economist, Dr Varinder Bhatia said small and medium scale industries in the state may have to pay Rs 830 crore extra following the hike. He said the move may force industries shift out of the state. “Neighbouring states are giving power incentives to the industry. Also petrol is cheaper in these states as compared to Punjab,” he said.

He said poor industrial growth in the state was due to irregular power supply and that too at high costs. Power is available in plenty at cheap rates in the neighbouring hill states of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.

The local textile industry is already reeling under crisis.

He said a study conducted by the National Applied Economic Research has revealed that only 26 per cent of the households in Punjab received 18 hours of electricity against the national average of 57 per cent.

Raman Gupta, general secretary, Trade and Industry Association Border Zone, said the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) must have evolved a mechanism to curtail transmission and distribution losses, including theft of power.

PL Seth, president, Shawl Club of India (SCI), said members of various textile associations were contemplating to knock at the doors of the court to seek justice. He said the power subsidy to agriculture sector offered by the SAD-BJP government has gone up from Rs 2,000 crore to Rs 5,200 crore.

He said most of the raw material used in textile industry comes from outside state. In this scenario, industrialists do not stand any chance to compete with their counterparts in the rest of India and eventually they will have to shift out of Punjab. Otherwise, industrialists will put their money where the cost of production is low.

Seth claimed that the Union government has already accepted that the textile industry in the country was going through a crisis period and needed Rs 11,000-crore liquidity for restructuring.

Amritsar, July 17
As many as 18 Pakistani nationals, including a 10-year-old boy, were repatriated through the Attari-Wagah joint check post today. BSF’s Assistant Commandant JS Kang handed them over to Pakistani Rangers’ official Ali Haider.

Pakistani fishermen Mohammad Ali and Ali Ajgar said they were awarded six-month imprisonment for crossing the prohibited line while sailing through Gujarat waters.

Amritsar, July 17
SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar today inaugurated a laundry unit worth Rs 9 lakh at Mata Ganga Jee Niwas here today. The 50-kg capacity unit will facilitate washing of bedsheets, pillow covers and other such stuff for the rooms of inns. Earlier, they were being washed at an outside facility.

Makkar said the unit will facilitate the pilgrims staying at the inns. In another move, the SGPC has given the contract of maintaining cleanliness at Guru Arjan Dev Niwas and Mata Ganga Jee Niwas to Efficient Services, Chandigarh, for a year on a trial basis. The firm will keep around 240 rooms of these inns, halls, bathrooms and corridors clean. Firm owner Gagandeep Singh said they have engaged over 75 employees to maintain cleanliness at these two inns.

Makkar said the SGPC is constructing more inns in view of the rising number of devotees visiting the holy city. He said the construction of Saragarhi Niwas is underway on a war footing. Besides, the construction of another inn is on the cards following shifting of Guru Nanak Girls School to its new location.

Amritsar, July 17
Two houses have been burgled in the city.

Paramjit Cheema, a resident of Ranjit Avenue, said he had gone to Patiala on July 7. When he returned on Monday, he found the locks of the house broken. Burglars decamped with Rs 2.65 lakh, 30 grams of gold and the will of his uncle. No arrest has been made so far. The police said a case under relevant sections of the IPC has been registered against the unknown persons.

In another incident, the house of Sarbjit Kaur at Kot Khalsa area was burgled when she had gone to Pathankot. She said on July13, she received a call from her neighbour who informed her that locks of her house were lying broken. When she returned, she found her gold jewellery and Rs 18,000 stolen.