B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Schools to become disabled-friendly
Muktsar, September 26
Government schools in Muktsar are ready to become friendly to the children with special needs (CWSN).

Lakhan Majra rly station to be commissioned today
New Delhi, September 26
Northern Railway has decided to commission a new railway station at Lakhan Majra on the Delhi-Bathinda section tomorrow.

Saviour of many lives during partition departs at 113
Abohar, September 26
Having rescued scores of families during the communal riots triggered by the partition in August 1947, Sohan Singh Khara, a farmer, breathed his last in village Jhurarkhera near here yesterday. Family sources said his family had migrated from village Chittianwali in the West Punjab province of Pakistan. 

DC conducts surprise check at F’pur jail
Ferozepur, September 26  
Deputy Commissioner (DC) S. Karuna Raju today conducted a surprise checking at the Central Jail where he also listened to the problems of the prisoners.

Robbers targeting rail passengers
Abohar, September 26
The security forces deployed on the railway stations on the Bathinda-Hanumangarh-Bikaner section have been put on alert as two incidents of looting the passengers were reported in the last 24 hours.

Five drug smugglers get 10-yr jail term
Faridkot, September 26
The session courts in Moga today awarded 10-year imprisonment to five persons for smuggling drugs in two different cases. The court of District and Sessions Judge Karamjit Singh sentenced Buta Singh and Sukhdev Singh to jail term after convicting them in a case of drug peddling.

Schools to become disabled-friendly
Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Muktsar, September 26
Government schools in Muktsar are ready to become friendly to the children with special needs (CWSN).

Funds to the tune of nearly Rs 14 lakh have been sanctioned for the purpose under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) to construct as many as 92 ramps in various government schools in the district. Each ramp would cost about Rs 15,000.

Rana Bedi, district coordinator, Inclusive Education for Disabled, said, “The education department is ready to make the schools more friendly for the disabled students. As many as 42 ramps would be built in Lambi assembly constituency, 31 in Malout constituency, 17 in Gidderbaha constituency and two in Muktsar constituency.”

Giving details, he said there were 362 disabled students receiving education in 38 resource rooms in the cluster schools in the district. For them, 17 inclusive education teachers have been appointed.

“Apart from them, there are 145 students, who can’t even come to the schools. For them, 36 volunteers have been appointed to impart education to them at their houses,” added Rana Bedi.

 The district education office has even conducted free surgeries of 12 students for cleft lip and palate. “Artificial limbs are also being provided to the disabled students without any cost. The officials of ALIMCO-Kanpur have already measured the size of the limbs to be provided to these students,” he claimed.

Deputy Commissioner Paramjit Singh said, “Besides the schools, I have also ordered the officials of the buildings and roads department to construct ramps in all government buildings so that the disabled can easily visit the government institutions. To facilitate the disabled, wheelchairs would also be provided to them soon at the bus stands in the district.”

Lakhan Majra rly station to be commissioned today
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 26
Northern Railway has decided to commission a new railway station at Lakhan Majra on the Delhi-Bathinda section tomorrow.

The building of the station at Lakhan Majra is envisaged to provide rail connectivity to public across eight villages - Bahasi, Kherak, Gugaheri, Nandakheri, Chiri, Poli, Indergarh and Lakhan Majra - having a population density of nearly one lakh along the railway track between Karainthi-Kilazafargarh section of the Delhi-Bathinda rail route.

Six passenger trains will be provided a halt of one minute each at Lakhan Majra station. The train services are Rohtak-Jind passenger, Delhi-Ferozepur passenger, Delhi-Jakhal passenger, Jind-Delhi passenger and Jakhal-Delhi passenger.

A senior official of the Northern Railway said Lakhan Majra station had been constructed following demands of locals. The station has two rail-level platforms of 400-metre length each, and has passenger amenities like water and toilet facilities.

Saviour of many lives during partition departs at 113

Abohar, September 26
Having rescued scores of families during the communal riots triggered by the partition in August 1947, Sohan Singh Khara, a farmer, breathed his last in village Jhurarkhera near here yesterday. Family sources said his family had migrated from village Chittianwali in the West Punjab province of Pakistan. While following the road route, the family was instrumental in saving many from violence as exchange of population took place population after the partition.

As per the documents prepared by the Evacuee Property Board, Sohan Singh was 48 years old then. — OC

DC conducts surprise check at F’pur jail

Ferozepur, September 26  
Deputy Commissioner (DC) S. Karuna Raju today conducted a surprise checking at the Central Jail where he also listened to the problems of the prisoners.

He said at present, there were around 1600 inmates lodged in the jail who were being given various facilities as per the jail manual. Raju took stock of the medical and other facilities being provided to the prisoners.

He said the pending cases of parole which have been sent to the state government would be jointly taken up with the jail authorities so that the prisoners are able to meet their families.

The DC also instructed that provision for proper diet and quality education should be made for the children of female prisoners in the jail.

Gurmail Singh, ADC, Ramandeep Singh, Superintendent, Central Jail, were also present. — OC

Robbers targeting rail passengers
Raj Sadosh

Abohar, September 26
The security forces deployed on the railway stations on the Bathinda-Hanumangarh-Bikaner section have been put on alert as two incidents of looting the passengers were reported in the last 24 hours.

As per the available information, three passengers were today found lying unconscious in the parcel coach of the Avadh-Assam express train at Lalgarh railway station. They were later identified as Satya Narain, Rameshwer Lal and Tara Chand of village Tilana in Jind segment of Haryana.

Preliminary inquiries revealed that they had boarded the superfast train at Jind last evening for Suratgarh as one of their relatives had invited them to purchase agricultural land. They had tea at Bathinda during the journey but could not alight at Suratgarh.

Initially, their gold rings and mobile phones were found to be missing.

Sources in the GRP informed that an Army man, Sanjeev Jha of Dwarka in New Delhi, was looted yesterday by miscreants who offered him a biscuit. He was to alight at Kotkapura but reached Suratgarh in a semi-conscious condition. Rs 1,000 in cash along with two mobile phones were found missing from his bag.

The railway staff has been directed to caution the passengers through the public address system against accepting eatables or drinks from co-passengers. It is believed that the “jeharkhurani gang” has again become active on the Bathinda-Hanumangarh-Bikaner section and might shift to other sections soon.

Five drug smugglers get 10-yr jail term

Faridkot, September 26
The session courts in Moga today awarded 10-year imprisonment to five persons for smuggling drugs in two different cases. The court of District and Sessions Judge Karamjit Singh sentenced Buta Singh and Sukhdev Singh to jail term after convicting them in a case of drug peddling.

The police had recovered 60 kg of poppy husk from Buta Singh of Harnam Singh Wala (Bathinda) and Sukhdev Singh of Selbrah (Rampura Phul) during a checking near Jawahar Singh Wala village in Moga district on January 4, 2009.

The judge also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on each accused, the non-payment of which will extend their prison sentence by six months.

In another decision, Additional District and Sessions Judge Harpal Singh awarded 10 years of imprisonment to three persons convicted of possessing 3.50 quintals of poppy husk.

As per police records, the Baghapurana police had arrested Harnek Singh and Nirmal Singh of Rajenan village and Mandar Singh of Chakk Kaleyan on April 18, 2009. During a special operation, the police had stopped a car near Mallke village and recovered 3.50 quintals of poppy husk from the car. The police had registered a case against the three under Section 15, 61 85 of the NDPS Act. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on each of the accused. — TNS