Amritsar, November 15
A high drama was witnessed at Ram Bagh when two youths climbed an overhead water reservoir protesting against the government and Punjab State Power Corporation Limited for not providing them jobs on compassionate grounds.

Sukhchain Singh and Amarinder Singh, sons of former employees of erstwhile Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), climbed the reservoir at about 1.00 pm. Residents of Ajnala, they came down only in the evening after the PSPCL officials assured them to take their issue with the higher authorities. They sought a month’s time for the same.

Police officials as well as the PSPCL authorities had nervous moments till the time the duo stayed atop the reservoir.

Sukhchain Singh said his father Joga Singh had died of cardiac arrest in 2004 while Amarinder’s father Avtar Singh passed away in 2001 while in service. But the government failed to provide them jobs in PSPCL on compassionate grounds, they said. “We have been running from pillar to post to get jobs in view of the sudden death of our fathers. But we only got hollow assurances from the authorities concerned. No authority paid any heed towards our problem,” he said.

PSPCL sources said there were 150 to 200 such cases in Punjab and 15 in Amritsar.

Earlier, two youths warned that if their demands were not met they would commit suicide by jumping from the water tank. The news spread like wildfire and people from the neighbouring areas started gathering at the spot. The police officials reached the spot and asked the youths to come down and promised them to take their issue with the PSPCL authorities. They also informed the situation to PSPCL officials who also reached the spot and interacted with the youths.

While Sukhchain came down to talk with the authorities, Amarinder Singh remained atop the reservoir. They alleged that they were being asked to grease the palms of senior authorities besides some politicians for getting jobs in the department.

Sudeep Singh, Chief Engineer, PSPCL border zone, said since the inception of PSPCL, the process was undergoing to give jobs to wards of the employees who had died during service. However, their case was prior to the bifurcation of PSEB. At that time, the kin of the deceased employees were given certain package besides Rs 3 lakh cash, he added. He said such cases in which the family members have refused to take this option are being considered on sympathetic grounds.

“We have already recommended their cases to the board of directors of PSPCL and a decision is likely to be taken in their next meeting,” said Sudeep Singh. He said he would personally take up the cases of two youths with the higher authorities.

Later, when they came down they were taken into custody by the Ram Bagh police. Ram Singh, Police Commissioner, said no action would be taken against Sukhchain and Amarinder. 

Amritsar, November 15
Nine-year-old city skating prodigy, Mehak Gupta, returned from New Delhi after she received the National Award for Exceptional Achievement for the year 2012 from President Pranab Mukherjee.

She was accorded a warm welcome by the district administration, her school, family and friends.

Mehak was the only child from Punjab to receive the honour by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India, from the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, at a function held in Darbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi on Children’s Day. She was presented with a silver medal, a certificate and a cheque of Rs 10,000.

As she disembarked from the train, dhol beats welcomed her. She was then escorted to her home in a decorated open jeep. Visibly elated, she said it was the most memorable moment of her life.

“I could not have asked for more. I was overwhelmed to get such an honour from the President of India. I am thankful to my coach Harkanwal, my school principal Anjana Gupta and above all my parents-father Lovekesh Gupta and Anju Gupta, who have always been a support and drove me to achieve this rare distinction”, she said.

Even as her selection was based mainly on her skills in various state and national skating events, she bagged the limelight after she covered a 30-km distance from Company Bagh to Attari-Wagah border in 80 minutes on skates in April last year.

She became the first child from North India to do this task, which was certified by the India Book of Records and Asia Book of Records.

Mehak has to her credit a long list of achievements in skating.

Earlier, she had received a gold medal during the state-level Independence Day function held at Amritsar in recognition of her achievements in the sport.

A Class IV student of DAV International School, Mehak clinched her maiden bronze medal when she was just three. After that there was no looking back. She won the national gold medal-2010 in Kohlapur, besides other state and district skating awards.

Keeping her fingers crossed, a very confident Mehak chipped in “I want to make my parents and my city proud by performing in the rink of Commonwealth Games and Olympics, but it will happen gradually and I am getting prepared for my goal”.

Equally excited, Mehak’s parents said they wanted their child to take up sports as a professional career. 

Amritsar, November 15
In order to obtain correct figures of cancer patients and to spread awareness among the public, a door-to-door survey would be conducted in the holy city from December 1.

The project was initiated by the Punjab Government under the National Rural Health Mission from Faridkot from October 2, which would now be extended to all over the state.

Inaugurating a training workshop for the health department’s staff for the door-to-door survey, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Health, Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu said the major aim of the survey was to decrease the rate of death due to cancer.

Dr Ranjit Singh Butter, District Family Welfare Officer, and Dr Shivcharan Kahlon, District Health Officer-cum-project officer, said the two-day workshop would impart training to principals of various nursing colleges and rural and urban medical officers besides other staff members.

The 15-day survey commencing from December 1 would cover 24 lakh population in urban and rural areas.

“As many as 1,123 ASHA workers, 55 ASHA facilitators, 272 ANMs, 179 male workers and 75 supervisors will be trained to carry out the survey in 824 villages,” informed Dr Buttar while adding that 1,600 nursing students, 81 ANMs, 25 medical officers, 28 nursing school principles and faculty members will cover urban areas.

Various teams formed for the survey would visit at least 15 houses in a day for 15 days and after finding the cancer patients they would send them for necessary examination and tests before treatment of the disease, said Dr Buttar.

He said the teams would not only spread awareness about the dreaded disease, but also help the people about how to avail of treatment at health centres. 

Amritsar, November 15
The Municipal Corporation’s ambitious project of rejuvenating the sewerage system has not reached one of the worst affected areas in Ward 41 located close to the Golden Temple.

Hit by sewage overflow and stagnation, residents of the Hansaliwali Gali Katra Mit Singh area in Ward 41 have been living under poor conditions since decades.

Sewage water spills on to the streets making it difficult for residents to venture out of their homes.

Even the approach to SSN School located on this street too gets blocked. The situation became so worst that on November 9, the school management had to close down the school for the day.

The problem has existed for the past six months.

Residents said the MC should have considered covering areas on priority under the much-hyped sewerage project being looked after jointly by the Japan International Corporation Agency (JAICA) and the Punjab Sewerage and Water Supply Department.

Despite many complaints lodged with the Municipal Corporation, there has been not permanent solution to the problem of overflowing sewage.

The piles of earth rubbles chocked the passage of water.

Residents have complained that due to slippery roads, several accidents have occurred in the area, but the authorities paid no heed to their problem.

Residents were also sore over huge garbage dumps just at the entrance of this street. The foul smell emanating from the bins has added to their woes.

The problem persists due its century-old topography and the obsolete sewerage lines, which remain blocked due to uneven surface. Still, I will direct my technical team to gauge the situation and we will take the best possible solution
— Dharampal Gupta, MC Commissioner

I am aware of this grave issue being faced by residents of this locality. The level of the street here remained at just two feet from the sewerage line passing along at this point, that’s why sewage back flows on the roads. I am already in talks with the corporation officials. As an immediate measure, we have engaged heavy duty pressure machines to wash the blocked sewage passage. This will at least give some respite to residents and their streets would not be flooded with sewage again
— Harvinder Kaur, area Councillor

Amritsar, November 15
Even as the Sikh community continues to grapple with identity issue on the foreign shores, which became evident with the Wisconsin gurdwara shootout a few months back, Baba Sewa Singh Khadoor Sahibwale is grooming Sikh preachers who will be equipped with foreign language skills so as to sensitise the people about the religion abroad.

Talking to The Tribune, Guru Angad Dev Institute of Religious Studies in-charge Pyara Singh said they have a total of 44 students who are doing a five-year integrated course in Gurmat Studies, which comprises of MA in religious studies along with PG Diploma in Gurmat Studies. "English language is compulsory for students. Besides, we are also launching Spanish classes for our students from September 30, which will be held once a week. Once equipped with multi-language skills, these students will be in a better position to sensitise the people abroad about Sikhism and its principles once they pass out of the institute to become a preacher," he averred.

Interestingly, the entire course as also lodging and boarding for the students is free of cost for the students of the institute being run by Baba Sewa Singh.

The course, which was started in 2009, has received a good response, as the institute not only has students from various parts of Punjab, but also from as far as Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and even Nepal. At present, 11 students of the institute are doing their MA from the Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, for which the institute authorities have arranged free transportation facility.

Every year the institute admits 20 students to the course following a screening test and an interview for which the eligibility is 50 per cent marks in Class XII. These students attend eight periods daily out of which five are of BA while the rest are that of the diploma in Gurmat Studies. Apart from English and Punjabi, they have also got music and religion as their subjects. The institute has also roped in former Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti to train the students in Gurbani recitation.

According to Pyara Singh, opportunities for students of the institute are immense. "They cannot be only preachers. They can choose a career in academics as well. Already some of our students have shown inclination to go for MPhil and PhD."

He expressed hope that these students, after passing out, would lend a much-needed boost to the awareness about Sikh religion, particularly on the foreign soil where Sikhs are facing various problems on account of mistaken identity and security barriers.

• Baba Sewa Singh Khadoor Sahibwale is grooming Sikh preachers who will be equipped with foreign language skills so as to sensitise the people about the religion abroad

• Guru Angad Dev Institute of Religious Studies in-charge Pyara Singh said they have a total of 44 students who are doing a five-year integrated course in Gurmat Studies, which comprises of MA in religious studies along with PG Diploma in Gurmat Studies
• The course, which was started in 2009, has received a good response, as the institute not only has students from various parts of Punjab, but also from as far as Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and even Nepal

Amritsar, November 15
With a view to bring children belonging to Scheduled Caste community to the mainstream, the Punjab government is contemplating to doll out funds to be spent on their education, uniform and stationary free of cost.

This was informed by Punjab Scheduled Caste Commission Chairman Rajesh Bagha during his visit to various government-run schools here today.

Bagha also took a round of the government primary school inside the Amritsar Central Jail before moving on to the villages located on the border belt.

“The purpose of this visit was to gauge the authenticity of the various welfare funds and the quality of the mid-day meal being served in these remote area schools”, he said.

He said an amount of Rs 2.35 crore has been distributed to provide scholarships to students. “Besides this, an amount of Rs 2.4 crore has been disbursed under the head of admission charges and another Rs 20 lakh for other supporting infrastructure,” he said.

Bagha also said the government has reserved employment opportunities, 200 units of free electricity, Shagun Scheme, old age pension, atta-dal scheme, construction of the new house for the welfare of deserving ones belonging to the deprived section of society.

Asked about the Scheduled Caste Commission, Bagha said this platform was conceptualised to redress grievances of people belonging to the community. 

Amritsar, November 15
Four arrested members of the gang, which was busted by the Kotwali police, had stolen 150 power transformers fitted on the link roads or villages located in about 50-kilometer radius of Amritsar district.

Their interrogation revealed that they used to dismantle the transformers and then pull out the copper wires and sell them to a Putlighar area based junk dealer, identified as Bunty.

Bunty was on the run since his name figured in the interrogation.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Kotwali police had nabbed four members of a gang, identified as Nishan Singh of Chohla Sahib, Rohit Singh, Dalip Singh of Patti village (Tarn Taran), Amandeep Singh of Guru Ram Dass Avenue, Gumtala and Satnam Singh of Bhala Pind of Ajnala. The police impounded a four-wheeler, seized 25 kg of copper wire, sharp-edged weapons besides 250 grams of narcotic powder from the four. They have been booked under Sections 379 and 411 of the IPC, Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act and Sections 22, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act.

Sukhwinder Singh, SHO, Kotwali police, said till now they had stolen transformers from Ajnala, Ramdass, Lopoke, Rajasansi, Jhander, Patti, Sarhali and Chola Sahib.

“They used to steal the copper wires in night. They first used to cut the power from the transformers and then bring it down,” he said.

They used to sell the copper wires to Bunti at Rs 250 per kg. The police authorities claimed to have traced about 20 cases of similar nature registered in various police stations in Amritsar and its surrounding areas.

Rohit was the kingpin of the gang and was wanted in several criminal cases. He had jailed several times. He had now formed a new gang.