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Seminar dwells on reforms in agriculture
Ferozepur, February 12
A national seminar on agriculture reforms was organised by the postgraduate department of commerce of the local RSD College wherein the keynote speaker, Dr Gyan Singh, delved into the root cause of the agrarian crisis in the country.

Doctors ‘refuse’ first aid to six-year-old rape victim
Bathinda, February 12
A six-year-old girl was raped and abandoned by unidentified person(s) near Rama Mandi railway station this afternoon. It is learnt that a passerby found the victim lying in a pool of blood at around 3.30 pm and informed volunteers of the Helpline Welfare Society, an NGO, who rushed her to the Civil Hospital at Rama.

Reimbursement of medical bills
19 months on, govt yet to delegate power to Fazilka DEO
Abohar, February 12
Even 19 months after Fazilka became a district, the state government has not delegated powers to the District Education Officer (DEO) at Fazilka to clear medical reimbursement bills of pensioner teachers.

CSS teachers not paid salaries for 10 months, plan protest at Moga
Abohar, February 12
Irate over the Punjab Government not regularising their service under the Central Sponsored Scheme (CSS), the Rashtriya Madhmyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and the CSS Teachers’ Union have decided to organise a protest march in Moga this week.

R-Day parade cadets felicitated
Abohar, February 12
The local DAV College again had the distinction of sending maximum number of NCC cadets to the Republic Day parade held at Rajpath in New Delhi. Speaking at a brief function organised today to felicitate cadets Anil Kumar, Rohit Kumar and Gurkirpal Singh for their participation in the parade, principal Dr Sanjeev Kumar Arora said the college had been able to send two to five cadets almost each year since 1992.

	Faridkot college students protest fee overcharge Tribune News Service Faridkot, February 12 The students of nursing course at the Dasmesh Dental College in Faridkot held demonstrations in front of the main gate of the college today. They alleged that the college was charging more fee than what is stipulated by the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS). The protesters alleged that they were being asked to pay nearly double the fee mandated by the BFUHS, which was illegal. They said they were asked to pay Rs 5,550 as fee, while the fee approved by the university was Rs 2,550. The students alleged that the college had made them pay Rs 1,000 as library fund while the fee was Rs 500. "This is cheating and it should not be allowed. We come from middle class families," they said. They squatted in front of the college to block the traffic on the Faridkot-Amritsar road. "Officials of the admission and fee committee should ensure that corrective action is taken so that the students are not fleeced by the college authorities," said one of the students participating in the demonstration. After they lodged a complaint with the university, the college management started threatening them that their admissions would be cancelled, alleged the students. Director of the dental college, Gursewak Singh, however, denied the allegations. He said the fees were charged as per the university guidelines. University officials said the allegations levelled by the students were grave and an inquiry would be conducted if the students made a complaint. No complaint has been received in this regard so far, said an official of the university. Action would also be taken against the college if it was found to have violated the rules and regulations, the official added.
	Seminar dwells on reforms in agriculture Our Correspondent Ferozepur, February 12 A national seminar on agriculture reforms was organised by the postgraduate department of commerce of the local RSD College wherein the keynote speaker, Dr Gyan Singh, delved into the root cause of the agrarian crisis in the country. He suggested measures to bring the Indian agriculture sector back on track. He stressed on the need for identifying better parameters to ascertain the minimum support prices of crops. Hartej Singh, a farmer, shared his experiences of organic farming to produce wheat, rice, cotton, oil seeds and vegetables. He emphasised on the need for self-reliance of farmers at village level by resorting to natural farming using own seeds and organic manure like cow dung. Dr Vikram Chadha, head of the department of economics, GNDU, Amritsar, chaired the technical session while Umendra Dutt of Kheti Virasat Mission and Prof RK Mahajan of the Regional Centre, Bathinda, were resource persons. In his address, Dutt said the abundant use of fertilizers and pesticides was the root cause of growing number of cancer patients in the region. He said pesticides and herbicides have proved harmful in the US and Europe and were bound to have similar effect in Punjab and other states, if not checked in time. BB Sanwalka, Satish Sharma, principal RP Garg, professors JR Prashar, Azadwinder Singh, Ashok Jindal, Jaspal Singh, Gurtej Singh, Ashok Gupta, AK Sethi and other members of the college faculty and students were present on the occasion.
	Doctors ‘refuse’ first aid to six-year-old rape victim Tribune News Service Bathinda, February 12 A six-year-old girl was raped and abandoned by unidentified person(s) near Rama Mandi railway station this afternoon. It is learnt that a passerby found the victim lying in a pool of blood at around 3.30 pm and informed volunteers of the Helpline Welfare Society, an NGO, who rushed her to the Civil Hospital at Rama. However, doctors and attendants at the hospital allegedly refused to administer first-aid to the child, who was bleeding profusely, and suggested that she should be taken to the Civil Hospital at Talwandi Sabo. The president of the NGO, Bobby Lehri, regretted that there was no doctor or attendant at the Talwandi Sabo hospital from where the girl was rushed to the Civil Hospital in Bathinda. "The doctors even refused to provide medical aid to stop the bleeding. We rushed the victim from one hospital to another amid fears that she may die on the way. More than two hours were lost before the victim could get medical aid. We have traced the girl’s parents," Lehri said. The government hospitals did not even provide an ambulance, Lehri alleged. Bathinda Civil Surgeon Dr Ajay Sahni said following the allegations levelled by the president of the NGO, he would seek an explanation from doctors at the Civil Hospital in Rama. SSP Ravcharan Brar visited the Civil Hospital, Bathinda, to probe the incident. Later, he went to Rama Mandi where some protesters had stopped a train in view of the incident. The SSP could not be reached for comments as he was busy pacifying the protesters.
	Reimbursement of medical bills 19 months on, govt yet to delegate power to Fazilka DEO Our Correspondent Abohar, February 12 Even 19 months after Fazilka became a district, the state government has not delegated powers to the District Education Officer (DEO) at Fazilka to clear medical reimbursement bills of pensioner teachers. The staff of the government-aided private schools have to traverse about 125 kms to get the grant-in-aid released from the DEO at Ferozepur. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had gifted Rs 64 crore to the new district on its first anniversary but the offices of the District Transport Officer and the District Education Officer here are yet to be made fully functional. On July 27, 2011, Fazilka was declared a district by the Government of Punjab vide the Gazette Notification No. 1/1/2011-RE-II(I)/14554. The new district consisted of three sub-divisions, namely Fazilka, Jalalabad and Abohar, besides the three sub-tehsils of Arniwala Sheikh Subhan, Seetogunno and Khuyiansarwar. The chairman of Government Pensioners’ Association and a former DEO, Capt SK Dutta (retd), said the infrastructure at the new district headquarters should have been completed within a year but for many purposes, thousands of residents of the new district shuttle between Fazilka and Ferozepur. The powers to endorse the transfer orders of teachers, promotions on the basis of set formulas, work relating to GP funds etc were done at Fazilka but medical bills for reimbursement were processed at Ferozepur resulting in unnecessary harassment to senior citizens, he regretted. The creation of a new district at Fazilka thus has yet to give relief to all in letter and spirit, members of the Government-aided Private School Teachers Union said.
	CSS teachers not paid salaries for 10 months, plan protest at Moga Our Correspondent Abohar, February 12 Irate over the Punjab Government not regularising their service under the Central Sponsored Scheme (CSS), the Rashtriya Madhmyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and the CSS Teachers’ Union have decided to organise a protest march in Moga this week. “None of the top-ranking ministers have paid heed to our grievances. The poll battlefield in Moga might help in drawing their attention,” said the teachers, who gathered at Nehru Park here today. They demanded equal pay for equal work for CSS teachers. The Hindi teachers employed under the CSS should be absorbed in the main stream of the Department of Education and their salaries and other benefits should be at par with other government teachers as they do the same quantum of work. “We have been getting minimal salary till March 31 last year but later the state government officials sought to clarify that the scheme launched by the Central Government had not been extended after completion of the first year,” they regretted. The teachers said their protest would be peaceful.