Ludhiana, May 6
The Ludhiana Municipal Corporation today served 48-hour notices on nine commercial establishments, including a five-star hotel and a shopping mall, on Ferozepur Road, asking them to ensure that they have adequate parking arrangements.

These notices have been served on the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. MC officials will conduct a survey of these properties on May 8 and in case the parking arrangements are not found to be according to the rules and building plans, the properties will be sealed.

The commercial establishments include former Congress MLA Jassi Khangura’s Hotel Majestic Park Plaza, Ansal Plaza, Hotel Friends Regency, Khushi Ram and Sons, Olivia, Hotel Batra, Hotel A, KP Complex and Jay Sons, all located on Ferozepur Road.

During a hearing on April 30, the HC had directed the MC to serve 48-hour notices on these nine commercial establishments. The court had also directed the civic body to seal the establishments if their parking arrangements were not as stipulated under the rules.

It is learnt that after these orders were issued by the court, some property owners have started making the necessary parking arrangements. For instance, a commercial complex near Bhai Bala Chowk on Ferozepur Road has already started making arrangements for parking in the basement.

Assistant Town Planner Rajinder Sharma confirmed that 48-hour notices had been served on nine commercial establishments on the Ferozepur Road service lane. “These have been asked to make parking arrangements as stipulated under rules within 48 hours, after which their premises will be sealed,” he said.

Ludhiana, May 6
Putting his foot down, Mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria has ordered the cancellation of an auction of a multi-level parking which took place at Zone A office of the MC near Mata Rani Chowk here today. The civic body had auctioned the multi-level parking for Rs 33.68 lakh against a reserve price of Rs 33.50 lakh, an increase of only Rs 18,000.

This did not go down well with the Mayor, who ordered the cancellation of the auction. Last year, the parking was allotted on a yearly lease money of Rs 25.87 lakh.

"I have told the MC Commissioner that I will not tolerate any such thing. We had already reduced the reserve price from Rs 37.44 lakh to Rs 33.50 lakh. An increase of Rs 18,000 is not acceptable at all. We will hold a fresh auction, either through e-tendering or some other process so that we can generate the maximum revenue," the Mayor told Ludhiana Tribune.

During an earlier auction held on April 25, the MC as well as 11 bidders were not prepared to bear the burden of the service tax, which has been imposed by the Union Government on parking fee from this year. The auction had been postponed and was held today.

On April 25, the reserve price for allotting the parking contract for a period of one year was fixed at Rs 37.44 lakh, but due to "pressure and opposition" by bidders, it was slashed to Rs 33.50 lakh.

"We have now made it clear that the service tax will be paid by the contractor and not by the MC," said MC Zonal Commissioner Kamlesh Bansal.

The auction held today was attended by 15 bidders. Some bidders entered into a heated argument during the auction. A company, "LRY", bid the maximum amount. The same company holds the contract of the Feroze Gandhi market parking. However, in the evening, the Mayor ordered the cancellation of the auction.

Ludhiana, May 6
City residents are feeling the heat as the mercury has crossed the 38°C mark. Dry and hot weather is making people uncomfortable. Cases of gastroenteritis have started pouring in at city hospitals and clinics.

Dr Aneesh Chopra, a senior consultant and head of the gastroenterology and hepatology department, Christian Medical College and Hospital, said: "On an average, we are getting two cases of gastroenteritis in our OPD. Since the weather is dicey, people should take care of their diet."

Dr Parvinder Pal Singh Sidhu, Senior Medical Officer, Community Health Centre, Sahnewal, said: "We are receiving a few cases of gastroenteritis from different areas."

“Recently, we received a report of water samples having failed the purity test in the Dhandari, Sherpur and Daba areas. We also collected samples of water supplied from submersible pumps. The areas where the samples failed the purity test are fed by water supplied by the municipal corporation. We have informed the MC about it. We have also distributed chlorine tablets in these areas and made people aware about general hygiene," he said.

Ludhiana, May 6
A 34-year-old motorcyclist was killed after being hit by an overspeeding truck at the Dholewal bridge here today. The deceased has been identified as Alok Kumar Nigam, a resident of Model Town Extension.

The incident took place this afternoon when Alok was heading towards Dholewal from Cheema Chowk.

According to an eyewitness, an overspeeding truck came from the rear side and hit Alok, resulting in his death. The truck driver fled the scene, but was soon caught by the police. He has been identified as Kala Singh of Tapa Mandi in Barnala and has been booked under Section 304 A of the IPC for reckless driving causing death.

Alok was working as a yarn marketing agent for a company in Kohara. Alok, a native of Uttar Pradesh, is survived by his wife Archana, daughter Ayushi (10) and son Ayush (5). 

Ludhiana, May 6
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the Deputy Commissioner (DC), Ludhiana, to consider a proposal of the Shaheed Sukhdev Thapar Memorial Trust for the maintenance, upkeep and preservation of Shaheed Sukhdev Thapar’s house, which has been notified as a historical monument.

The orders, a copy of which is with Ludhiana Tribune, were issued on April 12 following a writ petition filed by the Trust.

The court has directed the Trust to submit a fresh proposal, specifying the measures for the upkeep of Sukhdev Thapar’s house in the city. The orders state that the DC may constitute a committee comprising representatives of the Trust and officials of the district administration so that the monument is preserved under the direct supervision of the DC. The court has given four months' time for an appropriate decision to be taken on the matter. The next date of hearing is August 12.

Shaheed Sukhdev’s house is in Naughara. The Punjab Government had declared it a historical monument in 2010 following which it came under the jurisdiction of the Department of Cultural Affairs, Punjab. When the state government took over the possession of the house, the Trust filed a writ petition in the High Court that it was looking after the house for long and it must be allowed to maintain it.

A meeting of district administration officials and Trust members has been called by Deputy Commissioner Rahul Tiwari on May 17 to discuss the issue. 

Ludhiana, May 6
Complaints lodged by parents against schools in the city have witnessed increase in the recent times. Sore over the "high-handedness" adopted by certain schools, the parents gave written complaints against two more such schools in the city, to the Additional Deputy Commissioner (general), Neeru Katyal, here today. Katyal has marked an enquiry into both the cases and she has asked JP Singh, Assistant Commissioner Grievances, to submit the reports.

In the first case, about 200 parents of those students, studying at St Francis School, Bhamian Kalan, complained that the particular school did not have any affiliation by the CBSE and the future of about 840 students was at stake. Vinod Sudhir, a worried parent, rued that the school had changed the name for the third time since its inception.

"Both of my children are studying here and their future hangs in balance. They claim to be affiliated with the CBSE. But no other school recognises the school leaving certificates of students, who studied here. We have got it checked that this St Francis is just a registered society but it does not mention anything about the affiliation with CBSE." rued the parent.

Directorspeak

Father Joseph, the Director of St Francis School said everything had to go step by step. He said the school had all the NOCs and had applied for the CBSE affiliation. "We are in the process and we will get the affiliation," said he. When asked that eight years were pretty long time to get an affiliation, he said that the CBSE 
was needed for class X and not for lower classes. "But we are in the process and will get the affiliation," said he.

In yet another complaint, the worried parents of wards studying at Greenland School, Civil City, here submitted a memorandum against the school management for increasing the fee-structure exorbitantly. Besides, the parents alleged that school authorities were pressurising the students to purchase books from school premises only and the students had to wear different uniforms (three), which were available at selective places. The parents rued that school authorities were adding financial burden on the parents.

Ludhiana, May 6
Day after the Commissioner of Police, Ishwar Singh, banned the screening of a Hindi film "Shootout at Wadala" following angry protests by activists of Dalit organisations, the film producers today expressed regret and apologised for causing inconvenience to the community.

The film-makers also agreed to clip out the portion in which derogatory comments were made in reference to Saint Valmiki.

But the trouble was far from over for the film makers including Ekta Kapoor, Sanjay Gupta and Shobha Kapoor as representative of Dr Ambedkar Ekta Mission, Punjab and Bhartiya Valmiki Dharam Samaj demanded a registration of criminal case under Section 295 A of the IPC for maliciously insulting the religious belief of any class.

"The situation is highly volatile. You cannot imagine how much effort we have to make to calm down the rising tempers. Making a mockery of any one's religious belief for petty monetary gain is not acceptable. They have apologised in writing that means that they have admitted to have commit the crime so legal action shall be taken against them," said Vijay Danav, a senior dalit leader while speaking to DCP Harsh Bansal.

Harpreet Sindhu, advocate from Bhartiya Valmiki Dharam Samaj had served a legal notice to the maker of Shootout at Wadala.

In response to the legal notice, Zameer Nathani, head legal Balaji Motion Picture Limited, stated, "We had no intention to hurt religious sentiments of any community, caste or religion and regret if the film has hurt any community, caste or religion."

Lachhman Dravid, Deepak Hans and other senior leader were also met the DCP Harsh Bansal and expressed their resentment.

The DCP assured the community representative that legal action will be taken against the film makers.

Ludhiana, May 6
On the 40th death anniversary of Shiv Kumar Batalvi, intellectuals, poets, writers and university professors from the city discussed the life, poetry and contribution of legendary poet, Shiv Kumar Batalvi, to literature at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) here today.

Dr HS Sehgal, Additional Director Research, and Gurbhajan Singh Gill, president Punjabi Sahit Akademi presided the function.

Gurbhajan Singh Gill threw the light on the life and poetry of Shiv Kumar Batalvi in detail.

Gurbhajan Gill said, "Physically Batalvi is not with us. But his poems make every Punjabi proud as he wrote world-class poetry. He was blessed with this art that is why literary critics list him in the legendry poets of 17th and 18th century.

Janmeja Johal, an artist said, "Shiv had a fire and devotion. He died at the age of 37. But he crated a history in these years. There is no age for creativity."

Budding poet, Dr Mann Singh Toor, shared his experience about the aura of Shiv and presented a poem dedicated to him. Singer K Deep, who recorded Shiv Kumar Batalvi's songs in his voice, first ever, also shared his experiences with Shiv.

Ludhiana, May 6
The officials of Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) Ltd have been asked to rework on their proposal to widen the Ferozepur Road-starting from the Jagraon Bridge till Sidhwan Canal. They have been asked to properly prepare a proposal for the widening of Ferozepur Road and discuss it before May 31.

The team from RITES Ltd was in city today and they held a meeting with Mayor and the MC officials at Zone D office in Sarabha Nagar, here today. The meeting started at 10 am and continued for over four hours (till around 2 pm).

The Ludhiana Municipal Corporation, with the help of RITES Ltd, plans to make Ferozepur Road eight-laned from existing four-lane on priority basis. That is why, for the past some months, officials from RITES are regularly visiting the city. While speaking to The Tribune, Mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria stated that he was not happy with the proposal submitted by RITES. “They should prepare the proposal in a better manner so that the Ferozepur Road can be widened. The kind of proposal they submitted, even our MC engineers can prepare a similar one. As it is RITES, we expect a better proposal from their side,” informed the Mayor.

Ludhiana, May 6
In view of the concern expressed by the Vice-Chancellor of the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) over the use of non-recommended paddy varieties in the Punjab state, the University has decided to make the seed of the rice varieties available to the farmers at appropriate place and at reasonable rate.

The PAU has slashed the seed sale rate of PR 114, PR 115, PR 116 and PR 118 paddy varieties to Rs 20 per kg against the current price of Rs 31.25 per kg.

The seed of PR 114 is available at Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) Usman, Distt Tarntaran; KVK Fatehgarh Sahib; KVK Samrala; University Seed Farm, Naraingarh; University Seed Farm, Kapurthala; and Seed Shop, PAU, Ludhiana.

The seed of PR 118 variety is available at KVK Kheri; KVK Rauni; Raja Harinder Singh Seed Farm, Faridkot; University Seed Farm, Ladhowal and Nabha; and Seed Shop, PAU, Ludhiana.

The seed of PR 115 is available at University Seed Farm, Kapurthala.

The PAU Vice-Chancellor has directed the extension workers of the university to spread awareness among the farmers about the merits of the PAU recommended paddy varieties.

The farm engineers of the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) Amarjit Singh, Ramandeep S Romana, and Manpreet Kataria have taken an initiative of providing pure and safe food products at the doorstep of Ludhiana citizens under the brand name "AgrineEr Foods."

Food products include flours (whole wheat, multigrain, sugar free, choker, maida); pulses (moong, masri, maah, daal chana, white chana, black chana); spices (garam masala, red chilli powder, turmeric, butter milk masala, jeera); and others (mustard oil, turmeric pickle, besan, besan pakoda, squashes, murabbas and many more).

The products, prepared by the small self-help groups under the guidance of Punjab Agricultural University and Agricultural Technology Management Agency, are being sold and marketed by the PAU trained agricultural engineers.

Inaugurating the stall of AgrineEr Foods, put up in the university market for two-weeks, the Additional Director of Extension Education, Dr HS Dhaliwal lauded the efforts of the PAU farm engineers. He said that many self-help groups prepare delicious food products but due to lack of marketing skills, they are unable to promote their products.

"This innovation of the youth will provide best quality food products with home made flavour to the consumers and will motivate the self-help groups to become successful entrepreneurs," he added.

Dr JK Sangha, Additional Director of Research (Food Science, Nutrition and Engineering); Dr Ramandeep Jassal, Associate Professor of Business Management; and Dr Ashok Kumar, head, Processing and Food Engineering; congratulated the agri-engineers and appreciated the presentation of the food products.

Emphasising on the food quality standardisation, the experts said, "It is a good effort of the young generation through which we can control the unemployment problem and address various issues related to agri-business system."

Ludhiana, May 6
To gain in-depth understanding of farm mechanisation, a 16-member delegation from African countries, including Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya and Zimbabwe, visited the College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology (COAE&T) of the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) today.

The delegation, led by Saidi Mkomwa, Executive Secretary, African Conservation Tillage Network; comprises farm manufacturers and scientists from national systems and farm universities. The visit is a part of two-week "Training-cum-Study Tour on Farm Mechanization for African Stakeholders," led by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) under a tripartite collaboration amongst ICAR, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) and Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).

In his welcome address, Dr PPS Lubana, Dean, COAE&T, said that farm mechanisation plays a key role in agriculture. Highlighting the success story of laser land lever technology in the Punjab state, he told that this technique helps in the uniform application of water, levels the fields precisely, and saves irrigation water up to 30 per cent.

Presenting an overview of the organisational set-up of the college and highlighting the key accomplishments, Dr Lubana said that the PAU conducts training, on different aspects of agri-engineering, at state as well as at the national level.

Dr JS Mahal, Additional Director of Research (Farm Mechanisation and Bio-energy), said, "The scientific interaction amongst the experts and delegation members should result into fruitful outcome so that the mechanisation skills, applied in Punjab, can be effectively used in African countries as well."

Jagraon, May 6
The indefinite strike launched by the Punbus Contract Workers' Union in support of their long pending demands entered its tenth day today. The members of the Punbus Contract Workers' Union also held a demonstration against the Punjab Government at Jagraon Depot of Punjab Roadways.

However, the strike by Punbus Contract Workers' Union is not going well with the passengers. As many as hundred buses run under the Punbus system are off the roads due to the strike launched 
by the drivers and conductors of the Punbus Contract Workers' Union, the passengers particularly the daily passengers 
have been facing a 
tough time.

Meanwhile, during the protest, the protesting members of the union raised slogans against the state government and the state transport department for constantly ignoring the demands of the union members. While addressing the protestors during the occasion, Jagraon unit president of Punbus Contract Workers' Union Sukhdev Singh stated that the state government has been trying to oppress various long pending and just demands of the union members.

"The state government has been deliberately causing financial loss to the Punjab Roadways buses to benefit the private bus companies operated by certain leaders of the ruling party. The union has decided to not join the work till our demands are not met," said Sukhdev Singh.

In fact, the members of the Punbus Contract Workers' Union have been demanding from the state government to regularise the drivers and conductors recruited under contract system for a long time. But as the state government has paid no attention towards this long pending demand of the union members so far, the union launched this state level strike.

Sukhdev Singh further stated that the members of the Punbus Contract Workers' Union throughout the state would also participate in a protest to be organised at Ludhiana on Tuesday. He also appealed the union members to reach Ludhiana in maximum numbers to press the government.

Ludhiana, May 6
The district unit of Democratic Teachers' Front, Punjab, Government Teachers' Union (Rakkar), Government Teachers' Union (Sandhu) and BEd Teachers' Front have opposed the rationalisation policy being adopted by the state government.

Besides, the protesting teachers have been demanding the clubbing of secondary and primary schools and early release of the pending salaries, the promotions of teachers etc.

Ramanjit Sandhu, president of Democratic Teachers Front said that the state government was adopting step-motherly treatment against the teaching community and the education system was being handed-over to the private players, which would not be tolerated at any cost.

The leaders of the union maintained that government had promised to meet all the demands of the teachers.

But contrary to this, they were being totally neglected and further hundreds of educated youth were jobless because of wrong-policies of government.

The teachers submitted a charter of demands to the Chief Minister through the DEO Secondary, Paramjit Kaur Chahal. They also held a dharna outside the Sarv Siksha Abhiyan office here.

Ludhiana, May 6
The police has failed to make any headway in the case pertaining to 18-year-old Sachin Gupta, who was kidnapped from outside his house in Basant Avenue near BCM School, Dugri, on Saturday night.

Tension also mounted, as the kidnappers have not contacted the family again for ransom.

It was on Saturday night that the kidnappers had called Sachin's mother Ranju Gupta and sought ransom.

The call was made from Sachin's mobile phone and the last location of his mobile phone was around Sat Paul Mittal School.

Sachin's father, Vijay Gupta, who was a hardware trader who was away to Kolkata in connection of business, returned home in the morning.

Family sources said that the police today questioned several persons, including friends and residents living in the locality.

The police has also searched in the houses that are lying vacant.

Earlier, it was said that Sachin was kidnapped while he was washing his car outside the house. But today, Ranju Gupta reportedly told the police that after washing the car, Sachin took bath and went outside the house.

The police suspects that someone might be waiting for Sachin as he went of house in a rush.

"The police has prepared the teams for have been made and search is on. We are hopeful that we would find him soon. We are working on all theories," said DCP Harsh Bansal.

Jagraon, May 6
A middle-aged woman was killed while 15 other passengers were injured including some critical, when a tempo (Tata Ace), they all were traveling in, rammed into a roadside tree near Gidarwindi village, situated around six kilometers away from Sidhwan Bet today afternoon. The deceased woman has been identified as Shinder Kaur (45), a resident of Gonspur village.

As per the information, the accident took place outside Gidarwindi village on the Sidhwan Bet-Kishanpura link road when the tempo was ferrying some people from Retua village to Gonspur.

According to sources, around 20 persons were travelling in the tempo at the time of accident. "As soon as the tempo reached near Gidarwindi village, the driver of the tempo lost control over the vehicle on a curve due to high speed and got the vehicle rammed into a roadside tree," added the sources.

Soon after the incident, some villagers called 108 ambulance and rushed the victims to the Civil Hospital, Sidhwan Bet, where the doctors declared the woman brought dead. The doctors at the hospital also referred six critically injured persons including the tempo driver, Balwant Singh, to Ludhiana.

The condition of remaining injured, undergoing treatment at the Sidhwan Bet Civil Hospital, is stated to be out of danger. Except for tempo driver, all the victims belonged to Gonspur village near Sidhwan Bet.

After sometime of the incident, a police team from Gidarwindi police station reached the spot to take account of the situation. No case has been registered by the police in this regard so far.

Investigating officer, ASI Amarjit Singh, said that the police has been recording the statements of the victims.

"The police is yet to record the statements of some other victims who are not in a position to record their statement due to their critical condition. An appropriate action would be taken against the guilty when the statements of all the victims are recorded," added he.

Phillaur, May 6
Two persons were killed in two different mishaps near Phillaur here last night. In the first incident, a villager was killed after a speeding truck hit him near his Zand village in the Phillaur subdivision. The victim has been identified as Naresh Kumar. The truck driver managed to escape after the incident.

The police has registered a case in this regard.

Ludhiana, May 6
The city police arrested one person, named Amit, for purchasing the new born child from a nursing home in Jodhewal Basti area on April 10. Amit, a resident of Rajinder Nagar in Delhi, was nabbed by police from district court complex, while he was visiting the city to apply for anticipatory bail.

Amit, who runs a mobile repair shop and also drives a school van, said that he was married for nearly 10 years and wanted to fulfil his wife's wishes.

"We did everything for a child. My wife underwent for In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) three times but still she could not bear a child. All our hopes to have a child faded. While driving the school van full of children my heart used to bleed to have a child of my own. The shock of not bearing a child was taking a toll on my wife's health," said Amit in police custody while he was being taken to the court.

Amit shared his desire to adopt a newborn child with Gurpreet, his facebook friend and an assistant at Satyam Hospital at Iqbal Nagar in Jodhewal Basti area. Amit agreed to spend money if needed.

Thereafter Gurpreet told him about the newborn child. "The deal was cracked at Rs 2.5 lakh and I had paid Rs 70,000 as the token amount. Gurpreet assured me that he would complete the adoption procedure and handover the documents, when I would make the full and final payment," said Amit.

But things did not go as per plan as Noori, the biological mother of the child, reported the matter to the police. Amit was now at the wrong side of law and was rather booked for kidnapping. He said he left the child at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi and went into hiding.

On the other hand Balwinder Singh SHO Jodhewal Basti police station said, "Amit's intention and purpose was wrong. There is a legal adoption procedure but he went on to purchase the child, as if he was buying some commodity. It was kidnapping by any set of imagination. He visited the hospital in the city and took the child. Whereas, the child's mother was informed that her son died due to ailment."

Earlier, Feroze, father of Noori (mother of the child), his aide Mohd Irfan, Gurpreet and Sunita, assistant and nurse of the hospital were arrested by the city police and were sent to jail for the offence.

Further, the police categorically declined that the child was sold on social networking website facebook. "Rather the deal was cracked during the telephonic conversation," said Satish Malhotra, ACP- East.

It was on April 14 that 20-year-old Noori, a resident of Iqbal Nagar in Basti, Jodhewal, along with her mother, had approached the police and lodged a complaint against her father Firoz for kidnapping her newborn male child. Noori was deserted by her husband nearly four months ago.

As she was five months' pregnant, she started living with her parents. Noori said she gave birth to a baby boy on April 9. She alleged that ever since the birth of the baby, her father wanted to sell her son.

On April 10, nurse Sunita and attendant Gurpreet Singh allegedly took the baby and the next day she was told that the baby had died due to an ailment. The duo gave Noori Rs 45,000 and told her to stay quiet.

During interrogation by the police, Noori's father Firoz said that the baby was sold to Amit in Delhi in connivance his friend Irfan, hospital attendant Gurpreet Singh and nurse Sunita.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, May 6
The Sudhar police claimed to have solved a blind murder case of a vegetable vendor, Shree Parshad, a resident of Mohi village, whose body was found on the Ghuman Mohi road on February 20.

Two out of three accused have been arrested and two sharp edged weapons used in the crime were also recovered from their possession.

The accused have been identified as Ganga Sagar, alias Fauzi, his nephew, Dharminder Singh and Suresh, of Mohi. All the accused are migrant labourers and hail from Banda district in UP. Though the police is yet to ascertain antecedents of Dharminder and Suresh, Shree Parshad the main accused is reported to have been involved in murder of a person in the past too.

The police has initiated process to collect records in connection with cases registered against him in police stations in Banda district and further proceedings including conviction.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Ludhiana (Rural), Ashish Chaudhary, said a police team led by the SHO, Sudhar Rajesh Sharma, had nabbed Fauzi and Suresh when they were trying to leave the area today.

Investigations revealed that the duo, along with their third accomplice, Dharminder, had killed Shree Parsad when he was returning home in the evening of February 20.

As the accused knew the victim personally and his routine also, they conspired to rob him at some deserted place on the Ghuman Mohi road. While two were armed with sharp edged weapon, the third one arranged a wooden log from a neem tree standing near the spot.

Besides snatching cash and valuables, the accused took away his mobile, which they did not use for a long time.

An SIT led by the SHO, Rajesh Sharma, was constituted by the DSP Amrik Singh Minhas. It was during investigations that the police come to know that the mobile snatched from the deceased had been used by one of the accused once. Intensive study of call records of the SIM used in the mobile helped the police.

Ludhiana, May 6
The Deputy Chief Minister and Sports Minister, Punjab, claimed to provide the best sports infrastructure in the state, but the ground realities contradict the same. Lack of concern of state government buildings and poor condition of the grounds at the sports complex of city, apparently prove the neglect of the state government . Ironically, the careless behaviour of government proves costly to the players, who practise hard with dedication in order to bring laurels for the state.

Punjab Government initiated the renovation of Guru Nanak Stadium and multipurpose sports hall at stadium around three years ago. But the renovation work has been stopped for six months.

Now there are no drinking water facilities at the multi purpose hall. The urinals and toilets are stinky and are in poor condition. According to the sports officials, all these infrastructural work has been listed under the renovation work. But due to the lack of funds, the Mandi Board has stopped the work.

"This is very unfortunate that department has not able to provide basic amenities at the sports complex and it is very disappointing for the players. The sports department should construct some more urinals and keep them neat and clean. Moreover a water cooler should be install here", said a player.

Kartar Singh, District Sports official said, "We try to provide the facilities with limited sources. The proposed renovation work can fix all the problems but the work has been delayed. We are trying hard to get the renovation work restarted".

Ludhiana, May 6
Though the Punjab Government has been spending crores of rupees for promoting sports in the state, expect for Kabaddi, all the other sports seem to be neglected.

Like other sports bodies of state, the Punjab Softball Association also feel the same way as the government has failed to provide even the basic infrastructure for the softball.

According to the office-bearers of the Punjab Softball Association, they never received any aid from the government for promoting softball in the Punjab.

Besides, district and state-level associations have to generate the funds for providing a basic infrastructure and to organise the sports events.

Ironically, the sports department does not have any coach for training the players and hence players themselves arrange their coaches.

Not only this, there is no specific ground for the softball in the city and henceforth district body, time and again makes arrangements at Guru Nanak Stadium with their mutual understanding with district sports officials.

Associations have to arrange batting sluggers, balls, gloves, leg guards, chest guards and face masks from their sources. Meanwhile, the players arrange lowers, T-shirts and shoes from their own pockets.

PN Passi, president, the Softball Association, Punjab, said, "We do not expect anything from the government. Since the promotion of sports is not on government's agenda we feel completely neglected by this. Further, we never get any aid from the government. We have to arrange everything from our own pockets. Even though, we lack basic infrastructure, and facilities, we have produced national and international-level players from the district. All we want is that the Punjab Government should treat all the games equally". 

Jagraon, May 6
Amandeep Kaur, a budding girl trainee of Shere Punjab Sports Academy, Chakar, near Jagraon, emerged as the state champion during 14th Senior Punjab Women Boxing Championship, concluded recently at the Lovely Professional University (LPU), Jalandhar. Amandeep Kaur, who is a student of Sri Ram College, Dalla, clinched gold medal in the 81kg weight category of the boxing championship.

According to the principal of Sri Ram College, Dalla, and Dr Balwant Singh Sandhu, chief administrator, Shere Punjab Sports Academy, Chakar, this is not the first time that Amandeep Kaur has emerged as the champion in state-level boxing championship as she had done that thrice in the past.

"This is the fourth straight year that Amandeep Kaur has achieved the title of state boxing champion. Amandeep is highly talented and hardworking sportsperson. She has achieved this success only due to her dedication towards the sports and if she continues to work hard along with the same dedication, she might also become national boxing champion very soon", said Dr Sandhu.

Amandeep Kaur was given a warm welcome by the villagers, when she returned after winning the championship. Amandeep said that the whole credit of her success should go to the efforts of Shere Punjab Sports Academy.

"Whatever I have achieved so far, is due to the efforts of Shere Punjab Sports Academy. I am grateful to academy as well as my family members and villagers who motivated and supported me during my struggle. Now I wish to become National Champion and I would leave no stone unturned to achieve this", added Amandeep Kaur.

Later on a brief function was also organised at Sri Ram College, Dalla, to honour Amandeep Kaur. On this occasion, Jagraon MLA SR Kaler felicitated Amandeep Kaur. While congratulating Amandeep Kaur for her achievements, he also applauded the efforts of Shere Punjab Sports Academy for its contribution in the field of sports.

"Shere Punjab Sports Academy has been doing a wonderful work in promoting sports in the rural areas and this academy has produced many state-level and national-level sportspersons, during a very short period of time, which is really a matter of proud for all of us", said Kaler.

He also assured that he would try to get the maximum possible financial help to academy from the state government for the promotion of sports in the area. Former Jagraon MLA and Sri Ram College, Dalla, chairman Bhag Singh Mallha was also present during the function along with several other prominent personalities of the area.