B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

After many thefts in IT libraries, DGSE pulls up school heads
Faridkot, May 22
With increasing incidents of theft of computers and related accessories from the Information and Technology (IT) libraries of government schools in the area, the Director General School Education (DGSE), who is also the Project Director, Punjab Edusat Society, has warned all school heads to be vigilant. The school heads have been asked to check these thefts and investigate all old cases of theft.

Villagers protest, seek drinking water supply
Fazilka, May 22
Residents of Kundal village, Fazilka, staged a demonstration in front of the office of Deputy Commissioner Fazilka to protest against scarcity of household use and potable water in the village.

Husband of newly elected panchayat samiti member dies of ‘heart attack’
Barnala, May 22
After the victory of his wife Pritam Kaur on a Congress ticket from Sekha zone of Barnala block panchayat samiti, Lal Singh (65) died of ‘heart attack’ in Sekha village last night as he had allegedly been threatened by some persons, who were reportedly the supporters of the defeated candidate.

Drug peddlers convicted in Moga
Moga, May 22
District and Sessions Judge of Moga, Karamjit Singh Kang, convicted an inter-state drug peddler to three years of imprisonment and 18-month imprisonment to each of his three local accomplices.

After many thefts in IT libraries, DGSE pulls up school heads
Balwant Garg
Tribune News Service

Faridkot, May 22
With increasing incidents of theft of computers and related accessories from the Information and Technology (IT) libraries of government schools in the area, the Director General School Education (DGSE), who is also the Project Director, Punjab Edusat Society, has warned all school heads to be vigilant. The school heads have been asked to check these thefts and investigate all old cases of theft.

The school head will now be held responsible for any theft, warned the DGSE in a letter to all district education officers (DEOs) on Tuesday.

The DGSE wrote that his office was receiving reports about the theft of computers and its accessories from government schools but there was no case in which the culprits had been arrested or the theft case had been cracked. It is lack of vigilance on the part of school authorities, wrote the DGSE.

Under EDUSAT, the first satellite based educational programme in government schools in remote and rural locations, the students are given lessons on computer for interactive satellite based distance education system.

With the Edusat hub on the premises of the Punjab School Education Board, the Department of School Education, through the Punjab Edusat Society, established Edusat Network across all senior secondary schools of the state.

There were many incidents of thefts of computers, LCDs, UPS and other accessories in the area. Last week, burglars stole five computers from Government High School at Behbal Kalan in Faridkot district.

It was not the first such incident in the school. Earlier, five sewing machines, two gas cylinders and four computers were stolen from the school.

Besides computers, there are many complaints of theft of LPG cylinders, utensils and wheat stock from the elementary schools in the area where mid-day meal is cooked for the students.

Many times, even the police is not keen to register cases in such incidents.

After a similar theft in a government school at Smallsar town of Moga district, the education department raised the matter with senior police officials to get an FIR registered. Now, four days back, in a letter to the Circle Education Officer, Faridkot, the Moga police conveyed that the case had been closed as it was "undetectable".

Villagers protest, seek drinking water supply
Our Correspondent

Fazilka, May 22
Residents of Kundal village, Fazilka, staged a demonstration in front of the office of Deputy Commissioner Fazilka to protest against scarcity of household use and potable water in the village.

One of the villagers said they had not been getting water supply for the past two years. “We have to fetch contaminated water from water courses outside the village,” said the villager.

They have alleged that the gram panchayat has been selling the water to some farmers instead of supplying to the houses for monetary benefits.

They also presented a memorandum to Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) Vipul Ujjwal and demanded immediate restoration of water supply to the village.

Junior Engineer, Water Supply and Sanitation Department, Subhash Chander said an RO system had been installed in the village for providing potable water. The villagers used to get canal-based water supply once in a week only as there is no storage tank in the village. In these circumstances only intermittent supply is ensured which did not cater the needs of the villagers.

He said the under construction water storage tank would be completed with in teh fortnight to ensure uninterrupted water supply to the village.

Husband of newly elected panchayat samiti member dies of ‘heart attack’
Sushil Goya/TNS

Barnala, May 22
After the victory of his wife Pritam Kaur on a Congress ticket from Sekha zone of Barnala block panchayat samiti, Lal Singh (65) died of ‘heart attack’ in Sekha village last night as he had allegedly been threatened by some persons, who were reportedly the supporters of the defeated candidate.

On the complaint of Lal Singh’s brother, the Barnala Sadar police has registered a criminal case against five persons under various Sections of the IPC. However, no one has been arrested so far.

Paramjit Kaur of the SAD and Pritam Kaur of the Congress had contested from Sekha zone (reserved for SC woman candidate) of the Barnala block panchayat samiti. The result was declared yesterday. In the election, Pritam Kaur emerged victorious defeating Paramjit Kaur by a margin of 46 votes.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Barnala, Swaran Singh Khanna today said that as per the statement of the brother of the deceased, when they returned home late on Tuesday evening, Virsa Singh, husband of SAD candidate Paramjit Kaur and others, came to his brother’s house and issued threats to the family.

Later, they also threatened his brother over the phone. As a result, Labh Singh, who was a heart patient, could not bear the pressure and died, reportedly due to a heart attack.

The DSP said that on the basis of the statement of the deceased’s brother, the police registered a case against Virsa Singh, Darshan Singh, Daljit Singh and two others under Sections 304, 506, 148 and 149 of the Indian Penal Code. The post-mortem examination of the body of Lal Singh had been conducted at the Civil Hospital, Barnala. He said the police was conducting investigations into the case and was awaiting the post-mortem report.

Meanwhile, Congress MLA from Barnala, Kewal Singh Dhillon, expressed shock over the death of Lal Singh. He has also asked the Barnala SSP to initiate action against the accused.

Drug peddlers convicted in Moga

Moga, May 22
District and Sessions Judge of Moga, Karamjit Singh Kang, convicted an inter-state drug peddler to three years of imprisonment and 18-month imprisonment to each of his three local accomplices.

As per the details available, 2.8 kg of opium was recovered by the police from Rakesh Kumar, a resident of Hanumangarh in Rajasthan and three of his associates —Sukhbir Singh, Harpal Singh and Nirmal Singh, on November 26, 2009 during a ‘naka’ at Didar Singh Wala village. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on Rakesh. — TNS