Amritsar, July 9
The district administration has taken steps to make the Suwidha Centres here efficient, transparent and user-friendly by introducing various measures.

The moves in this direction include the introduction of unique SMS update on the status of a case, easy availability of requisite forms, dedicated desks for helping fill forms to rid the applicants from the clutches of agents and special provision for the playing of light music to make the ambience of these centres harmonious.

As a practice, Suwidha Centres have been updating their applicants about the status of their application by sending SMSes and by updating them on their website www.amritsar.nic.in. But now, with the introduction of the new SMS facility, any applicant, can know the status of his application by just sending an SMS as “YEAR and TOKEN No” and send it to 9988 62 7070.

With the introduction of this added facility, the residents would be greatly benefited because now they would know the status of their application anywhere anytime.

The applicants will also receive an SMS when their certificate/document is ready to be delivered.

Similarly, to ease the process, a multi-service counter No. 7 has been established, which would cater to the services of counters Nos, 2, 3,5,6,7, 8 and 9.

DC Rajat Aggarwal said at the newly set-up counter No. 11, the services of sale of forms, filing of forms and typing and filling of affidavit, oath and applications will be available and just Rs 10 would be charged for filling forms, while Rs 10 per page would be charged for affidavit, oath and applications.

For the convenience of residents, the services of ration card, character certificate, issuing bus passes, arms, cinema and video parlour licences, marriage certificate, appointment of lambardar and 22 other such services will be available at the Suwidha Centres.

The counter No. 1 has been earmarked for women and senior citizens, while counter No. 10 will be for arms licence and counter No. 4 for exercising rights under the RTI Act.

General manager of Suwidha Centre (HQ) Harpreet Singh Dua said at least 10 lakh citizens had been benefited through various services. “The idea of introducing music in the waiting lounge was just to make the applicant’s mind calm and hassle-free. There would be constant announcements to guide the applicants to caution them against agents and also brief them about the services being available at the Suwidha centre which offer around 57 different administrative services,” he said.

Amritsar, July 9
A local resident involved in various social causes here, Dr AL Adlakha, has taken up the demand of extending the Amritsar-Chandigarh superfast train from Amritsar to Kalka and back with President Pranab Mukherjee.

In a communiqué to the President, he termed it a national wastage of resources and untapped potential on part of the Railways. He said the superfast train travels via Beas, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Mohali to reach Chandigarh. Running the train to next stoppage at Kalka would link the holy city to Himachal Pradesh.The train reaches Chandigarh at 9.10 a.m. and departs at 5.30 p.m. for return journey to Amritsar.

Kalka is an important link, as from here trains start for Shimla, connecting with entire Himachal Pradesh catering to domestic as well as international tourists.

Before 1984, the train from Amritsar to Kalka, which was stopped in militancy days, was very poular. Now when the train has been intitated on the same route, it would be wise to link it further. People from towns in Himachal Pradesh could conveniently visit Ludhiana to buy hosiery goods for stocking their shops, but they have to travel by buses. It is well known that train journey is cheaper, convenient, comfortable, reliable, pleasant and safe. With train connectivity, lots of pressure on roads is decreased and there is saving of petrol and diesel and occurrence of fewer accidents.

He regretted that earlier communiqués to the Ministry of Railways on the matter remained unanswered.

Amritsar, July 9
One person was killed and three were injured when a wall collapsed this evening in the Bangla Basti area here.

Even as the exact cause of the incident was not known, it was being viewed that the wall had collapsed due to the moderate rains that lashed the city this morning.

According to information, the victims were rag-pickers. The dead person was identified as 18-year-old Hari Ram. The Gate Hakima police has registered a case under the relevant Section of the IPC. The injured were admitted to the GND Hospital, where they were stated to be out of danger.

Amritsar, July 9
A section of shopkeepers, who had been resisting the demolition of their structures to widen the stretch from Ghee Mandi to Jallianwala Bagh, today gave in to the government orders as they themselves demolished their shops.

Seven traders resorted to demolishing their establishments. All these shopkeepers were running their shops on rent. A shopkeeper, dealing in plastic material, Jiwan Lal said his rented shop at Bazar Sandukan was about 30 feet deep from the road. As per the scheme, he would be left with about 18 feet long shop once the road expansion was implemented. “I undertook the demolition on my own, as I feared that the authorities could begin the same anytime. In that act, there was the possibility that it could demolish the entire shop.”

Another shopkeeper Vikram Joshi said his entire 18-foot-long shop fell under the scheme. However, he undertook the demolition to salvage materials like iron shutter gate and other material used in laying roof. He said he had installed all these features at his shop from his own pocket. Once the demolition drive was initiated, there would be no chance to recover even a fraction of the entire investment. Now, he would be able to recover 30 to 40 per cent of the investment cost by selling the same as scrap.

Pointing to an under-construction hotel near his shop, Joshi wondered that the shops which had been in operation for the past many decades were to be demolished, while many multi-storeyed buildings were allowed to be constructed in the congested area.

Another occupant of a shop-cum-house Ramzan said his father had migrated from a village in Rajasthan and had set up a shop here to apply designs of mehndi here. He said the family had been living in the two-room set constructed over the same shop for the past several decades. He did not see any future for his family in the city.

When these traders were asked why they did not sign the affidavits seeking shops at reserve price at designated markets of the Improvement Trust, they said they were not happy with the rehabilitation options provided to them by the administration. The option of procuring shops even at reserve price was not a lucrative one, as a majority of the occupants were small-time shopkeepers who did not have lakhs of rupees to buy shops. Besides, they were dealing in various retail goods, which might not find customers there. They felt the government offer of shops at Ranjit Avenue, Mall Mandi and Jahajgarh was out of reach, as a majority of them were not in a position to pay the high cost of these shops.

Moreover, they were merely showing us vacant plots, as no alternative shops were ready yet. “We cannot rely on their assurances, as we have seen that the shopkeepers who were displaced in 1984 are still seeking rehabilitation,” another trader Manmohan Kundra said. He said there were 87 traders who were getting affected, 35 of whom would completely lose their shops due to the project.

In 1998, the administration had conceptualised the Jallianwala Bagh road-widening scheme under the Damage Area Act 1951. The 1.5-km road stretch is to be widened up to 40 feet so as to ease traffic congestion on the way to the Golden Temple. Sometime back, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had also questioned the delay in the project even as a compensation to the tune of Rs 8.98 crore had already been awarded to around 105 affected property owners on the stretch. Incidentally, the project will not affect the owners as they received the cost of their properties while tenants had been left to fend for themselves.

Amritsar, July 9
A section of the newly constructed Tara Wala Pul on the Elevated Road here caved in today, apparently due to the downpour that lashed Amritsar this morning.

Right in the middle of the elevated road, inaugurated in August 2012 by the Deputy Chief Minister, there occurred a 22-foot-wide and 3-foot-deep pit. Luckily, the snag was spotted in time and the traffic was diverted to alternative routes since morning.

It was discovered that the compaction process was not done properly at the time of the construction of the elevated path, due to which it could not bear the brunt of showers and got dislocated from its place.

Amritsar, July 9
After two medical officers at the Government Medical College (GMC) recently declined their promotion to the post of senior medical officers, the Department of Health and Family Welfare has debarred both from getting any promotion for the next two years.

Taking note of the refusal, the department issued orders on July 1.

The said doctors had reportedly declined the offer for promotion as they were asking for absorption as regular faculty in the college itself.

“After serving for almost six years, it is unjustified to send us back to the PCMS cadre. Moreover, the no-objection certificate (NOC) which we got from the Health Department at the time of appointment categorically mentioned that we would not have any relation with the parent department after the appointment at the GMC,” said a doctor.

The promotions were reportedly offered to at least two more tutor lecturer-cum-medical officers who too have declined the offer. These two doctors were appointed as lecturers after screening in 2008. The advertisement issued in February 2007 had invited applications for the post of lecturers. But shortly after the induction, the lecturers were re-designated as tutor lecturer-cum-medical officers. The government had made 32 appointments in the Government Medical College, Amritsar, and GMC, Patiala.

A senior faculty member said, “Had they accepted the promotion to the post of SMOs, they would have to join duty at some government hospital and dispensary as there is no post of SMO in the medical college.”

The tutor lecturer-cum-medical officers have been making representations to the government for their absorption in the medical college as regular faculty. The tutor lecturer-cum-medical officers rued that they had been projected as faculty members during the inspections made by the Medical Council of India but are treated differently when it comes to perks and other service benefits.

Amritsar, July 9
The representatives of the Minority Commission today visited the Amritsar Central Jail to ensure that the Muslim inmates could observe religious ceremonies as per their customs.

During the month of Ramzaan, the Muslim inmates cannot be put to any kind of work in the jail and arrangements should be made for them to observe fast.

Minority Commission member Hafiz Tehseen and Mameed Masih said these inmates would be observing fast throughout the month and would be provided with milk and fruits which include mangoes, apple, dates every day.

"We have already intimated the Punjab CM about these special arrangements to be ensured in jails. He has gladly agreed to bear the expenses through his discretionary funds," he said.

There are around 566 Muslim inmates lodged in various jails of the state. In Amritsar jail, there are a total of 55 Muslim inmates out of which 31 are Pakistanis. 

Amritsar, July 9
The nursing staff at the Guru Nanak Dev Hospital staged a protest today against the non-disbursement of salaries to contractual nurses for the past four months. Nursing association president Raj Bedi Anand said, "The staff would hold protests on regular basis till the salaries are disbursed. The duration of protest would be increased by one hour every day."

She said considering the cost of each and every item in the market it becomes difficult even if the salaries are delayed even by a single day.

"People and authorities must see what the staff members are going through," said Bedi, demanding that the salaries should be disbursed as soon as possible. 

Amritsar, July 9
To promote art and culture in the region, KAUSA Trust, Amritsar, organised a group exhibition of paintings of "Prayaas - Ek Koshish", a group of artists from Hoshiarpur. Neera Sharma, principal, DAV Public School, Amritsar, inaugurated the exhibition at KT Kala.

Senior artist Dr Baldev Gambhir highlighted the work done so far by KAUSA Trust. Neera Sharma appreciated the works to promote art and culture. Vijay Gharu, Sandeep Kumar, Jaswant Singh, Ravinder Singh, Rekha Sharma, Simarjit Kaur, Aruna Rani, Jyoti, Rama, Ramandeep Kaur, Manjinder Kaur and Rajni will participate in this four-day-long exhibition. The exhibition will remain open daily from 10 am to 6 pm till July 12.

The works displayed varied from landscapes, portraits to abstract art. The artists too will be present at the gallery to interact with the visitors and critics.

Amritsar, July 9
Diksha Arora of DAV College got the first position in the district in the postgraduate diploma in computer application (PGDCA). She has stood fifth in Guru Nanak Dev University.

Neha of BCA-II secured fourth position in the university while Sheetal Mahajan and Krishna Gupta achieved distinction in the same class.