Jalandhar, September 11
Parents of the 12-year-old girl, who allegedly worked as a domestic help in the house of BJP Mahila Morcha president Renu Thapar and has been lodged at the Gandhi Vanita Ashram for the past four days, today got her custody through court order.

Jai Kant Singh, the girl’s father, was accompanied by Congress leaders Sushil Rinku and Major Singh for completing the official formalities. Taking a strong note of the incident, Punjab Congress spokesperson Nimisha Mehta has written a letter to senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj and Akali MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal demanding their intervention in the case.

The incident came to light after the girl managed to escape from the house of the BJP leader and reached Jalandhar and filed a police complaint against Thapar with the help of Congress leaders.

In her complaint, the victim said she had been working as a domestic help for the past over two years at a monthly salary of Rs 600. She claimed that she tried to flee twice earlier but her father handed her back to Thapar against her wishes. Thapar, however, has been denying these allegations. Seeking the removal of Thapar as BJP Mahila Morcha president, the Punjab Congress spokesperson has urged Leader of the Opposition, Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj.

“We all have often seen you in Parliament raising a voice for protecting the rights of girls and women. But this incident has brought out the real face of the BJP. I am sending you the news cuttings of English dailies and vernacular papers about forcing this child into labour and abusing her. It is requested that you have Renu Thapar removed from her post at the earliest,” said the spokesperson to the BJP leader in a letter.

Nimisha has also written in the letter that even after coming to know about the incident if no action is taken, “people would automatically conclude your stand on the issue”.

In yet another letter written to Harsimrat Kaur Badal, MP from Bathinda, Nimisha raised the question regarding the party’s (SAD) stand on protecting the victims of child abuse, especially girls, in the state. Reminding Kaur that ‘charity begins at home’, Nimisha is learnt to have written that while the SAD MP (Harsimrat) has always shouted at the top of her voice claiming to be the saviour of girls and women but has failed miserably in this regard on the ground.

“The police has failed to file an FIR against Renu Thapar even four days after lodging of a complaint by the girl. Rather, the police has made the situation even worse for the victim by transferring the case to Ludhiana,” said the spokesperson.

She has also asked Harsimrat Kaur to take up the issue with the Home Ministry, Punjab, the portfolio headed by her husband Sukhbir Badal, to find out what forced the Jalandhar police to shift the case to Ludhiana.

Punjab Mahila Congress general secretary Sushma Gautam has also written letters to state BJP chief Kamal Sharma and former Women and Child Development Minister and BJP national vice-president Laxmi Kanta Chawla to break their silence and make their party’s stand clear on the issue.

Nimisha Mehta said the case has once again exposed the SAD BJP govt’s false claims about protecting girls. Till date, neither the BJP nor the SAD leaders have come forward to get justice for the victim, she said.

Registered letters have been sent to these leaders so that they could not feign ignorance on the issue, Nimisha said.

The Congress spokesperson has asked the Nanhi Chhaan campaign leader to shun party politics and come forward and get a case registered. 

We all have often seen you in Parliament raising the voice for protecting the rights of girls and women. But this incident has brought out the real face of the BJP. I am sending you the news cuttings of English dailies and vernacular papers about forcing this child into labour and abusing her. It is requested that you have Renu Thapar removed from her post at the earliest — Nimisha Mehta in a letter to Sushma Swaraj 

Jalandhar, September 11
Even as the fervent campaign of the administration to revive the sorry state of gaushalas in the city earned praise and overwhelming support, fears of gaushalas being abandoned are coming to the fore yet again.

Cattle at a poorly-maintained gaushala on Tanda Road in Jalandhar. Tribune photo: Sarabjit Singh

"It started off well but after the photo ops they are nowhere to be seen now," says an activist on the state of the Pinjra Pol gaushala at Tanda Road here.

After September 7, there has been no construction and the cattle have been left amid brick piles, which they bang into too often and bricks fall on them.

While a meeting of the MC committee on the issue was held on August 30, the recommendations by the MC committee included provision of separate sheds for cattle so that all can be fed properly, provision of more labour for the gaushalas, recommendation to start kar sewa which will go on till September 20, to ensure sanitary arrangements, among others.

The mishandling of accounts by the Pinjra Pol managing committee - an issue some people have been stressing on for long - was also addressed in the meeting as chairman of the committee Senior Deputy Mayor Kamaljit Bhatia asked the Pinjra Pol management to hand over account details of the amount spent by them for the care of the gaushalas.

A special mention was also made to sanction Rs 2 lakh grants every year from the Animal Welfare Board and review of income from 52 shops owned by the gaushala management. Kamaljit Bhatia has also visited the gaushala at least thrice since.

Activists say there has been no change in the behaviour of the management as they remain conspicuous by their absence. There is no addition in labour. Infrastructure wise, the sheds are again sludgy and cattle rooms drip during rain.

"On September 7, some men came and started work. They worked from 2 to 5 pm. We have not seen them since then. We pick up cattle and remove bricks ourselves. Even the enthusiastic kar sewaks are not back," said the activist.

"I shall visit (the gaushala) tomorrow and the work will resume. The management has been disinterested and has not submitted the accounts either. I shall be putting all these observations in the final report to be sent to court. There is a limit to non-seriousness."

While Bhatia said he has not power to appoint new members or change the committee, he exhorted cattle lovers to revive the guashala.

Bhatia recommended 11 new members be inducted in the committee.

He said checking of management accounts, increase in labour force and deputation of medical experts is necessary. Segregation of sheds and kar sewa are also essential, according to him. 

Jalandhar, September 11
The auction of commercial and residential properties at the Urban Estate Phase-II conducted by the Jalandhar Development Authority (JDA) today got a lukewarm response.

Only two — one commercial and the other residential — of the 18 properties put up on auction were sold. The JDA had put up on auction as many as 10 four-storey shop-cum-offices (SCOs) in the market but none of these were sold.

Officials also did not get any bidders for two six-storey SCOs in the otherwise much-developed area. The reserve price for these commercial properties is in the range of Rs 86,653 per square metre to Rs 95,318 per square metre with the size varying between 148.64 square metre to 371.60 square metre.

The only saving grace for the JDA was the auction of one of the two double storey shops in the market. A shop with an area of 104.51 facing northeast with a reserve price of Rs 71,308 per square metre went got a bid of Rs 1,15,400 per square metre. The other shop at its backside did not get any response.

The JDA had also put up for sale four residential plots, out of which one got sold. A 334.44 square metre plot with a reserve price of Rs 29,499 per square metre went for Rs 31,000 per square metre.

Amarjit Bains, JDA Estate Officer, conducted the auction. The Estate Officer said the overall response to the auction was owing to prevailing slump in the real estate market. He, however, expressed satisfaction over a good appreciation in the sale price of one shop.

Jalandhar, September 11
Just when the authorities began anticipating a substantial decrease in the number of patients being reported in the district, a 35-year-old resident of Avtar Nagar died of jaundice at the local Civil Hospital here.

Mohammed Jamir, the victim, is the fifth resident of the city to lose life to the seasonal illness and the first to die of jaundice.

A native of Bihar, Jamir was admitted to the hospital on Monday. He worked at an embroidery unit.

With 35 new patients of cholera reported from Garha (until this afternoon), the total number of cholera patients in the area has risen to 593 (until yesterday it was 558).

Meanwhile, the number of patients confirmed to be suffering from dengue in the district also continues to rise steadily.

The sixth patient suffering from dengue was confirmed here today. Cases of dengue have been reported from Bhagat Singh Colony, Grain Market and earlier from Adarsh Nagar and Banda Bahadur Nagar.

Epidemiologist Dr Satish Sood said, "While there are four types of jaundice, type A and E are primarily the ones which we are looking to counter. They are caused by water-borne diseases.

These can be fatal and we are working to immediately stop the spread of this."

Barring Garha, cholera cases also continue to pour in from Basti Bawa Khel, Basti Peer Daad, Gandhi Camp and Bhargo Camp.

"Jalandhar district has a population of over 10 lakh. We are keeping tabs on other areas as well and working on reining in the spread but the focus continues to be on Garha as other areas don't have witnessed an outbreak like situation," Dr Sood said.

About 60 illegal water connections have been cut by the MC from Garha area to check consumption of contaminated water. 

Jalandhar, September 11
A demonstration organised by the Congress leaders outside the Municipal Corporation turned ugly with the internal bickering between leaders coming to fore.

While the leaders got together outside the MC office to lodge their protest over the issues regarding bad roads, lack of civic amenities and poor fiscal situation, the main issues got sidelined with party leaders accusing the District Congress Committee chief Arun Walia of tagging along people indulging in anti-party activities.

Perturbed over the presence of ex-councillor, Hari Pal Sondhi, who had left the Congress and joined the BJP ahead of MC polls last year,Youth Congress leader Anil Vashisht alleged that Walia had been bringing him along at dharnas and even meetings of the District Congress Committee. The arguments went on as Vashisht raised his voice, “He had been expelled from the Congress for indiscipline and has not been re-instated, then why is he being taken along everywhere. Are you not aware of Rahul Gandhi’s directions?”

Leader of the Opposition, Jagdish Raj Raja, and former councillor Rajinder Beri too made only a momentary presence. The attendance of leaders remained thin. Those who attended the protest included Varinder Sharma, Major Singh, Sushil Rinku, Des Raj Jassal, Nirmal Singh, Baldev Singh Dev and Bal Krishan Bali. 

Jalandhar, September 11
Perhaps unable to decide between the candidates of two warring groups within the party even after 10 months, BJP today decided to choose a neutral man Subhash Sud for the third term as district president.

The announcement in this regard was made by the state general secretary Tarun Chugh this evening. Sud has been elected for the post for a three-year term.

The party had held elections on November 23 last announcing Ravi Mahendru, former minister Manoranjan Kalia’s right hand man.

But two days later, the elections had been declared null and void following objections raised by his opponent Shiv Dyal Chugh, who was being supported by the group of CPS KD Bhandari and Mayor Sunil Jyoti.

Both Mahendru and Chugh have been MC councillors.

Eversince Subhash Sud, who was president in the last term as well as in 2002, had been asked to continue to officiate as the district president.

Sud is a practising lawyer who has no allegiance with any factions within party.

The party remained indecisive for 10 months, the announcement finally came today few months ahead of Parliamentary polls.

Kamal Sharma, state president, also declared Purushotam Passi as district president of Kapurthala and Iqbal Singh Rana as district president of Mukerian.

Kapurthala, September 11
The Punjab government has provided assistance of Rs 2.44 crore in the district to 266 cancer patients. Daljit Singh Mangat, Deputy Commissioner, said while 276 applicants had sought relief under Mukh Mantri Cancer Relief Fund Scheme, only 10 patients were left wherein aid is yet to be provided owing to ongoing formalities. He said the Punjab government had empanelled hospitals for cancer treatment under the scheme and had instructed to purchase cancer treatment drugs on the contract rate finalised by the department.

He said the patients who are not covered under the scheme or who have already availed assistance under the scheme could avail the facilily on subsidised rates at Jan Aushadhi Stores. He said there was a huge difference between market rates and rates approved in contract with most drugs available at 70 per cent to 80 per cent lesser than the MRP.

He said Rs1.5 lakh are provided as financial aid to the cancer patients under CM Cancer Relief Fund Scheme. He added that BPL families could also avail this facility from Nirogi Society. He said Health and Family Welfare Department has launched a special campaign to identify the cancer patients at an early stage and more than 1.6 lakh houses had been surveyed in the district . He said during the survey, 2,878 persons were found having symptoms of cancer, out of which 821 were identified as cancer patients. 

Jalandhar, September 11
DAV College under the aegis of department of extra-mural activities organised the11th National Youth Parliament. It was sponsored by Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Government of india, under the scheme of National Youth Parliament Competition in universities and colleges throughout the country. Dr BB Sharma, principal, said the aim of the youth parliament is to strengthen the roots of democracy and inculcate healthy habits of discipline and tolerance of the views of others. Dr Dinesh Arora, said the college had won 11th National Youth Parliament (group level) contest held today in which 70 students participated.

Members of the 11th National Youth Parliament wore the dresses of different states and presented a real look of National Parliament.

The items like ‘Inroduction of new ministers by PM’, ‘question hour’, ‘paper to be laid’,‘vote of no-confidence’ etc were presented in the youth parliament.

Many important issues like quality of higher educational institutions, use of banned pesticides and insecticides in agriculture, violation of ceasefire by Pakistan , modernisation of railways and installation of anti-collision devices in the trains etc were raised.

During the Zero Hour, Ramanpreet Singh raised the issue of flood and non-preparedness of the government in this regard.

He made an emotional and sentimental appeal to the Government in this regard. Ms Nitika Vij, Leader of the Opposition moved the vote of No-Confidence and criticised the Government in its failure on all fronts of administration especially on economic fronts to check price rise, inflation and to bring back Indian money from the foreign banks.

The event was evaluated by a jury of three judges - Manoranjan Kalia, MLA, Jalandhar Central, RC Mohanty, Asst Secretary, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Government of India, New Delhi, and Mrs Geeta Kahlon, Professor, Department of Political Science, SD College for Women, Jalandhar. Jury selected 8 students as best members of youth parliament, namely, Gursimrat Kaur, Rajat Sharma, Sukhmani Kaur, Ramanpreet Singh, Shyna Kalra, Nitika, Janjot Kaur and Palak Gupta. 

Jalandhar, September 11
Singer Pukhraj’s new album ‘Pranam’ and singer Neha’s album ‘Dil Ton Punjaban’ were released at the local press club here today. Both the albums were released by the legendary Sufi singer Ustad Puran Shahkoti.

Shahkoti lauded the efforts and said the albums shall bring in good music for the people.

Brought into the market by Happy Entertainment Music Company, producer Sravan Singh Deo said the album ‘Parnam’ has six songs which have been penned by Surjit Patar, Ghulla Sarhalevala, Gurtej Kuharwala, Lucky, Aamrdeep Gill and Devinder Josh.

In the album ‘Dil Ton Punjaban’, nine songs have been penned by Ghulla Sarhalewala, Billa Mauliwala, Jandu Litranwala and Sarvan Singh Deo.

Ghulla Sarvalewala, said the music for the album ‘Pranam’ had been given by Pamma Ravi and ‘Dil Ton Punjaban’ had been given by Bai Nature (UK) and Pamma Ravi.

The director of the company, while talking about both the albums, said, all kinds of songs were a part of these albums and would be found extremely entertaining by listeners.

Video Director, Baba Kamal and other lyricists, were present on the occasion.