Amritsar, November 12
City residents are up in arms against Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) for deducting advance consumption deposit (ACD) along with the power bills.

Incidentally, lower-rung officials contacted over the deduction were not aware of the exact reason behind the deduction. Many of them aired different versions of the deduction.

A resident of Rani ka Bagh Naresh Johar said he was shocked to find that extra nearly Rs 1,700 were reflected in the bill apart from charges levied against power units consumed during the last two months. He said it was a rude shock and upon inquiry at the nearest PSPCL office, different officials aired various views, which only confounded the matter.

"If it is a deposit, it must not be kept under the charges and there must be a separate receipt issued to consumers," he added.

Hitting out at the PSPCL, he said it must be clarified by the corporation that if it were expenses, these must be reflected under the profit and loss statement of the account of consumers and in case it is deposit, it should be reflected in the balance-sheet as the ACD.

He said it meant there was no due date for paying the bill, as consumers had given advance to the PSPCL.

A resident of the Batala road Vandana Sharma said it was a rude shock for the consumers to pay extra amount apart from the bill dues. She said they were invariably psychologically and financially prepared to pay the bill every two months. However, seeking extra money in the power bill was a surprise, which upset the budget. She said the PSPCL should have adequately publicised the move before introducing it.

The omission of publicity before levying the ACD irked the consumers and it adversely impacted middle and lower income group families who are already battling with high inflation of essential commodities.

Chief Engineer (Border Range) NK Gandhi said the exact proportion of the ACD was decided on the basis of annual average consumption of a consumer. It would be kept in their account as security and would work as a hedge in case of default. Henceforth, the ACD will be reviewed once in a year to fix it on the basis of the average consumption of that year. Its primary objective is to keep a check on the default of payment.

Amritsar, November 12
The free clinical investigation for pregnant women at government health institutions in the district has failed to take off due to the failure of the department concerned to transfer funds to various health institutions.

The government has earmarked Rs 200 for each case of free clinical investigation of pregnant woman at government health institutes. The hospitals are required not to charge any money from the pregnant women coming for child delivery services at government health institutions.

The idea behind the scheme was to increase institutional deliveries so as to check mother and infant mortality rates. The government has already started free delivery service and free child services for the purpose.

Earlier, the department had decided to provide regents for the tests to the hospitals to carry out the investigation, but senior officials of the department had rejected the idea and instead ordered for transferring the money to the hospitals. The idea was to let the hospitals take responsibility for the successful execution of the scheme.

However, government health institutions have failed to start the scheme, as the money has not been transferred to them yet. “The money has not been transferred yet even as the scheme had started around two months ago in principle,” said head of an health institute.

Meanwhile, Civil Surgeon Dr Yash Mitra claimed that they had already transferred the money. He said only those had not received the money who had not pursued the matter with the department. He said it was the duty of the institutes to get the money by following up the matter.

Amritsar, November 12
The erratic supply of medicines under the free medicine scheme of the government is causing problem to patients at the local Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs Memorial Civil Hospital.

Patients at the hospital said the supply of the medicines was not regular, as a result of which they had to buy most of the medicines from private drug stores.

Important and life-saving medicines like injections for hepatitis and anti-D, which are required to be given to pregnant women in case of complications due to blood group, too, were not available.

The injection for hepatitis costs around Rs 4,500 in the market. The injection for anti-D also costs around Rs 2,500 in the market. The hospital does not also have anti-rabies vaccines.

“Such costly injections should be available in the hospital, as poor people cannot afford these. The government has installed boards bearing pictures of politicians everywhere to take credit for the scheme, but it is not bothered to look if people are really getting these medicines,” said Joginder Singh, a senior citizen.

The hospital staff, meanwhile, stated that they were providing medicines which were in the stock. However, a poor patient cannot wait for the stocks to arrive if he or she does not have money to buy such costly items from the market.

Senior medical officer Dr Balbir Singh Dhillon said, “We have got confirmation that these medicines are arriving shortly. As and when these come, we would start giving these to the general public as per the need.” He, however, admitted that the shortage of medicines sometimes causes a problem for the staff, as people doubt employees when they tell them that a particular medicine was not available. He said they inform senior officials about the availability of stocks on a regular basis.

Amritsar, November 12
In order to nail the rising crime, especially rampant drug abuse and petty crimes such as snatching, the city police has introduced the "beat foot patrolling" system.

For this, the city has been divided into 97 beats falling in 17 police stations in which as many as 94 cops have been deputed who would work along with 74 beat officers. Every police station has been further divided into five to 10 parts and every beat officer has been entrusted with a particular job.

"Each beat officer would travel in his area on foot. He would visit door to door to have a data of number of residences, tenants, dhabas, hotels and inns, banks, post offices, educational institutes and religious places etc. This would also help in having an information bank regarding anti-social elements in a particular area," said Police Commissioner Jatinder Singh Aulakh, who launched the system here today.

Each beat officer had been given a proforma and booklet regarding the rules to be followed and the jobs which he would have to perform in his respective beat. The beat officer would also look into various problems being faced by residents and people of the area and inform about this to his higher-ups.

Aulakh urged the people to cooperate with the beat officers to curb drug peddling. If people of an area know about anti-social elements involved in drug abuse, I request them to pass on such information to the beat officer concerned. Their names would be kept a secret, he said.

The beat officer would also help in solving minor disputes on the spot and could call the station house officer of the area if felt so.

"The number of each beat officer, assistant beat officer, besides other senior police officials, would be displayed in various areas so that people could contact them directly," he pointed out.

He said these beat officers had been specially trained to handle any situation.

Amritsar, November 12
A vegetable vendor was run over by a tractor-trailer near the Gate Hakima area here late last night.

The police has booked the driver of an unknown tractor-trailer who fled from the accident scene, leaving behind the trailer.

Sukhpal Singh, a resident of Fakir Singh Colony, Anngarh, and the victim's son, stated to the police that he, along with his father, had been selling vegetables near the Gate Hakima area. He said the speeding tractor- trailer, driven by an unidentified person, hit his father, who was crushed to death.

The police has registered a case under Sections 304-A and 279 of the IPC in this regard. No arrest has been made so far. 

Amritsar, November 12
A married woman here today alleged that she was raped by a property dealer after the latter promised to provide her a room on rent.

A resident of Nangali Bhatha, located on Fatehgarh Churian Road, the victim stated to the police that she was looking for a rented accommodation for her family. She said she came in contact with the accused, identified as Sawinder Singh, a property dealer and a resident of Vallah Ptti Wassam Di village, during her search for rented accommodation.

When she called him on his phone, he promised to help her. Yesterday, he reportedly took her to Vallah for showing a room.

She alleged that the accused, after showing her the room, took her to some fields and stopped his car near a tubewell room. She said before she could understand his intentions, the accused threw her in the car and raped her.

She said she, somehow, managed to escape from the place and narrated the whole story to the Mohkampura police, where a case under Section 376 of the IPC was registered against Sawinder Singh, who is at large.

Amrik Singh, SHO, Mohkampura police station, said the medical examination of the victim was conducted today, the reports of which were awaited.

Amritsar, November 12
The Municipal Corporation (MC) organised a camp at Shastri Nagar here today to facilitate residents in depositing property tax dues.

A total of approximately Rs 5 lakh was collected as tax from the residents.

The camp was inaugurated by MC Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora. It was the third camp organised in ward number 50 represented by Arora in the MC. Superintendent, House Tax, MC, Sushant Bhatia, said around 300 residents availed the facility.

He said the MC would organise three camps at different places in the city on Wednesday to help residents deposit property tax. Bhatia said so far, the MC had been able to collect Rs 1.30 crore of the dues towards property tax through the camps.

Bhatia said the camps would be a regular feature of the MC to provide facilities to residents of different areas in their neighbourhood. He said the people who feel harassed while going to government offices were readily coming to these camps to avail the facility.

The last date for the filing of property tax with a rebate of 10 per cent for the city residents is November 3o. Bhatia said people must deposit their dues before the deadline announced by the Department of Local Bodies to avail the benefits of the discount.

He said the residents would have to pay a penalty as would be announced by the government if they fail to pay the tax by the due date. Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora said the money collected from the residents as tax would be used for the development of the city. He encouraged the residents to be part of the ongoing development process by paying their dues in time.

Amritsar, November 12
To highlight rampant cases of female foeticide and reach out to more people in the process, city-based author and counsellor Jyoti Bawa launched her book ‘Khuh Bolda Hai’ during a ceremony at a local hotel.

The book is based on a play with the same title, written by Jyoti. It talks about female foeticide and its social consequences.

‘Khuh Bolda Hai’, originally written as a popular play, has been staged over 300 times across the state and now, converted into a book.

Jyoti said the book highlights social stigmas and hypocrisy regarding women empowerment.

“The book is about things that the play does not narrate. It reaches out to people with facts like the deep-rooted mentality of having a male heir, the educated class being the biggest promoter of the crime and the women themselves believing it is necessary to have a son. It is written for those who did not catch the play,” she said.

Speaking about the importance of connecting individually to the cause, Dr Gurbilas, gastroenterologist at Fortis, who has been associated with the cause, said: “It is a good way to reach out to maximum people and change mindsets. If the play conveys only one story about atrocities on the girl child, the book talks about the reasons for the same and building a secure future for daughters. There are some strong laws regarding female foeticide in the country in terms of the Prenatal Determination Act, but its implementation is an issue. The only solution lies in bringing together masses and joining hands to fight this social plague.”

Vipin Bhasin, a city based lawyer who has also been taking up cases against the female foeticide, apprised the audience about the legal check and rights regarding this crime.

“Its not just the problem of a particular caste, community or class. It’s everyone’s issue and needs individual effort,” he said.

Jyoti had earlier released the book at the Tagore Theatre in Chandigarh and plans to take her book across the country.

“Since the girl child has been facing difficulties across the country, the book seems to be relevant in every state,” she added.

Naseeb Dhillon, a student of Khalsa College Public School (KCPS), Amritsar, won a silver medal in swimming at the CBSE National Championship held at Sonipat, Haryana, recently. A Class X student, Naseeb was an upcoming swimmer from Punjab who has many honours to his name in the game, said Sarvjit Kaur Brar, Principal, KCPS.

Amritsar, November 12
An inter-school fancy dress competition was organised at Ryan International School here today. Students under the age of five from Guru Teg Bahadur Public School, Step By Step School, Good Morning School, Sunshine School, Little Steps Public School and Ryan International School participated in the event.

The theme of the programme was ‘fruits and vegetables’.

The tiny tots came up dressed as various fruits and vegetables.

The enthusiasm with which the children participated and performed was commendable.

The competition instilled a feeling of eating healthy and nutritious food in students. Yuvish from Step by Step Kindergarten bagged the first position. The second position was bagged by Mehakpreet Kaur of Guru Teg Bahadur Public School. Mehak of Ryan International School got the third prize.

A consolation prize was given to Dhayrika of Step by Step Kindergarten. Later, Principal Rajni Kalra distributed prizes among the winners.

Kalra stressed that such competitions evokes creativity and enhance the imagination skills of parents, teachers and school students.

Ludhiana, November 12
With the winter season picking up, the prices of eggs are seeing an upward trend. The prices of vegetables and pulses are already heading north.

Generally priced between Rs 2.50 and Rs 3.50, eggs are now being sold at Rs 5 per piece. "The winter season has started and the production of eggs has come down. The prices of eggs normally rise during the winters due to low production and high consumption," said Harish Kumar, owner of a department store.

"Only a few days ago, eggs were available for Rs 3 per piece and now the prices have soared to Rs 5 per piece. The winter season has just started and I wonder what the situation will be when the winter is at its peak. After vegetables, now poultry products seem to be going out of the common man's reach," said Manjeet Kaur, a homemaker from BRS Nagar.

Another reason for the hike in the prices of eggs is that a majority of the poultry farmers are shifting to Haryana due to the high taxation system in the state. As a result, the overall production in the state has decreased. "Whenever there is an increase in the demand, the prices go up," said Rajeev Kaura, a wholesale egg dealer. An entry tax of 5 per cent was imposed in the state on sunflower, groundnut and mustard de-oiled cakes, which were the main ingredients of the feed for poultry birds, said Kaura.