Ludhiana, November 16
The state government’s move to facilitate visitors at the Sub registrar’s offices has received a poor response. Even after a year, the Sub-Registrar offices have not received even a single application from residents for the attested copy of the mutation.

Under the facility provided by the government, residents can get an attested copy of their mutations by paying Rs 30 for a form and another Rs 30 for the tickets within three months.

Instead, the residents prefer to get it through the Suwidha Centre by paying the prescribed fees and a majority of the people still believe in getting the copy of jamabandi and mutations directly from the patwaris by paying anything upto Rs 1,500 per document.

One of the kanugo in the district, on condition of anonymity, said that patwaris were openly fleecing the public by demanding anything upto Rs 1,500 for the copy of jamabandi or mutation but instead of raising the voice against the corrupt practices of the patwaris, the residents feel that it is "convenient" to get the document from patwaris within two to three days.

"It is official that within the stipulated time, the document gets ready automatically. But what the patwaris do is that they fleece the public by saying that they (residents) will get the document, but since it is a tedious job, residents will have to shell out money to get the desired document. Not wanting to face any harassement at the offices, the residents agree to pay the desired amount to get the document, which they can get by paying just Rs 60 otherwise. The practice of fleecing goes unabated in the revenue offices", said the kanugo.

Meanwhile, the general secretary of the Patwar Union, Ludhiana district, Darshan Kumar held the state government responsible for such corrupt practices. He said that one patwari was doing work of three to four patwaris in the district like Ludhiana and over 1,800 posts of patwaris were lying vacant in Punjab. "Now the corruption starts when patwaris catch hold of other workers or engage their helpers because of increased work pressure. They need to pay the workers too. They then start demanding money from the residents to provide the desired document. The corruption should be stopped but the government also needs to take responsible steps", said Darshan Kumar. He also admitted that there were certain "blacksheep" in the offices who brought disrepute to the office.

Ludhiana, November 16
Ludhiana City Bus Service Ltd has started two new routes in the city. The routes include Pakhowal Road to Bus Stand and Gill Road to Bus Stand.

Yesterday, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had flagged off 25 new buses under the city bus service project, which is funded by the Central Government’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

The buses include five low-floor air conditioned buses procured from Tata, 10 non-AC low-floor buses purchased from Ashok Leyland and 10 non-AC mini buses purchased from Isuzu.

But the city residents will have to wait for at least one week before these buses hit the roads as their registration is yet to be done. The buses came straight from the company dealerships as the Deputy Chief Minister wanted to launch them on Friday itself.

“There was no time to get the registration done as we had got the confirmation regarding the buses only on November 12,” informed a Ludhiana City Bus Service Ltd (LCBSL) official requesting anonymity.

While speaking to The Tribune, Baljit Singh, general manager, LCBSL, said that some of these buses would ply on two new routes and the remaining on the existing routes. “Of the new buses, eight each will ply on Pakhowal Road and Gill Road routes. The Pakhowal Road route will have two air conditioned low-floor, four non-AC low floor and two mini buses while the Gill Road route will have all the mini buses, which will also ply on internal areas along the Gill Road,” he said.

The buses on the Pakhowal Road route will start from near the Bhai Bala Gurdwara and for Gill Road, they will start from near Gill village.

“The remaining buses will be deputed on the existing routes as we want to strengthen the service on these routes. We will start the registration process of the new buses from Monday onwards and these buses will start plying on two new and other existing routes anytime after November 25,” said Baljit Singh.

Ludhiana, November 16
One patient died of dengue in Ludhiana district, while 19 tested positive at different hospitals of the district.

A 21-year-old female patient died at DMC yesterday. She was under treatment at the hospital for the past five days. Confirming this, District Epidemiologist Dr Anil Verma said," The case will be reviewed by the Dengue Death Committee next week." As many as five dengue deaths have been reported in Ludhiana district this year.

Among the 19 dengue cases confirmed today, 15 patients are from Ludhiana district (10 from the city and five from the rural area). Four cases belong to other districts, two belong to Pathankot, one each from Barnala and Mukatsar.

So far, 900 have been reported from Ludhiana district, 429 belong from other disricts and 137are from other states.

Ludhiana, November 16
Sixteen leprosy patients, who have developed certain deformities in their limbs, were selected for reconstructive surgery during a state-level camp organised by the State Health Society (leprosy), Chandigarh, at Lord Mahavir Civil Hospital, Ludhiana, today.

Talking to the Tribune, Charan Kumar (name changed), a leprosy patient, said, "I have been suffering form the disease for the past few years. I have been taking medicines and have recovered, but I have developed some problem in my hand and cannot work properly. I am happy that after the surgery I will be able to do my work."

In today's camp, 27 patients from all over the state came for a checkup, out of which 16 were selected for the reconstructive surgery. District Leprosy Officer Dr Sangita Singh said, "Out of 27, 17 patients are from Ludhiana district alone. We have selected 16 patients for the surgery and have started doing their surgeries here itself with the help of a team from Government Medical College, Chandigarh. The remaining 11 will be cured with the help of physiotherapy."

She further said that leprosy was 100 per cent curable. She said, "It is treatable within six to nine months. In leprosy, nerves get damaged and with the help of medicine the diseases is cured, but the damaged nerves lead to deformities like claw hand, foot drop and wrist drop etc. So through surgery these deformities can be removed."

Dr Subhash Batta, Civil Surgeon, Ludhiana, said," The surgeries as well as the treatment are done free of cost."

Dr Kaushal Saini, Assistant Civil Surgeon, Ludhiana, said, "The number of leprosy patients in Punjab are less now as compared to southern states of India."

Expressing satisfaction over the treatment, Sunita Rani one of the attendants of a leprosy patients, said, "one of my family member will undergo surgery tomorrow. I am very hopeful that after the surgery he will be alright."

Khamano, November 16
Rejecting the demand of the Punjab Government to give sops to Punjab like Himachal Pardesh and Jammu and Kashmir, to attract the industry, the Central Minister of Commerce and Industry, Anand Sharma, said these sops were meant only for hill states while talking to The Tribune during his visit to Cordia Group of Institutes at Sanghol. He had come to participate as chief guest in the third International Conference on Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibilities. He clarified that Punjab was not a hill state and the sops had been meant for hill states only.

He said although Punjab was demanding the policy yet it was not possible due to guidelines fixed in this regard for the hill states only. It is worthless to say that the Punjab Government had taken up this issue with the Centre and charged that with this concession policy the industry is favoring these states as their destinations and some Industry is moving out of the state. With the rejection statement of sops for Punjab by the Industry Minister, it will be a set back as the Deputy Chief Minister was luring big industrialists to come to Punjab to set up big units.

Answering another question, he said the Congress will fair good in four state elections as the Congress had put forward the country on the track of development. He said the Congress Government in the Centre under the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, had introduced several people oriented schemes.

Ludhiana, November 16
Punjab Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal, and Deputy Chief Minister, Sukhbir Singh Badal, were in the city today during an inauguration of a new block at Sri Aurobindo College of Commerce. They motivated private players in education sector to update the infrastructure.

Meanwhile, during the inaugural function of the 39th All India National Group Song Competition-2013 organised by the Bharat Vikas Parishad (BVP) at KVM, Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal, asked the organisations to work in sync with the state government for establishing a state-of-the-art skill development centre to train unemployed youths to enable them to be employed.

Parkash Singh Badal offered Rs one crore as financial assistance to the BVP for establishing a skill development tanning centre.

On the occasion, Parkash Singh Badal also announced a grant of Rs 10 lakh for the BVP. Showing concern over education, Sukhbir Badal said the upcoming education city would house eminent world class educational institutions and universities in humanities, medical, pharmaceutical and engineering to impart the start of art education to the students of our country as well as from other parts of the world. The Deputy Chief Minister also announced that a mega education city over an area of 1,500 acres would soon come up at Mullanpura near Chandigarh to give further impetus to the quality of higher education in the state.

Ludhiana, November 16
To ensure early detection of diseases and their timely cure, the Punjab Government would soon evolve a diagnostic and laboratory testing system at least once in a year for every person in the state.

An announcement to this effect was made by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today while presiding over an inaugural function of the 21st Annual National Conference - 2013 of the Association of Medical Biochemists of India (AMBICON) organised by the Department of Biochemistry, CMC-Ludhiana.

He said a world class cancer hospital on the lines of Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, was being set up at Mullanpur near Chandigarh for which the state government had already given 50 acres of its prime land. He also said a 100-bed advanced cancer centre was coming up at Bathinda.

Dr Bharti Uppal, organising chairperson, intimated that the conference was being attended by around 500 delegates from all over the country and abroad. There are delegates from the UK, US, Australia and Indian states like Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, J&K, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, MP, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, AP, Odissa, WB, Assam, Tripura, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Speaking on the occasion, Adviser to the Chief Minister Maheshinder Singh Grewal said there was a need for good clinical chemist for the proper treatment of patients.

Dr AG Thomas, Director, CMC, said the scientific sessions should go a long way in paving the path to bridge the gap between a clinician and clinical laboratory personnel.

Principal of Christian Medical College Dr SM Bhatti and Rajendra Gupta were also present on the occasion.

Ludhiana, November 16
Ludhiana City Bus Service Ltd (LCBSL) officials finally heaved a sigh of relief as the outsourced drivers and conductors of the city bus service project fully resumed their duties today. Their salaries were finally credited to their bank accounts today.

Around 60 drivers and conductors, outsourced from two different contractors, were on strike since November 12 over the non-payment of dues. These drivers and conductors get salaries on the 10th of every month. But this time, due to the delay they went on an indefinite strike.

The strike affected three bus routes, GT Road, Chandigarh Road and Ferozepur Road, as 28 of the 50 low-floor buses did not ply.

The LCBSL now has a fleet of 75 buses, of which 20 are operated directly by the LCBSL authorities, while for the remaining, drivers and conductors are provided by two contractors.

While speaking to The Tribune, Baljit Singh, general manager, LCBSL, said the outsourced drivers and conductors had been issued their salaries by the contractors.

“To make sure the drivers and conductors get salaries by today evening, we have already cleared the bills,” he said.

Parjit Singh from the Ludhiana City Bus Employees Union also confirmed that they had received the salaries.

Ludhiana, November 16
While the Central Government has refused to meet the demands of the aanganwari workers, latter have decided to register their protest against the government. The workers have decided to gherao the residence of Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari on November 21.

The aanganwari workers said they had been demanding regularisation of their services from a long time but the Central Government has declined their demand and they have no other option but to adopt such path to impress upon the government to listen to their genuine demands.

President of the Aanganwari Workers Union, Ludhiana, Subhash Rani said in Punjab, the workers had already started with their march, which started from Jalianwala Bagh, Amritsar, from November 7. "The aanganwari workers have already covered districts, including Amritsar, Tarntaran, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Jalandhar to impress upon the Central Government that they (workers) were struggling for justified demands," said the president.

She said, "The jatha will reach Ludhiana on November 20 and will visit areas, including Jagraon, Sudhar, Pakhowal and Raikot. On November 21 they will gherao Tiwari's residence. We have already met Manish Tiwari twice and he had given assurance that a meeting with the minister concerned will be arranged but till date nothing has been done. We are left with no other option but to hold a protest in front of his house."

The workers said that they should be regularised at the earliest and their minimum wages should be increased as per discussed during a National Indian Labour Conference held recently.

Ludhiana, November 16
Nehru Sidhant Kender Trust celebrated the 124th birth anniversary of Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru today. Students from various schools and colleges and city residents attended the function. Charanjit Singh Atwal, Speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha was the chief guest on the occasion.

In his welcome address, Dr Rakesh Bharti Mittal, president of the trust, highlighted the contributions made by the Nehru Sidhant Kender Trust in various fields for the upliftment and amelioration of the humanity.

Lt Col (Dr) DB Sharina, organising secretary announced the winners of 22nd Sat Paul Mittal National Award and the winners of Sat Paul Mittal Award of appreciation for outstanding service to humanity. Sat Paul Mittal National Award for outstanding service to humanity for the year 2013 was presented to Dharampal Saini, founder chairman of the Mata Rukmani Sewa Santsthan. Sat Paul Mittal Award of appreciation was presented to Dr V Mohini Giri from New Delhi and Dr Kewal Dheer.

Charanjit Singh Atwal, in his address, greeted all the distinguished guests and students present on this occasion. Government College for Girls, Ludhiana, also received the Nehru Trophy for the 18th Inter College Debate organised by the trust and individual prizes were presented to the students in individual category. Nehru Scholarships to poor and deserving students and Mittal-Panday Scholarship (girls) were also presented to students from various schools and Colleges. In all, a total 1,051 scholarships were distributed amounting to Rs 27 lakh yearly.

Ludhiana, November 16
Increasing awareness about welfare schemes among migrant labourers has become a cause of worry for the local industry here. Businessmen feel that labour shortage will become ‘intolerable’ in near future, unless the state government comes up with attractive schemes to make migrants stay back.

Chairman of the EEPC (Northern Region), SCRalhan, said the industry was facing up to 50 per cent shortage of migrant labourers, who had gone to their native villages on Diwali, Chhat Puja, etc, but have not returned back yet. “They have not come back and we are facing problems in executing the orders. The export orders were executed nicely in last month. But this month, almost each industry is facing production losses to the tune of 30 per cent, which is worrisome,” said Ralhan.

He added that earlier, the labourers used to listen to their employers and agreed to stop whenever employer wanted. “But today, they are much more aware about their rights. You cannot stop them forcefully. If they have made their minds, they will just leave. Instead, many of the migrants (skilled labourers) working in big units have started demanding that quarters be made for them on the factory premises or nearby areas else they will go back,” said Ralhan.

President of the Dyeing Association, Ashok Makkar, said the unskilled labour, which used to get Rs 4,000 a month, now, demands Rs 7,500 per month, which is almost double. “If we go to mandi to get labour, their wages are about Rs 350 per day and they say at least Rs 10,000 be given them as salary by the industry. Besides, back home in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, they have been given incentives by their respective governments so they prefer staying there with their families. Our own government needs to do something to watch their interests as the whole industry depends on migrants in Ludhiana,” said Makkar.

Ludhiana, November 16
Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal during his visit to the city yesterday announced to give 500 to 1,000 acres of land to the industry falling under the red category. The ban imposed on the setting up of the red category industry will be lifted once the government provides land exclusively for them outside the city limits.

He further promised to make Punjab a power-surplus state. He announced that the industrial sector would not face any power crisis from December 8, 2013 as Rajpura Thermal Plant will be functional from this day.

The self-attested scheme will start from 2014 under which the industry can get new connections by submitting papers attested by them. A committee has been formed that will look into the problems of the mixed land use areas. Housing commissioner, deputy commissioner, Municipal Corporation commissioner will be part of this committee.

Meanwhile, industry representatives also discussed the issues related to the specific industry. Darshan Dawar, president of the Knitwear Club, appealed to the Deputy Chief Minister that washing done by the knitwear industry should not come under the purview of the pollution control board as they do not use any chemicals and do simple washing.

Ludhiana, November 16
Some unidentified miscreants stole two bags containing valuable goods on the Sherpur Road from a car last evening. In his complaint, Kailash Raunt, a resident of the Bhamia Road, said he works at Vardhman factory at the Focal Point. Yesterday, he went to drop some guests in the Sherpur area. When he crossed Spring Dale Public School, he found that one of the tyres of his car got punctured. He stopped the car and went to a mechanic's shop to repair the puncture. Meanwhile, the guests, who were sitting inside the car, also alighted from the car and started roaming here and there.

Kailash, the driver of the car, said when he returned after repairing the puncture, he found that someone had stolen two bags from the rear seat of the car.

The bags contained two laptops, one passport, one hard drive, a credit card and a cellphone.

A case has been registered at the Focal Point Police Station. The police has started investigations.

Ludhiana, November 16
An all-round performance by Ishaant Aggarwal (3 for 19 and 37 runs) enabled Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School, BRS Nagar, to prevail upon BCM Arya Model Senior Secondary School by eight wickets in the Ludhiana Sahodaya School Complex Cricket Tournament being organised at Green Land Convent School Stadium, GT Road, Manj Phagowal on the Ludhiana-Jalandhar road, here today.

Batting first, BCM Arya Model Senior Secondary School could muster 90 runs after losing nine wickets in the allotted 20 overs. Only Ankur could manage to put up some resistance. He made 27 runs off 37 balls.

For Sacred Heart School, Ishaan Aggarwal was the most successful bowler, taking three wickets for 19 runs in his quota of four overs, while Raghav secured two wickets for 13 runs in three overs.

The target set by BCM Arya School turned out to be a meagre one as Sacred Heart School needed just 13.5 overs to surpass rival's score and lost two wickets in the process.

The architects of their victory were Ishaan Aggarwal and Paras. Ishaan scored 37 runs from 32 deliveries, while Paras made 28 off 25 balls to steer their team to a comfortable victory.

Ludhiana, November 16
The three-day sports festival of the Sportking Institute of Fashion Technology concluded at Guru Nanak Stadium here today.

The final day’s activities started with a cricket match between the final year batch and the junior batch. In athletics, competition in 100m, 200m and relay races was held, besides fun games such as lemon race, three-legged and others.

The students from all streams and batches were seen participating enthusiastically in the track and field events. Tug-of-war for both girls and boys was the most fun-filled event of the day as students exhibited prowess to nail down their opponents.

There were events like lemon race, 100m race, tug-of-war and musical chair race for the faculty and staff also.