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Festival Season
Notorious bootlegger lands in police net
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Women held from Golden Temple
pspcl
Hoteliers write to Chief Minister for tax concessions
GNDU holds Principals’ meet
Youth conference on Sept 30
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Denied salary for three months MC employees observe token strike GS Paul Tribune News Service
Amritsar, September 26 Peeved at not being paid salary during the festival season, the employees under the banner of Sanjhi Sangharsh Committee conveyed their resentment to the authorities. The MC has failed to pay the salaries apparently because it didn’t receive the VAT payback. It is learnt that barring the Class IV employees, the MC could not disburse salaries of clerical and the higher class for the past three months. Though a communication in this regard was sent to the Local Bodies Ministry, it proved to be in vain. An aggrieved employee, Harjinder Singh Walia, said it had happened in the past, too. “We were told that the MC was short of funds, but why should we suffer if the arrangement of the VAT returns is faulty? Every time we are given the same excuse,” he said. His colleague, Surinder Bitta, said the festival season was approaching and they were unable to meet the expenses on the domestic front. “There are several employees who have to celebrate the festivities with their newly wed children, but they are helpless because of no pay for the past three months. We would resort to a massive strike, if the authorities don’t care to listen to our grievances,” he said. MC Commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal said constant communication was being maintained with the Local Bodies Department, which owed them the VAT payback. “We didn’t receive the VAT returns for the past two months, which amounts to Rs 8 crore. Still, with the funds to the tune of around Rs 7 crore that we had, the salaries of Class IV employees have been disbursed. The dues of the rest of the emplouyees, too, will be cleared soon,” he said.
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Notorious bootlegger lands in police net
Amritsar, September 26 Ketan Patil, ADCP, City-II, and Harish Behal, SHO, Chheharta police station, while giving details said the accused was wanted in six cases of liquor smuggling and under other offences registered at various police stations in the city, Amritsar rural and Jalandhar. Yesterday, the police had specific inputs about his movements in the Chheharta area. When the police party headed by ASI Balwinder Singh signalled him to stop, he sped away in his car. The police party chased him and surrounded him in Jandpeer Wali Gali. In order to escape, he shot several fires at the police party, which narrowly escaped in the incident. He had fled leaving his car behind, which the police impounded. He was travelling in an i-20 car without a number. The police also recovered three boxes of liquor from the car. The ADCP said the car had police logos pasted on the front and the back side. He used the logos to dodge the police. He said they were also trying to find the ownership of the car besides the details of the weapon used in the crime. He had hidden the weapon in a pear garden at the Sher Shah Suri road.
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Gangs of thieves active in shrines
PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service
Amritsar, September 26 While CCTV cameras installed on the premises of Darbar Sahib helped in nailing down various anti-social elements indulging in stealing at the holy shrine, the culprits went free without catching the eye of the law in other religious shrines in the absence of such a facility. The SGPC task force caught hold of nine women, two hailing from Delhi, four from Gwalior and three from Mathura, after finding their movements suspicious on the CCTV cameras. They were later handed over to Galliara police which registered a case under section 379 and 411 of IPC at Kotwali police station. Those arrested were identified as Manjeet Kaur and Laxmi, both residents of Delhi, Pooja Kaur, Kala, Paramjit Kaur, Narbada, all residents of Gwalior, Sita Kaur, Parkash Kaur and Parshotam Kaur of Mathura. Bhagwan Singh, investigating officer and in charge Galliara police chowki, said 15 mobile phones and around Rs 15,000 were recovered from them. Their kingpin would stay either in a hotel or in an inn located near Darbar Sahib. He said though they claimed that they had come for the first time, the involvement of some organised gang behind it could not be ruled out. He said further investigations were under progress. An SGPC official preferring not to be named said that the majority of the culprits caught hold of by the task force included women, who usually belonged to other parts of the country.
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Security ‘beefed up’ at Durgiana Temple
Amritsar, September 26 The committee took up the matter of lackadaisical attitude of policemen, deployed for security, with senior police officials, who later visited the spot and pulled them up. The Tribune team visited the temple and found policemen sitting in groups in various parts of the temple rather than checking suspected elements. Even the metal detectors put up at the entrance of the temple were not working as there was no policeman to operate the machine. No one was deputed at the entrance gate of Bada Hanuman Temple for checking. Thousands of pilgrims visit the temple for paying obeisance during Langoor Mela. There were no policemen on the main entrance of the temple from the roadside. A day before, the DTMC had accused the Police Department of not deploying adequate security force during the ongoing Navratra festival and Langoor Mela despite the issuance of threat by the Khalistani Commando Force (KCF) to carry out unlawful activity at the temple during the festive season. In a letter to the DTMC, the KCF had threatened to kill several leaders of various Hindu organisations for construction of memorial for those, who were killed during militancy period in Punjab. Due to absence of policemen, pick pockets were also targeting pilgrims and a number of such complaints had come to the notice of the management. The DTMC had written to the city police in this regard, but did not receive any response. ACP North Balkar Singh, who is looking after the security arrangements at the Hindu shrine, said around 100 policemen, including women force, were deployed for providing security at the temple. He said two inspector and four sub inspector rank officials had been deputed at the spot for leading police teams and watch the security arrangements. Harish Taneja, spokesman of the Durgiana Temple, said they took up the issue of careless attitude of senior police officials following which the ACP North and the ADCP City-II visited the temple and pulled up policemen deployed on the premises of the shrine.
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Meter readers not issuing bills on spot
Manmeet Singh Gill Tribune News Service
Amritsar, September 26 The consumers said meter readers recorded meter readings at their own convenience and did not issue bills on the spot. BR Preenja, general secretary, Consumer Rights Protection Society, said, “Generally the PSPCL follows a two month billing cycle. Meter readers are required to record the meter reading every two months and issue bills on the spot.” Preenja said meter readers recorded readings 15 days prior to the set day, worked out the bill on the basis of average for the next 15 days and sent the bill to the consumer. “A customer has a right to receive the bill on the basis of exact reading and not average reading,” he said.
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MC chalks out special cleanliness plan on Day II
GS Paul Tribune News Service
Amritsar, September 26 The whole city has been divided into sectors. In the first phase today, officials the Municipal Corporation carried out cleanliness work in around 11 wards. Municipal Corporation Commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal said a special cleanliness schedule had been chalked out. The MC staff under the supervision of superintending engineer and XENs of areas concerned, SDOs and JEs of the civil wing had been directed to carry out the drive in its true letter and spirit. The streetlight wing of the MC too had been attached with the team to rectify snags in streetlights on the spot, added the Commissioner Each team has been equipped with proper garbage removing infrastructure, which includes one ditch machine, sprinklers, brooms and other garbage removing equipment. The wards that were covered in the first phase include Ward No. 1, 2, 16, 17, 33, 38, 39, 50, 51, 53, and 56. Ward No. 50 was supervised by city Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora. Superintending engineer PK Goyal has been entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining the areas, which come under Amritsar north; superintending engineer Jaswinder Singh will supervise areas in Amritsar south; senior town planner Hemant Batra will look after Amritsar central; health officer, Dr Charanjit Singh, has been given the charge of Amritsar east and Anurag Mahajan will take care of issues related to streetlights in the entire city. Dr Charanjit Singh has been made nodal officer for the “Swachh Bharat” campaign. He can be contacted at mobile No. 9815476763, if any resident wants to take up cleanliness issues in his/her area. MC Commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal said the programme had been formulated in such a manner that more and more public could participate in the campaign. “Besides our teams, we have taken the area councillors into the loop. The local residents, several NGOs and volunteers have also lent a helping hand in our mission,” said the Commissioner. Meanwhile, according to the direction of the Airport Authority of India (AAI), officials of the Amritsar airport too conducted a cleanliness drive in the airport surroundings. Airport director Sunil Dutt said this airport was shortlisted for the campaign by the AAI. “We are committed to provide clean and hygienic environment in and around the airport. In this direction, we have started a special cleanliness drive from September 25, which will go on till October2. On the culminating day of this drive, all airport officials will be administered an oath of maintaining cleanliness in and around the airport.”
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Acute shortage of radiologists in Health Dept
Amritsar, September 26 The harsh working conditions and better earning options in private institutions are keeping doctors away from the government service. This is evident from the fact that many of them had resigned to join private hospitals during the past few months. Sources in the Health Department said the problem of shortage of radiologists was not confined to the district as the entire public sector in the state had around 18 radiologists. Apart from Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs Memorial Civil Hospital, the ultra sound scan facility is also available at Sub Divisional Hospitals at Baba Bakala and Ajnala. However, both the hospitals do not have a permanent radiologist and work has been outsourced. Now Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Civil Hospital would be working without a radiologist from the next month onwards. The government had earlier held walk-in interviews for various specialists, including radiologists, but the move had failed to attract doctors. In the government setup, doctors have to perform a number of other services like court duties, emergency duties, VIP duties. So they prefer private practice. Moreover, salaries paid in the government sector are much below what doctors are earning in the private sector. The government had earlier exempted radiologists from attending VIP duties and night duties, but still radiologists had to appear in courts to provide evidence in court cases. “Appearing in courts and VIP duties are the most humiliating part of a government doctor. In private sector, a doctor has to do what he or she is trained to do and not these unnecessary duties,” said an in service doctor. Civil Surgeon, Dr Rajiv Bhalla, said government hospitals in the entire state were short of radiologists. “We have already outsourced the work of ultra sound at Sub Divisional Hospitals. We will not let the work at Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs Memorial Civil Hospital suffer. We will outsource the work to some competent radiologist soon,” he said.
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Hoteliers write to Chief Minister for tax concessions
Amritsar, September 26 President of AHARA, APS Chatha, said in the past the government showed its sympathy to other sectors but remained unresponsiveness towards the hotel industry. The letter to the Chief Minister stated that the tourism industry despite being an engine of growth in the border city was being neglected. It was suffering low occupancy due to natural calamities. Some years ago it was the cloudburst at Leh, then tragedy in Uttarakhand last year and now the floods in Jammu and Kashmir had dented the tourism business in the city. Earlier, the global economic slowdown led to decline in the number of tourists arriving in the city. The hoteliers said hotels, especially those situated outside the walled city, were forced to rent out rooms at more than 50 per cent discount. “Tourism has been on a continuous decline due to the lack of support by the administration, which does not provide any sort of assistance for the survival of our industry,” alleged the hoteliers association. The association said, “Most of the projects which can contribute towards attracting tourists are either not operational or have been delayed like the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Panorama, Maharaja Ranjit Singh Fort, Ram Teerath, Harike Wetland etc.” AHARA said although hotel projects had been designated as industry according to the industrial policy, 2009, yet concessions as per the industry norms were not being extended. Reduction of excessive taxes on the industry, taxation to be at par with other holy cities like Haridwar, Varanasi, Tirupati, Shirdi were yet to be implemented. The association also sought special concessions for the lean period on the lines of states like Kerala and Goa, single window clearance for hospitality industry, advertisement and promotion by the state tourism board, participation of the Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board in collaboration with the local administration, helpline for the tourism police, formation of tourism advisory body.
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GNDU holds Principals’ meet
Amritsar, September 26 Prof Mohammad Muzammil, Vice-Chancellor, Dr BR Ambedkar University, Agra, and Prof AS Brar, Vice- Chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University, were present on the
occasion. In his inaugural address, Prof Brar expressed his deep concern over the prevailing scenario of higher education in the country. He said, “I wonder if the entry of foreign universities in the field of higher education can bring about the necessary changes.” Comparing the scenario of the higher education with that of the advanced countries of the world, Prof Brar said the entry of private universities had vitiated the academic atmosphere rather than improving the system. Prof Brar announced to constitute a committee to revise the syllabi of the undergraduate courses in order to plug the gap between theory and practical. He also thanked the principals for their unstinted support in introducing various academic, examination and invigilation reforms. Dr Roshan Sunkaria, principal secretary, Higher Education and Languages, Punjab, delivered a talk on “Administration in higher education” in which he touched the challenges faced by the higher education in the wake of liberalisation, globalisation and privatisation. Prof Muzammil, Prof SS Chahal, former Vice-Chancellor of Maharana Pratap University of Science and Technology, Udaipur, Prof Paramjit Singh Judge, Department of Sociology, GNDU, also discussed various aspects of higher education.
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Youth conference on Sept 30
Amritsar, September 26 SYP leader Paramjit Singh said their association had resolved to highlight the issues faced by youth. He said Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committe member Bibi Kiranjot Kaur, human rights activists Prof Jagmohan Singh and Prof Inderjit Singh Gogohani would address a gathering
of youth during the conference. The association has already distributed pamphlets on the Guru Nanak Dev University campus. The literature highlights the dismal plight of youth and urges them to come
forward to make Punjab a drug free state and address other problems.
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