Tribuneindia...Regional Briefs

	REGIONAL BRIEFS	Thursday, July 29, 1999
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FEROZEPORE
Agitation: The Food and Supplies Department Ministerial Staff Union, Punjab, has decided to launch the first phase of its agitation from August 3 against the indifferent attitude of the authorities concerned. This was stated by the President of the union, Mr Rajesh Sachdeva, here on Wednesday.

HOSHIARPUR
Seva dal: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Congress Seva Dal here: District Legal Adviser — Mr Paramjit Singh; Chairman — Mr Hoshiar Singh; Vice-President — Mr Kabul Singh; and Organising Secretaries — Ms Mamta Sharma, Ms Rajpreet, Ms Jiwan Lata and Ms Manpreet.

KHANNA
Suspended: The sarpanch and two panches of Maqsudra village have been suspended by the Punjab Government because of the registration of cases against them at Payal police station under Sections 307, 506, 323, 324, 148 and 149, IPC, and Sections 25, 27, 54, 59, 61, Arms Act. The Deputy Director, Panchayati Raj, has issued the order.

PATIALA
Condemned: The Punjab Nurses Association has condemned the attitude of the Punjab Government towards the striking ANM nurses. In a press note, Ms Jeewan Preet Kaur, President of the association, threatened to launch an agitation if the government did not restore the suspended nurses.

Arrested: The district police here has arrested a proclaimed offender, Sanjeev Kumar, from New Delhi, who was allegedly on the run for the past one year. The accused was wanted in a bank-fraud case amounting to Rs 2.68 lakh.

Medical camp: The Dedicated Brothers Group organised a free health check-up-cum-awareness camp at New Yadwindra colony on Sunday. About 236 patients were examined and medicines free of cost were distributed.

Camp: The Red Cross Society and the District Education Officer here organised a 10-day junior Red Cross camp at Salogra in Himachal Pradesh where knowledge about first aid and health education was imparted to children.

New Principal: Mr Manjitinder Singh Bedi has been appointed the new headmaster of Punjab Public School, Nabha, replacing Col D.S. Khera, who retired after eight years of service. Mr Bedi, who is an old student of this school, has earlier served as a teacher at the school.

SAMRALA
New organisation: A new organisation, Punjab Ekta Seva, has been formed at a meeting of youth members from Samrala, Khanna, Morinda and Doraha held at Doraha. Mr B.S. Dhillon has been elected its President

Classes started: Classes of B.Com will start at Samrala Malwa College here during the present session, according to Mr Jasbinder Singh Dhillon, Principal of the college. He said Panjab University had granted permission for the commerce faculty.

Elected: Mr Avtar Singh Sidhu has been elected President of the D C Offices Employees Union, according to Mr Jagroop Singh, President of the Samrala Tehsil Employees Union of DC Courts.

Market association: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Badheri Market Welfare Association: President — Mr Jagdish Rohilla; Senior Vice-Presidents — Mr H.S. Brar and Mr M.K. Verma; Vice-Presidents — Mr Dev Raj Joshi and Mr Jeet Kumar; General Secretary — Mr Rakesh Kumar Raura; and Cashier — Mr Naresh Kumar.

Welfare society: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Sector 21-A Senior Citizens Welfare Society: Patron-in-Chief — Mr Baij Nath Sharma; Patron — Mr Sultan Singh Walia; President — Mr Dyal Chand Malhotra; Senior Vice-President — Mr Ajmer Singh; Vice-President — Mr S.B.S. Bhatia; General Secretary — Mr O.P. Sharma; and Treasurer — Mr Gian Singh Plaha.

Traders' body: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Modern Complex Traders Association: President — Mr Rabinder Thakur; Vice-President — Mr A.K. Aggarwal; General Secretary — Mr Vinod Aggarwal; and Cashier — Mr Devinder Jindal.

Condemned: The UT Electrical Workers Union has condemned the move of the Chandigarh Administration to merge Electrical Subdivision No 9 with the Capital Project Division No 5 and demanded that the Electrical Subdivision should be retained in Electrical Circle only.

Nominated: The following have been nominated office-bearers of the District Youth Congress Committee (Rural): Vice-Presidents — Mr Sat Narayan Prasad and Mr Narayan Sharma; General Secretary — Mr Lakhwinder Singh; and Secretary — Mr Jhujhar Singh.

Condoled: The UT Powermen Union at its meeting held on Wednesday condoled the death of Mr Naseeb Chand, JEI, and urged the Administration to give employment to one member of his family.

Bereaved: Mr Gopal Seth, son-in-law of Mrs Sheela Saihgal, a prominent social worker and active member of the Punjab Istri Sabha, died in a road accident at Bareilly (UP) on Tuesday. He was 50 and is survived by his wife, a son and two daughters.

ZIRAKPUR
Sangat Darshan: Mr Jasbir Singh Bir, Deputy Commissioner, Patiala, will hear the grievances of the public at a sangat darshan programme in the office of the Zirakpur Nagar Panchayat on Friday at 11 a.m., according to Mr Sher Singh Sidhu, Subdivisional Magistrate, Dera Bassi.

FARIDABAD
Surprise check: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr B K Panigrahi, made a surprise check at the HUDA office on Monday and found most of the employees absent from duty. He has warned them of strict action if they neglected their duties in future.

NARNAUL
Public meeting: The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Parkash Chautala, will address a public meeting at Mahendragarh at 10 a.m. on July 30. Before the public meeting he will address district officers at Panchayat Bhavan, here.

Kalyan Sangh: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Haryana Anusuchit and Janjati Karamchari Kalyan Sangh: President — Mr Sultan Singh Nazar; Vice-President — Mr Prem Kumar; Secretary — Mr Gurdial Singh Nahar; and Treasurer — Mr Subhash Chand.

ROHTAK
League formed: The Haryana Ex-Services League has welcomed the decision of the Haryana Government to enhance the ex gratia payment to Kargil martyrs to Rs 10 lakh. This was stated by the General Secretary of the league, Capt (retd) Inder Singh, in a statement issued here on Tuesday.

SIRSA
Ban orders: Dr Avtar Singh, District Magistrate, here has ordered to promulgate Section 144, Cr PC, in the district with immediate effect to maintain peace during the Lok Sabha elections. He has banned the carrying of fire arms, including swords, lathis, barchhas, kulharis, etc. The order will remain inforce till October 20.
Contaminated water: Residents of the local Aroran-Sunaranwali street and its adjoining areas have been getting contaminated drinking water. They complain that even on repeated complaints the Public Health authorities here were allegedly paying no heed to the complaints.

Seriously injured: Mr Naresh Kumar and his wife, Ms Suman of the local Chandigaria Mohalla were seriously injured when their bicycle collided with a Maruti car here on Tuesday near the local Industrial Training Institute.

Bus mishap: Twentyfour persons, including seven women, were injured in an accident in the district on Tuesday. According to informed sources, a bus carrying about 40 passengers was going to Kaluwana village from Mandi Kalanwali when the driver of the bus lost control while negotiating a curve near Bijuwali village and overturned.

Function: A function was organised at Divya Yog Sadhna Mandir here on Wednesday to celebrate Guru Purnima. Gurusewak Ragubir Chawla spoke on the occasion.

Vehicle found: Kalanwali police has recovered a stolen commander jeep in Kalanwali area on Tuesday. A spokesman of the local police said the jeep was stolen from Dera Jagwawali in the district on July 4.

BILASPUR
2 killed: Baba Kalyan Dass, one of his disciples, Mast Ram, and his driver, Sevraj, were injured seriously while two of his women disciples, Usha Devi (30) and Leela Devi (50), were killed when their Maruti car collided with a state transport bus near Kuddi on Hamirpur-Bilaspur highway on Tuesday.

Regional potpourri

Choked sewers foul up market

SQUALID conditions, garbage heaps and choked sewers are a common sight at the sprawling Sonepat fruit and vegetable market. Several years of utter neglect has brought the situation to such a pass.

Congestion is at its worst. The number of traders, brokers and truck operators has steadily shot up over the years while facilities have diminished. The failure of the market committee and the district administration to ensure proper functioning of the Ganaur and Kharkhauda markets has resulted in more pressure on this market due to its proximity to Delhi.

Arhtiyas are sore at the performance of the Haryana Agricultural Marketing Board and the local market committee, which have been entrusted with the upkeep of the market. If the present mood is an indication, the agitated arthiyas are no longer prepared to take it lying down. The Fruit and Vegetable Commission Agents Association has already decided to take the bull by the horns. It has started criticising the official agencies for not solving their problems.

The bane of problems lies in poor planning and bad maintenance. Roads with craters are full of slush and sewers overflowing with waste water seeping into the basements.

Frequent traffic jams and choked stormwater drains have muddied the scene. A downpour and the market shows its true colours. Showing his gumboots, an arhtiya said, "This is the only way left for us to wade through the quagmire to come to the market during the rains. We don't dare go around without this."

The mere mention of facilities and the arhtiyas come out lambasting the market committee. Right from the entry of a truck in the market to getting even minor work done, money plays a vital role.

Even the non-cooperation movement launched in the past had failed to move the authorities.

During his tenure as Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal, had visited the market and expressed unhappiness at the slum-like conditions and pulled up market committee officials. He had assured them that the state government would allocate special funds for improving conditions but no step had been taken in this regard due to the hostile attitude of the local MLA, Mr Dev Raj Diwan, towards him.

As a result, the market had turned into a slum and also become a health hazard for nearby residential areas. Being a low-lying area, a little shower turns the market into a pool and makes it difficult for pedestrians to move round.

The menace of stray cattle is also on the increase. This stagnant water has become a breeding place for mosquitoes and insects. The foul smell puts off passers-by. Lack of drinking water facilities and community latrines has added to the woes of arhtiyas, vegetable growers and retailers.

Repeated representations made to the authorities concerned to improve the sanitary conditions and provide better roads have fallen on deaf ears.

National award for Kapurthala teacher

Mr Satnam Singh Sekhon, a teacher in Government High School, Phulewal Dhilwan, tehsil of Kapurthala district, has been given the best teacher award for 1998 for his contribution to teaching by the President, Mr K.R. Narayanan (see photo).

He has taken on himself the responsibility of looking after poor and orphaned children and to extend care and help to the families by instituting various schemes with the cooperation of a non-resident Indian, Mr Baldev Singh Bajwa. This included the need to bring up poor children, educate them properly and bring them up in an appropriate environment, so that they can take their rightful place in society.

Mr Sekhon started work in a fish farming project but never social welfare. Now he has developed a project namely, Pendu school vikas project for mentally upset and handicapped children. This project ensures that children are provided all facilities like school bags, books, uniform and free food. Besides, it arranges payment of fees.

Mr Sekhon with 25 years' experience in teaching won ‘Kaumi Yuva Purskar’ award for 1990 and the good teacher award in 1994 given by the then Chief Minister, Mr Beant Singh.

Contributed by R.D. Sapra, Sanjeev Kumar.