The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

Jacob expresses concern over rising crime in city
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 29 — The UT Administrator, Lt Gen J. F. R. Jacob (retd), expressed his concern at the rising number of thefts and burglaries in the city, besides the need for setting up an elaborate organised parking system for the city.

He was reviewing the law and order situation in the city here today. Among those who attended the meeting included the Adviser, Ms Vineeta Rai, the Home Secretary, Mr N. K. Jain, the IGP, Mr S. K. Singh, the DC, Mr M. Ramshekhar, the SSP, Mr Parag Jain, the SSP, Hq, Mr Ajay Kashyap, the SSP, Ops, Mr Asad Farooqui, besides the SDPOs.

The Administrator stressed the need to strengthen the beat system and to give permanence to its character. The officers should be familiar with all the people in their respective areas and have knowledge about all the movement of anti social elements in the area. Their conduct with the general public should be courteous.

He also underlined the need for regular interaction with the public and seek their cooperation in checking illegal activities. Patrolling should be intensified in the densely populated areas and the areas which had a high number of floating population.

Emphasising the need for the police to be more mobile, he sanctioned 10 new motorcycles and five Gypsies to augment the existing fleet of the police control room.

Mr Parag Jain, SSP, informed the Administrator of the steps being initiated by the police to strengthen the beat system. He said the entire city had been divided into 144 beats and to give permanence to it and enable the staff to become familiarised with their area, all transfers of such staff have been banned for two years.

General Jacob also constituted an Empowered Committee under the chairmanship of the Finance Secretary to operationalise the underground parking lots lying unutilised in the city, besides preparing a report for setting up organised parking system for the city. When this was done, the incidence of vehicle thefts would be easily kept under check.

The committee has been directed to submit its report within six months. The other members are the Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, and the SP, Traffic.

Expressing concern at the rising levels of air pollution, he said the Pollution Control Department should regularly monitor the pollution levels of dense traffic routes and publicise the reading in the media. This would create awareness and concern among the public on ways to tackle pollution, he opined.

He also asked the Adviser to look into the demand of the department to upgrade the Police Lines Model School. He was informed by the Adviser that the Community Centre in the Police Lines would be completed in eight months.

Mr S K Singh, IGP, informed the Administrator that 78 recruits would be sent to the Punjab Police Commando Training School at Bahadurgarh and the commando training school of the National Security Guards (NSG). They would be inducted into the operations team.

He also raised the demand for increasing the number of police stations in view of the rising population in the city.

Mr Ajay Kashyap, SSP, HQ, appraised the General regarding the inter state wireless network which has been operationalised recently. He also informed that the software for police computerisation was being tested by the NCRB while tenders had been received.

Night school begins functioning
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 29 — The first in the series of night schools, which the Education Department, UT, had announced for the slum children of the city, began this evening at the Government High School, Sector 25. This school would be run by Mr Vineet Khanna’s Youth Technical Training Society (YTTS), a non-government organisation (NGO).

This school would cater to the needs of the Janta Colony and the Kumhar Colony and the expected number of beneficiaries have been listed as 633. Today more than 300 children of the slum got together to enrol themselves in this night school.

The evening began with a cultural programme of songs, dances and skits by the slum children who would be attending the night school, and a welcome song by the day-scholars of this school. A tug-of-war among the children also took place later, adding to the fun and the excitement of the day.

Interestingly, when these students were inducted into their class-room some not only appeared bewildered but even concerned whether or not they would have to dress up in new clothes everyday to attend school!

According to Mr D.S. Saroya, the Director Public Instructions (DPI), Schools, these night schools would start with induction programmes for this weak section of the society, which would include motivational schemes like eats for the children and fun-and-play before sitting down to focus on the reading, writing and numeracy skills.

The formal inauguration of the school would be held later, when students would be enrolled here.

Meanwhile, the department has short-listed eight government schools of the city to function as night schools for the slum children here.

The schools are GHS-25, Govt Primary School, Indira Colony, Manaimajra, GHS-Mauli Jagran, GHS-Maloya, GHS-Kajheri, GSSS-45, GSSS-38 (W) and GSSS-Karsan.

In fact these eight government schools, which would cater to the needs of the slum children of their respective areas, gives a total list of 1508 students who would be the expected beneficiaries of this scheme.

70 posts of teacher vacant in PEC
By Sanjeev Singh Bariana
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 29 — Nearly 70 out of about 150 regular teaching posts are lying vacant in Punjab Engineering College, placing a question mark on its academic stature.

About a dozen more teaching posts will be vacant this year, making the number of vacancies more than 50 per cent of the staff strength, in case new recruitments are not made. A section of the college faculty had also sent a representation to the Prime Minister in this regard.

In response, the college had to send a letter to the UT Home Secretary, notifying the number of vacancies and the present strength of the staff.

The letter said only 12 professors were on the rolls against the scheduled strength of 24; 32 assistant professors were present against the sanctioned strength of 49; and there were only 16 lecturers against the sanctioned strength of 85. "How can the college claim that it does full justice to covering the syllabi? Besides, what expertise in various fields should one expect from students at the end of the courses?" said a senior faculty member.

The college Principal, Dr Rajnish Prakash, however, differed on the issue. He said there was no reason to panic and the college was not helpless. "The coverage of the courses is not suffering at all. The college has already sent information to higher authorities, specifying the areas where the appointments are needed. The scenario is likely to change soon," he said.

He said the "noise was being made by those who had certain vested interests". The college had arranged for enough part-time teachers to take care of the interests of the students, he added.

The information in the letter has been given under different heads. These include 'posts which have been advertised and are under consideration at the level of the UPSC' and 'where the requisitions have been sent to the UPSC vide a Chandigarh Administration letter'.

In the letter to the Home Secretary, it has been said that the existence of the vacancies has not been communicated to the UPSC. . These include vacancies in the Departments of Applied Science, Mechanical Engineering, Production Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electric and Electrical Communication Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Metallurgy.

Dr Rajnish Prakash, however, said the actual number of vacant seats was unclear as the coverage of the syllabi was being taken care of with help of guest faculty. A critical review instead of an unnecessary alarm best suited the purpose, he said.

The issue has also led to a clash of opinions between the faculty and the Principal's office. A section of teachers blame the office for the delay in the filling up of posts. They alleged that the office took care of the personal interests of a section of the faculty who would like to stay back even after their retirement.

The sanctioned strength of the PEC faculties includes 24 professors, 49 assistant professors and 85 lecturers. The actual number of faculty members includes 12 professors, 17 assistant professors and only 39 lecturers.

In the Department of Civil Engineering, request for filling up four of the five vacancies of lecturers has yet to be sent to the UPSC. The remaining vacancy has been advertised.

City residents welcome hike in defence outlay
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 29 — Among the Budget proposals presented by the Union Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, city residents have appreciated an increase in the defence outlay by nearly Rs 13,000 crore and the fact there will be no additional burden of income tax, while the industry is happy over the move to simplify excise duty structure and sops offered to fast moving information technology sector.

However, the status quo on income tax means no benefits to the tax payer as the income tax slabs also remain the same, while a reduction in Provident Fund interest rate from 12 per cent to 11 per cent has made the salaried class feel bad. So far no increase has been affected in the prices of petrol and other essential items, thus making residents feel comfortable. Rather, the customs duty on import of crude oil has been slashed from 20 per cent to 15 per cent. All people to whom Chandigarh Tribune talked to were happy over the defence spending saying it was required.

A cut in subsidies bill by Rs 6,000 crore means prices of some items like urea could cost more. Details of further cuts in subsidies on various items is still awaited.

Commenting upon the Budget, Mr Sanjay Sharma, an engineer with a leading company, said he appreciated the move of the Finance Minister to close down Public Sector Undertakings (PSU’s) that cannot be revived. Mr Sharma also welcomed the proposal to bring down government equity to 26 per cent and below in all non-strategic PSUs. He also supported the move to bring down interest rates on PF while showering praise on the FM for his move to increase the defence outlay. In the same breath he said that the announcement that no public sector bank will be closed was not good for the economy.

In the opinion of Mr S.S. Sandhu, President of the Mohali Industries Association, the abolition of capital gains tax for purchase of second house will boost the housing sector which, in turn, would improve steel , cement and building hardware industry and also increase employment. Mr Sandhu lauded the step of winding up the non viable PSUs. In his opinion the rationalisation of excise duty at 16 per cent for almost all items will result in inflation. He also welcomed the expenditure on defence.

The Federation of Small Scale Industry has expressed happiness in overall Budget proposals, while welcoming the rationalisation of three central excise slabs from 8 per cent, 16 per cent and 24 per cent to one slab of 16 per cent that will remove anomalies in the rate of excise duty while helping growth of industry. The General Secretary, Mr Rajeev Gupta, expressed disappointment that the FM did not take tough decisions to control government expenditure. Mr Anil Sharma, an employee of the Telecom Department, opined apart from giving various income tax exemptions on houses, the FM did not announce anything for the urban middle class. He said, on the subject of housing, the Budget concentrates only on rural housing and tax exemptions . The cut in subsidy bill should have been corresponding with the raise in limit of taxable income, the telecom employee said.

On income tax, Mr Dheeraj Garg, Managing Director of Steel Strips Wheels, said it was bad for the middle class that the IT limit was not raised. He also expressed displeasure over the raising of corporate surcharge to 15 per cent on taxable income. A reduction in customs duty on computers will also help the information technology business, Mr Garg opined.

Mr Sandeep Sharma, Director, Sab Infotech, an Internet service provider in the city, voices a similar opinion on cutting of customs duty on computer hardware and optical fibre cables. Mr Vivek Bansal termed this as the biggest breakthrough as e—mail is already revolutionalising the world. He said an increase of Rs 13,000 crore in the Budget for the defence will boost the morale of the armed forces. He welcomed the cut in subsidy bill while expressing concern about rise in prices of tyres and airconditioners, saying a large chunk of the country’s population uses these products.

COMMUNITY

Meet the first ‘leap kids’ of the millennium
By Poonam Batth
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 29 — Except for the excitement over the new arrival, there is nothing special about the day for them. In fact, a majority of the mothers who gave birth in hospitals of the city today are oblivious of the fact that their little ones have stepped into this world on the first leap year of this millennium. The new borns are “special”, for, unlike other children they will be celebrating their birthday every four years.

As many as 15 children were born in the three main hospitals of the city namely — PGI, Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, and the Sector 16 General Hospital — until this evening. Chandigarh Tribune contacted a few mothers, whose children were born during the first twelve hours of the day to find out their reactions. The day may not hold any significance for them but there have been people born on this day, who rose to great heights, including the former Prime Minister of India, Mr Morarji Desai. Incidentally, even PGI’s Head of the Department of Gynaecology, Dr Sarla Gopalan also celebrated her birthday today.

Nishu perhaps happens to be the first mother in the city who gave birth to a baby boy at 12.25 am in the General Hospital. Sumitra, who also had a boy at 6.35 am, did not know anything about the leap year but was excited to have a normal and healthy son weighing about 3.6 kg. Hailing from village Kajehri, she said dates are insignificant. “We had never thought on these lines,” she disclosed.

Sarita, who gave birth to a daughter at 10.58 am, was also indifferent to the leap year concept. Her husband Sunil said: “If February 29 comes every four years, we will start celebrating our daughter’s birthday on February 28 every year.”

Expressing total ignorance about it being a rare day, Karamjeet Kaur, who was blessed with a son at 11.40 am, said what really matters is a normal and healthy child. She was excited to have a son after two daughters and that too a chubby one weighing about 3.6 kg. Her husband, Karam Chand, an employee of the Punjab and Haryana High Court is all set for celebrations once the mother and the child have come back home.

Similar feelings were echoed by Renu, a resident of Panchkula, who had a daughter at 12 noon. “For me the day is special for God Almighty has given me a bundle of joy. All other aspects are quite insignificant,” she said. Her family is complete now since she already had a son.

Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, had a trend of more male children born today. Balwinder Kaur was the first to give birth to a son at 12.37 am. While Rajwinder Kaur had a son at 1.04 pm, Parwinder Kaur was blessed with a son at 1.34 pm. The staff on duty at the hospital revealed that the deliveries went on as usual. Neither had any one of the parents planned to have a baby on this day, nor were they excited to have a child on this day. Infact, one such parent wanted the child to be born the next day so that he does not join the league of people whose birthday falls every four years. Contrary to this, parents who had their new borns on January 1, the first day of the new millennium were a much happier lot.

In PGI, the first child, a girl was born to Anarkali at 12.55 am. Samriti, who also had a daughter, had no special feelings to share but for the fact that she is happy to have her first child after she had lost one earlier. “I am feeling just as I would have felt had she been born on any day. We will celebrate her birthday according to the calculations of the Hindu calendar to avoid any confusion, she said.

Jyoti, another mother who had a daughter as a second child said that “dates do not matter. The child has to be healthy.” Married to a doctor, she said: “We are happy that our family is complete. We had not planned it eitherways. So, whatever was destined was acceptable to us.”

Parminder, who had a son at 8.40 am as a caeserean case, is also thankful to God for his blessing and does not have any idea about the day. Ranjana and Anuradha also had sons at 1.50 pm and 4.50 pm during the day.

Cops at the receiving end
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, Feb 29 — The going got tough for the police personnel posted at the Sector 10 police post and residing in the three booths of the market place when the Haryana Urban Development Authority broke down the only wall that was separating them from the market place and has deprived them of any privacy at all.

Also, the only bathroom catering to all personnel in the booths was razed to the ground last afternoon. The personnel admit that it was an illegal construction and have no grouse against the authorities but are perplexed over the development, especially since they have their hands full with the problem of paucity of space.

The space problem plaguing the post is very acute since 27 men are required to share only three rooms, only one of which is the official resting room, at the post. However, they are using alternative accommodation in the booths in the market place. The incharge, too, is making do by putting up in the room supposed to be the “jail” at the complex.

The building, a fairly new one, is not only short of space but lacks the facility of a separate room for a kitchen and the munshi at the post shares his office with the incharge of the wireless system. Hence, there is actually only one room in the post which is exclusively for the personnel but can accommodate only three ‘charpoys’.

The three booths at the disposal of the police in the market place also have given them reason to worry. The personnel deployed at the post contend that if the Haryana Urban Development Authority decides to auction the three booths, they will be shunted out unceremoniously and will have no place to go. Also, there is no space in the post to accommodate them. “This will imply that all of us will be adjusted elsewhere and once we are scattered all over the place, there is little hope of being prepared to meet an emergency,” they inform.

In the police post, if ever there is a need to detain an accused, though this has not happened yet, the incharge of the post will be forced to share his room with the accused. The only other option at his disposal would be to shift out among the rest to make room for the detainee. They add that though chances of such an development are remote, it is likely when two criminals require to be separated from each other to prevent any exchange of information. Hence, the possibility cannot be ruled out.

The police personnel say the only permanent solution to the problem is that HUDA constructs one room big enough to accommodate everybody within the premises of the police post. “We have understood the magnitude of the shortage of space only after the HUDA authorities swung into action for removal of illegal construction. We will put up our demand for more rooms to the Superintendent of Police once all of us readjust. Then, maybe, HUDA can step in and solve the problem,” a personnel residing in the booths says.

They add that there is the facility of barracks in the unutilised space on the premises as has been done in the Sector 16 police post and want the same for themselves also.

Nullah water eroding farm land
Tribune News Service

MAULI BAIDWAN (SAS NAGAR), Feb 29 — A nullah carrying the sullage of Chandigarh and SAS Nagar has become a bane for the inhabitants of this village. Several acres of agricultural land of the village have been eroded by the nullah water during the monsoon season.

Though the sullage keeps on flowing through out the year, the villagers fear the most in the monsoons when the discharge in it swells. Few years back the nullah changed its course and started flowing close to the inhabited areas of the village. The family of Karnail Singh, who lives on the embankment of the nullah, had a miraculous escape last year when a portion of his house had caved in during monsoons.

Another resident, Pyara Singh, said they had to keep a watch on their children when the discharge in the nullah swelled. When The Tribune team visited the site the hapless villagers showed the danger posed by the nullah. They lamented that the stone pitching that had been done by the Drainage Department three years back had eroded. Since then requests to the Drainage Department to restrengthen the protective structures had failed to yield results.

Some villagers lamented the nullah had changed its course due to illegal quarrying being done on the embankments of the nullah. The nullah was not the only source of worry for the villagers. Mr Baldev Singh, sarpanch of the village, said that development had failed to touch the village. There was no community centre, no civil dispensary, poor water and electricity supply.

The villagers lamented that the water supply of the public health from Sambongli village was very erratic. The villager panchayat had received a grant of Rs 80,000 last year. Still most of the village by lanes were kutcha. The villagers had almost lost hope of receiving aid from the government till a Non-Resident Indian (NRI), Mr Umrao Singh, hailing from the village — who migrated to England about 22 years back — gave money for a veterinary dispenasry, a dharamshala, a religious place. Seeing the poor state of sanitation he provided financial assistance to the village pamchayat to keep a sweeper for the village at a montly salary of Rs 1500.

In fact when The Tribune team visited the village the foundation stone of a veterinary hospital was being laid by the NRI.

Woman seeks help for ailing son
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 29 — A woman has been running from pillar to post to get kidneys for her son. She is hoping that some good samaritan will come forward to give her son a new lease of life.

Mrs Chand Rani Sud, a resident of Parbhat Nagar, Ludhiana, in a letter to Chandigarh Tribune, said doctors of the PGI had advised her son to go in for replacement of his kidneys. Suresh Sud, in his late twenties, who had been undergoing treatment at the PGI, had about three years ago got one of his kidneys replaced. The transplant had been done following a donation by his mother. But since the tranplanted kidney has also stopped functioning, he is required to go in for a second transplant.

Mrs Sud further said that since no related donor in the family was available now, they are looking for support from an unrelated donor. “He is presently undergoing dialysis twice a week at Daya Nand Medical Hospital, Ludhiana, but that is an expensive proposition and no long-term solution,” she added.

Since the expenditure for the replacement of kidneys is estimated to be around Rs 3 lakh, she has appealed to individuals and organisations to donate generously to save her son. She is a widow, drawing a meagre pension after her husband’s death. Her son also has no source of income and is unable to do any work due to weakness.

Punjab Govt employee falls to death
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 29 — A Punjab Government employee fell to his death from the roof of his residence in Sector 41 here today.

According to police sources, Magan Dutt, 44, was sitting on the terrace of his house when he fell down. He was rushed to the PGI where he was declared brought dead on arrival. He worked as a junior auditor in an office in the Punjab Udyog Bhavan and had been on leave for the past one week.

He lived here alone and his family was in Hamirpur. Further investigations are on.

Woman identified: The mother of the girl who was found unconscious in industrial area has identified her. Neema, a resident of Ralli village in Panchkula, today went to lodge a missing person’s report and was informed that a girl matching her description had been found in Chandigarh.

Neema disclosed that she had married for to second time and her former husband, Man Bahadur, had been pestering her to give back his daughter. She had refused but he had taken her away the day before when she was not at home.

Man Bahadur is absconding and further investigations are on.

7 held under Excise Act: The police has arrested seven persons under the Excise Act from various places in the city.

Ram Dass was arrested from near the Maloya bus stop with 394 pouches of whisky. Dule Ram, a resident of maloya was arrested with 100 pouches of whisky.

Similarly, Rajesh, Balaki Ram and Santosh were arrested with 15 bottles, 46 pouches and 32 pouches of liquor, respectively.

Car stolen: Mr Barjinder Pal Singh, a resident of Vijay Nagar, Ambala, reported that his car, HR 31 B 0053, has been stolen from the Sector 14 market.

A case under Section 379, IPC, has been registered.

PANCHKULA

Young girl recovered: The local police has recovered a 13-year-old girl from Parveen Kumar, a resident of Devinagar, who was arrested last night and a case under Sections 363, 366 and 376 of the IPC has been registered against him.

The parents of the girl, residents of Haripur village in Sector 4, had registered a case with the police over two weeks back alleging that the accused had kidnapped their daughter while she was on her way to work from her house to Sector 2. The girl has been handed over to the parents after her statement was taken. She reportedly told the police that the accused kept her at his house against her wishes before taking her away to another place.

Accident: A pedestrian, Naresh Kumar, received injuries after being knocked down when a Maruti Esteem car in Sector 15. A case has been registered under Sections 279, 337, of the IPC against the driver of the car who fled from the scene.

KALKA

Judicial remand: An 18-year old boy, Rakesh Kumar, was sent in judicial custody after being produced in court for raping a minor. He was arrested today morning after a complaint was registered against him at the police station. A case under Section 376, IPC, has been registered against him.

BUSINESS

Over 2,000 residents file returns
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 29 — Over 2,000 city residents, fulfilling one of the six criteria, filed their returns on the last day on Form 2C at the Central Revenue Building in Sector 17 here today.

The residents, comprising a substantial number of the retired persons, queued up at the counters set up by the Income Tax Department at the building since morning. The people did not have to wait for long as the department had put up sufficient number of counters and deputed the requisite staff.

With this, the number of persons, who have filed returns under the scheme this year, had gone up over 10,700. And during the past two days , over 4,000 persons, who had not filed their income tax returns, had filed returns under the scheme — aimed at widening the income tax base. Last year, over 15,000 persons had filed their returns.

The Commissioner of Income Tax, Mr Ashwani Luthra, while claiming the response to the scheme as “very good”, said there had been a growing sense of tax-compliance among the residents.

Answering a question on why the response of the scheme had been poor as compared to the last year, he stated that a substantial number of the assesses in this category might have shifted to filing the regular income tax returns as was clear from the data. There had been an increase of over 85,000 income tax assesses this year as compared to the last year with over 2 lakh returns being filed.

It may be recalled that under the scheme it was mandatory for any person fulfilling any one of the six conditions to file return in the Form 2C even if the income was not taxable. The conditions are the occupation of an immovable property exceeding a specified floor area, whether by way of ownership, tenancy or otherwise, owning or leasing of a motor vehicle and subscription to a telephone.

Besides this, if he has incurred expenditure for himself or any other person on travel to any foreign country, has a credit card, not being an” add-on” card issued by any bank or institution, and is a member of a club where the entrance fee is Rs 25,000 or more, it was compulsory for him to file the return.

Shopkeepers stage dharna
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 29 — Shopkeepers of the Janata Rehri Market today sat on a dharna and blocked traffic for over one hour outside the office of the Municipal Corporation in Mani Majra in protest against the alleged harassment by the enforcement staff.

According to the shopkeepers, the enforcement staff yesterday took away articles of 10 shopkeepers, which were displayed outside their rehris in the market, when the market was closed. No prior warning was given by the enforcement staff, alleged the President of the market, Mr Satpal.

Persons intending to go towards the Mani Majra side were inconvenienced as the agitators held up traffic for over an hour from around 10 am. Raising slogans, they demanded that the seized articles should be returned without any penalty and no harassment should be caused to the shopkeepers in future.

The police had a tough time controlling the agitators. However, a strong police bandobast ensured that there was no untoward incident.

Later in the day, a delegation of the market met the Assistant Commissioner, Mr Ashok Vashisht, to sort out the issue. Ultimately, it was decided that the seized articles would be returned to the shopkeepers on a nominal fine of Rs 50 each.