EDUCATION

Hard work, luck and consistency
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, July 15 — City boys and girls have brought laurels to the city. In this continuing series, let us see how these students have worked hard and what are the factors that took them to the top.

Maneet Kaur — Hard work always pays. Maneet stood 37th in Punjab PMET and 250th in CBSE. She also qualified for MGIMS, AFMC, and selected in BDS in CMC. It was 12 to 13 hours of consistent efforts she used to put during her study days. Dr Ajit Singh and Dr Amrit Kaur, her parents are on top of the world after their daughter’s success.

Chinka Verma — It was the family’s firm faith in her that she was able to achieve success. Despite a very irregular study schedule, her intelligence and luck took her to success. She got 145th position in PMT and owes her success to her younger brother, sister, parents and teachers.

Aaina — For Aania, it was the quality of study and not the quantity that mattered. She stood 160th in PMT by putting in consistent efforts of 4 to 5 hours. Her parents are her role model. Aaina wants to become a doctor.

ADMINISTRATION

Status quo in hot mix case
From Kuldip Bhatia

LUDHIANA, July 15 — Call it apathy, indifference or even negligence on the part of the successive civic administrations during the past two decades, as a result of which a local contractor has been in possession of a piece of land, measuring more than one acre, near Haibowal dairy complex in the city and till date, he has withstood or rather resisted whatever feeble and belated efforts were made by the Municipal Corporation authorities to get back the land, which belongs to it.

It was wayback in 1981 that the MC had passed a resolution to provide a site to one of the contractors for installation of a hot mix plant, the first in the city, and the land was selected for this project. The contractor — M/s Shekhar Chand Jain and Brothers — operating in Jalandhar at that time were allowed to set up the plant without the modalities of the allotment of site having been laid down, albeit with the condition that the plant would produce the material exclusively for the use in MC road works.

During the intervening periods the concept of pre-mix carpet surfacing of the roads caught up and with the spurt in the demand for hot mix material, nearly 12 other contractors set up similar plants all over the city, but of course on the land owned or leased out by them, while the one, allotted land by the MC, continued to operate from the same place.

After a slumber lasting for more than 10 years, the MC authorities suddenly woke up and found that the contractor, while paying no rent or lease money to the civic body for the land occupied by him for the plant, was also carrying out road works for the Improvement Trust, PUDA and other government departments. Once the MC made it clear to the contractor that he would have to vacate the land and shift the plant to his own premises, the usual delaying tactics ensued and the contractor went to the court, which issued a status quo order till the final disposal of the case. 

COURTS

Travel company penalised
Tribune News Service

LUAHIANA, July 15 — In a unique case, the District Consumer Redressal Forum has penalised a travel company for causing mental agony to a resident of the city by giving him a faulty bus for transporting a marriage party to Sangrur in September last year.

According to orders of the Forum President Mr Hardial Singh, the company Kartar Travels Pvt. Ltd. has been directed to pay a compensation of Rs 4000 in addition to the costs and also refund the payments to the consumer Dr Rajpal Sidhu, a resident of Kanchan Colony Vishal Nagar Chowk here. The orders specially mentioned that there was deficiency of service on part of the company and the consumer was entitled for compensation for suffering mental agony, pain and harassment.

According to the orders, Dr Sidhu had hired a deluxe bus for his son’s marriage on September 2, last year. It was decided that the bus would reach at his residence at 3 p.m. on the scheduled date and reach Sangrur by 6 p.m..

However, the bus did not arrive at the scheduled hour and the members of the baraat were left stranded. The travel company did not inform the waiting persons and arrived at about 6 p.m.

When the bus finally left for Sangrur it again came to a halt just at the outskirts of the city and the travellers had to push it to get going again. Still thereafter, the bus moved at snails pace and finally came to a dead halt near Malerkotla.The harassed consumer had to arrange for a new bus at Rs 2500 from Malerkotla to Sangrur only.

As the marriage party was too late for the ceremony, the lagan had to be postponed to the next day. The invitees from the bride’s side also suffered harassment from the delay and many food. The expenses of the girls’ parents also increased. Further the marriage party had to hire five Tata Sumos next day for returning to Ludhiana.