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| Tuesday, November 21, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Row over OBC quota Community policing starts in
HP Hospital waste lengthens patients’
queue Two arrested
for arson Hawker case: scribe gets bail 2 killed, 28 hurt in accidents |
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Death by accident?
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Row over OBC quota DHARAMSALA, Nov 20 — The issue of reservation for the OBCs seems to have snowballed into a major controversy with both the backward classes and those belonging to the general category vowing to make it an issue during the forthcoming panchayat elections. Kangra district comprising 16 assembly constituencies has the highest percentage of other backward classes in the state. It is in this district that the OBC factor has always played a crucial role in tilting the scales in favour of any political party during elections. The latest decision of the state government to scale down the percentage of reservation to 15 per cent has no doubt assuaged the irked general category but at the same time it has led to a lot of resentment against the government. Those belonging to the general category along with their representatives held a meeting at Kangra yesterday, resenting the move by certain vested interests to create a divide between people belonging to various communities. Writ petitions had been filed by representatives of the Rajput and Brahmin organisations in the high court against the disproportionately high reservation for the OBCs in the panchayat elections. At the crucial meeting at Kangra yesterday, a decision was taken to support or boycott any party on the basis of an issue. “It is high time that we all unite to fight for our rights and raise our voice against the discriminatory approach of the government,” commented one of the office-bearers. The participants regretted that despite the government announcing such a high percentage of reservation for the OBCs in the panchayats not even a single leader of any political party spoke against the move which indicated their unanimity on the issue with the government. It was also decided that a meeting would be held where people from all over the state would be invited to unite on the issue. Had the government not changed its decision reservation for the OBCs in certain Kangra areas would have been 100 per cent on the basis of their population. With the government setting a higher limit of 15 per cent for reservation the Kangra district administration is now engaged in the process of dereserving the earlier reserved panchayats. At the same time the OBCs, peeved by the decision of the government to scale down the
percentage of reservation, are accusing the state government of having succumbed to the pressure exerted by the powerful lobby in the ruling party. The OBCs have already been threatening the government that in case 27 per cent reservation is not granted to them they will launch an agitation all over the state. In fact the OBCs belonging to various political parties and organisations have decided to remain united on the issue of reservation. On the other hand, the earlier decision of the government to grant 40 per cent reservation to the OBCs in the panchayat elections has led to polarisation of opinion among the people falling under the general category. As such, the issue of reservation may turn out to be one of the most crucial factors even in the coming panchayat elections. |
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Community policing starts in
HP SHIMLA, Nov 20 — In a major step to bring transparency in the functioning of police and ensure active involvement of the people in crime control, the Himachal Government today launched the community policing scheme in 22 selected urban police stations of the state. Besides increasing operational
efficiency, the main objective of the scheme is to make the people realise that the police is meant to serve the society and it is no longer a symbol of the state authority which it used to be during the British days. In the long run the scheme will help in evolving a people-friendly policing system and end the alienation of the police from the public. Launching the scheme Mr A.K. Puri, the Director General of Police, said that in a democratic set up like India where the police was devoting over 85 per cent of its time and energy in handling dharnas, rallies and public protests or looking after the VIPs’ the main duty of providing security to the common citizen was neglected. The policemen were overworked but the people were not getting adequate services, leading to a general impression that police was lax and ineffective. Unlike the traditional mode of policing, which was reactive, community policing was proactive. The community and the police work as a team to check crime and help improve the overall security environment. Giving details of the scheme Mr I.D. Bhandari, D.I.G., southern range, said the scheme was based on the concept that every policeman was a citizen in uniform and every citizen was a policeman without uniform. The towns had been divided into small sectors, each of which would have a people’s policing committee. While all the adults residing in the sector would be the members of the committee, an active group comprising six respectable, non-political persons, a chowkidar, a constable and a head constable, as secretary, would be constituted to keep a watch on day-to-day happenings in the sector. A senior member of the group would function as convener to be selected by consensus for one year term. He would be responsible for holding monthly meetings of the committee. The policeman functioning as the secretary of the committee would be the key person in effective implementation of the scheme. He would move around in the sector at least once in three days along with other members and also organise night patrolling with the help of residents. He would win over the confidence of the residents by actively participating in social functions and make it a point to attend funeral ceremonies in case of death in the sector. He would maintain the record of each household in a register and receive complaints made to him in writing. He would also maintain a beatbook to record useful information about the sector and monitor action taken on complaints. The people’s committee would collect information regarding illicit distillation, bootlegging, drug trafficking, criminal elements, accident-prone spots and assist the police in organising night patrolling, verification of antecedents of people,
arranging watch over the houses of residents who have gone out of station and any suspicious persons moving around in the area. It would also create awareness about security requirements like installation of grills, proper locking systems and ways of keeping valuables safe and secure. Mr Puri also announced setting up of a special cell at the headquarters to monitor crime against women. Mrs Satwant Trivedi, AIG., has been made head of the cell. |
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Hospital waste lengthens patients’
queue SHIMLA, Nov 20 — Over one tonne of waste generated every day from hospitals here has become a health hazard as there is no proper facility for its disposal. The hospital waste, which includes used syringes, operated material and blood samples, are thrown in a nullah on the bypass. This gets washed down into water sources with rains. None of the three big hospitals of the state government have the proper system of disposal of hazardous waste. Only the Army Hospital, which got burnt in a fire, had the facility for disposal of waste. According to a study, about 1.1 metric tonnes of waste is generated by these hospitals and about 65 private nursing homes and dispensaries daily. Incinerators installed by the government hospitals are obsolete and remain out of order for most of the time. The Indira Gandhi Medical College hospital which is the biggest hospital in the town, generates about 450 kg of waste every day. The Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital in Lower Bazar generates over 128 kg of waste, while the Kamla Nehru Hospital contributes more than 295 kg waste. The private nursing homes and dispensaries were generating about 61 kg of waste. According to the study, out of this the 360 kg of bio-medical waste requires very safe disposal as it could lead to spread of dangerous diseases. The waste is dumped in the open outside these hospitals inviting scavengers, flies, monkeys, stray dogs and cats. There were reports of scavengers collecting used syringes out of the hospital waste probably for being cleaned and reused. There was no system of destroying the used syringes in the hospitals. The empty glucose bottles were also collected by them. Sometime ago, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India had taken a serious view of the practice of dumping hospital waste in the open along with other garbage. |
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Two arrested
for arson MANDI, Nov 20 — The mystery surrounding the fires which broke out simultaneously in the offices of the Excise and Taxation Department and the Regional Transport Authority on August 14 this year is claimed to have been solved by the police. Mr
O.C. Thakur, SP, told mediapersons here today two persons Sham Lal and Joginder Singh — had been arrested in this connection. They had admitted that they had set the two offices on fire by throwing petrol from the windows at the behest of transporters whose names had not been disclosed so far. The accused admitted to having committed this crime for a consideration of Rs 5000 only, Mr Thakur said. It may be recalled that important files pertaining to the private bus operators against whom tax arrears of over Rs 10 crore were outstanding had been reduced into ashes in both the offices. Mr Thakur said more arrests would be made in this connection. A search was being made for the other accomplices who hatched a conspiracy to destroy the government records. The Excise and Taxation Department authorities have, however, succeeded in reconstructing the records of the outstanding arrears against the private truck operators, it is claimed. |
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Hawker case: scribe gets bail DHARAMSALA, Nov 20 — Amar Ujala journalist Ajay Sehgal, who had been arrested for his suspected involvement in the disappearance of a newspaper hawker, was granted bail today. Ajay Sehgal was presented in the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate-II, Kangra, was granted bail on the condition that he would present himself before the police as and when required. Meanwhile, the Kangra police has sent two different teams to Una, Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur, to obtain the floppies from the Telecom Department, in order to trace out the call made to the Amar Ujala Office, making four demands for the release of hawker
Raju. |
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2 killed, 28 hurt in accidents KUMARHATTI, Nov 20 — Twenty eight persons were injured, five of them seriously, when a truck (HP-35-0495) in which they were travelling overturned near Saproon, about 10 km from here, last evening. All injured believed to be relatives, were carrying the body of a relative to Chamba Ghat near Solan from the PGI Chandigarh. Around 4.45 p.m., the driver reportedly lost control and the truck overturned. The seriously injured had been referred to the PGI and the others were admitted to the Solan hospital. A case has been registered. In another accident, two persons were killed when a truck in which they were travelling fell into a gorge near Dharampur, about 6 km from here. The police learnt about the incident the next morning when a police party was on duty on the Kalka-Shimla road. The dead had been identified as Ramesh, the driver and Santosh of
Aani. The truck was going from Aani to Chandigarh. |
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Death by accident? NAHAN, Nov 20 — Suresh Kumar (33), son of late Mahabir Prasad, resident of Shiv Puri Road, Nahan, died when he fell into a deep khud. The Additional SP, Sirmour, Mr Rameshwar Thakur, said here the deceased first tried to hang himself from a tree but the branch broke as a result of his being overweight. Suresh Kumar fell into the khud along with the broken branch. He said Suresh had been missing from his house since October 31 last. An FIR was lodged by his family members on November 7. According to his family members, before leaving the house he was undergoing some tension and used to break into tears at times. |
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Deodar sleepers seized, 1 held BILASPUR, Nov 20 — The police here today intercepted a private truck and seized 86 deodar sleepers costing Rs 2.50 lakh in the open market. SP Atul Varma said here that this illicit timber was being carried to Fatehgarh in Punjab from Kulu. Baljit Singh of Rohin village in the district in the Ghumarwin area had been arrested in this connection. A case has been registered under relevant sections of the IPC and Indian Forests Act. |
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