The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Another case of child sodomy
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, Dec 30 — In a gruesome incident, a 9-year-old boy was kidnapped, sodomised and left to die old jail here last night allegedly by four persons. The accused also attempted to kill the boy by inflicting a deep cut on his right wrist after severely beating him, resulting in injuries on his nose and eyes.

Angry relatives and other residents of the Islam Gunj area to which the boy belonged blocked traffic for about an hour at the busy Field Gunj market in the afternoon. They also staged a protest rally up to the division no. 2 police station. Alleging that the police was dilly-dallying on registering a case in the incident, the rallyists also raised slogans against the police inaction in curbing such incidents.

While the doctors at the civil hospital here who performed the medical examination confirmed that the boy was sodomised, the police has only registered a case of kidnapping and causing injuries to the victim. Again, the case under these charges was registered only when the rallyists pressurised the police to do so.

Mr Randhir Singh, SHO of the police station, said the boy was unfit to give statement as he was making incoherent statements. He said he has not received the report of the medical examination. Refuting the charges of police inaction, he said he reached the hospital immediately after receiving the information and also gave financial help to the family so that proper medical care could be given to him.

The condition of the boy recovering in the civil hospital here was pathetic, to say the least. Constantly bleeding from the hand and other parts, including the renal area, the boy was writhing in pain and mumbling about the sequence of events. The doctors said he was still gripped with fear and would need time to behave normally.

The statements of the boy, his parents and the doctors put together state that the boy was missing since last morning. He had gone to play in an open ground near the civil hospital when four persons offered him some sweets and lured him to accompany them if he wanted more. The boy was then seen today morning when he reached his house in Islam Gunj. He was bleeding from several parts and was barely able to talk. The parents said the boy was experiencing difficulty in walking also and was literally dragging himself.

Talking to Ludhiana Tribune after gaining some consciousness, the boy said there were four persons who offered him sweets and took him to some jungle-like place. He said after giving him sweets the persons took off his clothes and forcibly sodomised him. He said he was probably taken to the abandoned old jail and kept their the whole night.

On regaining consciousness, he tried to run but was experiencing pain in several parts of the body. Somehow he managed to reach his home.

Were there two other children also?
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, Was the 9-year-old boy of Islam Gunj area the only one kidnapped and sodomised by the four persons or were there two more children? The question remained unanswered but kept the mediapersons and the police interested till the evening.

The mystery began when the 9-year-old-boy mumbled to the police, mediapersons and doctors that he had seen two more children with the kidnappers. One of them was a boy and another a girl. He said both were of his age but was not able to talk to them. He said he had heard their cries.

The statement led to search of any missing children in the area but none was found. The police said the mystery would be unravelled only when the child regains consciousness completely.

Councillors demand restoration of vehicles to MC officials
From Kuldip Bhatia

Ludhiana, Dec 30 — In a significant move, the general house of the Municipal Corporation, in its meeting held during last week, unanimously resolved that the official vehicles, withdrawn from MC officials on orders of the state government during mid-October this year, be restored. The resolution has been sent to the department of Local Bodies, Punjab, for necessary action.

Whether or not the state government relents and revokes its decision, which has been causing a lot of resentment among MC officials, right from additional and joint commissioners from the IAS and PCS cadres, to senior engineers, assistant commissioners and other middle rung officers in various departments of the MC, the councillors, coming openly in support of civic officials, has almost sprung a surprise, in view of the fact that councillors and MC officers have been known for bashing each other at the slightest pretext.

Even more surprising was that the item was not on the agenda of the meeting and the issue was raised by none else than the leader of BJP councillors in the MC Mr Pran Bhatia, towards the fag end of the meeting. He strongly pleaded with the house that withdrawal of official vehicles from the MC officers had adversely affected the functioning and efficiency of the civic body.

“In particular, the officers were finding it difficult to speedily respond to complaints of residents on various matters like sewerage, water supply, encroachments and enforcement of building bye-laws,” the BJP councillor observed, calling upon the councillors to unanimously adopt the resolution for restoration of vehicles to the MC officials. The BJP councillors taking the initiative to openly come out against the government decision was more significant because the portfolio of Local Bodies was under the charge of a senior BJP leader, Mr Balramji Das Tandon.

Even otherwise, the government decision to withdraw vehicles from MC officials, effected as an austerity measure, had failed to have the desired effect and the effective savings were negligible, according to sources in the civic body. The drivers, rendered surplus after 15 odd MC vehicles, were transferred to the common pool, continued to be paid salaries and other allowances. According to revised rules on use of vehicles, the MC officers were being paid a fixed amount of Rs 5,000 for use of personal vehicle during office hours and they were also entitled to grant of loans for purchase of their own vehicles, if they so desired.

Inquiries made by Ludhiana Tribune had further revealed that the withdrawal of vehicles had led to creation of two distinct categories of ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ among MC officers. While the officers of the rank of Additional Commissioners and Joint Commissioners, from the IAS and PCS cadres, were heading such departments of the MC which were permitted to use official vehicles for specific duties and were in a position to requisition the vehicles from the common pool as and when they desired, other officers from the engineering services and MC’s cadre did not have this facility and felt discriminated against.

Several MC officers have gone on record to say that they were not duly recognised and accorded official status when they used their personal vehicles for official visits. At times, the officers had to face the ire of unruly mobs, only because their personal vehicles had

no official identity. Strongly criticising the government move to single out only the civic bodies for discriminatory treatment on use of official vehicles, many officials and even councillors were of the view that rather than imposing a blanket ban, what the government should have done, was to fix the ceiling on consumption of fuel in the official vehicles, which would have more than served the purpose of saving wasteful expenditure, while at the same time, in no way affecting the working of the MC officers.

Sales tax evasion by traders continues
From Manoj Kumar
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, Dec 30 — The joint raids by the CBI and Excise and Taxation Department officials on the local railway station recently, and the seizure of hosiery goods worth more than Rs 5 crore, appears to have had little impact in discouraging evasion of sales tax by a section of local hosiery manufacturers and traders. Some of the manufacturers and traders have allegedly resorted to tax evasion again in connivance with the railway staff and ST officials.

Investigations conducted by the TNS team revealed that regular checking by the ST officials immediately after the raids had certainly created a fear among traders. The earnings of the local railway station had also fallen down drastically. Even today the earnings have not reached the previous level of Rs 4 to Rs 5 lakh daily.

However, a section of traders have once again started transportation of goods without proper payment of sales tax. The modus operandi is simple. A manufacturer packs the material for the trader. The trader brings the material by ‘fixed’ rickshaw. The manufacturer’s employee accompanies the rickshaw on scooter. In case the ST employees meet him on the way, he would give Rs 50- Rs 100 per consignment, depending upon the status of the employee. The material reaches the station. Then the agents take charge of the material to arrange its booking and loading on the train.

Mr Sunil Kumar, a rickshawala disclosed that for a pack with proper bills, he charges Rs 10 per km. But in case he is asked to carry the goods without bills, he would charge anything between Rs 20- Rs 50 per km, depending upon the risk. In case of a kacha bill he would bring the goods after 6.00 p.m. By that time the ST employees usually go home. ‘‘ I come through such streets where ST employees can not even think of enter in. Moreover, on Sundays and other holidays there is virtually no checking,’’ he revealed.

It is learnt that ST employees, sometimes do come to the railway station to check the sales tax bills. But in most of the cases, there is no checking of bills. This casual checking has also forced some of the traders to book their hosiery goods from other stations to minimise the chances of the detection.

The local railway parcel booking office is now earning less than Rs 2 lakh per day. However, these earnings had come down to less than Rs 50,000 immediately after the raids. On December 29, the railways booked 583 hosiery consignments and earned Rs 1,58,278. However, on December 24, it booked 376 hosiery consignments and earned Rs 1,07,739.

After the sharp fall, business seems to be picking up for Railways. However it is yet to touch the routine turnover before the raids. “We have already lost about Rs 1 crore in business due to the raids. We do not mind if the ST department sets up a post outside the railway station. But the fact is that the ST people come here to collect money, and not to check the tax evasion,’’ said an employee in the railway parcel booking office.

Mr Sarabjeet Singh, Additional Commissioner, Excise and Taxation, when contacted expressed his ignorance about the tax evasion by hosiery traders at the railway station. He said,‘‘ We were busy till now with the already seized goods on December 5 midnight. Now we will try to plug all loopholes in the prevalent system of checking.’’

Ray of hope for cleft lip, palate patients
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, Dec 30 — Nearly 35,000 children are born with cleft lip and palate every year in India and then 25,000 are not treated due to lack of financial assistance. This was revealed by Mr Satish Kalra, the managing director of Smile Train in India, which has taken responsibility of helping children affected with cleft palate and lip.

Bringing hope in North India, a memorandum of understanding was signed today between Christian Medical College Authorities and Smile Train, in which over 1,000 children would be benefitted.

The organisation aims to provide financial help to those who cannot afford the cost of treatment. The organisation also aims to train plastic surgeons by organising seminars and conferences, so that they could exchange their views and discuss latest techniques.

The disease is congenital (caused at the time of birth) and a child has to go in for three to four operations for total recovery. The costs between Rs 8,000 to Rs 12,000 for each operation. The baby should not be less than three-months-old for the lip surgery and for palate surgery, the doctors wait for the child to be nine to 12 months old. Dr Abraham Thomas, principal, CMC said,” We wait till the child becomes stronger and resistant to undergo a surgery”.

Mr Kalra hoped that the Plastic Surgery Department at CMC would meet the international standards of safety and facilities. The organisation would provide over Rs 1 crore to CMC as financial assistance.

About 80 cleft surgeries are performed every year at CMC. The organisation, in association with CMC, aims to conduct 250 surgeries in the first year, 500 in the second year and 750 in the third year. Mr Kalra said that the centre, set up at CMC, was the first in the northern region. The organisation was already operational at Mangalore, Chennai, Trichur, Hyderabad and Mumbai.

COMMUNITY

City to observe traffic safety week
From Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, Dec 30 — The city will observe ‘Road Safety Week’ from January 1 to January 7 to focus on traffic conditions. A detailed programme has been chalked out with the involvement of the Transport Department, Punjab Roadways , PRTC , Education and Traffic Police, social clubs and other voluntary organisations. The District Traffic Regulatory Committee, in its meeting held here today under the chairmanship of Mr. S.K. Sandhu , Deputy Commissioner, gave final touches to the week-long programmes.

Giving details, the Deputy Commissioner informed that the public in general and drivers of vehicles in particular, would be educated regarding the road safety measures and traffic rules. At all the sub division headquarters, traffic week would also be observed and it would be monitored by the local SDMs. He said that during the week, medical examinations of drivers would be conducted, school children would be given traffic training and involved in traffic control activities, a sufficient number of pamphlets and other literature on road safety would also be distributed, pollution check of the vehicles would be conducted and pressure horns from buses and trucks would be removed.

Apart from this, reflectors would be fitted on trolleys and lectures, exhibitions, painting competitions and seminars would be organised on road safety during the week.

Mr Sandhu further said that the rapid increase in number of vehicles in the city had created a major traffic problem, and had added to the already prevailing pollution in the city. These problems were causing serious damage to healthy civic environment and proving dangerous for the health of citizens, as a large number of diseases were being reported due to pollution. The Deputy Commissioner asked auto- rickshaw owners’ associations to get their vehicles properly repaired and maintained, so as to bring them under the permissible smoke exhausting limits, as the auto- rickshaws were mainly responsible for polluting the air in the city.

Mr Bhupinder Singh, District Transport Officer, giving date-wise details of the programme, informed that on January 1 the staff belonging to Transport Office and Traffic police, along with students and voluntary organisations, would distribute pamphlets and carry out pollution check of vehicles at Bharat Nagar Chowk and a seminar for truck drivers and auto- rickshaw drivers would be organised at the Children Traffic Training Park. On January 2, different teams would carry out awareness and checking programmes at truck unions of Jagraon and Raikot and on January 3, Doraha and Payal premises of truck unions would be the main focus of attention.

He further said that the pollution checking and awareness programme would be conducted at Bus Stand, Khanna on January 4, and at the local bus stand the next day. He said that on January 6, painting competitions of school children would be arranged at Children Traffic Park and a seminar of drivers also be conducted at the same venue. Mr S.K. Juneja, a road safety missionary, would provide traffic training to school children, in coordination with the staff of District Education Officer and different schools. The District Transport Officer informed that on the concluding day, all the teams would focus their activities at Samrala town and distribute literature to educate the public.

According to the DTO, two ADTOs — Mr. D. S. Mander and Mr Manjit Singh would head separate teams comprising the traffic police, students and volunteers, to implement programmes during the safety week at different places in the district. He appealed to the concerned officers and staff of different departments to extend their full co-operation in the celebrations, so that the maximum number of people could be educated regarding traffic rules and road safety measures.

Making a dream come true
From Shivani Bhakoo

LUDHIANA, Dec 30 — Sonia, a blind girl of about 11 years, had been released after the endless efforts made by the Peoples’ Vigilance Committee, a non-government organisation (NGO), after about three years from a factory of football manufacturer at Jalandhar. She was forced to stitch footballs by her family members and an industrialist against her wishes. Now she is happily studying in class VI at the Vocational Rehabilitation Centre for Blind here.

Sonia is not the only girl who has been rescued and rehabilitated by this organisation. There are several other cases of bonded labour which have been highlighted by this organisation. Committed to free hapless poor from the shackles of bonded labour, this organisation has been active since 1985.

The organisation, having its headquarters at Phillaur, near here, has its units in every district. According to Mr Jai Singh, chairperson of the committee, the idea of starting up with this noble cause occurred when he saw a bonded labour being tortured by a landlord at Faridabad. The scene was horrifying for me, he says. That incident proved to be an inspiration for Mr Jai Singh to dedicate himself for the cause of poor and the needy.

The organisation has filed complaints of about 1,000 Punjabi labourers to the State Human Rights Commission at Chandigarh since 1998. However, these complaints have not been disposed of so far. In fact, he said that the commission was reluctant to entertain such complaints. Ms Prabhjot, an activist of the organisation said, “The state government claims that there are no bonded labourers in Punjab and the complaints are baseless”. However, the organisation, claims that there were many bonded labourers who had been regularly lured by the industrialists and agriculturists.

The organisation aims to have Punjab free from bonded labour with proper rehabilitation of the sufferers and elimination of child labour from the state. Ms Prabhjot revealed that there has been continuous increase in the number of child labourers. She added, “The children of entire Malwa belt are not allowed to go to school. Some cases of forcibly picking up of these children from schools by the landlords have been reported and are forced to work like slaves”.

The committee had filed complaints of about 400 such children to the Human Rights Commission, Chandigarh, and alleged that no action had been taken so far. The committee workers alleged that the government has never cooperated. The condition of these children was highlighted when a survey by the organisation was done on the children working for the football industry, Jalandhar.

The organisation has also opened up a Transit Rehabilitation Centre at Phillaur. About 30 such bonded labourers have been living here as they feel unsafe and unsecured by their landlords because the enquiries of these bonded persons have been going on.

The members of the People’s Vigilance Committee have urged the district administrators to give priority to such cases and take strict action against those found guilty.

	Increase in Net traffic makes access slow From Our Correspondent LUDHIANA, Dec 30 — With millions of people around the world preferring Net over postal services to send New Year greetings, there seems to be a virtual Net traffic jam, making it extremely difficult for users to send e-cards. As the New Year is approaching, the number of users has gone up significantly bringing down the Net speed. The speed goes down in the afternoon and evenings, say regular users, and a single e-card takes nearly half an hour to be sent. ‘‘First the e-greeting site takes time to open up. Then selection of cards is to be done. Animated cards take even more time to appear on the monitor. Certain changes have to be made and preview has to be taken before the greeting is finally sent. The whole process, which under normal circumstances takes only 10 minutes, now takes triple the time,’’ said Ms Vandana , a collegiate. Since the Net speed is relatively more at night, several users have no other alternative but to stay awake till late hours to send greetings. ‘‘At night, the sites open up at a better speed and it is convenient to send e-greetings to my friends and relatives,’’ said Mr Sandeep Vyas, a businessman. Some of the Net freaks are sending as many as 30 e-greetings. Said Harpreet, a fashion designing student, ‘‘Of the nearly 30 e-greetings which I am sending, 15 are for my Net pals, 10 for my close friends and five of them for my relatives.’’ He further said that he has been selecting and sending these greetings from the past five to six days, as he was sending entirely different greetings to all of them. Mr Vipin Puri, Customer Care division, Satyam Infoway, confirmed that the number of Net users had suddenly jumped during the past few days, possibly due to winter break and for sending New Year greetings. He said that certain sites, like ‘Yahoo’, had become extremely slow and he was telling the users to try other sites for sending greetings. Ms Pinky, Technical Support Engineer at Glide, said, ‘‘The number of subscribers has increased manifold this month. All old dial up lines were filled and we had to install new lines recently.’’
	W(h)ither telegraph? By Kamal Kishore Shankar LUDHIANA, Dec 30 — Telegram, which used to be a most sought after medium of conveying tragic and happy messages, has become a least-wanted option. Inquiries made from various telegraph offices in the region have revealed that revenue from telegrams has gone down considerably. Officials concerned say that the number of telegraph system users has become less compared to the 80s, when it was a main source of conveying messages, especially in rural areas, where the telephone had no presence. Modern means of communication like telephone, internet, e-mail have caused a major setback to the telegraph system, they say. As times have changed, we have told the authorities concerned in Chandigarh and Delhi to provide us with an internet connection to update communication in telegraph offices. Already, a proposal has been sent to the authorities concerned. Mr Kamaljit Kanda, a senior functionary of the local telegraph office, said that at present, almost 300 telegrams were sent to other parts of the country, while earlier the number was quite high. He said that earlier, people used to queue up in the morning to send telegrams, but nothing like that happens now. As it is an industrial town, there used to be a lot of traffic of business telegrams. But scenario has completely changed now. As telegraph is the fastest and cheapest means for those who living in remote areas, people coming from rural areas still use this system. They have to depend on it because of lack of telephone facility or other modern means of communication. Mr Babu Ram, a migrant labourer from Bihar, said, “I have no telephone facility here or at home in my native state.” Telegram is the only option for him and his family for speedy communication. The telegraph office charges fifty paisa for a word and Rupee one for an urgent message (commonly known as X message). The rate per word of message of death is 50 paisa which is known as XX message. He feels that despite so much development in telecommunications, the common man does not benefit. The planners should keep in mind that the lower strata requires this facility in emergency, He added, “The major portion of the collection of the department comes from telephone bills and the number of telegraph messages has fallen.” Earlier businessmen availed the facility for intimation or confirmation of transactions. But now STD has speeded up the process. Newspapers and news agencies have also switched over to internet or fax for sending news. The telegraph office also has facilities like STD/ISD, fax, collection of bills. But few people make use of these facilities except for the payment of telephone bills.
	Dead rat found in tea pack Tribune News Service LUDHIANA, Dec 30 — Can you imagine that a dead rat can be found in the pack of reputed tea company? Mrs Beena Verma, a housewife residing in New Kundanpuri locality, Civil Lines, was shocked when she found a dead rat in a tea pack. According to her, she had purchased a tea pack from a store on the Kacheri road. While putting the tea in a glass jar, from the pack she observed some substance. She thought it was some coupon of a prize scheme. However, what came out was a dead rat. She said, ‘‘My belief in the company’s products has eroded. I am thinking to sue the company in consumer court. How can they play with the health of my family? I will not only ask for compensation due to mental harassment but also action against the guilty.’’
	Tributes paid to Avtar Singh Grewal Tribune News Service LUDHIANA, Dec 30 — Glowing tributes were paid to Avtar Singh Grewal on his eighth death anniversary here today. A simple, solemn, but impressive function was held at his residence at Model Town to pay homage to the great philanthropist. As a mark of recognition of his services to the society, the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation named the road from Children Traffic Park to Gurdwara Singh Sabha, Model Town as ‘Sardar Avtar Singh Grewal Marg’. Lauding the services of Mr Grewal, the speakers described him as a great philanthropist, who worked throughout his life for the welfare of the common man, irrespective of caste, creed or colour. Mr Tohra said Punjab should feel proud of a son like Avtar Singh Grewal, who had established several institutions that served for the welfare of society. He also highlighted his close association with several religious institutions and his deep faith in religion. Despite having achieved phenomenal success, Avtar Singh Grewal remained firmly attached to his roots.