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July 17, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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Admn blames DMCH authorities for clashes Ludhiana, July 16 As many as 30 persons — including 16 cops — were injured after the police burst tear gas shells and resorted to a cane charge to disperse agitating employees from the hospital premises on July 13. Fortunately, no one died. The hospital has been closed affecting emergency services in the city. The DC, Mr Anurag Aggarwal, and the SSP, Mr H.S. Sidhu, briefed mediapersons on the sequence of events and laid the blame for the riot squarely at the door of the management which, he alleged, was a part of a “pre-planned” and a well thought-out move to “use the administration as an unwitting party to put down the month-long protest.” In this context, the DMCH secretary, Mr Prem Nath Gupta, has been booked along with some other members of the management committee, they pointed out. Mr Aggarwal said the conflict between the management and the employees is not a new one and last year the administration had to intervene to patch up the differences but the basic issues were not resolved. This continued to simmer and the flashpoint came when the management refused to accept their demands and instead invoked the “no-work no-pay” policy. He pointed out that more than 70 per cent of the nurses and other staff sat on dharna and the functioning of the hospital was badly hit. Inspite all this, the management did not approach the administration but allowed things to go from bad to worse. But, keeping in view public convenience, the administration stepped in and a meeting of both the parties was chaired by the ADC A.K. Sinha. Here the employees stressed that no solution was possible unless Mr Gupta was
present. Besides
The DC said another meeting was held on July 8 which was attended by Mr Gupta, who agreed that the cardiology unit would start functioning from the DMCH but remained silent on the Hero Center being a part of the DMCH. Concessions for employees were also promised to the employees. But due to the non-acceptance of certain demands by the management, the talks broke down, and despite their best efforts both parties could not be brought to the negotiating table, he said. Meanwhile, they received complaints from the management that certain wards were being occupied by the striking employees. A police party led by DSP Gurmail Singh and accompanied by the SDM Ajay Sharma reached the hospital and asked the protesters to disperse but were allegedly attacked by them, he added. Commenting on the issue, the SSP said investigations had revealed that the management had misinformed them about the strength of the protesters. The police party was attacked by the agitators armed with iron rods. They mercilessly beat up the DSP who had to be shifted to the hospital in a serious condition. The SHO of Kailash Chowk, who went to help his colleagues, was also attacked by the mob, he added. Mr Sidhu said following investigations it has come to light that at least 24 security guards in plainclothes were part of the mob and had stockpiled bricks on rooftops and were armed with iron rods. Reacting to the injuries received by innocent bystanders and attendants of patients, he said in such a charged atmosphere it is very hard to identify the mob from the common man. In all 28 employees, including four women, were arrested. Another 13 were arrested under Section 107 / 151 of the Cr P C, he revealed. Efforts were afoot to nab the absconding employee leaders, he added. |
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DMCH ISSUE Ludhiana, July 16 Quite surprisingly none of the local legislators, who include one minister also, have come forward to help in diffusing the crisis that has risen after the closure of the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH). The closure of the hospital has led to grave concern among hundreds and thousands of people of the city. Because it provided medical aid at the doorstep to people of the city and from the adjoining areas. These legislators and also other politicians, who will otherwise spare no occasion to come into limelight, have preferred an intriguing silence on an important issue and had surrendered their role to few officers in the district administration and the police. And unlike the legislators who are the public representatives, the bureaucrats are hardly made accountable for their omissions and commissions. Their high-handed and arrogant attitude was witnessed during the strike also, with senior DMC Managing Committee members being not only not heard but even humiliated. In fact, this is not for the first time that the district administration has remained callously indifferent towards the public. There have been several instances of arrogance and high handedness in the recent past involving senior officers with the public. One recent example being the registration of an FIR against a lawyer and his subsequent detention after an altercation with the Deputy Commissioner. While the MLAs may have straight access to the officers, for most of the common people these officers remain
Given this background the attitude of the administration was not unexpected. However, the concerned public is shocked over the criminal silence of the city legislators who claim to have a say over the administration for the obvious reasons of being in the government. All these legislators, without a single exception, had remained totally silent for the reasons best known to them. They did not even issue a routine statement to condemn the barbaric police action against the unarmed striking and working employees of the DMC. While the public reaction continues to be hostile towards the administration and the police it is not friendly towards the political parties and their leaders either. The people have been asking as where have all their “public representatives” gone at such a crucial time. There are hundreds of employees working in the DMC and most of them are still being hunted by the police. Their relatives have been protesting over why they (the employees) were being harassed and hunted in a manner that they were made out to be fugitives. While the Congress legislators failed, the role of the Opposition parties like the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) and the Bhartiya Janata Party has remained equally dismal and disappointing. All their leaders have maintained an intriguing silence like their Congress counterparts. |
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Ordeal of 72 women staff of DMC Ludhiana, July 16 While the 12 women living in the hostel have been barred by the Hero Heart Institute management from going outside unless they resign from the job, the 60 women, including some living earlier in the hostel and others in rented apartments in and around Haibowal, are living like fugitives and forced to change their place of living more than once every day following police crackdown on them. The benevolent act of a DMC employee to provide them shelter at a religious place in Haibowal also could not prove to be their saviour. A heavy police force today gheraoed the colony where the religious place is situated and forced the women to leave it. The panic-stricken women after “staying in detention” for over two hours were allowed to leave the place. The entire operation caused tension in the area. The women forced to leave the place, went together up to the Hambran road from where they dispersed in search of a place of shelter. Some of them said they would knock the doors of friends or relatives, whom they had not contacted for the past four days. The ordeal of these women seems far from ending. Most of these were living in rented apartments and were joined by others following the clash. Even though they were not booked in any case, the police started raiding their houses either to arrest them or to inquire about the whereabouts of the other wanted unionists. Upset by the police raids, the house-owners asked them to leave. Relatives and friends also expressed their reservations and the women literally ended on roads. A DMC employee got these women a place to live at a large hall in the religious place. However, the police got inkling of the move and reached the place. It had even brought a bus with the aim to arrest the women but their presence at the religious place seemed to have deterred the police. Further, the police also seemed to be affected by the presence of mediapersons in the area. Police sources said they had gheraoed the place as the women were collecting there in large numbers and there was danger of breach of peace in the area. They said the police was trying to convince the women to return to their hostels. Ms Amardeep Kaur, a leader of the DMC unionists, told Ludhiana Tribune that the police was raiding Gopal Nagar, Haibowal and other places for the past four days. She said there was no case against the women. Still the police was harassing them. She said the police was telling them to go to the hostel because it wanted to detain them there. She said the women were being harassed. “They had no place to go. The police was hounding them even though they were not wanted in any case.” Talking about the condition of 12 women trapped in the DMC hostel, she claimed that the women were not being allowed to even move out. She said the management had ordered them to leave only after resigning from the job. These women were employed with the Hero DMC Heart Institute and had joined the strike only on the day of the infamous clash. Since then they were facing a police crackdown. Expressing solidarity with the DMC union is proving costly to them but still they are determined not to buckle under the pressure of the police or the management as the labour issued involved all of them. The women said even though they are living like fugitives, they can’t think of leaving the job easily. “We only hope that the stand-off ends soon and all of us return to work”. |
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Patients
move to other hospitals Ludhiana, July 16 Not only has the DMCH gates been “sealed” but its affiliate Hero DMC Heart Institute has also been vacated by the authorities. Doctors are shocked and sore over the attitude of the authorities to “close” the hospital for an indefinite period. Amidst all this confusion, chaos and non-working at
DMCH, patients look elsewhere. A number of patients from the city as well as from the remote areas, have started moving to other medical
institutes. The controversy, which was minor initially, refused to die down even after one month of continuous disturbance at the hospital. As the DMCH “closed” its gates for patients after Saturday’s incidence, other institutes like Christian Medical College and Hospital, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital have been receiving a great rush of patients. Some other small hospitals are finding it difficult to accommodate the ailing patients as there has been an enormous increase, in patient inflow. Dr Rajeev Kapoor, Deputy Medical Superintendent
CMCH, said there had been up to 15 per cent increase in the number of patients after Saturday’s violence at
DMCH. “This increase is in all the departments but the main rush is in the emergency ward. We are receiving direct as well as DMCH referred patients at the hospital,” maintained Dr Rajeev Kapoor. Dr Waheguru Pal Singh, Medical Superintendent, Guru Teg Bahadur Charitable Hospital, also admitted there was overflow for patients after July 13 incident at
DMCH. “There is an increase of about 20 per cent in the patient rush. The main rush is in the surgery and dialysis unit but we are able to cope up with the rush,” said Dr Waheguru Pal Singh. The hospital authorities maintained that the rush was manageable, though special measures had been taken to cater to the needs of patients. A doctor of DMCH on condition of anonymity, said the authorities were vacating the Hero DMC Heart Institute as
well. "At least it should have not been vacated. It is a super speciality institute and heart patients need extra care and attention but they have been told to move to some other hospitals”, said the doctor. |
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Onemanship
to go: Munjal Ludhiana, July 16 He arrived in the city yesterday to defuse the crisis engulfing the
DMCH. He assured the newly constituted Joint Action Committee that onemanship would go and a small managing committee would be formed that would only support the principal and medical superintendent externally. “This committee will not interfere in the day-to-day functioning of the hospital, promotions and increments,” he assured. A delegation of the committee headed by Dr S.C. Ahuja met Mr Munjal at Hero Cycles today to submit their memorandum. The faculty demanded the release of arrested employees, restoration of hospital services and a firm assurance that the medical college would run according to a democratic and systematic manner in the future. The committee impressed upon him that while the police and the management held the employees solely responsible for the violent altercation that took place on the premises of the DMCH on July 13, the police, hospital and district administration were equally at fault and there was evidence that they too had committed excesses. The Joint Action Committee members include Dr
S.C.Ahuja, Dr T.K. Kaul, Dr R.J. Singh, Dr A.K. Gupta, Dr G.Awasthi, Dr M.L. Gupta, Dr J. L. Bassi, Dr B.S. Shah, Dr
N.S. Khera, Dr G.S. Bajwa, Dr Harpal Singh, Dr Sandeep Sharma, Dr Dinesh Garg, Dr Ashwani
Choudhry, Dr J. Jagdeep Wig, Dr Gagandeep Singh, Dr Subhash Goel and Dr Viney Gupta. |
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MCPI seeks justice for DMCH staff Doraha, July 16 In a joint statement issued by Mr Jandeep Kaushal, Vice-President, All-India Federation of Democratic Youth, Punjab, Mr Krishan Kumar Kaushal, member, State Committee, MCPI, Punjab, and Mr Lakhwinder Singh Buani, District Secretary, MCPI, it has been said the demands of DMCH employees should be fulfilled, false cases against them dismissed, legal action taken against the Management Committee and the police officials who resorted to violence and lathi charge severely dealt with and, lastly, an independent agency employed to scrutinise the incident. |
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Acute shortage
of water and power Ludhiana, July 16 Ever since the urban feeders were subject to massive power cuts, ranging between six to 10 hours per day by the Punjab State Electricity Board authorities, the supply of piped water has been badly affected due to the simple reason that the 200-odd tubewells of the civic body are solely dependent on PSEB for power supply and no alternative source of power practically exists. Not that the PSEB is resorting to load shedding by choice. In the wake of a yawning gap in the demand and supply of power due to a drastic fall in power generation at almost all hydel projects and the rains failing to materialise, for the time being, restrictions on power supply are understandable since more power has to be made available to the farm sector. But what really pains the city residents is the totally unmindful and unimaginative schedule for power cut on domestic consumers, which is further prolonged due to frequent breakdowns and shutdowns for repairs and maintenance work on transmission lines. In particular, the power cut imposed early in the morning plays havoc with the water supply, what with the school children and office-goers as well as the house wives finding it difficult to carry on with their daily routine. The harried residents further complain that the PSEB management, although being fully aware of the approximate daily demand and consumption of power, has utterly failed to evolve a definite schedule for power cut on urban feeders in residential localities. “For instance sometimes the power goes off at 5.30 in the morning for one hour and the very next day there is power cut from 7 am. Similarly during night the cut can be imposed at anytime from 9 pm to midnight and even during middle of the night, forcing people to spend sleepless nights and miserable mornings,” remarked a harassed housewife, who has to send two small children to school and her husband, a bank employee, to his office every morning. As the city population is virtually being held to ransom by the PSEB authorities, the fate of industry is no better. The PSEB decision to extend the three-hour peak load restriction to a whopping nine hours from July 15 has inflicted a fatal blow to the industrial sector, especially the small and tiny units in the city. According to industrial fraternity, the harsher restrictions on power supply have come as a shock and the entire production schedule has been disrupted. As if to rub salt to the wounds, the PSEB authorities have directed the industrial sector not to run their diesel generators (DG), turbo generators (TG) and captive power plants (CPP) without prior permission and payment of operation fee. Further, the PSEB management has ‘decreed’ that generating sets, sanctioned as stand-by arrangement, will not be allowed to be run as CPP. The industrial houses have been asked to obtain permission and pay operation fee for already installed generators and CPP’s by August 15 failing which recovery will be made at penal rates. |
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Tickling
palates with experimentation Ludhiana, July 16 Mr Kapoor, who is running a chain of Yellow Chilli food outlets across the country, while addressing a press conference here today maintained that the food industry was growing by leaps and bounds. “I feel lucky that I am in this industry”, he said with pride in his eyes, while arguing that he did not face any competition from anywhere as he specialised in “creating new delicacies that cater to the popular taste and at the same time not compromising on the quality”. Mr Kapoor, the famous chef and the anchor of “Khana Khazana” programme, said the secret of his success was his continuous experimentation with different foods. “I always keep on thinking about different changes in the menu, of course according to the taste of the people”, he disclosed, while adding, “people seem to have accepted his experiments and that is why the business was growing”. The master chef also revealed that there was a growing tendency among people to switch over to vegetarian food for various reasons. He disclosed that the consumption of red meat (the mutton, as he does not use pork or beef anywhere) was coming down probably due to the fact that people were getting more calorie conscious. Mr Kapoor’s Yellow Chilli is running in Ludhiana for over a year now. He said, Ludhiana was among some of the leading outlets with a large number of customers. “Seeing the unsatiable taste of the people of Ludhiana for good food, I am amazed and have fallen in love with them”, he remarked jokingly, while appreciating the taste and appetite for quality among the people here. He also appreciated the efforts of Mr Jarnail Singh and Mr Satinder Singh, the franchise holders of Yellow Chilli for Ludhiana, who he said, had ensured that the standards were maintained properly. |
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BJP threatens stir against Cong govt Ludhiana, July 16 Addressing a press conference here yesterday, the former Deputy Speaker of the Punjab Assembly, Mr Sat Pal Gosain, also attacked the so-called war against corruption by the Congress government and said there were at least two corrupt ministers in the Cabinet and the BJP functionaries would soon meet the Punjab Governor to press for a CBI inquiry against them. He said the Congress government had let loose a reign of terror and police repression against its political opponents just to settle scores and the BJP would mobilise the masses and launch a massive agitation in the city if the government did not mend its ways within one week. Mr Gosain, while strongly reacting against the arrest of party activist Ashok Loomba, a former member of the Punjab Subordinate Services Federation, remarked that the vigilance action smacked of vindictiveness. “If the Congress government honestly intends to cleanse the political system, let it proceed against two of its own Cabinet members who are charged with holding bogus medical degrees.” |
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31 file
papers for election to MC panels Ludhiana, July 16 With the ruling party having failed to arrive at a consensus on choice of its own party candidates and have an understanding with the SAD-BJP combine, there was a virtual scramble among the Congress councillors to enter the fray for the coveted posts. However, sources in the party informed that the Punjab Finance Minister, Mr Lal Singh, who is also in charge of party affairs in the district, would bring in the names of the party nominees for the committees in sealed envelope on the day of General House meeting and the party councillors would be directed to vote accordingly. The Congress enjoyed a comfortable majority with 37 councillors in the 70-member House in addition to the five party legislators, who also had the right to vote. However, in the face of a united and cohesive opposition, led by the SAD-BJP combine in the MC, the ruling party, in all probability, will have to concede one seat in each of the two committees to the Opposition as the second preference votes would fall short of the required number. |
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‘Privatisation
of transport under review’ Doraha, July 16 He said,” The Pepsu Road Transport Corporation and the Punjab Roadways suffered an annual loss of Rs 104 crore during the rule of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) and we are finding it difficult to cope with such a great loss, hence the privatisation of transport is under consideration.” He was here to inaugurate a project entailing 24-hour electricity supply for Bazigar Basti, Sapera Basti and Satnam Nagar, for which the Municipal Council is said to have spent Rs 8 lakh. Commenting on the issue of transport further, the Transport Minister said that even if the transport is
privatised, due care shall be given to the employed staff and their services. “They will in no way suffer unemployment at the cost of privatisation.” He further said that permits for a total of 801 mini-buses had been approved and those for big buses, were under consideration. The bus permits of 500 buses which were going in loss had been cancelled. He added that freedom fighters and press people shall now be able to travel free in the Punjab Roadways and the PRTC buses. The minister further added that the bus stands of Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar shall now be given a modern look and a sum of Rs 45 crore had been decided to be spent on the entire project. Apart from others, councillor Surinder Pal Sood, Mr Sudarshan Kumar Sharma, president, Nagar Council, Doraha, Chairman Mr Bant Singh Daburjee and PSEB employees were present on the occasion. |
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UNICEF
programme implemented Doraha, July 16 This was stated by Mr Tej Parkash Singh, Transport Minister, Punjab, at Satnam Nagar in Doraha on Sunday. The programme was organised by the BSB Welfare Society under the UNICEF programme planning. More and more people of the town shall be able to avail health and medical opportunities under the programme, said the minister. He congratulated the BSB Welfare Society which, he said, “is doing commendable job under the able guidance and leadership of Mr Gursharanjit Singh, general secretary, Punjab State Apex Body of NGOs.” The programme was presided over by Dr D.R. Bhatti, ADGP, Punjab Police and the guest of honour was Mr P.S. Jassi, consultant in the UNICEF. On this occasion, Mr Gursharanjit Singh said for every 50 houses, one worker had been employed and till date 120 such community health volunteers had been trained under the programme. Dr Jassi, appealed to people to adopt various family planning ways in order to control the ever-increasing population. Mr D.R. Bhatti, ADGP, Punjab Police, elaborated upon the projects to be undertaken by the NGOs. He also thanked members of Jarg Gurdwara for donating an ambulance for the poor and the needy. A total of 27 NGOs and four police employees, including Hawaldar Manjit Singh, were honoured on the occasion. Mr Gurmit Singh, Mr Jatinder Puri, Mr Kulbhooshan Rai and Mr Tarlochan Singh were rewarded for social service. Further 21 children were provided copies free of cost by the Lions Club (Greater) Khanna. |
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MC general
house meeting on July 20 Ludhiana, July 16 Although there was no official word to this effect but sources among the Congress councillors disclosed that both the Finance Minister, Mr Lal Singh, who is in charge of the party affairs in this district, and the Local Bodies Minister, Mr Jagjit Singh, were expected to take part in the meeting. The decision on the choice of party nominees for the statutory posts would also be announced during the general house meeting. |
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Father alleges dowry death Ludhiana, July 16 The complainant had alleged that the accused used to harass his daughter, Jaswinder Kaur, for not bringing adequate dowry. On Monday evening, the accused allegedly killed her and hung the body from a ceiling fan. Man dies in accident:
Thefts:
According to Mr Ramesh Kumar, a resident of Chhawni mohalla, burglar(s) broke open the lock of his house on the intervening night of July 14 and 15 and decamped with 70 gm of gold ornaments and Rs 50,000 in cash. In the second case, Mr Parveen Gupta, a resident of Aman Vihar in Chander Nagar, complained that some burglar forced into his house on the intervening night of July 10 and 11 and stole cash and gold ornaments. The third case was registered on the statement of Mr Rajinder Singh, a resident of Dalip Singh Nagar, against unknown person(s) who broke into his house on the intervening night of July 14 and 15 and took away Rs 7,000 in cash and some gold ornaments. In yet another case of theft, Mr Raj Kumar Datta, who lives near the Sardar Flour Mills in Durga Puri, lodged a complaint against unknown burglar(s) who broke into his house and took away Rs 5,700 and 67 gm of gold ornaments on Monday. A case under Sections 454 and 380 of the IPC has been registered. Cases of beating:
On the statement of Mr Rajbir Singh, a resident of Kaddon village near Payal, the police registered a case against Surpal Singh and his brother, who live in Manjit Nagar, for allegedly beating him up. No arrest has been made so far. The other case was registered on the complaint of Mr Noor Ula, a resident of Fatehpur in UP, against Sikandar Kumar and Rakesh Kumar. According to the complainant, the accused had intercepted him near Aarti cinema on Monday evening and beaten him up. The accused have been arrested, said the police. The Koom Kalan police yesterday registered a case under Sections 323, 341, 506, 148 and 149 of the IPC on the statement of Mr Ranjit Singh, a resident of Mangli Tanda village, against Nirmal Singh, Hoshiar Singh, Ajmer Singh, Balvir Singh and some other persons, all residents of the same village. The complainant had alleged that the accused had intercepted him on Monday and beaten him up. The Sadar police yesterday registered a case under Sections 323, 341, 506 and 34 of the IPC on the statement of Mr Sukhdev Singh, a resident of Talwandi Kalan village, against Sokhi, Amarjit Singh and some other persons of the same village. The complainant had alleged that the accused had stopped him at Fatehpur village on Monday and beaten him up. Policeman threatened:
The Haibowal police yesterday registered a case under Sections 341, 186, 506 and 353 of the IPC on the statement of constable Karanjit Singh, a resident of Police Lines, against Tarlok Chand Passi, a resident of Om Park Bihari Colony, for allegedly intimidating him on Monday evening. The accused had also obstructed the execution of his duty. The accused is at large. Doraha According to the complaint lodged by Jagmohan Singh, a resident of Ranjit Avenue, Amritsar, a Cielo car and Toyota Qualis were hit by the truck (PB 09 A 1620) driven by Kulbir Singh, who fled the scene after the incident. The cars were reportedly stationed at the toll tax counter when the incident happened. A case under Sections 279, 337 and 427 of IPC has been registered against the accused. Man killed:
The deceased has been identified as Sikander. Gurdip Singh who had fled the scene was arrested by the police. Sahnewal According to the complaint lodged by Ghanshayam Das, some unidentified persons came to his house at Nandpur village and took away Rs 9,000 in cash and some jewellery. The robbery however came to light only in the morning. A case under Sections 457 and 380 of the IPC has been registered but no arrest has been made so far. Robbery bid:
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More raids in Gur Mandi Ludhiana, July 16 The police got the locks opened or broke them. The raid was conducted in order to recover any unlawful material suspected to be hidden in the shops. The shops were given on rent by Mr Tangri and associates. Police sources said the raids had been conducted after obtaining due search warrants. The police suspected that they could find illegal and duplicate CDs or arms or any other unlawful material. Some cassettes and CDs were seized. The shops were later sealed. |
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