The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

WALL COLLAPSE
Accusing finger angers jail staff
Turned towards PWD and diggers
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, December 11
The registration of a case against the Central Jail authorities for the death of a child in a wall collapse here has angered jail officials. Officials say that they are not to be blamed for the death, as they had been writing to the PWD (B and R) for the past 10 years to tell it to repair the wall.

After the Central Jail wall collapsed on Monday, killing a boy named Rahul, a case under Section 304-A of the IPC was registered against the jail officials. The officials concerned said, since 1992, they had been writing to the PWD that the jail wall needed repair, but no one had heard them in the past 10 years. They showed documents in support of the claim and said, after 1998, they had written at least 20 letters to the PWD, seeking funds for the repair of the wall.

After the 10-year-long correspondence, the jail officials received a reply from the PWD only 15 days ago, in which, the PWD had said the funds for the repair would be allocated in the budget for the year 2002-2003. Huge piles of correspondence with the PWD in this regard would be presented as evidence in the court, the officials said.

The wall did not wait for the funds and collapsed, killing the boy and his pet dog. Many other boys had a narrow escape. The jail authorities said this part of the wall had weakened due to digging by the persons of Dhakka Colony that had come up nearby in the past 10 years.

While the PWD officials said it was the duty of the jail authorities to stop the digging, the jail authorities said they could not guard the wall 24 hours a day. Moreover, the digging had stopped about five years ago, when most jail officials had not even been posted here.

The PWD said it had written to its head office for the funds, but these had not been released. Persons of Dhakka Colony, who had been digging near the wall to raise the plinth levels of their houses, should be held responsible. They said the wall would be repaired as soon as funds came from the head office.

Meanwhile, Rahul’s family has demanded compensation and refused to budge from its stand, though the district administration has refused to compensate it. The family says that the boy has died due to negligence on part of the authorities.

Murdered servant’s family receiving threats
Police arrests his employer
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, December 11
Even as the police has succeeded in arresting Vivek Gupta, employer of 11-year-old domestic help, Avdesh, who died under mysterious circumstances on December 1, members of the family of the deceased boy have alleged that they are receiving threat calls asking them to enter a compromise.

Vivek Gupta was arrested by the Sarabha Nagar police yesterday. He was booked under Section 302 of the IPC after the body of Avdesh was found hanging in his bathroom on December 1.

Even as the police has been claiming to have done enough in the case and maintains that it will take any further step only after the viscera report is received, members of the family of the boy claim that they are having a first-hand experience of the power of men in khaki, who according to them are powerful enough to tilt the case in any direction.

Avdesh Kumar, son of a migrant labourer, Gyas Din, was allegedly murdered by his employers in Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar. The tale of woes of the family has aggravated further after the incident. The family has received very few words of sympathy or consolation. It has been backed only by a social worker, Ms Sonia Dhillon, a resident of Defence Colony. According to her, offers for entering a compromise for a consideration of Rs 1 lakh were being made, but when the family refused to oblige, threats followed. Ms Dhillon alleged that even some cops had extended veiled threats to the family and to her.

The case now hinges on the viscera report. It will establish if the boy was strangulated to death or he died due to hanging. It is worth mentioning here that a case of murder was registered only after the family members of the deceased, along with several other migrant labourers, helped by some of their employers, managed to convince the police that the boy had not committed suicide, but was murdered by his employers.

Avdesh was found hanging in a bathroom of house no 203-C where his employer, Vivek Gupta, a cycle spare-part manufacturer, lived as a tenant. Initial reports, quoting Vivek Gupta, said the boy had committed suicide.

He had given a statement to the police that he, along with all his family members, had left the house the previous day to attend marriage of a relative. The servant was alone at home. When he returned at about 4.30 pm, no one answered the door bell for a long time. He informed the landlord and they entered the house through a window and found the body of the servant hanging by a rope from a geyser in a bathroom.

However, the relatives of the deceased refused to buy this theory. They lodged a strong protest against the police move to deal the case under Section 174 of the IPC. Buckling under the pressure, the Sarabha Nagar police registered a case under Section 302 of the IPC against the deceased boy’s employers.

Gyas Din had alleged that his son was ill-treated by his employers and even beaten up on several occasions. He said he had even tried to bring his child back, but the employers forcibly took him away. He said they did not complain to the police as they wanted to get the unpaid salary of Avdesh. Moreover, they hoped that employers would change their behaviour.

Police sources said they had registered a case only on the statement of the deceased’s father and would not arrest anybody till their investigation established that the boy was really murdered.

Insanitary conditions in Urban Estate
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, December 11
Persons who live in Phase I of Urban Estate here are a neglected lot, as far as the provision of civic amenities is concerned. Colonies, especially those near Focal Point in the Industrial Area, are in a pathetic state, with rampant encroachment of road, street and park spaces. The systems of streetlights, water supply and sewerage leave much to be desired.

Mr Basant Singh, president of the Urban Estate Residents’ Association, said encroachments were increasing in the absence of effective enforcement by the Municipal Corporation. Roadside vendors had occupied the road connecting the locality to Metro Road, both sides of the railway track and most other open spaces like parks. The vendors and slum dwellers were holding everyone living in the area to ransom.

On both sides of the railway track and elsewhere in the colony, many persons have set up dairies, in violation of rules. This has added to the insanitary conditions all around.

“The parks in the colony are in a state of neglect and those near the beer factory have been turned into garbage dumps. Stray cattle and pigs feed on this rubbish, making life hell for persons living in the vicinity. The roads and streets are in a state of disrepair for a long time, now, and even patchwork has not been done, in spite of repeated requests. Streetlighting, too, is poor,” said Mr Basant Singh.

The association president also said, after the handing over of the maintenance of the colony to the MC by PUDA in July 2000, water-supply and sewerage bills had not been issued to any person of the area. If there is further delay, everyone here may find it difficult to pay the mounting arrears.

Growing population of stray animals (particularly dogs and pigs), which thrives on rubbish, domestic waste and stagnant water, poses a health hazard. “Many children have been bitten by stray dogs and pigs, but the authorities concerned have failed to check the menace,” said Mr Basant Singh.

Talwandi’s silence on expulsion puzzling
Vimal Sumbly
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, December 11
Is it a studied silence or the lull before the storm? The continued silence maintained by Mr Jagdev Singh Talwandi, formerly the senior vice-president of the Shiromani Akali Dal, on his expulsion from the party appears to be intriguing. Mr Talwandi was here, but he made himself unavailable to reporters.

Earlier, the attendants at his home said he would hold a press conference in the afternoon, and, later, said it might be held here tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Mr Talwandi is said to have been in constant touch with the other SAD dissidents. He has been left with little choice. His outbursts, a few days ago, that he would expose Mr Badal are not being taken seriously, as even his son and the MLA from Raikote, Mr Ranjit Singh Talwandi, continues to side with Mr Badal.

The tantrums of Mr Talwandi are nothing new to Mr Badal and it is not the first time that he has parted ways with Mr Badal. In 1979, too, he had revolted against Mr Badal and engineered the fall of his government after reaching an understanding with Indira Gandhi.

Mr Talwandi’s silence is being considered strategic, though he is not known to be tactful; he would rather react instantly over such an extreme step taken by the party. Revenge is on his mind.

Sources close to him said Mr Talwandi might be regretting having spared Mr Badal when he had been heading the disciplinary action committee (DAC).

Talwandi Junior has more reasons to side with Mr Badal than just ideological commitment. When Mr Talwandi was serving a sentence for murder, the then Badal government gave him all facilities that he sought in the jail. Later, he was acquitted. Talwandi Junior has refused to be ungrateful to Mr Badal, even if it means annoying his father.

Don’t tax the crisis-ridden farmers: BKU
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, December 11
The Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) has flayed a move of the Union Government to bring the farming community under the income tax net while observing that it was bound to prove an ‘exercise in futility’.

Addressing a delegates session, held here today to elect the new office-bearers, the BKU president, Mr Ajmer Singh Lakhowal, said that majority of the farmers in the country had a land holding below two hectares and the farming was getting financially unviable, most of the them were living in really poor conditions. He was also critical of the expert committee, set up by the government for this purpose. “The committee does not have any farm expert among its members, nor the committee members have gone to the villages to see the real condition of the farmers and to interact with them.”

According to Mr Lakhowal, at an earlier occasion also, the then Congress government, headed by Mrs Indira Gandhi had mooted the idea of taxing the agricultural income but after going through the pros and cons of the ill-conceived decision, it was shelved. “The NDA government should adopt a positive and practical approach and reconsider the decision lest the move should backfire and create more problems than it is intended to solve.”

Focussing on the poor plight of sugarcane growers, Mr Lakhowal charged the government with closing its eyes to the gigantic problem of unpaid arrears of the farmers by the sugar mills. After the sugarcane growers had resorted to blockade of traffic at Kharar for 28 hours a couple of months ago, two Congress ministers and senior officials of the sugar mills had given an assurance that arrears would be paid by October 15. While the arrears of farmers worth crores of rupees remained unpaid, the sugar mills were not even refusing the full payment of the current crop which had created a serious economic crisis for the farmers and many of them might be forced to switch over to traditional crop rotation with an adverse overall effect on the farm economy.

The BKU chief reiterated the demand for announcement of minimum support price (MSP) of crops before the sowing season which would also help in strengthening the move for diversification of agriculture. “The sowing for the next crops is already over but the government is yet to come out with the MSP for major crops.” Mr Lakhowal demanded that on the basis of price index for 1996-97, the MSP of wheat and oil seeds should be raised to Rs 980 and Rs 2,860 per quintal respectively.

In the elections of the district unit, Mr Sukhminder Singh Kadian and Mr Hardial Singh Bhundri were elected president and general secretary respectively. The election was conducted under the supervision of Mr Manjit Singh Kadian, secretary general, Mr Bhupinder Singh Mahesari, press secretary and Mr Puran Singh Shahkot, general secretary (finance).

Focal Point cries for attention
Bhushan Sood

Mandi Gobindgarh, December 11
“A decade has elapsed since the Industrial Focal Point (IFP), Mandi Gobindgarh, which was established along the GT Road by the Punjab State Industrial and Exports Corporation (PSIEC) in 220 acres, but it still lacks adequate facilities”, said Mr Anil Sooraj, vice-president, Focal Point Association, Punjab. He was addressing mediapersons here on Wednesday. In the absence of basic facilities and seeing the recession in the industry, entrepreneurs were reluctant to establish new ventures here, he said.

“None of the basic requirements shown in the site map, such as power grid, post office and ESI dispensary, have been provided here. No letter box has been put up in the area. The matter has been brought to the notice of the Senior Superintendent of Post Offices, Patiala, many times, but without any result. For posting a letter people have to go to some other place. Delivery of mail is done through Kumbh village post office. It is a pity that a letter takes several days to travel from one industry to another, even if in the vicinity of the industrial area,” he said.

“As the area has no market, industrialists have to travel a long distance to purchase hardware for their industry. In the absence of ESI dispensary, people have to travel about 6 km in emergency cases. Moreover, the PSIEC imposes penalties on industrialists for delay in the construction of their establishments. The penalty gets compounded every year, despite the fact that industry is already facing recession”, said Mr Anil Sooraj.

“The solution to industrialists’ problems seems a distant dream as the new policy of the government envisages to hand over the development of the area to the municipal council. In case the project is given to the council, it will have to get approval from the government for any extension of its limits, which may further delay the matter on account of litigation,” he said.

READERS WRITE
Dial 131 or 132 — a whimsical rail inquiry system

DIALING for railway inquiry at phones 131 or 132 for train timings or for knowing about the late arrivals is a stupendous task as you seldom get connection with these phones. And so is the personal inquiry response system, which is a near failure as the staff is rarely available, and you may continue to hear the engaged ring or the ring may go on to break ultimately. Waiting for the response from the telephonic inquiry, you may ultimately miss your train. And if at all one is fortunate to get the number, one may not be able to comprehend the broken language of the recorded message about the train numbers and train timings. Enquiry staff rarely attends to the personal calls.

It is requested that more telephone lines and more personnel be added. May be the railway inquiry staff handling these telephones have their own problems but the system needs to be overhauled, keeping in view the magnitude of the population of Ludhiana City and the increased number of trains. Will the railway authorities heed to the complaints of the consumers?

Brij Bhushan

Computer literacy

In order to make computer literacy in rural India both interesting and inspiring, we should make rural people understand the utility of the mousepad as household ‘chakla’ and hourglass pointer on monitor as ‘damru’. Only then will the lesser literate be able to understand what computers and Internet are all about. The efforts being made by Nasscom and other NGOs and certain educational institutes in Andhra, Rajasthan and Delhi are praiseworthy . I suggest the following strategy to start a computer literacy revolution in the country.

Let the computer hardware be made standardised and subsidised at least for ruralites though for a very limited period. This will encourage the necessary craze for computer literacy.

Let all panchayat bhawans be provided with the facility of computers, Internet and phones. Computer literacy may be started right from there by involving mukhiyas of the villages. The children’s school bags should not be burdened much with books of multiplicity of subjects. While science, maths, computers and language should be compulsory subjects, all other subjects be merged into one as general knowledge (GK-Subject) . Let the governments put a cess on sale of every bottle of booze sold. This cess should be spent on computer education and be accounted for to the public. Let the commercial banks allow soft loans on computer buying as a priority sector loan and targets may be fixed.

India has the potential in millions of masses awaiting guidance, direction and initial support for take off to a bright future but this can happen only if the politicians and the bureaucrats are really sincere to the nation.

B.B. Goyal

Condition of roads

During a press conference in October, the Ludhiana Municipal Commissioner promised to give a gift to the Ludhiana citizens in the form of repaired roads with new look before Divali. A rejoinder with the heading “Rhetoric by MC” by self was published in Ludhiana Tribune dated the October 24, 2002 in which doubts were expressed about the promises made by the M.C., simply because like many other Ludhiana citizens, I too understand the functioning of the Municipal Corporation.

The roads continue to be as bad as ever and whatever patchwork has been done on some of the roads is of a poor quality. For example, the patchwork done on the Dugri Urban Estate roads is of such a poor quality that it serves no purpose at all. Earlier, the residents were getting jolts by falling into potholes and now they get bumps by riding on the mounds, which have been created by the contractor in the name of repairs. If the money is paid for such a poor quality of work, then it is a criminal waste of scarce government funds. Will some authority with the Punjab Government, say, the Minister concerned, the Secretary, Local Bodies, or even the Vigilance Department take some cognizance of such a wasteful government expenditure?

In addition to the kind of repairs mentioned above, the M.C. has wasted scarce funds by painting and whitewashing the road divider and road verges, while the roads continue to be in bad shape. It amounts to taking an injured man with broken legs to a beauty parlour to give him a facial make-up rather than to take him to a hospital for treating his broken legs.

To prove my point, I invite the authorities concerned to visit the localities like Dugri phase I and II, Dugri Road, double road along Sidhwan canal from Dugri Bridge up to Gill Road, and most of the roads in Simla Puri and Preet Nagar. There is an unending list of shattered and battered roads, which all cannot be mentioned here for want of space, but which need immediate repairs or resurfacing.

On to the Municipal Commissioner. In the meantime, Ludhiana citizens will eagerly await a New Year gift from the M.C., the real one this time.

Major S.S. Khosla

Illegal structures

The views expressed by Major S.S. Khosla in the Ludhiana Tribune dated the November 28, 2002 under the title ‘Cheated Villagers’ that the highly connected violators/encroachers will go scotfree have been proved beyond doubt by the subsequent happenings as reported vide news items, ‘Selective demolitions by district administration?” which appeared in Ludhiana Tribune dated December 1, 2002 wherein properties allegedly belonging to influential persons in New Puneet Nagar were spared in the demolition drive. In this regard, land allegedly belonging to a former Union Home Minister was allegedly spared of the action. In another case, agricultural land in the possession of a relative of a former Union Minister was not completely ploughed and left halfway.

The case of illegal construction raised by the owner in the BRS Nagar, Ludhiana, as referred by Major Khosla to support his argument is worth appreciating. His honest comment, “The case has been proved against the owner. Even then the illegal construction stands, reflecting the callousness and indifferent attitude of Ludhiana Municipal Corporation (MC)/Local Bodies.” And advice given to the administration by him ‘ “Let the district authorities act with guts for a change and demolish the illegal structure and prove their bonafides” is of value. I may add that the illegal structure was compounded in connivance with the MC employees (Ludhiana Tribune, dated January 1, 2002) one of whom was suspended, as informed by MC Commissioner, Dr S.S. Sandhu, during a Sangat Darshan for Civic Affairs, to the MC officials and the listening/aggrieved public, on July 5, 2001. In the meeting, it was promised that the illegal construction would be demolished soon after refunding the compounding fine. The MC accordingly refunded the compounding fee to the owner of the house in BRS Nagar who was then served with a notice for demolition in early part of September 2001. At this, the former Local Bodies Minister had personally intervened and asked the MC officials not to go ahead with any action (Ludhiana Tribune, dated August 3, 2002).

Will the authorities, even at this late stage, act judiciously in the aforementioned case (2nd paragraph) and demolish the illegal structure, thereby proving their bonafides and undoing the wrong created and perpetrated by Ludhiana MC?

The illegal construction thus raised by the influential persons continues to stand as a mute witness to the lack of governance in Punjab and partisan attitude of authorities at various levels.

Dr Gurkirpal Singh

CBI enquiry a must

A CBI enquiry must be held into the sexual harassment in the case mentioned above to know the exact facts. It has been necessitated because some elements have joined hands with some students to victimise an innocent and hapless lady who just demanded to work with dignity at the place of her work.

Inaction in this case will imply protecting and support to the culprits for their devilish acts and undoubtedly it will send wrong signals to the whole of student community, leading to gross indiscipline among them and encouraging and anti-social elements to continue harassing sexually lady lecturers and making them more vulnerable to such acts and keeping them constantly in a demoralised state in boys’ and co-ed. colleges.

This premier institution of North India is known for maintaining discipline and decorum of a high order.

K.B.S. Sodhi

Two killed in road accidents
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, December 11
Jasbir Singh (22), a resident of Dashmesh Nagar, died on the spot when the motorcycle he was riding was hit by a bus on the Chandigarh road yesterday. The deceased was returning to his house from Mundian village. A case has been registered at the Division No. 7 police station.

In another accident Jagtar Singh, a resident of Bhaini Sahib, died on the spot after the scooter he was riding near Koom Kalan yesterday had a head-on collision with a tempo. The police has registered a case against the unknown tempo driver.

2 held for robbing industrialist: The CIA staff of the city police has arrested two persons who had allegedly robbed an industrialist in Focal Point area of about Rs 1 lakh and seized Rs 45,000 and a tempo used in the crime from the possession of the accused.

According to information, Mr Harvinder Singh was on his way from his factory to his residence in Gurdev Nagar on the night of December 3 when his car was intercepted by a tempo near the Jamalpur chowk. Three persons alighted from the tempo , beat up Mr Harvinder Singh and took away the cash. A report had been lodged at the Division No. 7 police station. The arrested persons have been identified as Balbir Singh, a resident of Gurdaspur, and Kamaljit, a resident of Sahibana village. The police is on the look-out for their absconding accomplice.

Clerk held: The Vigilance Bureau yesterday arrested Sohan Singh, a clerk in the Central Provident Fund department office in Sham Nagar, while he was accepting a bribe of Rs 600 from a man living in Umedpur village near Sahnewal.

According to Mr Kanwarjit Singh Sandhu, SP, Vigilance, Ludhiana Range, after receiving the complaint, a vigilance team led by Mr Daljinder Singh Dhillon, DSP, raided the office and caught the clerk red- handed while accepting the money. The complainant, who had been employed in Coca Cola, wanted to withdraw Rs 25,000 from his account for which he was initially asked to dole out a bribe of Rs 2,000 which was later settled at Rs 600, he added.

Couple booked: On the complaint of constable Pritpal Singh, the Haibowal police has booked a couple living in Basant Vihar colony of Partap Singh Wala village on the charge of attacking a policeman on duty and interfering in the official discharge of his duty. The constable had complained that Sukhpal Singh and his wife were quarrelling on the road on Monday and when a police party reached the spot, the accused tore up his uniform and also abused him. Sukhpal Singh was arrested at the spot.

Body found: The Railway police yesterday found the body of an unknown woman, aged around 23 years, from bushes near the Dhandari railway station. The police is finding it hard to identify the body as the face had been disfigured by stray animals. The woman was probably thrown from a running train, according to the police.

Duped: The Salem Tabri police has registered a case of alleged fraud on the statement of Mr Amin Chand, a resident of Bhora village, against Abdul Hanif, a resident of Jeet Nagar. The complainant had alleged that the accused had charged Rs 8 lakh from four persons on the pretext of sending them abroad. But the accused neither sent them abroad nor returned their money, he added.

Forgery case: The Division No. 7 police has registered a case of alleged forgery on the statement of Mr Surjit Singh, a resident of Bhamian Kalan village, against Amarjit Kaur, Darshan Singh, Harvinder Singh and Jagdev Singh, patwari of Bhamia area. The complainant had alleged that the accused had sold a plot to him which they had fraudulently occupied after preparing forged property documents.

Booked for molestation: On the complaint of Mr Sushil Kumar, a resident of Santokh Nagar mohalla, the Division No. 4 police has registered a case of eve-teasing and molestation against Munish Chawla, a resident of New Shivaji Nagar. The complainant had alleged that the accused got hold of his niece from the arm and molested her.

Driver booked: The Division No. 6 police has booked a truck driver, Swaran Singh, who lives in Rajasthan and who allegedly caused the death of Mr Dilbagh Singh, a resident of Kamla Nagar, by his negligent driving. The case has been registered on the statement of Mr Jagpal Singh, a son of the deceased.

BUSINESS

Exhibition focuses on digital print solutions
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, December 11
Gestetner Indian Limited, the pioneers of digital documentation solution in India, launched their fresh focused approach in the city during a two-day exhibition of their products.

Major corporate units, commercial copy shops, educational institutions and government offices in the city witnessed the latest digital documentation solution equipment of the company. The product range included digital copiers, starting from entry level 15 copies per minute to high speed multiple copy printers, capable of printing at 120 copies per minute.

Speaking about the products, Mr Anil Mehta, channel manager, observed that the life of the digital multi-functional device of the company was almost double of the traditional copiers with the result that 'better return on investment' was guaranteed for the customers. The Gestetner Digital Multifunctional devices provided 600 DPI (dots per inches) laser prints output from personal computer at a very low running cost, providing better efficiency and productivity.

Another machine, show-cased at the exhibition was digital copy printer, capable of printing 120 copies per minute on virtually any kind of paper with the operational ease of a photo copier and economy of a printing machine. "Today with the increased use of computer hardware and software, managing information flow within the organisation is a very big challenge. This is where our specialisation in seamlessly integrating soft copies and hard copies comes in, thus increasing the efficiency and at the same time lowering total cost of ownership," commented Mr Jose Leon, regional manager - IDC, of the company.

The company also offered low end digital copiers with latest technological advancements for organisations wishing to upgrade from old analog technology.