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| Wednesday,
September 3, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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Working women fast for warden’s exit Chandigarh, September 2 They said that she harassed them on vague accounts, often alleging things like — “you are homosexuals; you have relationships with many men outside; prove that the visitor is your father”, and so on. To express their resentment the inmates signed a protest letter that read: “We are on strike. Reason: Warden’s harassment. We want her resignation.” Keeping fears of expulsion from the hostel at bay, Anita Thapa, an English teacher with a DAV school, Rummi, a marketing professional and Veena, a receptionist, alleged, “Our warden makes life hell for us. Everytime our parents land up to meet us, she prevents them from entering the hostel or sitting in the mess. If we have a male visitor, — a father, a brother, an uncle — she demands a proof of relationship. And she insists with that.” The girls alleged that the situation had been the same for over a year, but it was now getting worse. The tension was precipitated when about two days back, Anita Thapa, an inmate was made to stand outside the hostel at night, when the warden refused to open the main gate. Anita reasoned, “As instructed by the warden, I wrote a letter requesting for a late night which means I am permitted to come back to the hostel between 9 pm and 10 pm. The usual time of returning is 9 pm. But since I had applied for extension of time I returned at 9.15 pm only to find closed gates. She refused to acknowledge my application. She budged only after she had harassed me to her heart’s fill. Ironically, she often keeps the gates open till 1 pm, if she so wills.” Women also alleged that the warden was used to playing favourites. They alleged she was continuing to accommodate a girl who was caught stealing gold earrings from the hostel some days ago. With the list of allegations endless, the girls were vehement about their demand of Warden’s resignation. They even threatened to meet Secretary, Social Welfare. Rummi, an inmate, said, “She is used to harassing us in various ways. If two girls are sitting together she remarks that they are homosexuals. This is only a tip of the iceberg. She uses foul language, which hurts our dignity.” The inmates were also dejected over the way the warden questioned their certificates time and again. Said Deepa, an inmate, “Once she has granted us admission, there is no point in asking us again and again to furnish proofs of our working status. She contradicts herself.” The management of Bal Bhawan, whose unit the hostel is, reached the compound to solve the problem, but to no avail. This is for the first time that any such problem has surfaced in the Bal Bhawan working women’s hostel. |
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STUDENTPOLL RUN-UP Chandigarh, September 2 A formal announcement regarding elections to the council on the campus and the local affiliated colleges is to yet be made. September 4 has already been decided as the date by a committee which met under Prof R.J. Hans-Gill, the Dean University Instructions, yesterday. In response to a question on agenda for the forthcoming polls, most prominent groups said “it was too early”. The major organisations on the campus include the Panjab University Student Union, Student Organisation of Panjab University, Haryana Students Association and the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad. Since Malwinder Singh Kang, the likely presidential candidate, of PUSU, lodged in the Burail jail, two senior office-bearers Yogesh Goyal and Mohit Sareen were contacted. Both said they would talk after finalising the list of items. They were expecting Dayal Pratap Singh Randhawa, Santokhwinder Singh Nabha and Harveer Singh, all former presidents of the students’ council to help finalise the agenda. Saurabh Joshi, the likely ABVP presidential candidate, said he needed “some time” to think about the issues. Pawan Singh, president of the HSA, was weighing pros and cons going for an alliance with the other student groups. Pawan Singh underlined the issues. These included a 24-hour health club, a placement cell for campus students and option of Cyber Laws in the Department of Law. He said that the organisation would also work for a university assurance for quicker declaration of re-evaluation results, check on police raids in hostels without presence of wardens and sharing of room expenses in case it was shared by two students or more. Saurabh Joshi, the presidential candidate of the ABVP, said “ there was no hurry to spell out the agenda. A research scholar said “no academic issues of national standing came up for discussions here. No one ever talked about the national policy on education, the government expenditure on education or job placements.” The usual “drama” here was to pick up the agenda of the
preceding years and get them published in gaudy and flashing coloured pamphlets before the polls. The SOPU could not think of an idea after repeated calls. When told that a survey was being done on agenda of all prominent bodies, Khushbaz Singh Jattana, the presidential candidate, mentioned a few issues. These included: sharing room rent in hostels among students who share rooms, better toilet and bathroom facilities in teaching departments and classes, regular faculty at University Institute of Engineering and Technology and a placement cell. Yogesh Goyal, vice president of PUSU, said the main demands included a university auditorium to hold bigger functions, lift for Savitri Bai Girls Hostel, canteen in the mathematics block, more hostel facilities for UIET students and student representation in the senate, besides others. |
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PU students’ bodies stage protest Chandigarh, September 2 The daily schedule of each student organisation consists of dharnas in front of teaching departments, highlighting their long-pending demands. Meanwhile, the Panjab University Student Union in a press note has submitted a memorandum to the university seeking a special chance for the students of the MBA and MCA classes. Saurabh Joshi, secretary of the campus unit of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, met Dr
B.S.Sohi, Director of the University Institute of Engineering and Technology, along with a delegation and sought the postponement of the first semester examination of the department to be held from September 5 in the wake of the elections to the students’ council on September 12. They also claimed to have presented a memorandum of the UIET students in this regard. The Students’ Organisation of Panjab University said students who were made to share the rooms in hostels were not sharing the rents. Each student was paying the full rent and the electricity charges, which was unfair, they added. The Haryana Students’ Association in a press note criticised the expulsion of seven students from Punjabi University.
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Face to face with the President Chandigarh, September 2 With the President hard-pressed for time and scheduled to squeeze in as many questions and queries as possible in his one hour interaction with the teaching fraternity, the “lucky few”, 950 in all, whose names have made it to the list finalised by the Chandigarh Administration, are racking their brains, framing and re-framing their questions, as they prepare for their moment of glory. Though there is ambiguity surrounding the kind of interaction the President is expected to have with the school teachers, the schools, 75 government and 40 private, don’t want to be caught unawares in case the President “is pleased” to answer a few questions. While no formal briefing sessions are being held at the schools to “President-train” the teachers, a few words of advice have come from the principals. Most of them have asked their teachers to stick to English, not get carried away by excitement and prepare questions they would like to ask the President, if given a chance. However, the keyword at the meeting is going to be spontaneity where imagination would be given free play and the interaction would be allowed to progress unhindered and unobstructed with one thing leading to another instead of limiting it in scope and killing the very essence of the meeting. The teachers are awe-struck at the very thought of seeing the man who holds the highest office in the country in conversation with them, not for a minute or two but for one whole hour. While the whole city goes on usual, they would be locked in conversation with the President at the Bhargava Auditorium at the PGI while the police keeps vigil and stands on guard outside. The teachers’ camp is all agog as it gets ready for the big day, its joy knowing no bounds. Holding that it is the first-ever recognition of their contribution to society, they are more elated over the fact that the President is going to be in the city only for them and nobody else. Meanwhile, Dr Kalam is all set to get a flowery welcome on his first visit to the city as President. While bouquets are being ordered, the Administration is getting its standard protocol for the President in place to welcome him on his arrival at the Chandigarh airport from Ludhiana on the evening of September 4. After the session, the President would leave for Delhi straightaway, leaving no scope for a meeting with the officialdom of the UT Secretariat. |
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President’s copter to land at airport Chandigarh, September 2 However, it was considered that the route from the helipad and the PGI had a lot of bushes and the helipad did not have the night take off facility. The Chandigarh Police and the President’s security staff today made
arrangements according to the Blue Book applicable for Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister’s security. Meanwhile, with the Bhargava Auditorium at the PGI being the venue for the President’s date with 1,000 city teachers on September, 4, family members and attendants of patients who had been taking shelter under the ramp of the building, were today asked to vacate the area. Keeping in mind the tight security arrangements for the President’s programme, these people have been left looking for a shelter. After the PGI pulled down the Rain Basera shelter to make place for the Trauma Centre, the attendants of patients have been taking shelter around the Bhargava Auditorium, which is put to use only for big functions and ceremonies. |
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Helping
soldiers in line Chandigarh, September 2 A visit to its office at Command Hospital, Chandimandir, showed a stream of retired soldiers, both officers as well as other ranks lining up with queries, seeking advice or redressal to their problems. “We receive about 45 people daily,” remarked Col Subash Chander (retd), the officer-in-charge of the ESH. “There have been instances when we have received 70 visitors in a single day,” he added. When the ESH was launched, it used to get about 15 visitors a day. A brainchild of the GOC-in-C, Western Command, Lt-Gen S.S. Mehta, the ESH was launched on September 15, 2002 — Western Command’s Raising Day — with the objective to help ex-servicemen and their dependents to resolve their day to day problems. “We help them in matters relating to pension, outstanding claims, entitlements, health services, provision of aids for the physically challenged, co-ordination for jobs and just about anything else which needs to be taken up with the establishment,” Colonel Chander said. “Only we do not get involved in family disputes, police cases and court matters,” he added. Figures available with the ESH office show that it has handled over 7,000 cases of various nature by directly interacting with ex-servicemen and the authorities concerned. It has handled about 1,150 cases related to entitlements and associated benefits and about 550 cases pertaining to pension and outstanding claims. There have been several instances where the authorities have responded with a month to solve problems. It has on record about 1,400 cases where assistance was provided in arranging accommodation for patients’ attendants, coordination for jobs and arranging tricycles, artificial limbs, hearing aids and financial assistance for the handicapped. Other cases handled by it pertain to the Ex-servicemen Contributory Health Scheme, issue or renewal of identity cards, ferrying of aged ex-servicemen or their dependents from far of places to the hospital for treatment. Colonel Chander said that after seeing the results, the concept is also being introduced in other commands. The concept has already been expanded within the Western Command, with similar helplines being established at Ambala, Jalandhar and Bathinda. “There have also been requests to set up such helplines at Delhi, Patiala, Ludhiana and Hamirpur,” Colonel Chander said. |
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Agitating farmers brave rain Chandigarh, September 2 Soon after the offices closed chaos was at its peak. The wild honking of cars rented the air as commuters struggled to find their way out of the jam. Later as the imprisoning rain forced the agitating farmers, with sheets protecting them, to rush for shelter in the Sector 17 shopping complex. Others rushed inside the Rose Garden to take refuge under the concrete shelters. Some even pitched temporary tarpaulin tents. The rain, however, damaged temporary chullahs of Punjab farmers. The fuel wood also got wet. The evening meal at the community kitchens was cooked with LPG cylinders. Police sources said that the farmers were planning to spend the night in the corridors of the Sector 17 market. |
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Minor sent to Savera Kharar, September 2 Mr Gill passed the orders when some office-bearers of the All-India Human Rights Watch (AIHRW), including Mr Anil Kaushik, Mr Amrik Singh, Col Tarsem Singh and Jasbir Singh, produced the girl in his court pleading him to pass an appropriate order for the custody of the girl who had been thrown out by her step parents. Col Tarsem Singh had moved an application before the court informing that Shivani had met one of the activists of the AIHRW Ms Sharda and she was taken to the Nari Niketan and Mother Teresa’s Home but she was refused admission in both places. Then she was taken to Savera when she was kept last night. Meanwhile, the court recorded the statement of the girl who informed the court that her mother had taken a divorce from her father when she was a child and she was left in the custody of her father Narinder Kumar Khurana. Her father then married again and died about seven years back. Her stepmother remarried after the death of Narinder Kumar. The girl alleged that she was maltreated by her step parents. She was forced to do the household chores and was even beaten up, she added. She was not allowed to continue her education after class VIII. She alleged that her stepfather beat her up on August 16 and even cut her hair. She was not allowed to come out of her house till August 31 by her step parents and they threatened to marry her off against her wishes. She also stated that her step parents may even try to kill her to grab her share of property. Fearing a threat to her life she fled from there and came to SAS Nagar. After not getting any help from the police there she, approached the AIHRW. The SDM recorded the statements of the girl, Col Tarsem Singh and Ms Sharda. Mr Gill has written in his orders there was a need to give protection to the minor child as she was not safe in the hands of her step parents and she was unwilling to go back to them fearing maltreatment. |
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PANCHKULA
DIARY Panchkula, September 2 Protest by villagers: Residents of Kakrali, Natwal and Toda squatted on the highway and demanded immediate redressal of their complaints. They were led by the sarpanch of Kakrali, Mr Anil Gautam. Over 100 vehicles were stranded on both sides of the road. It was then that the DSP, Naib Tehsildar, Barwala, SDO, UHBVN, Barwala, rushed to the spot and convinced the villagers to end their protest. They promised to sort out the matter of flies with the Poultry Association. Elected: Power fluctuation:
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Convict’s death to be probed Chandigarh, September 2 Raju, was admitted to the PGI, yesterday after doctors at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), referred him there. Raju, a resident of Janta colony Sector 25 was undergoing one year rigorous imprisonment for stealing property. He was convicted in the case on June 8, this year. The Model Jail Superintendent, Mr D.S. Rana, said Raju was taken to Sector 32 hospital where he was discharged after being given first aid. Mr Rana added that on September 1 afternoon he was again taken to Sector 32 hospital, from where he was referred to the PGI. He added that he had already submitted the inquiry report to the administration, in this regard. |
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READERS WRITE Apropos of the news report “PSHRC registers case
against DSP” (July 20), it is mentioned that the Punjab State Human
Rights Commission (PSHRC) had directed the state government to
register a case against Mr Rajinder Pal Anand, DSP (D), Patiala. The
report is based on wrong facts and even the orders of the commission
have been misquoted. The report was published without verifying the
facts. It is also mentioned that Mr Anand was in illegal possession of
a kothi owned by Mr Harpal Singh Pannu. The fact of the matter is that
litigation is still pending between Mr Anand and Mr Pannu, and the
former is just a tenant in that premises, occupying only two rooms. It
is wrong to say that he was occupying the entire house. PANKAJ
BHARDWAJ,
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IT sleuths survey a Sector 22 shop Chandigarh, September 2 Tll the IT officers remained in the shop, no customer was allowed to enter. A senior officer of the department disclosed that the records would be thoroughly studied to find out any anomalies in the accounts books and the stocks.
TNS |
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3 held in theft cases SAS Nagar, September 2 The police has seized 10 cameras, 50 watches, gold jewellery, computer parts and two telephone sets from them. The arrested persons are Harvir Singh, Rahul Sharma and Sanjeev Kumar. Harvir Singh is a resident of Phase IX, Rahul Sharma of Phase XI and Sanjeev Kumar of Mubarakpur village. The arrested persons were produced in the court today. |
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Cyclist
succumbs to injuries Chandigarh, September 2 Arrested:
Four booked:
Car stolen:
A resident of Panchkula, Sector 7, complained that somebody broke his cash box in Makhan Majra to take away the amount. Similarly, a Sector 43 resident
reported that gold ornaments worth Rs 60,000 were stolen from his house. |
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2 cheats held Chandigarh, September 2 The duo used to keep a Rs 50 note on the top and the back of a wad and stuff papers of the same size in the middle, the police said. On a tip-off, the police sent a decoy customer to the cheats, who fell for the bait. Ajay had come out from the jail barely a month back after being incarcerated for being involved in six cases of theft, registered in the Sector 39 police station.
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Man commits
suicide Panchkula, September 2 The body was discovered by Mr Jai Kishan Das, father of the deceased, at around 4 am. Mr Das was sleeping in the open and after it started raining in the morning, he got up and was going inside, when he noticed Ajay hanging from the ceiling. A suicide note was also found in the room. Family members say that the victim was under depression because he was unable to get a good job. He was doing documentation work for lawyers in the Punjab and Haryana High Court and had also applied for immigration. The victim was under acute depression and was not going for work for the past 10 days. |
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3 hurt as cars collide SAS Nagar, September 2 The police has registered a case against Mr Jaswinder Singh under Sections 279, 337 and 427 of the IPC.
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Banks focus on retired persons Chandigarh, September 2 Says an official of the ICICI Bank, “The city has over 50,000 retired couples with per capita saving ration even higher than the young couples. Apart from pensions and retirement benefits, a large number of them are getting money from their sons abroad or working in other states. We focus on them as part of our marketing strategy.” Apart from offering 0.5 per cent additional interest on savings to the retired persons as per the government instructions, the banks are offering additional facilities to the senior citizens such as free debit-cum-ATM card, collection of deposits and payments of pensions amount at their residence. Says Mr S.K. Bajaj, an SBI Branch Manager. “The bank offers free debit-cum-credit cards to them besides best customer facilities as part of our tradition.” The HDFC, ICICI, Bank of Punjab, UTI and other private banks have reportedly prepared a data of the persons who are going to retire from different departments in the next few months. The banks have asked their marketing executives to approach their families so that they could be convinced to deposit their retirement benefits with their branches. In fact, the bankers are attracted by the amount, which averages to Rs 10 lakh per person. As per the latest data released by the administration, the per capita income of Chandigarh has increased from about Rs 46,000 in 2001-02 to Rs 48,000 in 2002-03. It implies, said an official of Punjab National Bank,‘‘ there is a huge opportunity to tap the savings. Since the young couples are spending even more money than their income on cars, housing and other luxuries, it is the old couples which are coming to the banks and financial institutions to keep their savings.’’ Commenting on the impact of fall in interest rates, he said, the senior citizens were not shifting to equity or high risk market, rather they were depositing more money in the banks and encouraging their sons and daughters to save more money. Some of the banks have even approached the associations of the senior citizens to convince them about their plans. The SBI, PNB and other banks are even regularly organising health check ups for them. Mr Raj Kumar Jain, Assistant Vice President, UTI Bank, says,‘‘ Besides salaried class, the retired persons constitute a large share in our deposit base. With the increase in per capita income in the city, our strategy is to offer personal and housing loans to the young couples and tap savings of the aged people.’’ |
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Warden Shipra Chakravarty says:
“They dislike me because I don’t allow indiscipline. I ask them to put off lights after 11 pm. I require them to use their mobiles without disturbing others. Ever since I joined I have introduced cleanliness and discipline. I never abuse them nor question their parents. It is wrong to say that I ask them to prove their relationship with their fathers. There are some girls who want my ouster so that they can execute their will. I am clean and hard working. I know of girls who are in this hostel despite termination of jobs. But I have a heart to accommodate everyone.” 
