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Poor security arrangements at Central Jail Ludhiana, January 23 While the four alleged terrorists had to work hard in Burail Jail, Chandigarh, to dig a 95-foot-long tunnel, any inmate of Central Jail here would just have to cover a distance of 100 yards, overpower the two guards and make good the escape. Just last week, two groups of inmates fought with
sharp-edged weapons inside the jail and are said to have covered a distance of 200 yards towards each other. The seriousness in maintaining the high security is best reflected from this case. Only a month ago two prisoners had escaped from Patiala Central Jail through a small breach in the outer wall of the jail. The lessons from that jailbreak were not learnt as the wall was not repaired. Even after the Burail jailbreak, no move has been made to do something in this direction. Sources disclose that the wall repair needs something between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 15 lakh but the state government has not cleared the grant. An official of the jail wishing not be quoted confirmed that they had sent a proposal for the construction of the wall between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 15 lakh, but no money has been allocated. ‘‘This was because of a serious resource crunch faced by the state Jail Department. We are functioning within the limited resources for daily expenses and cannot find funds for such a work,’’ he said. Deputy Superintendent of Jail Sardul Singh acknowledged the problem but stressed that a round-the-clock vigil was kept at the sensitive spot and no incident of jail escape had occurred all these months. It was on December 9, 2002, that the wall collapsed causing the death of a 14-year-old boy, besides injuries to a few others who were sitting near it. Angry residents of the area had raised slogans against the jail officials and staged a protest dharna at the site. The deceased boy, Rahul, along with some other boys, was answering the call of nature near the wall when it suddenly caved in. While others jumped to safety, Rahul could not take evasive action and was buried under the debris. His pet dog was also buried. The deceased boy was one of the four sons of a vegetable vendor, Parmod Kumar. One of his brothers suffered minor injuries. The area residents had alleged that the wall had been leaning for the past some time but it was not repaired leading to the collapse. Inquiries revealed that the wall had not been repaired for the past 25 years. The jail officials had written to the government and the PWD several times for repairing the wall but nothing had been done. Interestingly, the Jail Department and the residents of the area accused each other for the wall collapse. An official of the jail said the wall had collapsed because of weakening of the foundation. He said the residents of the area were to be blamed for this. They had been quarrying sand from near the wall which caused erosion during rains. The residents of the area have, however, blamed the jail officials for the wall collapse. They said a sewage of the jail passed near the wall. The water constantly overflowed and weakened the foundation of the wall. |
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Jails in city inspected Ludhiana, January 23 Sources disclosed that nothing objectionable was found Mr Swaran Singh, Superintendent, Central Jail, here said round-the- clock checking was already being done in the jail, but a special inspection was done following the Burail incident. |
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Nova
Cycles issue resolved, work to resume today Ludhiana, January 23 Under the agreement, only 35 employees (25 from Nova, seven from Bhogal Sons and three from Avon Cycles) will be dismissed from service instead of 57 who had been dismissed earlier. The Deputy Commissioner constituted a five-member committee, headed by the SDM(East), Mr Kuldeep Singh, to review the cases of the 35 sacked employees . Four other members of the committee include state INTUC president Dr Subash Sharma, president of the United Cycle and Parts Manufacturing Association G.L.Pahwa and legal expert Mr B.D.Arora. The findings and recommendations of the committee will be mutually acceptable to the management as well as the employees. Giving details, the Deputy Commissioner informed that both the sides had agreed to leave the confrontational attitude in the interest of the growth of industry and welfare of the labour. Labour leaders assured to develop congenial environment and not to deliberately go slow in the daily working. They also assured not to resort to strike without exhausting the available legal channels through the Labour Department. He said the industrialists also assured that no worker would be victimised and all the legal rights of the labourers would be honoured. Both sides agreed to solve any kind of problem through negotiation in future involving the officers of the Labour Department and even if any problem persisted, it would be solved through the district administration. It was agreed upon to lift the lockout of Nova Cycles from tomorrow. Mr Jaspal Singh , stressed upon both the sides not to adopt to any kind of confrontation and asked them to utilise the services of the Labor Department in case of any kind of misunderstanding in the future, as it was in the interest of both industry and workers. The representatives of the industries who were present in the meeting included Mr G.L.Pahwa, president of the United Cycles and Manufacturers Association, Mr Harmohinder Singh Pahwa of Nova Cycles, Mr Onkar Singh Pahwa of Avon Cycles, Mr Sanjiv Pahwa of Ralson Tyres and Mr S.K.Rai of Hero Cycles. From the labour side, Mr Subhash Sharma, state president, INTUC, Mr Swaran, district president, INTUC, Mr Sarabjit
Singh Sarhali and Mr Joginder Singh Sarhali participated. |
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11 agitating workers booked Ludhiana, January 23 As many as 11 agitating workers of Ralson Industries were booked by the focal point police here last evening. Dashrath Lal, Rajat Ram, Rabukar, Khushi Ram, Madho Ram and six others were arrested for disobeying the District Magistrate's orders. The workers had gathered outside the factory premises and were shouting slogans against the management. The District Magistrate, Mr Anurag Verma, had imposed Section 144 on January 18 following industrialists' demand. He had banned holding of demonstrations, dharnas, shouting of slogans, rallies and assembly of five or more people within the jurisdictions of the district. The orders were enforced from Monday onwards. While passing the orders, the District Magistrate had categorically stated that some organisations were planning to excite the emotions of the people by organising protest rallies and dharnas in the coming days, which could damage the public and private properties in the district. Sources in the administration said the action would be taken against those, who had indulged in stoning in Nova and Avon cycles.
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BKU criticises government policies Ludhiana, January 23 Mr Ajmer Singh Lakhowal and Mr Manjit Singh Qadian, president and general secretary of the unit, respectively, said the Centre was taking the plea that the same were to be done to fulfil the WTO regime
recommendations. By blaming the WTO, the government was seeking to wash its hands of the procurement process. They said that the union was not against private procurement, but wanted that the private operators should buy at prices above the MSP. They said that it had come to their notice that the state government, as an experiment, was not going to procure wheat this season in Sangrur. No official procurement agency would purchase wheat and the entire procurement would be in private hands. The union will closely monitor the process The kisan leaders said the sops announced by the Centre ahead of the parliamentary poll were a gimmick and would not benefit the farmers. If the government was really serious about the welfare of the farmers, they should decrease the interest rates of the loans to the agriculture sector and link the prices of foodgrains with the price index. They informed that the union would hold a state-wide agitation in front of the PSEB at Patiala to protest against the erratic power supply on January 27. They would press for 12-hour uninterrupted power supply, besides disposing of the backlog of pending tubewell connections. |
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5 delegates return from
World Social Forum Ludhiana, January 23 Members of the delegation like Dr Arun Mitra, general secretary, Indian Doctors for Peace and Development, Mr Pradeep Sharma, Dr Gulzar Singh Pandher, Mr Kuldeep Singh Binder and Mr Darshan Singh from Bharat Jan Gyan Vigyan Jatha said the people aspired for a world free of nuclear weapons. They criticised the US aggression on Iraq and demanded immediate withdrawal of its troops from there. Participants expressed concern over the culture of violence, terrorism, rising fundamentalism and efforts to divide society on the basis of religion, ethnicity, caste and creed. In this context, concern was expressed on the events in Somalia, Rwanda, Sri Lanka and Gujarat. They pledged to work for harmony in society. The role of governments in this regard was also questioned. It exhibited the desire of the people for a self-reliant sustainable development, which at present was marred by the process of so-called globalisation. Through various seminars and workshops held on the occasion, participants said the term globalisation had become dominant for the rich countries, over the poor developing nations. Globalisation, in the present context was neo-imperialisation that had to be stopped through the people's movement and resistance. Dr Mitra further added that farmers stressed on the need to develop agriculture according to the needs of society. The entry of big corporations like Monsanto would destroy the indigenous technology in agriculture and ruin the marginal peasants. They would become dependent on the MNCs for basic inputs like seeds which till date they used to produce. The danger of genetically modified varieties in agriculture was discussed in details and strategies to inform and organise the farmers and general public to resist the genetically engineered varieties were planned. Participants took the entry of the corporate sector in the field of education and health very seriously. These two sectors which form the basis of any society were being turned into business ventures with a purely profit motive. As a result, the health and education were getting out of the reach of common man. The trend was strongly opposed and mobilisation plans against these trends were charted out. Children through cultural performances and processions decried the menace of child labour and demanded education for all and the right to live with dignity. |
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BJP launches Atal Sandesh Yatra Ludhiana, January 23 The yatra organised by the urban unit of the District Bharatiya Janata Party passed through the various markets of the city. The workers from all the mandals of the party participated in the yatra. Speakers at the rally claimed that the Vajpayee government had performed “phenomenally well” be it the foreign policy, the economic policy or the issue of internal security. |
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Remove encroachments, says society Ludhiana, January 23 General secretary Bhajan Singh Gill, vice-president M.S. Brar, Mr B.S. Dhaliwal, Mr Sohan Singh Arewala and Ms Charanjit Kaur condemned people for encroaching upon roads, parks and other public places. They said politicians and other influential persons were doing disservice to society by allowing the people to encroach upon the lands for their selfish ends. Major Aulakh said society was against encroachments in the colony. He said the corporation had been approached to remove encroachments from the streets and a piece of prime land in the colony. "Though all documents have been submitted, no action has been taken so far. The authorities have failed to take any action," said Major Aulakh. |
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Netaji remembered Ludhiana, January 23 Speaking on the occasion, Mr Diwan dwelt upon the patriotism and the spirit of the great leader to free the country from British rule. He said the countrymen ought to follow in the footsteps of Netaji to safeguard the hard-earned freedom. He said it was unfortunate that the younger generation was not fully aware of the courage and dedication towards the country displayed by freedom fighters and sacrifices made by great martyrs. Mr Sharma said that the AIATF had taken upon itself the responsibility of making the youth aware of the threats looming large over the country and to mobilise them to face these challenges. The SC and St Cell of the Nationalist Congress Party held a function at the Vaishno Mata Mandir in Swatantar Nagar to celebrate the birthday of Netaji.
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Rain throws life out of gear Ludhiana, January 23
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ISKCON celebrations Ludhiana, January 23
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Tension at DMCH Ludhiana, January 23
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17-year-old
girl abducted Ludhiana, January 23 The complainant alleged that the accused had abducted his 17-year-old daughter from the village on the night of January 15 and taken her to an undisclosed place. Driver kidnapped:
The complainant stated that his father owned a truck which was being driven by Bhola Singh, resident of Ghudani Kalan village, near Payal. The complainant stated that the accused forcibly took away the truck, which was loaded with rice, and also kidnapped the driver from Nim Wala Dhaba on the GT Road at Sahnewal on the evening of January 19. Store burgled:
Assaulted:
The complainant alleged that the accused, who were running a shop in front of his house, forced their way into his house on Wednesday night, beat him up and threatened him. The Sadar police registered a case under Sections 324, 148 and 149 of the IPC on the statement of Mr Makhan Singh, resident of Rajowal village, against Harmesh Singh, alias Bobby, his mother Swaran Kaur, residents of the same village, and some other persons accompanying them. The complainant alleged that the accused intercepted him on Wednesday morning and beat him up as a result of which he was injured. |
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