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Sidhu demands transfer of RCF General Manager
Accused flees from police custody
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Paramedics hold protest rally
ETT members for change in rules
2 killed in road mishaps
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Sidhu demands transfer of RCF General Manager
Kapurthala, March 16 The employees of the factory are up in arms against the government since the Union Railway Minister, Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav, proposed in this year’s Railway Budget that the RCF be turned into a PSU. Mr Sidhu said the RCF not only gave employment to local people, but also many ancillary units supplying components to the factory had been established in the state. He added that the factory was set up during the peak of militancy to give employment to youths of the state. He announced that he would lead the agitation in the “interest of the employees and Punjab, if need be”. The MP alleged that the proposed conversion of the RCF into a PSU was a step towards privatisation. Lauding the workers for rolling out 1,425 coaches against the target of 1,200 coaches during the current fiscal year, he expressed his surprise over the silence of the Railway Ministry on the issue of the conversion (into a PSU) of the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai. He added that the strength of the ICF was double of that of the RCF and it was rolling out fewer coaches than the factory here. He demanded the transfer of the RCF General Manager, Mr Yashpal Gupta, for “ignoring the interests of the employees”. He claimed that the former RCF General Manager, Mr V. P. Ojha, had opposed the conversion of the RCF into a PSU, pointing out the escalation in the cost of coaches as the reason. Mr Sidhu said he would write to the Railway Minister against the proposal. Meanwhile, on the request of the RCF management, Mr P. Srivastva, Additional Member, Production, Railway Board, visited the factory today to ascertain the view of the staff and management about the proposal. Mr Yashpal Gupta, in view of the agitation of the employees and their families against the proposed conversion of the factory into a PSU, had reportedly written to the Railway Ministry last week to depute some senior officials to listen to the employees and dispel their fears regarding the proposal. Mr Srivastava held discussions with the members of the Staff Council and other union leaders in the afternoon. He held a meeting with the General Manager too. The union leaders presented a memorandum to Mr Srivastva.
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Accused flees from police custody
Jalandhar, March 16 The accused Davinder Singh was wanted in an attempt to murder case. Supporters of the accused began pelting stones at the police party and in the resulting commotion, the accused escaped. The incident occurred when a police team from Division Number 1, led by its Station House Officer (SHO), Mr Kulwinder Singh, went to the residence of the accused to arrest him. Davinder was wanted in the case of attempt to murder Balbir Singh, the gunman of the SHO. According to the police officials present during the incident, Davinder Singh escaped when the police was busy warding off the attack by the supporters of the accused. Davinder Singh had been booked under Sections 307, 323, 353, 186, and 34 of the IPC. The SP City (I), Dr Surinder Kumar Kalia, said the police was on the lookout for the accused. He added that the accused had a criminal background and had other cases registered against him.
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Paramedics hold protest rally
Jalandhar/Kapurthala, March 16 The members wore black badges and demanded a rollback of privatisation policy. They also called for regular appointment of the staff against vacant posts. Mr Harinder Singh, co-convener, led the rally through all major roads and roundabouts , raising anti-government slogans. Meanwhile in Kapurthala, doctors, pharmacists, nurses, ANMs, and other male workers working in government hospitals and dispensaries today took out a protest march over the issue and blocked the traffic in front of the gate of the district courts here. Dr Chaman Lal, president of the PCMS Association, said the staff hired on the contract could not run the national health programmes. |
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ETT members for change in rules
Jalandhar, March 16 The protest began after the members of the union got together at Zila Parishad office in Municipal Corporation complex this morning to submit their applications. The members said that many of the candidates, who had completed the ETT course after doing a three-year diploma course instead of doing Plus Two, were being rejected. The members pointed out that since they were considered eligible for taking the course after diploma that had equivalence with Plus Two, they should also be considered qualified for the job. The union leaders said that they were allowed to fill forms for appointment in their own district only. They added that among them there were many eligible candidates from Mansa, Muktsar and Faridkot, but the number of vacant posts in those districts was far too low. They demanded that such candidates be adjusted in other neighbouring districts, where the number of posts was relatively high. |
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2 killed in road mishaps
Jalandhar, March 16 In a separate accident, one Jaspal Singh, a resident of Lidra, was killed after the scooter he was riding was hit by an SUV near the Dr BR Ambedkar National Institute of Technology (NIT) on the GT Road here.
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