Jalandhar, September 27
An 11-year-old domestic help, who was daughter of a migrant labourer, was gagged to death near their rented accommodation in Dashmesh Avenue here today.

It seemed that the assailants had attempted to rape the girl, Baby, before killing her. She was probably asphyxiated by the killers.

The crime came to the light when Chotti, wife of Chotte Lal, a migrant labourer originally hailing from Uttar Pradesh, found her daughter Baby missing from her bed in their house early this morning.

Baby worked as a domestic help for a resident of Mithapur locality, and she had been brought back home from her workplace by her sister Vanita (15) only on Tuesday evening so as to enable her to meet her family after a gap of some days.

A search was launched for her around 6 am, but it failed to yield any results. Later, Police Division No. 7 was informed about the incident.

It was only around 7.30 am that Lal Singh, a cousin of Baby, and one Naresh, their neighbour who had also participated in the search, informed the anxious family members that Baby’s body was lying in the nearby vacant plot. The body was found at a distance of about 100 mt from the house of Chotte Lal.

Though no arrest has been made so far, the police authorities, it was learnt, had rounded up both Lal Singh (22) and Naresh for questioning and to ascertain how and in which circumstances they had stumbled upon the body of the girl. Though there were no injury marks on the body that has been sent for a post-mortem examination, there were indications that she might have been subjected to rape attempt before she was killed. 

Phagwara, September 27
Phagwara SDM Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal has instructed Phagwara Nagar Council (NC) officials to send water tankers to the local Dharamkot Mohalla immediately to provide clean drinking water to residents of the mohalla from where reports of jaundice outbreak had been received last night.

Councillors, including NC president Malkiat Singh Ragbotra, were taken aback when SDM Dhaliwal arrived in the council meeting today. The SDM asked the council officials to launch the necessary cleanliness drive in the mohalla.

When this correspondent visited the affected area this morning, it was learnt that illegal connections of water supply were one of the most important reasons for the outbreak of jaundice. More than 275 residents of the mohalla could not get water connections and they themselves had connected PVC pipes with the main underground water supply line.

Almost all residents were getting water from a small pond (made by them) where they collected the water through these PVC pipes.

Area Councillor Bira Ram Baljot, while talking with The Tribune, admitted that the residents had got illegal water connections.

He refuted the claims of the health authorities that the death of pregnant woman, Asha Rani, was due to gynaecological complications. He told The Tribune that the woman had suffered from jaundice and had got medical treatment from a local private hospital.

Meanwhile, two more jaundice patients were admitted in the local Civil Hospital, while five others were given treatment in the Civil Hospital here today.

It was learnt that Rs 25 lakh had been sanctioned by the Nagar Council for water supply in the area, while Rs 10 lakh would be spent on building roads there.

Tablets of chlorine were distributed among the residents. The health authorities had taken the help of the Ram Lila Committee last night during the staging of Ram Lila in the mohalla to advise the residents to drink boiled water. 

Jalandhar, September 27
Alleging that it was a violation of the human rights, the Rural Medical Service Providers have expressed their anger over the lack of any provision for availing of maternity and medical leave in their contract.

Stating this here today, the members said that Dr Mamta Gautam who was posted at Subsidiary Health Centre of Paddi Jagir was in the third trimester of her pregnancy and had repeatedly asked for maternity leave, but to no avail.

Dr Gautam said that she would have to take unpaid leave or quit the job. She rued that in case the appointments had been made on regular basis she would not have been in such a dilemma.

But hers is not a lone case. As many as five women service providers in the neighbouring districts of Hoshiarpur and Nawanshahr also urgently require maternity leave. Dr Navneet posted at Mahilgahlan village in Hoshiarpur, Dr Sukriti Sharma posted at Adamwal village, and another lady doctor posted at Ambala Jattan village of Hoshiarpur have asked for the leave.

Giving details, the members said that out of the 1193 service providers appointed in the state, 60 per cent were women, of which 90 per cent were married. They claimed that when they had met the Health Minister, Mr Surinder Singla, in the first week of August, he had promised them a provision for maternity and sick leave. But, they said, no notification had reached them till date.

The service providers said that as per the general leave policy, a female worker was allowed maternity leave for any number of days not exceeding 12 weeks. They pointed out that under the Central Service (leave) Rules, 1972, women government employees were entitled to maternity leave for a period of 135 days from the date of commencement. During this period, the employee was paid leave salary equal to the pay drawn immediately before proceeding on leave, they added.

The doctors questioned how the government could assign them the task of caring for the health of thousands of villagers when they themselves had to work in the toughest conditions without any provision for sickness or maternity leave. 

Jalandhar, September 27
With a view to enabling journalism students meet challenges posed by the ongoing information and technology revolution, Dr Jairup Singh, Vice-Chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University, has envisaged upgradation and updating of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at the university’s regional campus at Ladhewali on the outskirts of the city.

Dr Jairup Singh, who was on his first-ever visit to the centre, also exhorted the students and the staff of the regional campus to devote their maximum time to research-based studies.

“There is no shortcut to success. Hard work, sprinkled with a high degree of discipline, is the only key to success,” he observed.

Assuring that Guru Nanak Dev Varsity would extend all possible help for better infrastructure at the regional campuses in Jalandhar and Gurdaspur, the VC said that the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication would be equipped with modern facilities and equipment, including a state-of-the-art audio-visual studio.

“Students can utilise the suggestion box at the varsity if they have any genuine grievances,” said Dr Jairup Singh, who was accompanied by Dr Kamlesh Duggal, Head of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, and Dr Anil Tewari, Associate Dean, Student Welfare.

Jalandhar, September 27
To commemorate the 99th birth anniversary celebrations of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, a one-hour musical documentary titled ‘Fansi’ is being released.

The pivotal role in the film has been played by Punjabi singer Ravinder Grewal of “Dhedhi Pug Waleya” fame. The documentary is his joint production with Music Waves Pvt Ltd.

During a press conference held here on Tuesday, Grewal who has enacted the role of the martyr and sung all songs in the film said that he had tried to make a sincere effort of highlighting the contribution made by the freedom fighters who had laid down their lives in the service of the nation. The film highlighted the role of other freedom fighters like Shaheed Udham Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, Lala Lajpat Rai, Sukhdev and Rajguru, he added.

The film has been directed by noted music video director Rimpy-Prince. The film also has some soulful music by Punjabi music director Tejwant Kittu.