Jalandhar, February 15
While the Election Commission has been proudly announcing a record turnout of voters and boasting of conducting smooth elections, poll employees who made it possible by toiling hard for the past seven months are yet to receive any honorarium or expenses incurred by them during the process.

Booth-Level Officers have gone door to door recording the details of every eligible voter, listing the names of hundreds of first-time voters, striking off the names those who had shifted out, got married or passed away in the recent times, getting their pictures clicked and dispatching them their voter I-cards, but have not even received any appreciation for the work.

The Booth-Level Officers, primarily from the Jalandhar (Central) constituency, got together outside the office of Deputy Commissioner today to give him a representation of their demand to at least pay them their expenses.

They rued while the polling staff that spent a day at the polling stations had been paid remuneration right at the time they had been relieved, they were not being paid any amount for the past seven months.

They said they had been working for long hours, even on gazetted holidays, besides spending money out of their own pockets on conveyance, telephone calls, hiring cameras, stationery, making computerised statements, getting printouts and forwarding reports in triplicate copies.

Some of them pointed out that they were working on contract getting barely Rs 3,000 per month and had found difficult to make payments for all expenses incurred.

They demanded from the Deputy Commissioner that their expenses and some daily allowances must be paid to them.

Jalandhar, February 15
Several delegates from Punjabi province of Pakistan have come to participate in the third World Punjabi Conference that began at Desh Bhagat Yadgaar Hall here today.

They included Dr Manzoor Ejaj, Sharief Rama, Amin Malik, Rani Malik and Farha Malik. Besides Mota Singh Sarai from the UK and a philosophy professor at Harvard University in the USA, Dr Jaspal Singh also taking part in the conference.

Sucha Singh Deepak presented his report in the conference which was presided over jointly by Baba Bhagat Singh Bilga, Prof Pritam Singh, Dr Joginder Singh Puar and Dr Karnail Singh Thind.

Jalandhar, February 15
In yet another blind murder, the police recovered the body of a man from the nullah located in Leather Complex here today.

The body was later identified as that of Suresh Saini of Basti Peerdad. The man was apparently killed as there were reportedly injury marks on the neck.

The SHO of the Maqsoodan police station and the in charge of Basti Bawa Khel police post along with other personnel reached the spot.

The police sent the body to the Civil Hospital for postmortem and registered an FIR of murder against unknown person. The police was working on different theories to solve the blind murder.