Phagwara, May 10
The Punjab government is facing heat over growing trafficking of women in the state. Khagan Verma, chief of the intelligence services of Assam, has written a letter to Punjab DGP NPS Aulakh in this regard.

And it is learnt that DGP Aulakh has instructed the additional director general of police (crime) and the SSPs of the districts concerned to submit their report within a week to him.

As per information gathered by The Tribune, Assam police and bureau of police research and development have prepared a special report in which it was revealed that thousands of Assamese girls in their teens are involved in flesh trade in Punjab.

And according to sources, the total figure consists of 3,184 women and 3,840 teenaged girls.

The state government is careful about going public with the reports on the burgeoning flesh trade because of political and security implications.

Girls, mostly in their teens from populous and underdeveloped districts like Assam, Malda, Dinajpur and Coochbehar, find themselves trapped in this trafficking nexus.

An idea about the enormity of the disturbing issue can be judged from a report that Assam police publishes pictures of missing women in leading newspapers on daily basis to gather information about girls’ whereabouts.

Investigators as well as the non-governmental organisations engaged in campaigns against atrocities on women have informed the Punjab government that the women were being sold to brothels or individuals in north India, especially in the state, on the pretext of getting them a job there.

Most of these girls are attached to DJ groups, said the sources.

They said for crime syndicates, Punjab is a lucrative market because the percentage of women is alarmingly low in the state.

Secondly, the men who would become so-called husbands, according to reports, are mostly marginal farmers who could not marry in time either because of their social status or lack of economic advantage, but are now in a position to raise a family for which they are even ready to buy wives, added the sources.

Jalandhar, May 10
Fate decided to rescue a five-year old girl from dying of fatal illness abandoned on the roadside when she was recently underwent a free heart surgery from Escorts Hospital in Delhi after the Phagwara Police handed her to the Child Helpline, a wing of a local NGO.

The girl, Archana, was presented before mediapersons at Punjab Press Club here where the organiser of Child Helpline, Surinder Saini, revealed the whole story. “The girl came to us through the police at Pushpa Gujral Nari Niketan three months back. At that time she was too weak to even walk. She would often fall off while trying to move. She consulted local doctors who told us that the girl had a hole in her heart,” he said.

“We thought of discussing the matter with MP Naresh Gujral, who is also the president of Nari Niketan and patron of Child Helpline. He asked us to bring the girl to Delhi. Archana stayed for three days at Gujral’s house from where she was being taken to AIIMS for consulting the doctors. Since the process of taking treatment at AIIMS proved to be too long owing to immense pressure, our patron had a word with renowned heart specialist Dr Naresh Trehan who operated upon the girl without charging any fee,” Saini said while adding that the MP shared a good relation with Dr Trehan and the two had come together at Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences here recently.

Saini pointed out that the Nari Niketan was taking care of 34 children. He said the centre had received four new born babies in the last fortnight of whom three were girls. He appealed to the public not to abandon children in unhygienic conditions, garbage dumps or in roadsides and simply leave them in a cradle outside their centre. He assured that the identity of the parents who were unable to take care of their children would be kept confidential in any case.

The organiser said recently a baby was hung up outside their centre under a tree. Passersby found that the ants had badly bruised her. He said the baby had to be immediately taken to doctors and it took days before she could recover from the injuries.

Phagwara, May 10
Traffic violators are having a tough time in Phagwara. The traffic police has taken upon itself to teach a lesson to these rules disobeyers.

So the traffic police has started a challaning spree in the town. This year, till April, 1,326 challans have been issued which has resulted in revenue collection worth Rs 6 lakh. The traffic police had issued 4,527 challans in 2005, collecting nearly Rs 18 lakh by way of fines and in 2006, the police had issued 5,580 challans and realised nearly Rs 23 lakh as fine for various traffic violations. They are patting themselves on the back for netting Rs 5 lakh more in 2006 as compared to 2005.

The figures have been attained despite the fact that the challaning spree of the police does not cover every offence mentioned in Sub-Section 3 of Section 206 of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988. Challans in Phagwara have been limited to driving without a helmet, overspeeding, using a mobile phone while driving, misuse of black film, wrong parking and underage driving, apart from a few others.

The list of rules has 94 offences for which challaning can be undertaken. There are certain offences, which policemen are not even aware of and avoid penalising the public for these.

Some people allege that the traffic police is using challans only to "earn money". The police does not make efforts to educate the public about the traffic rules and regulations. Police can be sighted hiding behind some shops to nab traffic violators and issuing challans to them, they explain.

Ravinder Singh Dhillon, traffic in charge, does not agree. He maintains that the traffic police does hold awareness weeks from time to time to educate people. He adds they also hold camps on regular intervals and organise police-public meetings for better coordination.

Clarifying on the increase in the number of challans this year, he says, it is entirely due to an increase in the violations and has nothing to do with making money through issuing challans.

People say police has been "efficient" in challaning as the person who books a violator gets a share. Senior officers, however, rubbish the allegation, saying no commission is given to the challaning officer. The money instead goes to the government treasury, not even to the traffic police.

Jalandhar, May 10
Mother’s Day was celebrated by the pre-primary students of Delhi Public School in a special assembly on Monday. The tiny tots created a perfect platform for themselves to express their feelings and tell their mothers how much they loved and appreciated them.

The mothers came dressed in their best yellow dresses to watch their little ones give words to their feelings of love. They were moved to tears as children said a prayer and expressed their thoughts woven around a mother’s love.

They applauded heartily as the little ones danced to ‘Mama, I love you’. The most poignant moment of the day was when the children handed over a card specially made by them for the occasion to their mothers.

Principal Seema Bahukhandi thanked the mothers for spending time with their children. The day was signed off with fun and games for the mothers.

Jalandhar, May 10
Already the construction of the bus stand, which has been going on for almost a year, has put commuters on the back foot and now they are facing more difficult time with overflowing sewage water outside it.

Apparently due to a blocked drain, the sewage water spills onto the GT Road just outside bus stand, sometimes covering the road right till the middle. The dark filthy water discharges a foul stench which is unbearable for all those crossing the stretch of the road.

The Municipal Corporation officials too have failed to look into the matter as no mechanism has been devised by them to check the problem which has been on since the last fortnight. The spillage begins in the morning and the sewage water is left to dry out on its own till the evening.

Another problem that call for an immediate concern is that many vendors sell their eatables just along the road which are bound to get contaminated posing a health risk to all those consuming the food there.

Mayor Surinder Mahey, when contacted, said that the employees may have been draining out water from the choked sewers. He said that since it was affecting a large number of commuters on the main road, he would get it checked.

Jalandhar, May 10
The craze of the waves has hit the city youngsters to a hilt. It became all the more obvious during the four-day auditions held at All India Radio for short-listing the radio jockeys (RJs).

More than 500 applicants have turned out so far for auditions that began on May 8 for their FM Rainbow channel.

A visit to the station revealed that not only teenagers, who have been smitten by the FM bug, but even those who are heading towards the 30 years age group.

The scenario was nothing less than that of an examination centre with candidates walking around carrying papers of the script of the matter which they were supposed to speak during the audition.

Talking to The Tribune, Harpreet Kaur, a former lecturer with city-based Lyallpur Khalsa College, said that listening to the peppy talks of the RJs prompted her to appear for an audition and try her luck.

What’s could define more for the craziness of the RJ aspirants that some of them were already working and had come for the auditions skipping their working hours.

Sumeet Sharma, marketing executive with a city based private bank, who had come for the auditions said that he told his boss that he is in the field meeting customers.

Another candidate, a government employee requesting anonymity said that he had come for the audition after giving a medical leave application in the office.

Meanwhile, a four member team including assistant station director Suman Pal, programme executive (PEX) and FM-in charge Puneet Sehgal, PEX Monika Dutt and PEX Amarjit Singh would be short-listing the candidates who would be undergoing one week training and Vani Certificate course before going live on air.