Nawanshahr, November 3
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal inaugurated the 10.36-km-long Kular-Tibba Nangal road connecting Kandi villages falling under Nawanshahr and Ropar districts at Kular, about 30 km from here, today.

Naming the road as Maharaj Brahmanand Bhuriwale Marg, the Chief Minister promised to widen the road to 18 feet.

Badal lauded the contribution of the Maharaj Brahmanand Bhuriwale Trust in providing education and healthcare facilities in the backward Kandi area of the state.

Maharaj Brahmanand, third head of the Bhuriwale sect, was instrumental in persuading people to provide land for the road.

The Maharaj Bhuriwale Garib Dassi Educational Trust under the stewardship of Acharya Chetna Nand Bhuriwale, present master of the sect, has also made substantial contribution for the purpose.

Badal announced a grant of Rs 10 lakh for the MBG Educational Trust. He also promised to provide the trust its due share of Rs 60 lakh out of a central-sponsored grant of Rs 4 crore to be distributed among the private colleges.

The Chief Minister urged Acharya Chetna Nand to provide a suitable building for setting up a college at Balachaur. He announced to rename the Balachaur-Kular-Bunga Sahib road as Maharaj Brahma Nand Bhuriwale Marg.

The trust runs five degree colleges, one BEd college, four schools and three hospitals in the Kandi area falling in Nawanshahr, Ropar, Hoshiarpur and Ludhiana districts.

The school run by the MBG Trust at Balachaur would be brought under the Adarsh School scheme.

Responding to the demands of chief parliamentary secretary Nand Lal and Achayra Chetna Nand Bhuriwale regarding providing drinking and irrigation water, industry for generating employment opportunities for Kandi youth, the CM promised to extend the Kandi canal up to Balachaur for ensuring irrigation facilities. Tubewell connections would be provided on priority.

MP Avinash Rai Khanna, MLAs Mohan Lal Banga, Sant Ajit Singh (Anadpur Sahib), Kamal Chaudhary and former MP Master Dalip Chand, among others, also addressed the gathering.

Amritsar, November 3
Representatives of students and faculty members of Amritsar Government Medical College, Guru Ram Das Medical College, Amritsar, and Government Medical College, Patiala, voted against the proposed extension of MBBS internship for a year by adding a stint in rural areas.

In an interaction with a high-level committee formed by the health minister, which arrived here on Friday to get feedback from the students and the doctors of the region, it was pointed out that though medical services in the rural areas of the country needed to be improved, but extending MBBS course was not a viable solution.

The girl students opposing the proposal said extending MBBS course for more than five years would affect their marriage prospects. The doctors generally get degree around the age of 26 and by the age of 30 they get job.

Most of the students were of the view that doctors should be asked to go in for a two-year stint in rural areas after getting the MBBS degree and it should be made mandatory for taking entrance tests for the postgraduate courses. However, the government should ensure that doctors got a posting in rural health institutions.

Dr Sumba Siva Rao, additional director-general, health services, Government of India, who is also the chairman of the committee, said Amritsar was the first city to be visited by the committee to hold interactive sessions. He revealed that a total of 30 centres have been selected across the country for interaction session.

“According to the proposal, students have to spend four months each in a district hospital, community health centre and primary health centre, respectively. In this way they will get a chance to provide healthcare to the rural population and during the period they would get a stipend of Rs 8, 000,” said Dr Rao.

As 70 per cent of India’s population resides in rural areas, therefore it was the responsibility of the health minister to cater to this large chunk of people. So, the union health minister had announced this proposal, but before its implementation, he constituted a committee to gauge the opinion of the medical fraternity, especially MBBS students, he added.

Meanwhile, Amritsar Government Medical College principal Dr Jagdish Gargi said those present were also asked to fill proformas to express their opinion on the proposal. Besides medical students and faculty, members of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) also participated.

Phagwara, November 3
The local police has now been entrusted the job of removing illegal encroachments. Several police parties were seen challaning squatters on service lanes. Notably, the Nagar Council has remained ineffective in removing illegal encroachments, which result in major traffic snarls here. Confirming this, Phagwara DSP HPS Khakh said a warning has been already issued to the encroachers. If they refuse to budge, strict action will be taken against them, added Khakh. A meeting of the representatives of various banks and taxi stands was convened recently in this connection

The DSP said in the wake of the ongoing festive season a total of eight teams have been formed to monitor the situation. He said search operation, with active assistance of anti-sabotage team and dog squads, are being conducted to prevent any untoward incident. He asked the residents to not violate any traffic norms and observe discipline. He said all efforts will be made to ensure proper law and order situation in the town.