Jalandhar, November 20
Head constable Charnajit Singh, posted at Bhargo Camp police post, was killed when murder accused Ajay Ghoki allegedly hit him on Monday night with a motorcycle in an attempt to flee.

Charanjit was a part of a four-member police party, led by in charge of Bhargo Camp police post ASI Pushp Bali. The police party had gone to the Budhamal ground to nab Ghoki, who was wanted in the murder case of Joginder Pal Gogi. The police had got the information that Ghoki, along with his accomplice was going to Gogi’s house to threaten his wife.

According to constable Sukhdev Singh, also a member of the police party, the accused ran towards Nakodar Road and hit Charanjit Singh with his motorcycle near the Cool Road traffic lights when he tried to catch him.

Bali said, “The four of us were on two motorcycles and the accused succeeded in hitting Charanjit with his motorcycle due to the presence of less police force.”

While Ghoki fled from the spot after hitting the head constable, his accomplice was injured in the incident. The police arrested him and admitted him to a hospital. He was yet to be identified as he was in coma, Bali added.

Meanwhile, an FIR under section 302, IPC, has been registered against Ghoki and his accomplice at police station number six.

Bali said, “Ghoki and his two brothers are habitual criminals. While one of his brothers Naresh Kumar, alias Nesha, is already in jail in connection with the murder of Sikander in 2006, Ghoki and one of his other brothers, Vijay Kumar, are wanted by the police in several cases, including murder and attempt to murder.

Batala, November 20
Four persons, including two children, were killed while 14 injured in a collision between a mini-truck (PB-09-B-2666) and a scooter (PB-18-0637) near Bham village here today.

The truck, driven by Lakhwinder Singh of Begowal (Kapurthala), was going to Mata Mandir Chiddi in Jammu and Kashmir with 20-25 passengers.

When the truck reached near Bham village, the scooter came in front of the truck, which overturned on the road.

Two children, Manpreet Singh and Malkiat Singh, Karnail Singh, who was driving the scooter, and Parkash Kaur, all residents of Begowal were killed in the accident.

The injured have been identified as Gurbachan Kaur and Varinder Singh, both residents of Miani, Nirmal Singh and Sukhwinder Kaur, both residents of Talwandi, Surinder Kaur, Surinder Kaur, Parkasho, Kulwant Kaur, Sukhdip Singh and Ranjit Singh, all residents of Begowal, Amarjit Singh, Satnam Singh and Sukhwinder Kaur, all residents of Sultan Wind, Amritsar, and Gurwant Kaur of Lakhan ke Padde.

All injured have been admitted to the local civil hospital.

A case has been registered against the scooter driver, Karnail Singh.

Jalandhar, November 20
The government will enhance old age, widow and handicapped pension from Rs 250 to Rs 400 per month soon. This was disclosed by social welfare minister Chaudhary Swarna Ram after presiding over a meeting of senior officers of the department at the Circuit House here today.

He said 15,37,904 people were benefiting from these schemes and it would be ensured that no official put any of these beneficiaries to hardship. Review meetings would be held regularly to monitor the implementation of the schemes so that the maximum number of people could avail themselves of the benefits, he added.

The minister said awareness camps would be held so that people could come to know about various other programmes being implemented for the poor and needy. The need of the hour was to involve all panchayati raj institutions, NGOs, self -help groups, councillors and other like-minded persons in the exercise, he said.

He also reiterated the resolve of the government to stop female foeticide and exhorted all religious and social organisations to join hands to eradicate the evil. Commenting on other schemes of his department, he said they were operating 20,169 aganwadi centers in 148 blocks of the state.

The emphasis was on pre-natal and post-natal care besides the midday meal for 12 lakh school students. A sum of Rs 5,566 lakh would be spent on this account during the current financial year, he added.

Swarna Ram said the Kanya Jagriti Jyoti Scheme had been started to help girls from poor families. Directions had been issued that no schoolgirl dropped out of the school on account of poverty. Vocational training would be imparted to them so that they could become independent. Rs 4 crore would be spent on the scheme, he said.

A new scheme for greater social interaction had been started to help the women above 60 years. The beneficiaries who fulfilled certain criteria would be entitled to travel in Punjab Roadways and Pepsu buses at half the cost. Budgetary provision of Rs 209. 45 lakh had been made in the current financial year.

Amritsar, November 20
Aalmi Punjabi Virasat Foundation president Bhupinder Singh Sandhu and representatives of various social organisations have urged the Chief Minister to issue the necessary instructions to the management of the hospital to resume working of Guru Ram Das Hospital here. Residents are wary of lack of proper facilities as only makeshift OPD services are being run here.

They have urged the CM to provide complete indoor operation facilities at the hospital as most of the patients visiting the hospital from places like Ferozepore, Bathinda, Faridkot, Jira, Srigangananar and other border districts of the state were forced to get treatment at private hospitals. Residents are facing the problems in getting proper treatment in.

Sandhu said the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee must make arrangements for shifting back the staff and other machinery to the old hospital to provide better medical healthcare facilities. The Medical Council of India (MCI) has inspected the Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research at Vallah for allotting more seats for the medical college but it is more difficult to reach here as it is situated 8 km from here, says Sandhu.

He said patients, especially gynae cases, were faced problem in reaching the hospital in time as the construction on the elevated road on the Amritsar-Jalandhar GT Road was going on and it took around one and a half hours to reach the hospital. The SGPC had decided to shift the hospital temporarily from the Shaheedan area to the Vallah institute in view of the inspection by a team of the MCI about three months ago. The authorities had stated that the decision to shift the hospital was also taken in view of the state-of-the-art machinery available in the new institute which was lying unused for paucity of doctors and other paramedical staff. 

Nawanshahr, November 20
Though a centre-sponsored scheme made the local ITI a centre of excellence in chemical sector, but it seems that the technical education and industrial training department has not given enough time to the institute to admit students.

The department issued admission notice in leading newspapers on November 15 setting November 22 as the deadline for receiving applications for the admission to the different modules, including fundamentals of electronics and computer, basic fitting and measurement, basic mechanical process, fundamentals of general chemistry and physics, basic instrumentation and basic unit operation process.

Despite much effort made by ITI staff to promote the new courses, the institute received only 27 applications till date against 115 seats available in the first batch.

However, the response to the new course has been good, but people feel the schedule of admission process needs to be extended so that the masses can be made aware of the new course. — OC