Jalandhar, February 12
Government homoeopathic doctors have criticised the government for adopting an indifferent attitude towards their demands.

Addressing mediapersons here today, Dr Pritpal Singh Grewal, president of the Government Homoeopathic Medical Officers Association (GHMOA), said the fraternity had taken up its demands with the government time and again but to no avail.

“We have over the years presented our case but the government has turned a blind eye. Our efforts to meet health minister Luxmi Kanta Chawla also proved futile. Now we have no option but to adopt the path of agitation,” said Grewal.

The association has decided to hold rallies and dharnas to draw attention towards their demands. “We will exercise our legal rights if the method of agitation fails,” Grewal added.

The agitating doctors are demanding pay parity with allopathic doctors in the state since they put in the same amount of work as their counterparts, he said.

There are 105 government homoeopathic dispensaries in the state that are
run by 90 doctors.

All of them are in a shambles and repeated demands for medicines and other infrastructure have not elicited any response from the health department, he rued.

Others present on the occasion included doctors Jugal Kishore, Kiran Chaudhry and Ranjit Singh Chahal.

Jalandhar, February 12
The district police has issued a lookout notice for a non-resident Indian (NRI) wanted in a murder case.

The police has alerted all airports to be vigilant against USA-based NRI Harkanwal Singh, SP (city II) Sarabjit said while talking to mediapersons here today.

The NRI is among the four killers who beat a city youth Arvind Thakur to death and injured his brother Pankaj following a minor dispute at the Johal market on Monday night.

The SP said two of the killers had been identified as NRI Harkanwal and Sukhvir Singh of Kukar village. An FIR was registered in this regard.

Jalandhar, February 12
The decision of the state government to hold indirect elections to sarpanches was an arbitrary move besides an assault on the democratic rights of the people.

Punjab Panchayat Association president Sukhdev Singh Bareke said the association had protested against the move but it seemed that the government was determined to implement its decision.

Following this, the lone right of the people to elect their representative would come to an end. The people too want that they should not be divested of this important right at the grassroots level, he pointed out.

Bareke said the indirect elections would add to the corruption since the candidates desirous of becoming sarpanches would indulge in horse-trading.

One can imagine the plight of the poor and downtrodden when moneybags would be their headmen, he said.

“We are of the view that this development would further vitiate the political atmosphere of the state. The right to elect their sarpanch should vest with the villagers only since they are better placed to choose their leader,” he added.

In fact, the process of indirect elections in the country should be scrapped in larger public interest.

In the present context, they would be forced to start an agitation in the coming days, he warned.

Commenting on the activities of the outfit, he said the association would soon jump in the political area as a political entity. They would contest elections and take up cudgels against various social evils that were assuming alarming proportions.

“We would organise the party on the lines of the model adopted in Kerala in the 60s that ushered in an era of socio-economic prosperity. The secular Kerala Shastra Sahit Parishad had roped in people who were committed to work for social causes.”

The parishad had also taken their programme to the NGOs, youth clubs and even political parties, he added.

Hoshiarpur, February 12
The district consumers forum headed by president P.D. Goel has directed the National Insurance Company (NIC) here to pay to the complainant Rs 78,039 along with litigation expenses of Rs 1,000 within one month.

The order came on the complaint of Jog Raj who stated that his accidental claim for Tata 709 truck was repudiated by the NIC due to the absence of a fitness certificate at the time of accident.

After going through evidence, the forum held that there was no nexus between the non-possession of the fitness certificate and the cause of accident because the accident took place due to the bus stoppage in the middle of the road.

The forum further said the fitness certificate becomes material and was relevant only if the vehicle was unfit to be plied on the road.

There was no breach of the contract. Therefore, the repudiation of the claim by the NIC was not justified.

Amritsar, February 12
On the call given by the Government College Teachers Association (GCTA), lecturers from Government College, Sathiala, Government College (Women), Amritsar, and Government College, Ajnala, held a dharna here today.

Students of the colleges also participated. They presented a memorandum of their demands to the deputy commissioner to be forwarded to the state government. They threatened to organise a dharna against the government on March 3.

Association’s vice-president Dr Ajit Singh Shahi alleged the government had been “adamant to close down all government colleges” by shortening the staff.