Jalandhar, October 11
Despite the fact that the number of suspected dengue cases arriving at the local civil hospital and various private hospitals have gradually been increasing, the district health authorities are still in the denial mode and are not revealing the actual facts and figures regarding the disease which has become a major health threat for the residents.

The district health authorities have made only half-a-dozen positive cases of dengue public till date while the records of private hospitals show that the number of positive dengue patients has gone to almost 1,000.

The situation of dengue cases can be well imagined from the records of Sacred Heart Hospital, Maqsudan, where over 65 positive and over 190 suspected cases have been registered till date. The hospital still has five - Nikhil Ohri, Chanda, Bimla Devi, Pramod Kumar and Joginder Singh - patients of dengue who are undergoing treatment.

The hospital has submitted reports in this context to the district health authorities in the last over one-and-a-half months. A majority of the patients were from the Kartarpur area. In addition to this, patients have also been arriving from slum areas in and around the city.

Ironically, Kartarpur, which is in the constituency of parliamentary secretary for health Avinash Chander, was on the top of the list of dengue patients.

Area residents expressed their resentment over the fact that their representative had been camping in Jalandhar Circuit House instead of directing the health department to tackle the situation.

Sources revealed that the Kartarpur civic body authorities lacked equipment, pesticides, insecticides and other remedial measures required to tackle dengue.

Talking to The Tribune, district epidemiologist Dr T.K. Singh claimed that the department had provided all the necessary preventive measures to the areas from where cases of suspected dengue and viral fever had been reported.

He added that patients coming to the hospitals with fever and viral were being given the required treatment apart from conducting tests on them apprehending suspected cases of dengue.

The health department has also submitted a list of 30 areas from where cases of suspected dengue were reported. The list has been provided to the commissioner of the Jalandhar municipal corporation.

The MC authorities have been asked to conduct fogging and spray of pesticides and insecticides in the suspected areas to tackle the situation, claimed Dr Singh.

Jalandhar/Kapurthala, October 11
SAD president Sukhbir Badal is not in favour of installation of nuclear power plant in Punjab. Responding to a specific query of mediapersons in Jalandhar and Kapurthala on Saturday, Sukhbir said, “Since Punjab is a border state, it will not be safe to install a nuclear power plant here.’

He further said instead of opting for nuclear power, the government would set up more thermal plants in the state to address the power woes. “We have already taken initiative and the state would become power-surplus in the next three years,” he added.

Regarding power cuts, he said the problem will persist as the government’s efforts to purchase electricity from different states, including Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, have not yielded much result.

The SAD chief denied the allegations that uninterrupted electricity was being supplied to Lambi, the constituency of Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal. “Just like others, the residents of Lambi were also bearing the brunt of power shortage,” he claimed.

Accusing the union government for shortage of DAP fertiliser in the state, he said if proper arrangements to supply the same were not made at the earliest, SAD would be left with no option but to start agitation against the Centre.

Sukhbir also demanded immediate lifting of ban on export of rice as farmers were not getting adequate price for their produce.

Rubbishing the allegations levelled by Congress that SAD was adopting a police of discrimination against Doaba, he said several big projects would be allocated to the region in the near future.

Later, the SAD chief also visited the new grain market in Jalandhar to inspect the paddy procurement arrangements. When some farmers apprised him of the problems due to delay in the lifting of the produce, he directed DC Ajit Singh Pannu to look into the matter. 

Jalandhar, October 11
Senior faculty members of Lovely Professional University, in their recent study, has broken the common belief that the major cause of suicide by farmers in the Malwa region is their poor socio-economic status.

A quantitative analysis carried out by them has rather attributed it to several other factors, including lack of awareness about the latest farming techniques, illiteracy, over-spending on marriages, maintaining high lifestyle, improper use of fertilisers and drug addiction. The study was carried out by Dr S.S. Bawa and Dhanwant Singh of the Lovely School of Education in the rural hinterlands of Mansa, Bathinda and Sangrur, the districts from where the maximum cases of suicide have been reported during the past few years. Overall, 38 households were approached to have first-hand experience of the malaise affecting the belt stretching across southern Punjab. Expenditure beyond means in social functions, especially marriages, diversion of loan amounts to other non-productive expenditures and loss of money to liquor and drugs have made these farmers more vulnerable resulting in them taking the extreme step of ending their life, the study says.

The study also highlights that the continuous reliability on chemical fertilisers has rendered the land infertile and to aggravate matters, the wheat-paddy cycle has pushed the groundwater to difficult depths.

Poor farmers bear the brunt of this double trouble in a more pronounced way, the educationists have observed. Lack of awareness about modern agricultural practices makes matters worse and even if some farmers are aware, lack of resources and poor financial health create a problem for them. Mounting inflation has further added to the woes of such farmers. The researchers have suggested a four-pronged strategy to combat the menace of suicide tendencies among poor farmers.

They have stressed a more pronounced intervention on the part of the state and central governments by doling out some subsidies on agricultural inputs, greater inclusion of technology in farming operations, a financial cover against any risk to the farmers’ produce and an adequate and timely compensation in case of a crop failure. The condition of the family deteriorates, especially when the sole bread-earner of the family commits suicide, unable to cope up with the pressure of mounting debts.

Dr Bawa states, “Unquestionably, the government has done a lot to improve the lot of these farmers as the unabated suicides by farmers are a national shame.” Dhanwant adds that part of the blame has to be shared by the farmers also. 

Amritsar, October 11
Two Abandoned briefcases kept on a parked scooter outside the KK Continental hotel just opposite Amritsar railway station created panic among the residents here today.

Later the briefcases were found reportedly to be stolen from cars of traders near Fountain Chowk, a few metres from Kotwali police station.

Hotel general manager S.K. Handa said at about 11.30 am a gatekeeper told him about the bags. He immediately called the police which reached with a dog squad and searched the briefcases and found nothing explosive.

The briefcases were broke opened in which cheque books, visiting cards, diaries and documents were found.

The police said the briefcases were stolen from the chowk area. He said their owners had gone to a bank when some unscrupulous persons stole the bags.

Jalandhar, October 11
“There should be right to recall the elected representatives if they not performing according to people’s expectations.

Moreover, the election commission should introduce negative voting,” said former Chief Justice of Delhi and Sikkim High Courts Rajinder Sachhar, while addressing mediapersons in Jalandhar on Saturday. Sachar is here to take part in the two-day convention of All India Conference of Socialist Front.

He said the central government should get back the money which has been deposited by some Indians in Swiss Banks, besides making their names public, adding that over 1,500 billion dollars have been deposited in Swiss bank by Indians. “It is 13 times more than the total national debt of the country,” he added.

Advocating the Lok Pal Bill, the former CJ Sachhar asserted that the bill should be passed by the central government as early as possible to rein in political leaders. He also criticised the government policy of purchasing land from the farmers at throwaway prices for setting up of special economic zones (SEZs). Sachhar was of the view that the corporate houses, willing to invest in SEZs, should directly approach the landholders. Also, SEZs should be set up on barren plots and not agriculture land, he said. “Wrong location would cause huge land and financial losses to the country, besides endangering ecology, added Sachar.

Earlier, while addressing the convention, famous socialist thinkers Surinder Mohan and Panna Lal Surana advocated free education to all and common school system.