Jalandhar, November 23
It has been an ordeal for a retired aided-school teacher to receive her dues from the education department and the school management, which she served for more than 
31 years.

In fact, she had to fight nearly seven separate cases in a span of last 11 years to get dues to the tune of Rs 5.22 lakh. The battle is not yet over for the 66-year-old 
Parminder Kaur.

She is yet to get interest worth more than Rs 2 lakh for various delayed payments in accordance with a recent judgment in a civil suit that came out in her favour on October 6 this year.

The legal wrangles began for the social studies teacher after the management of her school, located in Jandu Singha village near here, placed her under suspension on May 30, 1996 and later terminated her services on July 14, 1997.

At that time, the complainant had filed two separate cases against the suspension and termination of her services in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which found that the orders were not approved by the DPI Schools, Punjab.

The school authorities denied her the subsistence allowance during the suspension period in a letter on March 2002 and she again had to approach the court for getting justice. She got the amount. Luck favoured her again and on December 27, 2002, the DPI did not give approval to her school management to terminate her services. This entitled her to get full pay, arrears of pension (as she had attained superannuation on March 31, 2000), gratuity and provident fund.

Parminder had to again knock the doors of the court for her school management failed to forward her case for pension. The court directed the DPI to look into the matter. The DPI heard the case and asked the school management to offer full pay, allowances (after deducting subsistence allowances), arrears of pension and other 
retirement benefits.

To make the matter worse, the DPI orders were not complied with and she had to again file a civil writ petition. The court asked DPI to stop grant-in-aid given to the school. Since no action was taken by the authorities even after the court orders, she again had to file a contempt petition in 2004. As the school authorities got to know about this, the amount of pension and gratuity was paid to her but without any interest for four years delay.

The court of Virinder Aggarwal found that there was an unexplained delay of four years in the grant of gratuity. “Pension was to be paid monthly to the complainant after March 31, 2000 but it was withheld for four years without justification. Since suspension was held to be wrong on December 27, 2002, the plaintiff became entitled to full salary from January 1, 2003. There is a delay in payment of this amount. Subsistence amount was also to be paid monthly and the plaintiff is claiming interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum on this amount as well”.

The court further said, “The defendants have used the amounts of plaintiff. The plaintiff is entitled to interest at the rate of 9 per cent which the she could have earned by depositing the same in the bank as fixed deposits.

The onus to prove the issue was upon the defendants and they have neither pressed it during the course of arguments nor have led any evidence on the issue”. 

Hoshiarpur, November 23
The UPA and NDA have divided the country economically, which is now posing serious threat to its internal security. Constituents of both these parties are taking money from the big industrialists and opulent persons for contesting elections to remain in power and framed the policies to benefit them according to their needs.

Alleging this at a press conference here this afternoon, newly elected member of the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh and Punjab BSP chief Avtar Singh Karimpuri said some of the opulent persons of the country had come in the list of 10 top richest personalities of the world whereas the overall population of India had become poorer and majority of it could not get even two-time meal a day.

He was here to inaugurate the election office of Dr Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi, BSP candidate for the Lok Sabha seat from Hoshiarpur.

Leaders of the Congress, BJP and other political parties did politics of hatred and promoted casteism, religionism and provincialism to divide the people for remaining in power. They did nothing to uplift the poor and for maintaining peace and unity to strengthen the communal harmony for the integration of the country, resulted in prevailing unrest throughout the country and dividing the people on communal and provincial lines, alleged Avtar Singh Karimpuri.

National chief of the BSP and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Mayawati had taken persons from all walks of life in the party fold to overcome all these problems, create secular atmosphere, harmony among all sections and to provide neat and clean administration to them. She was getting a good response from the people and majority of the persons had joined the BSP, claimed Karimpuri, and hoped that people would definitely make Mayawati the next Prime Minister of the country after the forthcoming parliamentary elections.

Referring to his election to the Rajya Sabha from UP, Karimpuri said Mayawati had given an honour to Punjab by getting him elected from UP. He had not spent a single paisa on his election whereas other leaders had to spent crores of rupees for becoming an MP.

This had proved that all countrymen were equal for her and she had no feeling of provincialism in her mind. The Punjab workers of the BSP were now organising rallies to extend their heartiest thanks to Mayawati for getting him elected to the Rajya Sabha.

Karimpuri alleged that the SAD-BJP government was completely following into the footsteps of the last Congress government of the state. It had completely failed to fulfil its promises made in the election manifesto before the last state assembly elections. 

Jalandhar, November 23
The district police chief PK Rai has asked SHO HQ Satinder Singh to look into the allegations levelled by senior deputy mayor Kamaljit Singh Bhatia and Maqsoodan SHO Surinder Pal against each other.While Bhatia alleged that the SHO misbehaved with him when he protested the ‘unlawful’ arrest of a granthi at Basti Gujan Gurdwara, the SHO alleged that Bhatia used abusive language against him.

Talking to The Tribune, Bhatia alleged that the Maqsoodan police illegally picked up the granthi after a dispute between his in-laws and some other persons.

Bhatia further said when he asked the SHO on phone about the reason of his arrest, the SHO didn’t give any satisfactory reply and asked Bhatia to come to the police station.

Bhatia also alleged that the police misbehaved with the granthi while he was in custody.

When Bhatia, along with deputy mayor Parvesh Tangri, and several councillors reached the police station, the SHO wasn’t present there. The SHO reached the police station after about half-an-hour and wrongly named the granthi in the FIR, Bhatia alleged. The deputy mayor further said the SHO tried to give the entire incident a political colour by asking some Congressmen, lead by Dharmender Gill, to hold a protest in his (SHO’s) favour.

DSP rural II Navjot Singh reached the police station and pacified both the parties. Navjot confirmed by talking to The Tribune that the matter was being inquired into by SP headquarter.

Meanwhile, the SHO alleged that Bhatia used abusive language on phone and put pressure on him to release the three arrested persons.

He further alleged that Bhatia’s rude behaviour continued even after reaching the police station. The SHO added that he had brought the entire matter to the notice of his senior, in writing. — TNS

Jalandhar, November 23
The Punjab State Dalit Action Committee (SDAC) has alleged that funds, to the tune of Rs 308.90 crore, which were meant to be spent for the purpose of development works, have not reached the needy. Lahori Ram Bali, chairman of the outfit, said CM Parkash Singh Badal had disbursed the money in sangat darshan programmes and the same had been pointed out in a report by the comptroller and auditor general. Out of this money, more than Rs 46 lakh had been spent on Badal’s constituency alone, he pointed out.

This was nothing but a feudal style of functioning in which a certain section of people from a particular area are chosen for largesse. A large amount of the grants have been given to those organisations that are already flush with funds, he alleged.

In addition to this, the government is yet to start any scheme for the welfare of the SCs in the state, for which the centre had released an amount of Rs 11,355 crore in the past two years. Money meant for rural development, employment generation and other allied funds had been diverted to other heads, he added.

Fiscal mismanagement is the sole reason for the economic crunch facing the state today and no efforts are being made to plug the gap between the earnings and the expenditure, he said. — TNS

Jalandhar, November 23
The single-minded pursuit of UK-based NRI Harjinder Singh Dhanoa for doing something for sports in Punjab has paid rich dividends in the form of Parsrampur rural sports festival, which not only serves as a platform for budding players but also has weaned away youngsters from rampant drug abuse. An annual event, the three-day-long sports meet concluded here today.

Started with a mission nearly 11-years ago, the Mata Chanan Kaur Dhanoa Punjab Sports Championship is a name to reckon with. Held in the memory of their mother late Chanan Kaur, the rural sports meet include various disciplines like kabaddi, athletics, weightlifting, bodybuilding, volleyball and much more. An active basketball player, Dhanoa is instrumental in shaping up the very spirit of sports culture in the village. The fact that Dhanoa has been successful in turning his dream into reality can be gauged from the fact that the village has a gymnasium and a stadium for the budding sports persons.

Talking about his journey way back in the ’80s, Dhanoa, also the chairman of the championship, said, “It feels great to see the youngsters enjoying the spirit of sports. Perhaps involving the youth in active sports activities is the only way to curb the growing menace of drugs in the state. And it is due to the rampant drug addiction in the region that the youth is lagging behind in education and as a result not getting good employment too.” Hailing from this small village Parsrampur, Dhanoa migrated to the UK in 1980. Even after going abroad, he continued his education. “I earned as well as learned during my stay in England. Initially I was involved in a construction work but these days we are working for an England-based fruit company,” added Dhanoa.

“I feel contented when spectators from far off places visit this place religiously every year,” he said, adding that these three days virtually turn the village into a mini-state with a large number of sports lovers emerging from all walks of life. Such was the gusto among the spectators that the jam-packed open-air stadium was left with no space to sit.

Pritam Singh, a US-based NRI from Jalandhar, said, “I have been witnessing this championship ever since it started. The Dhanoa brothers have indeed made a name for themselves not only in India but abroad as well. Their contribution in taking the youth to a right direction is very significant.” Even the youths feel proud in being a part of this championship. Barinder Singh (19), a young kabaddi player from Dashmesh Club, Nakodar, maintained, “I come from a very remote village in Moga. I had no idea what to do until I joined this club. Here we get sports, medical facilities and financial aid on winning various tournaments. At least, I am not dependent on my parents for money now.”

Apart from this, the Dhanoa brothers have also adopted financially weak students from nearby schools and help in providing money for the marriage of poor 
girls in the villages.

Amritsar, November 23
“Asi Natak Nahi Karde”, a play highlighting social ills and degrading moral values, was staged at Punjab Naatshala here on Sunday.

The work, dedicated to the late theatre legend and TV personality Harbhajan Jabbal on his first death anniversary, depicts how everybody in the society is in the habit of begging, only ways and means differ. The artistes got a huge round of applause from the audience for their scintillating performances.

Originally authored by Hindi writer Lakshmi Kant Vaishnav, the Punjabi adaptation, produced by the Naat Ghar theatre group, has been directed by famous theatre director Jagdish Sachdeva. More than 20 shows of the play have been already staged at various places.

The plot revolves around two unemployed youths, who earn their livelihood by begging at a bus stand. The duo uses various tricks like acting dumb and deaf, enacting a death scene to coerce people to give them money. In their daily routine, they also observe people and their behaviour.

The youths find politicians, who are ready to do anything to garner votes, more “inspiring” as they have to beg for votes once in five years. The play ends with the two deciding to foray into politics.

The artistes included Vijay Sharma, Narinder Jattu, Paramjit Rahi, Vipin Dhawan, Gurinder Makna, Vibha Bhagat and others.