Bathinda, December 10
A case of harassment of a 60-year-old widow, Baljeet Kaur, a resident of Balahar Mehma, has come to light here today as she is spending her evenings under the shadow of guns. The security of three gunmen given to her on the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court is not proving enough to get her justice and a peaceful life.

Baljeet Kaur’s problems began when her husband Sulakhan Singh died in 1978 leaving behind with her their daughter Paramjeet Kaur. Now married, Paramjeet lives at Sursinghwala village.

Out of the big chunk of 22 acres of ancestral land in the village, Baljeet’s mother-in-law Sham Kaur got her share of about 7.5 acres of land.

Baljeet’s brother-in-law Makhan Singh, in connivance with some other persons, is eyeing about five acres of her land and wanted to grab that piece of land.

Talking to TNS here, Baljeet alleged that her brother-in-law (Makhan Singh) had been threatening her time and again to part with that piece of land or face dire consequences.

Baljeet approached the authorities at village and district-levels but she continued to receive threats from the other party.

She was not even allowed to cultivate her own land despite the security provided to her. Baljeet demands justice from the authorities concerned so that she could live with dignity in old age.

Fazilka, December 10
The members of the Municipal Council, Fazilka unanimously adopted all the 19 resolutions at the meeting held here today. MC president Anil Kumar Sethi presided over the meeting. Out of 21 Municipal Councillors, 15 were present.

Providing details of the meeting, Sethi said that through an important resolution, it had been decided to shift the existing main bus stand. He said that the road over bridge (ROB) was being constructed over the railway crossing at Malout chowk. All the buses coming from Ferozepur, Malout and Abohar have to pass through this chowk. Due to the construction of fly over traffic bottleneck was likely to be a major problem for entering the bus near the railway station. Hence, the municipal council had unanimously decided to shift the bus stand to local Kanshi Ram Palace on Abohar road, he added.

He said that to keep the memory of Ch. Kanshi Ram, former minister and MLA, Fazilka and to keep the name of municipal community centre alive, popularly known as Ram Palace located in the same complex shall be named after Late Ch. Kanshi Ram.

Through another resolution, the MC has decided to create a bypass from Alamshah Road to Fazilka Sadiqi Road via Dhobi Ghat and Hanuman Mandir. Besides, the venue of Truck Operators Union and Canter Union now located near busy locality of the town on Abohar road were planned to be shifted in vacant municipal land on Sania Road.

It has been decided to levy rent on the municipal land for parking purpose. The civic body shall earn about Rs 1.5 lakh per month. This amount shall be used for the development of the town. In addition to it, the area was vacated following shifting of the truck union to be utilised for the commercial purpose and an estimated income of about two crore should be utilised in liquidating the debts on the council.

The meeting has further resolved to purchase four new tractors, six trailors, and 2 water tankers to lift garbage of the town and sprinkle water on roads.

The Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Municipal Park should be leased to private contractors for its better maintenance and to improve the facilities for the children.

To improve the drinking water supply for the town, it has been decided to install a new tubewell pump in local Pratap Bagh adjacent to the municipal council office. To lay sewerage mains and water supply pipes in different areas of the town, Rs 5 lakhs would be spent. 

Mansa December 10
Over 75 per cent posts of administrative officers and 50 posts of superintends in the education department in Punjab have been lying vacant for about two years.

Sources in the education department said that a committee was set up to look in to the matter related to departmental promotion. The committee includes secretary of education department and officials of personnel department.

The committee had organised several meetings between August 2008 and November 2008. But these meetings could not reach any conclusion.

Sources added that several employees had retired without getting any promotion.

Despite efforts, secretary and special secretary of education department could not be contacted for their comment while additional secretary, Indu Mishra and DPI, Harcharanjeet Kaur Barar refused to make any comment on the issue.

Employees of the education department demanded that the promotion procedure should be properly implemented. 

Bathinda, December 10
About 75,000 hectares of land would be utilised for potato cultivation in the state this rabi season and a total expected output stands at 16 lakh metric tonnes. Last year, about 77,000 hectares of land was under potato cultivation in the state.

“We aim at bringing 75,000 hectares of land under potato cultivation this season and we hope that actual area under the crop will surpass our target,” Baldev Singh, Punjab horticulture director, said here today.

Punjab, which has 5-6 per cent share in the country’s total potato output, mainly grows seed potato varieties, which are supplied to various parts of the country.

It is mainly grown in Jalandhar, Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur districts of the state. After fetching remunerative returns last season, the potato growers in the state are unsure of getting same rates for their crop this season because of excessive stock piled up in cold storages.

“Major potato producers, such as Uttar Pradesh, have stocked huge quantity of potatoes in storage houses, which will adversely affect the pricing of the new crop,” said Jang Bahadur Singh, a potato expert, while demanding the utilisation of the stock at the earliest. Punjab potato growers got Rs 2,000 per quintal last year. Presently, the average rate of potato hovers around Rs 700 per quintal, he said.

Farmers are also worried about the shortage of fertilisers to be used in the fields, which could affect the prospects of a good crop.

“We are facing a shortage of fertilisers for our crop but the state government is not doing the needful as it always concentrates on wheat and paddy crops for providing fertilisers,” Raghbir Singh, president, Potato Growers Association, alleged.

Abohar, December 10
The Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) today a organised dharna at the sub-divisional complex to express resentment over marginal relief given by the Central government in fuel prices.

Addressing the gathering district secretary Sukhmander Singh said rates had gone down by 60 per cent in the international market but the government in India was playing mockery by announcing marginal relief. No relief in LPG was announced, he regretted. — OC

Bathinda, December 10
To protest against the alleged practice of some students not taking the travelling tickets, the mini-bus operators of the region staged a dharna in front of the deputy commissioner’s office outside the mini-secretariat here today. During the dharna, the members of the Mini-bus Operators’ Union, Rampura Phul, said the bus service was affected yesterday and it would be suspended even tomorrow. However, the service was resumed following an assurance from the district transport officer.

“We are not fond of sitting on a dharna but the matter has become unbearable now. We run buses to earn profit. But students do not take tickets despite their promise of taking half-ticket. Same problems had been witnessed in the past even and when situation had become really worse we had suspended the bus service. Students had also organised protests,” said Harchand Singh, president of the union.

He added that due to the strike by bus operators and students’ reaction to the same, the people of the region had to suffer for days together and it appeared that the situation was limping back from where it had begun. “Nothing seems to have improved.”

Some members alleged that the SHO, Rampura Phul, also troubles the operators, which affected their service. They demanded the transfer of the SHO.

“The problem has become worse, as hooligans board a bus and say that they are students. They unnecessarily create problems for other commuters and do not take travelling ticket. We are suffering losses because of it and the authorities should make efforts to check this problem,” said the president.

Since the DC was not present in his office, the district transport officer spoke to him on phone and assured that everything would be back to normal by Wednesday, he added.

The members also demanded that there should be a mechanism where those violating the rules could be arrested on the spot. After an assurance from the district transport officer that the matter would be solved in a week’s time, the union decided to resume the bus service.

Hanumangarh/Abohar, December 10
The International Human Rights Day was observed by organising seminar at the district collectorate in Hanumangarh today.

Justice Jagat Singh, member state Human Rights Commission, while speaking on the occasion exhorted that officials and representatives of the NGOs should work religiously to safeguard human rights.

We should ensure that the citizens honour their duty with dedication and devotion besides protecting rights of the downtrodden. Each Indian needs to be provided pollution free air and water, he felt.

Emphasising need to work with team spirit, Jagat Singh said not only teachers but students also could play an important role in bringing awareness among the people on human rights. The challenges should be met by positive thinking, self confidence, peace and patience.

DC Mugdha Sinha said if we give priority to duty and observe transparency the goal on human right protection would be easily achieved.

Shankar Soni, advocate, Ramesh Modi, Sat Pal Limba, Avtar Singh and Om Purohit also spoke on the topic. 

Bathinda, December 10
A two-day defence pension adalat for the retired soldiers of Punjab would be held at Ferozepur on December 18 and 19.

According to a spokesman of the office of the principal controller of defence accounts (pensions), the adalat would be inaugurated by Indu Liberhan, additional controller general of defence accounts.

Defence pensioners residing in Punjab having specific pension grievances may attend the adalat alongwith supporting documents for redressal of their problems, the spokesman added. — TNS

Hanumangarh/Abohar, December 10
Female members at the Eklavya Ashram are playing as mothers to three children who were abandoned by their parents at the Hanumangarh railway station. One of them needed mother feeding too. 

The railway authorities on finding them weeping had informed the administration which requested trustees of the Eklavya Ashram to give shelter and food for the time being to them. Generous women are now according them motherly treatment. They feel that poverty could be the reason for abandoning the children by the parents.

Hanumangarh/Abohar, December 10
Memorial to Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh in Tibbi area of Sangaria Assembly segment is being defaced by pasting notices, residents resent.

The notice found pasted on the memorial was under section 102 to inform the public that tractor bearing registration number HRF 7731 had been seized by the police on January 23 but none has come forward claiming its ownership.

The residents regretted that such official-notices were pasted on the podium of martyr's statue whereas they were expected to take cognisance of defacing of such places of reverence.

Abohar, December 10
Shooter Ram Dev from Chatbeer zoo today succeeded in nabbing the female monkey along with her child by firing at them injections containing sedatives as they troubled in the municipal town hall.

They had entered the town hall finding a door opened and started damaging ceiling fans. The monkeys had found home on the trees in the council complex for last few years since their arrival by the Intercity train from Haridwar. They had been snatching fruits from scores of rehris that are parked permanently on the railway road. Two monkeys had recently been nabbed but the operation was delayed as the gun acquired from Chatbeer was found to be one which is used to inject lions only after it was delivered here. The same has now been got replaced.

However, the kingpin of the gang of monkeys named "Laden" is still at large. So far the gang had wounded about 50 residents besides damaging property, official sources confirmed. — OC

Abohar, December 10
Having been under pressure over spurt in incidents of theft of bicycles, motorcycles and cars outside marriage places besides purses, the city police today arrested two persons and recovered three bicycles from them.

The accused were identified as Charan Singh of government seed farm and Vinod Kumar of village Bhagsar. The local court sent them to judicial custody. — OC

Sriganganagar/Abohar, December 10
The SGN Khalsa College, Sriganganagar and the SBS College, Raisinghnagar were declared winner and runner up respectively in boys category in the inter-college Judo tournament that was organised by Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, Raisinghnagar for the institutions affiliated to the Bikaner University, principal B.S. Narula informed today.

The toppers in different weight events included Richhpal Singh, Swaranjeet Singh, Ajay Singh, Onkar Singh, Harvinder Singh, Himmat Singh and Malkiat Singh. Altogether 14 colleges participated in the boys' events.

In girls category, seven colleges competed in different events. The Guru Nanak Girls College and the Ballu Ram Godara Girls College, Sriganganagar were declared winner and runner up respectively.

The toppers in different events are: Amanpreet, Rajbir Kaur, Neetu Bala, Gagandeep Kaur, Manju, Nirmala, Tanveer Kaur and Gagandeep Kaur.

Meanwhile, 25 players have been short-listed for participation in training to form 15-member cricket team in under-14 category by the District Cricket Association. Those selected are: Amit Khurana, Sanamdeep, Lokesh Sharma, Lakshay, Shrey, Vikas Meel, Piyush Wasan, Vipan Sharma, Abhimanyu Sharma, Ashish, Sunny, Robin Sihag, Rakesh, Shubham Rana, Nitesh Nath, Manish Sharma, Lalit Gaur, Rahul Chauhan, Abhi Verma, Mohit Soni, Abhinder Singh, Nukul, Ajay Kumar, Maneesh Gandhi, Akhilesh and Rakesh.

The training camp will be held in SD Bihani College. The finally selected cricketers will compete in the state-level tournaments slated for December 25 in Nagaur.

Bathinda, December 10
After playing hide and seek for over a month, the seven accused in a case registered for disrupting the rail traffic on the Ambala-Sriganganagar railway track surrendered before the Railway Protection Force (RPF) here today. Later, the RPF authorities released them on bail after they furnished a bond of Rs 5,000 each.

The RPF had registered a case against seven persons – Vijay Kumar, his wife Shama, Neelam Sharma, Sanjeev Soni, Suresh Kataria, Harvinder Singh and Gurdayal Singh - under Section 174 of the Railway Act for stopping the Ambala-Sriganganagar Inter City 4526 Dn on November 9 in Bathinda. The accused had been evading arrest since then.

It may be mentioned here that Vijay Kumar, president of the Pull Banao Sangharsh Committee, along with residents of Parasram Nagar, Partap Nagar and Jogi Nagar localities, had staged a dharna and blocked the rail traffic for an hour in protest against the non-completion of the construction of a railway under bridge (RUB) at the railway crossing No 245A on the Ambala-Sriganganagar railway track on November 9.

The residents had been demanding the resumption of work on the RUB for the past over eight months. They rued that due to non-completion of the RUB’s construction they had to traverse 4 km extra to reach the interior of the city for their day-to-day work.

The blockade was lifted after railway authorities had given them a written undertaking for resuming the work on the RUB in December.

Talking to TNS today, Vijay rued that on the one hand, the railway authorities had given the residents a written undertaking, while on the other they had been after him and some others for raising a demand of early completion of the RUB. He said if their demand was not met within a month they would continue the agitation and disrupt the rail traffic.

Bathinda, December 10
Alarmed by militants storming the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) in Mumbai, the Indian Railways have decided to raise a commando force to protect the major railway stations across the country.

Talking to TNS here today, a senior railway protection force (RPF) official said, though railways have heightened security at all major railway stations and in trains, particularly in express trains, it wants to raise an elite commando force to face any audacious attack by terrorists.

“We have decided to create a striking force of about 2,000 commandos equipped with modern weaponry and other gadgets,” said the RPF official.

“The commandos drawn from RPF would be given special training to tackle terror attacks on railway properties. We are in the process of selecting RPF personnel to be trained as commandos at the BSF training centre,” added the official.

Once the training process is complete, they would comprise the first of its kind elite force of the Railways, he said, adding that their prime responsibility would be to protect railway properties and passengers.

“Railways are also expediting the process of acquiring hi-tech integrated security system worth Rs 600 crore to be installed at over 185 railway stations identified as sensitive,” the official said.

The equipment to be purchased as part of the integrated security system include closed circuit televisions (CCTV), personal and baggage screening system, 
explosive detection and disposal facility at sensitive stations, including Delhi and Mumbai.

Integrated security system will be installed under build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) model at important stations, the official said.

Bathinda, December 10
The wedding season is on and people involved in business related to weddings are having their hands full. Indian parents save money for their child’s wedding from the day of its birth. Many would spend anything on a wedding to make it a grand show. While doing all this, some resort to things that draw contempt of a majority of people. There are several such issues but the one that stands strikingly out is inviting a group of people, especially girls, to dance on a stage put up for the purpose while the ceremonies are on. For some, it is a normal thing and just a sort of attraction for guests, especially for the men who get drunk. But there have been incidents of misconduct at weddings.

A majority of men told The Tribune that they did not think very well about the girls who perform at weddings. Yet they enjoyed watching them.

Abhishek, who works as a contractor and stays in Bathinda, had got his brother married a few days ago. He feels, “We had invited an orchestra. It is merely for entertainment. Girls do come and perform on weddings and other parties but how a person looks at them is his way of thinking. It varies from person to person. If Shah Rukh Khan performs, the world enjoys. Why cannot people take the performances at local weddings in a healthy way?”

Sources said girls do such work either because of poverty, helplessness or because they like it. However, the number of girls enjoying the job is quite less as compared to the other two types.

After speaking to a few orchestra groups in the city, it is learnt that such girls manage to earn around Rs 50,000 a month, depending on the amount of offers they get.

Raju, who owns an orchestra, says, “There are times when our group is booked even for 30 days. We manage to earn Rs 8,500 to Rs 14000 a night. Four local girls work with us, who take anything between Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 for each programme. Girls from Delhi, Mumbai and other places also work but I think local girls are safe to work with as we know them well.”

He added, “We too encounter narrow-minded people, who take these girls in a wrong way. But the moment someone tries to act smart, we inform the person who had invited us and the matter is sorted out. Such incidents are no big deal at weddings.”

Bathinda, December 10
The district health department has prepared itself for the three-day-long Pulse Polio campaign to begin in the district on December 21 for the children below the age of five years. In this regard, Ajitpal Singh, District Immunisation Officer, convened a meeting of medical officers here today.

He said the department was fully prepared to administer polio drops to children in the district below the age of five years as per the WHO guidelines.

About 12,93,189 children would be administered polio drops for its eradication from the district, the official said.

He said 82 teams, comprising 150 supervisers, seven block supervisers and seven observation supervisers, would look after the pulse polio drive in the district.

As many as 69 mobile teams would also be pressed into service for administering polio drops to the floating population like those residing at brick kilns, industrial colonies and periphery of the urban areas, Ajitpal Singh added.

He further said a door-to-door campaign would be conducted on December 22 and 23 for those children who could not receive the drops on December 21. — TNS