Ludhiana, November 3
Life came to a standstill today as the city witnessed a complete bandh following a call given by various radical Sikh organisations to press for justice for the victims of the 1984 riots.

The city’s traders, who had suffered sizable losses to property and business five months ago following the killing of a leader of the Ram Das sect in Vienna, opted to play it safe today and supported the bandh call by downing the shutters of their commercial establishments.

The fear could be gauged from the fact that banks and other commercial establishments began closing their offices during the afternoon when a group of youths brandishing swords went around the markets and threatened shopkeepers and bank employees to shut their establishments.

According to information some motorists with muffled faces and brandishing swords drove around Ghumar Mandi, Feroze Gandhi Market and the Dandi Swami area. It is learnt they even thrashed a tea vendor near the Old Court area who had kept his shop open.

The shopkeepers said in the morning markets and other commercial establishments opened as usual but, soon after receiving reports of trouble, they decided to close down and returned home.

Ghumar Mandi, a busy market, was converted into a fortress as cops went around after youths forced the shopkeepers to down their shutters.

Though, sporadic incidents of clashes were witnessed in various part of the city, the police managed to control the situation.

Supporters of the Damdami Taksal, Dal Khalsa, Panthic Action Committtee and Khalsa action committee sat on a ‘dharna’ at Jagraon bridge and raised slogans against the government, demanding action against the perpetrators of the 1984 riots.

Members of the protesting Sikh organisations blocked traffic for over an hour but later lifted the blockade, spreading across various parts of the city and forcing schools and shops to close down. A group of protesters went to close a school in Field Gunj area following reports that some teachers and clerical staff were working there despite the call for a total bandh.

The protestors also thrashed the son of Jawahar Nagar market president Rajinder Jaggi as he had kept his shop open. However, the police soon controlled the situation and dispersed the crowd. Similarly, a vendor selling paan was also thrashed on Malhar Road for selling cigarettes and other tobacco products during the bandh.

In a few areas of the city shopkeepers complained the police put pressure upon them to close down their shops to prevent any untoward incident. A senior official, however, declined the allegation and said no one was prevented in opening his shop. A heavy police force was deployed to protect the shopkeepers and people have been taken to task for harassing the public.

Later in the afternoon, the protesting Sikh organisations revoked the bandh but, except for some food joints, the markets by and large remained closed.

Ludhiana, November 3
The Punjab bandh called by radical Sikh organisations today disrupted the entire rail traffic in the region with a number of trains, originating from Amritsar and passing through Ludhiana, cancelled, some others terminated at intermediate stations and many more running behind schedule by five to eight hours.

Passengers travelling or scheduled to travel in long-distance trains were in for a great deal of harassment due to cancellation and short termination of trains. A large number of people had to cancel their travel plans at the last minute with little or no hope of getting alternative reservations.

Railways divisional traffic manager GP Singh said till late afternoon there was no movement of trains anywhere in the region, but after 3 pm some trains commenced their journey from their originating stations or other places where they had been halted due to the bandh. “Some short-terminated trains were run on different routes as a makeshift arrangement and it will take anything from 24 to 48 hours to restore normal rail traffic”, he added.

According to Ludhiana station superintendent RK Sharma, the 2014 Amrtisar-New Delhi Shatabdi, 2498 Amrtisar-New Delhi, 2054 Amrtisar-Haridwar Janshatabdi and 2460 Amrtisar-New Delhi Super Express were cancelled. Trains coming from Delhi including the 2029 New Delhi-Amrtisar Shatabdi and 2497 New Delhi-Amrtisar Shan-e-Punjab were short terminated at Ambala.

The 3005 Howrah-Amritsar Mail was short terminated at Ludhiana and the same train was run as the 3006 the Ludhiana-Howrah Mail from here instead of Amrtisar. Similarly, the 9781 Amrtisar-Jaipur Express was short terminated at Dhuri railway station, and the 9782 down Amrtisar-Jaipur Express originated from Ludhiana later in the evening. Several other trains including the 1057 Dadar-Amrtisar Express, 2925 Amritsar-Bandra and 2926 Bandra-Amrtisar were running behind schedule by as much as five to six hours, Sharma added.

Due to disruption of rail traffic many other passenger trains were regulated and rescheduled, with the result that total chaos reigned at the city’s train station. Stranded and harried passengers were seen making repeated rounds of the enquiry counter to know about the resumption of traffic or the expected time of arrival of the train that they were to board.

Railway officials said due to uncertainty and panic caused by the Punjab bandh, there had been mass cancellation of train reservations. However, they added even those passengers who had not got their train reservations cancelled would be given a full refund of the fare and the reservation fees if the concerned train did not run as per schedule.

Ludhiana, November 3
Traders suffered losses worth crores of rupees due to the Punjab bandh called by radical Sikh organizations today. Almost all stores in the city and its vicinity remained closed for "safety reasons". Not only shops but other businesses including theatres, hotels and restaurants also suffered huge losses in the absence of customers.

Talking to The Tribune, Mahinder Aggarwal, general secretary of the Punjab Pradesh Vyopar Mandal, said it was a "forced holiday" for traders. "It is too early to quantify the exact figure of the losses incurred but they definitely run into crores of rupees. There are about 5,000 stores in the city (excluding malls) and almost all of them remained shut today. It will take at least 15 to 20 days for traders to recoup today's losses. Shops in various malls too downed their shutters due to the bandh", said Aggarwal.

Barjinder Singh, owner of a showroom at Westend Mall, said shopkeepers preferred to close their stores today. "The interiors of our shops are too expensive with glass and costly decorative items all around. Though closing our stores means huge losses we prefer to bear them rather than putting our lives as well as our showrooms at risk", he said. “In Feroz Gandhi market protesters holding black flags asked people to close down their offices in the morning”, he added.

The secretary of the Ludhiana Exhibitors Association (theatres) said a few cinema theatres opened in the morning. "However, we were asked to close down our establishments. In a collective decision all the 23 cinemas halls in the city remained shut due to the Punjab bandh. Our business is already incurring heavy losses and the bandh has further add to our misery", he rued. Besides, hotels and restaurants in the city were also affected due to the low turnout of customers.

The city’s industrial units, however, did not bother much about the bandh call. "Except for a few units located on the main roads, the rest of them functioned normally. Many of us had locked up the main gates of our units from outside for security reasons but operations inside the units were not affected. We cannot afford to close down our establishments as desired by protesters", said Rajan Malhotra, who runs a small-scale hosiery unit in the industrial area. 

Ludhiana, November 3
Hundreds of commuters bore the brunt of the bandh called by Sikh organizations, which was duly supported by private bus operators who refused to ply their buses on routes catering to villagers residing in the city’s periphery.Residents of several villages were left stranded as 400 mini buses and 250 regular buses, known as the lifeline of rural areas, failed to operate their scheduled routes.

Jaswinder Singh, district president of the Mini Bus Operators Association, Ludhiana and state secretary of the Punjab Small Scale Bus Operators Association, stated the ‘jathebandi’, at its meeting held yesterday, had decided to support the bandh call. "We have supported the cause as it is a peaceful way of protesting for the cause of humanity”, he added.

Meanwhile, a daily commuter from a village near Jagraon accused the state’s private bus operators’ ‘mafia’ of leaving the villagers stranded. "Politicians, who are major shareholders in private bus services, took their buses off the roads to avoid damage to their buses without sparing a thought for the

daily commuters. The latter don’t have access to public transport as no PRTC and Punjab Roadways bus plies on village routes," he added.

On the other hand, the city’s interstate bus terminal wore a deserted look today with only 225 Punjab Roadways and 70 PRTC buses passing through the Ludhiana depot till 3 pm.

Even those buses that plied on the roads did not have more than 10-15 passengers, resulting in huge losses for Punjab Roadways as well as PRTC.

Said Rajeshwar Singh Garewal, general manager of Punjab Roadways: "The daily revenue of the Ludhiana depot is between Rs 5 to 5.5 lakh which has been reduced to Rs 1.25 lakh today. It was purely the choice of passengers as the Punjab Roadways buses and staff including drivers and conductors are there on duty to serve the people”.

Similarly, a senior official, while giving the estimated loss incurred by PRTC’s Ludhiana depot, stated today’s collections would not be more than 20 percent of the daily revenues of Rs 5-6 lakh. 

Ludhiana, November 3
While the municipal corporation’s lights branch is ready to begin work on street lighting costing over Rs 1 crore in various wards of the city following the nod from the MC’s finance & contracts committee (F&CC), streetlights that were displaced after fancy lights were installed are still missing.

The high-powered committee has now given approval for inviting tenders for installing streetlights in various wards. Example: An estimate of Rs 6 lakh has been approved for ward 9, three estimates of Rs 13.35 lakh, Rs 10.30 lakh and Rs 8.65 lakh have been sanctioned for ward 11, etc. Similarly, Rs 11.36 lakh and Rs 3.90 lakh have been endorsed for ward 57.

However, the officials of the lights branch seem to have forgotten that streetlights displaced due to installation of fancy lights putting public money at stake. An example of this is the Chandigarh Road where the civic body has not yet removed the old lights that have been left abandoned.

Talking to The Tribune, Senior Deputy Mayor Parveen Bansal said, “The XEN in charge of fancy lights is responsible for such a dereliction. I’m going to take up the issue of conducting an audit for lights that have been displaced due to fancy lights. Under it the details need to be disclosed on how many old lights were removed, when and where they have been installed.”

He said the F&CC would not allow any wastage of funds. “The lights branch has told the F&CC it is putting these lights at various proposed places and an audit would clear their claims,” he added. Even though the corporation spends over Rs 4 crore annually on maintenance of streetlights, there have been regular complaints of many of them not working at night, for example those on some elevated roads that are accident prone.

Ludhiana, November 3
Following the call of Punjab bandh given by various radical Sikh organisations, city colleges and government schools today witnessed thin attendance even as private schools remained closed. Scant attendance forced numerous educational institutions to send their students back home.

Almost 75-85 per cent of the students of all city colleges and government schools preferred to stay away from classes fearing outbreak of violence in the city in the wake of the bandh. Besides, many teachers decided not to hold classes due to the presence of very low number of students.

Shruti and Sandeep, students of a private management college were asked to return home by their teachers due to poor attendance. “There were just three students in the class and the faculty did not want the rest of the students to miss out on today’s lectures so they decided not to take classes,” the girls told The Tribune.

The scenario at almost all educational institutions was the same as parents did not want to risk their kids’ security by sending them to school or college in bandh.

Satish Sharma, father of two college going children, said: “The educational institutions should have remained closed today to ensure the safety of their students. Who would be responsible for our children’s security in case of any untoward incident? I did not let my children go to college today.”

Ludhiana, November 3
While outdoor life in the city was disrupted today in the wake of Punjab bandh following the call given by various radical Sikh organisations, the Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) campus wore a cheerful look.

City residents rushed to the university campus to bask in the peaceful and lush green surroundings of the campus even as threat of violence outbreak loomed large in the outside world.

The campus was buzzing with activity since early hours as morning walkers could be seen enjoying the serene environs of the university. As the day progressed, crowds of visitors to the campus grew, most of them coming to the varsity to satiate their taste buds as eating joints in the city remained closed throughout the day.

Canteens of various PAU departments, students’ home canteen and Nescafé cafeteria witnessed huge rush of visitors, eager to take their fill of hot samosas, sandwiches, crispy patties, trademark tea and fresh juices.

While most educational institutions, including numerous schools, remained closed today, scores of city residents, especially youngsters, thronged the PAU campus to enjoy their off day, away from the thick security engulfing the city.

Youngsters could be seen in groups, unfazed by the tension and fear in the outside world even as classes were held as per routine on the campus.

Talking to The Tribune, Khushbu Randhawa, a Class IX student of a city school, who had come to the PAU in the evening, said: “My school was off today so I came to the university with my elder sister who is a PAU student. Our parents were really apprehensive to let us venture out in the wake of the bandh, but since the PAU campus is quite safe and known to remain calm and peaceful even in times of turmoil and tension outside, they let us come here.”

Rishabh Mishra, another visitor to the PAU campus, said with a large grin on his face, “All eating joints are closed today and the urge to tingle my taste buds brought me here. I simply love the hot samosas of the students’ home canteen with tea.”

Mandi Ahmedgarh, November 2
The bandh call given by the Panthic organisations evoked a mixed response in Mandi Ahmedgarh here today. Commercial establishments, including liquor vends and shops, remained closed for about three to four hours in the morning, but by noon a large number of them started functioning normally.

Activists of the radical organisations toured the markets and asked shopkeepers to close their establishments. Most shopkeepers complied but only to reopen around noon. However, there were no reports of forced closures or violence anywhere in the area.

Schools and colleges opened normally and so did all government offices, banks and other commercial establishments. But activity was very poor at these organisations. There were no traffic snarls anywhere in the region.

As very few students reached their schools today. Even the organisers of a few private schools and colleges did not send buses to fetch students from their houses.

Vehicular traffic on the Ludhiana-Malerkotla road was thin due to the withdrawal of private buses.

The bandh passed off peacefully in towns and villages falling under the Raikot and Payal subdivisions also. Various Sikh organisations led by radical leaders convened meetings at gurdwaras at Tahliaana and surrounding villages.

Doraha: The bandh call given by various Sikh organizations for seeking justice for 1984 anti-Sikh riots evoked a mixed response at Doraha and Sahnewal towns today.

However, the Doraha town wore a deserted look for almost two hours in the morning. The shopkeepers as well as shoppers preferred to remain indoor rather than inviting the wrath of protestors. When the shops finally opened, majority of them still preferred to stay back and observe the adverse reactions if any. At Sahnewal, however, the bandh was in no way rigid.

But such was the dread created by the media for the past few days that majority of the parents did not allow their kids to go to school lest they should invite any trouble for themselves. Even the employees who commute from Doraha and Sahnewal to other places and vice versa were in a fix. But the hype created by the protestors had an ultimate impact as the employees, too, managed to stay back rather than become a scapegoat for no fault of theirs. “It is always better to take day’s leave rather than put oneself in trouble,” viewed one such employee working in a private bank.

According to sources, it was the hype that overshadowed the bandh call for the protestors played a rather submissive role by being literally absent from the scene. As the normal routine was disrupted for the common man, the protestors could not be figured out. The shoppers and the commuters in no way carried themselves safely. The markets, too, wore a deserted look, as the vehicles that plied on the road and the shoppers who visited the markets were a few in numbers as compared to the other days.

Phillaur: A partial bandh was observed in Phillaur, Goraya, Bilga, Apra and Noormahal today. Road and the rail traffic remained disrupted throughout the day. Only a few Punjab Roadways, Pepsu Road Transport Corporation and private company buses could be seen plying on the road. The local railway station also wore a deserted look as many trains were cancelled or were running one to nine hours behind the schedule. The Delhi-bound 2014 DN/2013 UP Amritsar-Delhi Shatawadi Express and 2459UP/2460 DN Amritsar-Delhi Superfast Express Train remained cancelled today.

Meanwhile, Nanded bound 2716DN Sachkhand Express, 2318 DN Akal Takhat Express, 5210DN Jan Sewa Express, 5708DN Amarpali Express, 2926DN Delux Express and 1058 DN Dadar Express trains were detained at Amritsar railway station till today afternoon and could not proceed for their respective destinations.

However, the rail traffic on the Jalandhar-Pathankot-Jammu rail section, Ludhiana-Firozepur, Ludhiana-Jakhal-Hisar section was plying normally.Though banks and other government offices remained open, but inadequate staff were present in the office. Even a few schools remained closed due to bandh call.

Amloh: There was a complete bandh today. The shops wore a deserted look and buses remained off the road. However, banks, schools and offices remained open as usual but the presence of students was minimal

Mandi Gobindgarh, November 3
The teachers in government schools are an overburdened lot with non-teaching workload for which no training is imparted to them. Though the schools in the state are already facing shortage of staff, they are asked to make arrangement for mid-day meal of the students and maintain a record of daily consumption and balance. In case any deficiency is found in its storing or balance, teachers have to face the wrath of the department. Many teams of experienced teachers have been formed to check the record during school hours at the cost of studies.

It is the duty of the principal of a senior secondary school to convey the message of high-ups to seven or eight schools and the schools have to comply with the orders. There is no provision of conveyance, no Class IV employee is provided for this job and no provision of stationary exists in the schools.

The teachers bear the telephone expenses and vehicle fuel from their own pocket. The teaching work also suffers when the teachers are engaged in preparing ‘daak’ of the office.

The education department has introduced computer education in elementary and secondary schools. For this purpose computers have been provided to schools and computer teachers appointed to impart education of the subject in computer labs. However, due to power cuts the entire operation becomes a failure.

No watchman is appointed to look after the computers after school hours. The department puts the responsibility on the school head in case of theft in the school.

There is not separate post of the watchman in some schools. The school head is to perform the duty of a watchman, maintain stock and store register, cashbook to maintain accounts of grants, funds, fees, attendance of students in separate register, receipts of expenditure etc. Monthly computer fee is charged from all students irrespective of their caste and poor economic condition.

To bring bitterness in the relationship between teachers and taught, class monitors have been asked to maintain a daily diary to note the work done of the teacher in the classroom which is checked by the inspecting officers. It deteriorates the respect of teachers in the minds of students, causing indiscipline in the school.

The Sarv Sikhya Abhyan (SSA) grants given to states by the Centre government, for which Punjab is one of the leading states to get the maximum grant, has turned the teachers into clerks at the cost of teaching. Experienced teachers of compulsory subjects are posted as block resource persons (BRP) at Block Education Offices.

In place of BRP, a local, unemployed, educated person, irrespective of his subject competence, is given employment as a volunteer teacher.

Ludhiana, November 3
Contrary to 100 to 150 patients suffering from kidney failure per million in India, the donation rate of kidney is even less than .08 per cent which points towards the lack of sensitisation among people towards the cause of voluntary organ donation in brain dead patients.

Promoting the cause of Cadaver (brain dead) organ donation on World Organ Donation and Transplant Day (November 4), a Ludhiana based NGO “Gift of Life-Organ Donation Awareness Society (GLODUS)” will approach bureaucrats, educational institutions, social organisations, doctors associations and other professionals to register themselves for organ donation.

Organ donation by 80,000 people who die in road accidents in India every year can save the lives of thousands of patients who die due to the organ failure, observed Dr BS Aulakh, (Professor of Urology and head, Transplant Unit, DMCH). He is also the president of GLODUS.

Dr Aulakh in order to clear the misperceptions that hinder donor registration stated that people erroneously believe that a person can recover from ‘brain death’ adding, “a brain dead person is kept on ventilator to maintain oxygenation of organs so that the organs are in healthy condition until they are removed.”

“No one should die of organ failure”, the slogan given by GLODUS accentuates the fact that a person after brain death can save up to eight lives by donating kidney, heart, liver, pancreas, intestines, cornea, skin, bone marrow and lungs.

Pointing towards the Human Transplantation Act of 1994 which came into being to stop commercial dealing in organs especially kidneys and accepting brain death as a definition of death Dr BS Aulakh stated that cadaver donation would bridge the gap between demand and supply of organs thereby putting an end to the “human-organ trafficking” carried out in India.

The members of GLODUS further called upon the ministry of health and family welfare, Punjab, to make it mandatory for every government and private hospital to certify brain dead people so as to promote organ donation among the masses in the hospitals. Tamil Nadu government has already made certification of brain dead people mandatory in their hospitals, added the NGO members. 

Mandi Ahmedgarh, November 3
While sky is the only shelter for lakhs of homeless families living in the border state, thousands of houses, once allotted to the poorest among poor under the Indira Awas Yojna are lying deserted.

People smell a rat in its construction and subsequent allotment to those favoured by political bigwigs during successive governments. The fact that majority of these abodes were never inhabited by the allottees suggest that the authorities had allotted these houses to undeserving contenders.

While Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal has put Rs 135-crore slum rehabilitation project on the fast track, homeless families, including nomads are demanding that they should be allowed to live in these houses which otherwise are proving a menace for the people and the administration. Nearly 7,337 houses would be constructed under this project.

“Instead of spending crore on the construction of new houses, the government should allow us live in any of these houses. We will make these colonies habitable by making necessary amendments,” said Baru, who like thousands had been living in a tent for years. Ideally houses allotted under the Indira Awas Yojna and other schemes cannot be sold or rented out, there were hundreds of dwellings, ownership rights of which had been transferred for consideration illegally.

Investigations by The Tribune revealed that successive governments had failed to appreciate rationale behind the awas yojnas. Local leaders, including elected representative in the civic body, instead of providing houses to the needy, tried to please their favourites who already owed houses.

Basic necessities like water; sanitation, drainage, streetlights, roads and solid waste management were also not cared for while setting up new colonies. Deserted colonies, situated on the outskirts of a large number of villages have served as a den for anti-social elements too.

The civic bodies don’t have record about construction and allotment of these houses.

Jagraon, November 3
The Universal Human Right organisation (UHRO) achieved a victory after got a direction passed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court for the irrigation department to get the drain passing through Rasulpur and other villages cleaned within a month. Judge Ashutosh Mohanta has warned that appropriate action would be taken against people if they refuse to comply with the orders.

The rights panel, Rasulpur panchayat, social welfare society, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Club and Baba Jeewan Singh Welfare Club had filed representations to the Punjab government as their requests about getting the drain desilted, de-weeded and cleaned. These representations also went futile. The rights panel then decided to acquire records pertaining to the cleaning of the drain from the department through RTI.

To their horror they found that they drain was never cleaned due to paucity of funds. The panel then filed a PIL in the court and got the direction passed. The judge following the information given under the RTI and the representation made by the various organisations beside village panchayat passed the orders submitting that there was apprehension of outbreak of diseases due to non cleaning of the drain.

Ludhiana, November 3
The Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) today met Manish Tewari, MP, to apprise of the "miserable" conditions of workers, employees in the state. The members of the trade union said the employees were being victimised under the SAD-BJP regime.

The members demanded that the monthly remuneration of employees should be at least Rs 6,000. The fleet of Punjab Roadways and Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) should be completed. The vacancies in PRTC should be filled as common man was suffering due to the staff crunch. The rising inflation had further deteriorated the situation. Besides, no development was being carried out in the state. The members presented memorandum to Tewari on the occasion. 

Jagraon, November 3
The Teran Panth Youth Council and the Teran Panth Women Cell of the Jain community jointly organised a workshop on “how to maintain cordial relation between married couples”, here today.

Rakesh Kumar, a saint, gave tips on better relation among husband and wife.

He said apart from respecting each other both should have faith and should honour the faith the other has in him or her. He added that it depended upon the couple what type of atmosphere they wanted in their home.

Terming the relation of husband and wife a very delicate one, he said even a small crack in it could also ruin the life of many others who were related to them.

Sometimes it becomes impossible to live with strained relationship that ends with suicide of one or both.

Rakesh said one should keep one away from ego as it was the main cause of strained relationship.

One should be strong enough to maintain discipline in life as it resulted in reducing many problems.

He said meditation of at least 20 minutes a day ensured cordial relationship and the nature of helping the other.

A brief entertainment programme on the topic of the theme of the workshop was also presented.

Ludhiana, November 3
Dr TS Thind, senior plant pathologist, working in the department of plant pathology in the PAU and research fellows Ratinderbir Kaur and Sanjay Goswami have been awarded PP Singhal Memorial Pesticides India Award for the year 2009 by the Indian Society of Mycology and Plant Pathology.

The award has been given for their research on profiling of metalaxyl resistance in populations of phytophthora infestans and its management with novel action fungicides, which was adjudged the best during the annual conference and national symposium of the society held recently at North Bengal University at Siliguri.

The award carries a citation and a cash prize of Rs 15,000 and is given annually for the best research work in the field of rational use of fungicides.

AWARENESS: Punjab Agricultural University and Nature’s Tree Foundation are jointly organising a function on November 13 to create awareness about heritage trees.

PAU Vice-Chancellor Dr Manjit Singh Kang will be the chief guest while eminent farm economist and former Vice-Chancellor Dr SS Johl will be the guest of honour.

The programme will have various activities. Boulders inscribed with inspirational quotations will be installed on the university campus. A presentation on the endangered tree species requiring protection will be organised. Dr APS Gill will highlight the importance of trees and Dr Surjit Patar will speak on the place of trees in Punjabi culture. Director of extension education Dr MS Gill and Baba Sewa Singh will also speak.

Khanna, November 3
The Industrial Focal Point Welfare Association today alleged that there wasn’t any doctor in the local ESI dispensaries and those in adjoining areas since long. Pharmacists and other employees are running these dispensaries.

Addressing a press conference here yesterday association’s president Tejinder Singh alleged that there were at least 8,000 insured persons from different industries and other business establishments, who contribute about Rs 105 lakh per annum as the ESI fund for getting medical facilities from the local ESI dispensary.

However, the health and medical facilities at the dispensary are not up to the mark as there is no doctor for the past three months.

A doctor was recently posted at the dispensary. He used to visit for three days in a week. ESI dispensary has been attached to ESI Hospital, Mandi Gobindgarh, for serious ailments, which are 10 kms away with a level crossing in between.

The workers are always reluctant to go to the hospital at Mandi Gobindgarh due to obvious reasons of expenditure on traveling and wastage of time.

The members of association said the ESIC should involve itself by attaching local private nursing homes for primary and secondary medical facilities.

The association also met senior state medical commissioner Dr RK Mathur in June, 2008, requested him to provide secondary treatment from local nursing homes but nothing has been done so far. 

Ludhiana, November 3
A reckless truck driver created havoc on the Ferozepur road last night and damaged numerous vehicles, including that of a police, which tired to stop it.The incident took place at around 11. 30pm when a truck belonging to a Moga-based goods courier company hit the vehicle of a couple, who were returning home after attending a marriage, near Baddowal.

The couple reported the matter to the police control room, following which it chasing the vehicle.

The driver, who was reportedly drunk, got panicky and in the process hit couple of other vehicles. Meanwhile, the police SUV overtook the truck in order to stop it but the driver hit the police vehicle as well.

Fortunately, the driver stopped the truck before the Bharat Nagar Chowk and escaped, otherwise the speeding truck could have caused numerous accidents had it reached the chowk, a cop said.

But the trouble was not yet over for the police as before fleeing the driver took the keys of the tuck along with him. It was only after the help taken from a mechanic that the truck could be moved away from the road.

The police nabbed five migrant labourers, who allegedly hired the truck from Moga to Ludhiana. They were even thrashed by the cops before being taken to police station.

The arrested migrant labourers pleaded innocence and said they were not aware that the truck driver was drunk.

Jagraon, November 3
The kabaddi team of Khalsa College for Women, Sidhwan Khurd, brought laurels to the college in the Punjab University Inter-College Championship held recently at the university in Chandigarh.A total of 10 colleges from various zones participated in the tournament. The college’s kabaddi team got success in striking a bronze.

This is the first time that the college team has managed to bag any medal in the event of kabaddi. Dr Paramjit Kaur, principal, Saral Chahal and Supinder Jit Kaur, lecturers in physical education, felicitated the kabaddi team on returning to college along with the medal.