The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Rural docs seek salary parity Sushil Goyal Tribune News Service Bathinda, November 7 The rural medical officers' (RMOs) cadre seem to be a harassed lot as resentment prevails among about 950 RMOs, working on contract basis under Zila Parishads in rural dispensaries in all parts of the state, against the Punjab government. The resentment is because the state government is not giving them salaries at par with the PCMS doctors even after more than three years of service though they had reportedly been given higher salaries than the PCMS doctors in May 2006 when they had signed contracts with the rural development department as medical service providers to work in the rural dispensaries. Talking to The Tribune today, state president of the Rural Medical Services Association Punjab Dr Aslam Parvez accused the Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal of becoming a hurdle in the enhancement of their salaries at par with the PCMS doctors. He said due to the indifferent attitude of the finance minister, about 250 RMOs had left their jobs during the past two to three months and had joined service in Haryana as medical officer (MO). Dr Aslam said the Punjab rural development minister had sent a file to the finance department, saying that the RMOs were leaving their jobs to join service in Haryana, so their salaries should be raised at par with the PCMS doctors. He alleged that despite this the finance minister had returned the file by imposing 70 per cent cut on the recommended enhanced amount of the salary. Dr Aslam also said that on the one hand, Punjab government was giving Rs 37,500 per month salary to its newly recruited PCMS doctors while on the other, the finance minister had recommended only Rs 26,000 per month for the RMOs who were working in rural areas for over three years whereas the PCMS doctors were working in semi-urban areas. He urged the CM Parkash Singh Badal to take up the issue in the next cabinet meeting to give them salaries at par with the PCMS doctors. He also said that the RMOs were considering themselves as a harassed lot. Dr Aslam said their other demands included regularisation of services of the RMOs as they had already served in rural areas more than three years on contract basis, 60 per cent post-graduate quota in MD/MS courses in all government medical colleges for RMOs after the completion of their three years of service.
	Show commitment, HC judge to students Rajay Deep Tribune News Service Faridkot, November 7 Baba Farid Law College, Faridkot, organised the commemoration ceremony of a leading advocate of the city, late Ved Parkash Goyal, where his kin donated his library to the college. Further, to encourage the students of the college, the Ved Parkash Goyal Advocate Memorial Charitable Trust, Faridkot, announced that a gold medal would be given to a bright student every year for his exemplary accomplishments. Today, the trust awarded the gold medal for the year 2009 to Ravish Bansal, who had recently passed out from the college, for his overall good performance. Speaking on the occasion, Inderjit Singh Khalsa, chairman of the college, announced that from the next session, whosoever would bag the top position in academics would be awarded the medal. Justice Rakesh Garg, judge, Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chandigarh, was the chief guest on the occasion. Among other dignitaries, Arun Kumar Mittal, joint secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi, Joginder Singh Sandhwan (Patron) and Usha Goyal (chairperson) of the trust and MF Farooqui, Deputy Director, Police Training Centre, Phillaur, were present at the event. Chairman of the college Inderjit Singh Khalsa extended a hearty welcome to the guests and claimed that the college had created an enviable name for itself in a short span of time. Students of the college presented choreographies and a poem, targeting social evils, which earned them appreciation from all. Justice Rakesh Garg stressed upon the need for students to follow the path of patriotism, honesty and commitment. He said students should believe in simple living and high thinking. Renowned for his poetic talent, senior cop MF Farooqui motivated the youth in a lyrical style and implored them to develop sterling qualities of the head and the heart.
	2 youths stranded at Kuala Lumpur airport Kulwinder Sandhu Tribune News Service Moga, November 7 Duped by a travel agent, two youths Lakhvir Singh (27) Vairoke village of Moga district and Raju Singh (22) of Burj Hari Singh village of Ludhiana district, have been stranded at the Kuala Lumpur airport in Malaysia for the past over two weeks. Sources revealed that the travel agent, a resident of Manuke village of Moga district, also a partner with a travel agency of Ludhiana, allegedly took Rs 1,00,000 each from them to send them to Malaysia on work permit. However, both the youths had been detained at the airport by the Malaysian airport authorities telling them they could not enter the country as they had no proper documents. Not only this, an associate of Jagtar Singh at Kuala Lumpur took away Rs 40,000 from the youths on the pretext of getting them enter the country leaving them in the lurch. The youths were now surviving on the rice offered by the security staff at the airport. They had left for Delhi on October 21 to board a flight for Malaysia. The father and brother of Lakhvir work as daily wagers and in the hope of a better future, they decided to send him to Malaysia. Raju, who is Lalkvir's brother-in-law, was also a poor labourer. He had arranged money by raising a loan against the gold ornaments of his wife and parents at the rate of three per cent monthly interest rate. Now, the family was in a dilemma over returning the loan amount. The travel agent has taken Rs 60, 000 from him. Now, the travel agent was avoiding picking up the calls of his family members. Sources revealed that the associates of the travel agents at Kuala Lumpur had also confiscated their passports on arrival at the airport.
	Quilts no longer warm the cockles of their heart Anjali Singh Deswal Tribune News Service Bathinda, November 7 Mohammed Manzoor Gauri is praying for winters to set in so that he could make some money. Gauri, a quilt maker, who comes every year from Mumbai to sell quilts and mattresses, is a worried man as this year as his business is yet to take a leap. As relatively warm weather conditions are prevailing even in November, those who make a living by selling quilts are having a tough time. "Earlier, winter used to arrive in September and we used to do brisk business because this area witnesses a harsh winter. But this year, it seems that we would be able to fetch only half of what we made last year or even less," Gauri added. He has been coming to Bathinda for the last four years as his relative Abdul Wahid Khan needs his assistance in the business. Abdul runs two quilt and mattresses shops in Bathinda. One is near the church at the Power House Road and one is near the Bibiwala Chowk. Abdul has been making and selling quilts and mattresses for the past 19 years. This year has been different for Abdul as he has switched to repairing quilts and mattresses rather than selling fresh ones. "It was difficult to earn profit from making and selling quilts and mattresses. The amount spent on making quilts and mattresses used to be more than the amount earned because this year I have not been able to sell even half of my stock. People prefer using old quilts and mattresses so I switched to repairing them. People are still using blankets and some are still without blankets," Abdul said. Gauri makes sofas at a furniture shop in Mumbai and he said that he would just watch for a couple of days and if his business fails to flourish then he would get back to Mumbai. Same is the condition of quilt makers near Bathinda Fort. They said that they were just hoping that winter comes soon so that before December ends they are able to earn some profit.
	Bus overturns Over 20 students hurt Tribune News Service Bathinda, November 7 As many as 20 students of the Government High School, Bandi, along with various other passengers sustained multiple injuries today morning when a private bus in which they were traveling overturned at village Bandi in the district, this morning. According to details, the bus bearing number PB03K-7411 was going to village Bandi from Faridkot. The driver picked around 50 students from the village along with many other passengers. Various passengers were even boarded atop the bus. Later, the bus driver allegedly indulged in reckless driving leading to overturning of the overloaded bus, sources said. Immediately, villagers and passerby rushed the injured to the civil hospital, Badal. According to doctors of the hospital, various students and other passengers sustained fractures on head, legs, arms, nose and other limbs. Many of them underwent surgery also. Expressing their grievance, kin of the injured lamented that the accident was an outcome of the poor transport connectivity of their village. When contacted, SHO Sangat police station, Sandeep Singh said the passengers accused driver for indulging in reckless driving. He added that the bus was overloaded. Students even sat on the roof of the bus, he said. "Acting upon the statement of the injured, we have booked the driver Avtar Singh under section 279, 337 and 338 of the IPC. We are putting our best to nab him as he managed to flee from the spot," said Sandeep Singh.