The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Payment Problem NREGA workers lodge protest with DC Bipin Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Jalandhar, November 25 Launched with much fanfare for providing employment to unskilled persons, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) seems to have failed to come up to the expectations of the actual receivers. While the district administration claims to have introduced the scheme in an effective way to provide employment to the unemployed and unskilled workers, the ground realities, however, are otherwise. The scheme has failed in almost 110-odd villages falling in three blocks of Nakodar, Shahkot and Nurmahal in the district where workers have started quiting work, courtesy, the authorities for not paying wages to the workers in time, besides making hardly any provision of medicare, potable water and other facilities as per the guidelines under the scheme. Moreover, in many villages while there are job-seekers but the district administration has not prepared job cards for the unemployed youth and unskilled labour. Up in arms against the district administration, scores of villagers from these three blocks today assembled in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner and lodged their protest. Sohan Lal, a resident of Fatehpur village, claimed that over 40 job-card holders were not given wages for their 25-day work that they did last month. Jagrat Singh of Bhangala village in Nurmahal block complained that the workers were getting almost half of the promised amount of the wages, while there was no work for 40 job-card holders in Bagga village. The protesters also alleged that the sarpanches of their respective villages were not releasing their job cards and even not making them payments as per the NREGA guidelines. A delegation of the protesters led by Pendu Mazdoor Union, Punjab, president Tarsem Peter later gave a reorientation of their demands to ADC(D) S.G. Sharda who assured them early solution to the problems.
	CRIME ZONE Woman killed for dowry Our Correspondents Hoshiarpur, November 25 A young housewife was killed and two others were tortured for more dowry by their in-laws. Tanda and Dasuya police stations have registered cases in this connection. According to police sources, Nirmal Kaur, wife of NRI Jagtar Singh of Saitpur village, alleged that her daughter Rajwinder Kaur was killed by her husband Lakhwinder Singh, father-in-law Amarjit Singh and mother-in-law Kuldip Kaur of Salempur for a Safari car on November 22. Nirmal Kaur stated that her husband had been working in Germany. Her daughter Rajwinder Kaur was married with Lakhwinder Singh on November 23, 2008. Her family had gave sufficient dowry on her marriage by spending about Rs 15 lakh. On October 22, she gave birth to a son. Members of Rajwinder Kaur’s in-laws’ family demanded a Safari car on the birth of the son for which she assured them that she would fulfil their demand on the arrival of her husband, who was expected to come to India in the next three months. But the in-laws lost their patience and started maltreating and torturing Rajwinder Kaur. On November 22, Lakhwinder Singh telephoned her son Amrinder Singh that Rajwinder Kaur was seriously ill. Amrinder Singh instructed them to get her admitted to a hospital. When he reached the residence of his sister, he found Rajwinder Kaur lying on a cot in the rear of the house. Before dying, Rajwinder Kaur told her brother that the members of her in-laws’ family had tried to kill her. The police has registered a case under sections 304 B and 34 of the IPC. In another case Kamaljit Kaur, daughter of Surinder Singh of Salimpur, got registered a case under sections 498 A and 406 of the IPC against her husband Surinder Singh and some other members of her in-laws’ family for allegedly maltreating and torturing her for more dowry. The Dasuya police has also booked Sunil Kumar and his mother Santosh Kumari, residents of Ghasitpur, for allegedly torturing and harassing Simpal Kaur, daughter of Dhian Chand of Uchi Bassi, for more dowry. One arrested with stolen scooter Pathankot: Manjit Singh of New Shastri Nagar was arrested by the police here yesterday and a scooter (HR-01-L-1034) was recovered from him. DSP N.K. Dogra said the accused had stolen the scooter from outside a local marriage palace on Sunday. A case under sections 379 and 411 of the IPC has been registered against him. Meanwhile, the Kahnuwan police arrested proclaimed offender Satish Kumar of Kotli Rolla. He was wanted in a case registered against him under section 302 of the IPC at Kahnuwan police station on November 13. Two armed robbers arrested Phagwara: The Phillaur police has arrested two car-borne suspected armed robbers identified as Jatinder Singh and Jatinder Kumar, both residents of Ludhiana, and recovered one .9-mm US-made pistol and one .32-bore German-made revolver along with 24 live cartridges from them, DSP Kamaljit Singh Dhillon told The Tribune here on Tuesday evening. Dhillon said the police impounded their Tata Indica car (PB-10B-W-0222) having a “PRESS” sticker during a naka near the Sutlej bridge. He claimed the accused were going to commit a crime when they were nabbed on the way.
	MC employees go on strike Our Correspondents Hoshiarpur, November 25 As per the decision of the action committee of the Municipal Employees Punjab, employees of the local Municipal Council (MC) went on a three-day strike today in support of their various demands, including regularisation of the services of part-time employees, daily wagers, employees of the mohalla committees and employees on contract basis without any condition, releasing share of VAT with 25 per cent annual increase along with arrears, increasing salaries of ad hoc employees according to the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission and also increasing salaries of lower staff after making amendment to the pay commission report, starting fresh recruitment, abolishing contract system, providing employment to kin of those who die on duty and doubling all allowances. The agitating employees staged a dharna and held a rally in front of the office of the MC. Phagwara: Work in the Nagar Council remained paralysed here today due to a three-day statewide strike call given by the Municipal Mulazam Action Committee in support of their long-pending demands. Almost all offices of the Nagar Council, except for the office of the death and birth certificates, remained locked today. Hundreds of municipal employees led by Municipal Employees Union general secretary Surjit Kaur and Safai Karamchari Union president Ram Murti demonstrated and sat on a day-long dharna outside the council office on the first day of the agitation today. The protesters raised slogans in support of their demands.
	200 bags of PDS wheat seized Tribune News Service Jalandhar, November 25 The district police today arrested an arhtiya for black marketing wheat meant to be sold at subsidised rates at government depots under the public distribution system (PDS). The police also impounded a truck loaded with 200 bags of wheat from the arhtiya, Pawn Kumar, a resident of Bholath in Kapurthala. Acting on a tip-off, the police laid a trap and impounded a truck loaded with bags of wheat near Arya Nagar. The police informed the Food and Supplies Department about the recovery. The suspect disclosed that he had purchased the wheat from a government depot in Bholath. The police has registered a case under sections 420 and 409 of the IPC against Pawan Kumar at Police Station Division 1.
	30 hurt as vehicle overturns Phagwara, November 25 More than 30 occupants of a Tata-407 sustained serious injuries when the vehicle in which they were going from Jalandhar to Balachaur overturned near Khangurra village at the Mehtan-Mehli bypass this afternoon. According to the reports received here this evening, the injured were working as waiters and were going to serve in a marriage party in Balachaur. The accident occurred when the driver lost his control over the vehicle atn a curve and the vehicle overturned. — OC
	Buses resume old route from today Jalandhar, November 25 Following the repair of the bridge on the Sutlej at Ropar, the Jalandhar-Chandigarh route via Ropar will be opened for heavy vehicular traffic tomorrow. Earlier, the traffic to Chandigarh from Jalandhar was diverted to Nawanshahr-Rahon-Samrala-Morinda route. The General Manager of the Punjab Roadway Depot (I) in Jalandhar, Parneet Singh Minhas, said the buses would operate via Ropar from Jalandhar to Chandigarh from tomorrow. — TNS
	Biker killed Hoshiarpur, November 25 Gurpreet Singh of Ahrana Jattan was killed when the motorcycle he was riding on was hit by a car near Simblu village last evening. The Mehtiana police has registered a case. — OC