Jalandhar, January 17
While winter has gripped North India in its icy tentacles, majority of the city poor are spending sleepless nights in the absence of any shelter or facility which can save them from the wrath of the extremities of the weather. But the Municipal Corporation of Jalandhar is of the opinion that providing them with night shelters or coal, to keep them warm, is not a job worth doing.

With the weather turning unusually cold this year, sleeping on streets has become a potentially lethal ordeal. It’s a well-established fact that the homeless and poor amount to half of the deaths caused in India every winter, due to the extreme chill.

Under the MCD Act, it is an obligation of the Municipal Corporation to provide night shelters to the homeless of the city. But Commissioner Vinay Bublani feels otherwise.

“There are many organisations in the city doing the same job, so MC doesn’t need to bother,” said Bublani.

But hundreds of people, especially poor migrants of the city, can be seen sleeping under the sky with nothing more than a rugged blanket to save them from the freezing cold. At nights, they huddle around small fires by burning tyres and garbage to produce some heat. But rubbish is not easy to obtain as it comes with money, and they lack the same.

The MC had woken up from its slumber some 3-4 years back to provide wood/coal to the homeless poor, but dozed off soon after, never to wake up again.

“It (providing wood/coal) didn’t seem of much use to us. It wasn’t really cold for the past some years. The winter started just some days back. Moreover, such solutions are not very realistic.” the Commissioner added.

The homeless urban poor are doubly marginalised. They are often labeled as encroachers and accused of making the city look ugly with their tents tied on pavements, roundabouts, below flyovers and around religious sites.

While the city streets turn unsafe for homeless women at nights, the lack of night shelters makes them more vulnerable. They become sitting ducks for the criminals. But the MC has no regard for their safety or life.

“When there is no such demand from the homeless poor, it is meaningless to do it. We shall definitely think of it if they come to us with such requests,” said Bublani.

But these people are ignorant of their rights and government’s responsibilities towards them. “We are doomed to suffer… can somebody escape fate?” rued Bhiru, who sleeps in the open near the bus stand.

The MC has invested Rs 57 crore on various projects in the previous year but has never bothered to provide a shelter for the homeless poor and women in the city, despite the fact that many city buildings are unused and could be turned into shelters with a small investment.

Tarn Taran, January 17
The Border Security Force seized 5 kg of heroin from Gazzal village in Khemkaran sector in early hours today. The consignment is worth Rs 25 crore in the international market.

DIG BSF Rajesh Gupta said the patrolling party of the BSF heard some noises from across the fencing and suspected some people coming to the Indian side. The jawans opened fire on the suspected infiltrators, who returned to the Pakistan side.

The BSF jawans recovered five packets of heroin weighing one kg each.

The DIG told that the Pakistani smugglers were trying to use the foggy conditions but the vigilant BSF jawans foiled their attempt. The BSF has taken heroin into its custody and has initiated further action.

Jalandhar, January 17
The court of Civil Judge Sangeeta has convicted Paramdeep Kaur, a resident of Amritsar, to two years of imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000 under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act.

Complainant Surinder Kaur owned a house in Kashmir Avenue, Amritsar, which she wanted to sell off. She was approached by her niece Paramdeep Kaur and her husband Vishal Singh. The deal was settled at Rs 1,04,50,000, for which the complainant was given the token money of Rs 4,50,000. On October 31, 2007, three post-dated cheques, two of Rs 33.50 lakh and one of Rs 30 lakh were issued from the joint account of Paramdeep and Vishal.

The complainant gave a general power of attorney in favour of Vishal on the same day. Paramdeep and Vishal on the same day sold a part of the house without disclosing it to the complainant.

When Surinder Kaur presented a cheque for encashment, it was dishonoured due to insufficient fund in the account. She then came to know that her property had already been sold off.

The complainant said she approached Paramdeep for payment a number of times but was always given vague promises. By next month, the complainant filed a civil suit for injunction to restrain Paramdeep and Vishal from alienating the property. Soon the complainant was approached for settlement of the matter. Vishal made a payment of Rs 28 lakh and promised to make payment of the balance amount later but without interest. In response, the remaining two cheques, which had not been presented to the bank for encashment were returned to Paramdeep. But Paramdeep and Vishal did not allegedly make any payment later.

Paramdeep alleged that the three cheques in possession of the complainant were rather stolen by the latter. But the court did not find any merit as there was neither any police complaint lodged nor any action for stop payment taken and hence ordered the conviction.

Jalandhar, January 17
A departmental enquiry has been ordered in the case of alleged negligence in which alive, premature twins were declared dead by the staff of the Civil Hospital, Jalandhar. A team of the District Medical Commissioner, Dr. Ajay Sahni and Senior Neanotologist Dr. Balbir Singh will probe into the matter. A staff member of the hospital declared two alive male twins dead right after their birth.

“One of the staff members wrapped up both the twins in a warm towel and told the parents that the twins are dead. However, the twins were later found to be alive by the parents. One of the babies died after six hours of the delivery. The other baby is still alive but inspite of the fact that his vitals are normal, no definite prognosis can be made out yet,” said Dr. Balbir Singh. — TNS

Pathankot, January 17
Group C and D employees of the BSNL here have been opposing the move of the General Manager (GM) of constructing a shed in front of the telephone exchange for the past one week.

More than 170 employees of the BSNL here today sent a signed memorandum to the higher authorities, including the CMD of the BSNL in Delhi and Chief General Manager, Punjab Circle, Chandigarh, against the unilateral decision of the GM of constructing a 30-m long, 8.5-m wide and 3.3-m high shed at the entrance of the exchange.

The employees alleged that the shed was being constructed without any justified requirement and architected approval causing unnecessarily financial burden on the organisation as well as putting the security of the telephone exchange under threat.

It was alleged in the memorandum that in case of any mishap inside the premises no fire tender would have any access to reach the gate of the exchange to protect the costly equipment, staff and even the building of the exchange. The GM could not be contacted for his comments.

Amritsar, January 17
The intervention of the district and police administration prevented members of the Paramedical Contract Mulazam Union, Punjab, from staging a protest against Health Minister Lakshmi Kanta Chawla at the venue of the BJP rally, where its National President Nitin Gadkari and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal were present.

The officials of the district administration and the police stopped them at the Hall Gate where they blocked traffic for sometime.

Eventually, they lifted their protest when they were assured of a meeting with the Health Minister on January 22.

Convener Vajinder Pal Singh Randhawa said the union has been making the rounds of the offices and residences of the ministers concerned for the past three years but to no avail.

He alleged that the Health Minister was not ready to listen to them at all. He claimed that once a delegation under him went to meet the minister, but they were humiliated and were turned out of the place. He said in a democracy, the political leaders were supposed to listen to the public and their organisations.

Another union leader Amarjit Singh Sekhon said the time limit of confirming contract employees must be fixed, revising the emoluments of the contractual workers. He added that contractual workers have been working on the same wages for many years, although inflation has risen manifold in the recent times.