Jalandhar, May 11
Residents of the New Gopal Nagar and Harnamdaspura localities here face a piquant situation as their elected councillor is behind bars in a criminal case and they need to approach his defeated opponent from the BJP for redress of their problems.

Just a month after he won from Ward 26 about two years ago, Congress councillor Sukhmeet Deputy was arrested in the case of alleged kidnapping of the son of a city-based businessman for ransom.

In his absence, Jimmy Kalia is the de-facto councillor. A close aide and relative of Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia, Jimmy has been reportedly enjoying all the powers of a councillor.

Though Jimmy cannot technically attend any house meeting, he claims that he is regularly attending to the people of his ward and getting their work done.

“I have got a tubewell in Gopal Nagar installed and one for Harnamdaspura has already been sanctioned. I have got 60 streetlight points installed. A park in Gopal Nagar has been set up and another has been renovated. More projects worth Rs 1 crore for development of the area are in the pipeline,” he claimed.

He cited the reason for the same. “Despite having lost, I have been fortunate enough to have been able to build a good rapport with the residents.”

As this correspondent visited the ward and asked people about the councillor, they quickly referred me to Jimmy Kalia. “He is the man who will get your work done,” everyone said.

But there were many like Gurcharan Singh, a shopkeeper in Harnamdaspura, who exclaimed, “We are like a family without its head. Jimmy is our guardian but not a parent. Drainage of rainwater in our area is a serious problem which he has not been able to get solved.”

MC Commissioner Viney Bublani said, “In the absence of a councillor, we are the custodians of the ward. I can recall tenders for projects worth Rs 1 crore being invited for the ward.” He denied any say or interference of Jimmy Kalia in the allotment of projects.

When asked if there was any move for re-election in the area, he said since Sukhmeet could not attend even a single meeting and had missed at least five meetings of the House, a case in this regard had been moved to the state government for consideration.

Jalandhar, May 11
The Jalandhar Improvement Trust (JIT) may soon have to get the statue of former Chief Minister Beant Singh shifted owing to the construction of a flyover across BMC Chowk here.

The iron enclosure of the island in which it stands erected has been dismantled. A few drainage pipes have been stacked in the island. Officials of the JIT have said the statue might have to be relocated to make way for a service lane that would have to be constructed from the intersection towards the district courts.

JIT engineers have point out that there is the possibility of the statue being permanently shifted as it could fall in the area to be covered for the alignment of the flyover. “We have just started with the laying of the pipes. We are still checking the alignment. The statue site may or may not get covered in the construction part,” they said.

Grandson of the slain CM and MP from Anandpur Sahib Ravneet Singh Bittu said he would not mind the statue being shifted if it was for the development of the city. “Had it been done deliberately, I would have surely retaliated. Instead of remaining at an inconspicuous place like under a flyover, I would rather want it to get relocated at a site where it would look more appealing,” he opined.

District Congress Committee general secretary Varinder Sharma said he would have to examine the matter with the JIT before commenting on it. He, too, was of the opinion that it would not be advisable to keep the statue near a construction site. Anti-social elements had tried to disgrace the statue about two years back. Even at the time of its unveiling about three and a half years ago, the statue had to remain wrapped in hessian cloth for more than two months since Congress leaders could not hold a function due to imposition of the code of conduct on account of the assembly poll.

Jalandhar, May 11
Giving fillip to national game hockey, the newly laid mini-turf at Kukar Pind near Jalandhar Cantonment has come up as a big launch pad for scores of budding hockey players. Ever since the turf has been laid the game has received an impetus.

The mini-turf of 22X44 dimension in the hinterland of Mecca of hockey, Sansarpur, near Public High School, Kukar Pind, is fast catching up the interest of the rural players. The village boys nearly 60 of them along with NRI help have joined hands to bring back the glory of the game.

Players from adjoining villages Khusropur, Kukar Pind, Sansarpur, Dhanowali, Jandiala, Jandiali, Thapalke and Mithapur make sure that they pick the best hockey skills on the poly grass. “All thanks to the NRI help and the state Sports Department. The newly laid mini-turf is a priced possession of the villagers. And we ensure its maintenance round the clock”, said a player.

Talking to The Tribune, Sukhjinder Singh Bahia, a full back, said recently village NRIs gave us Rs 30,000 for purchasing hockey kits. “The NRIs are playing a major role in boosting the game. They gave us hockey sticks, shoes and jerseys to some 60 players from the village. What else do we want,” he quipped.

NRIs including Canada-based Ranjit Singh Basra, Tejinder Singh Basra, Harkaramjit Singh Bahia and Pala from the US conducted village-level hockey tournaments. “We have planned a major village-level hockey tournament in the coming months again. We want that the youngsters should get the best of the facility as far as hockey is concerned. And we don’t mind spending money for this purpose,” said NRI Harkamaljit Bahia.

However, the players rued the lack of a trained coach for them. “Whatever little we have learnt so far is with sheer practice and watching other players on the TV. The Sports Department should ensure that a regular coach be given to us. Even the former Olympians never came to teach us hockey lessons,” added Gurpreet Singh, another player.

The players also highlighted the lack of water pressure pumps for the turf. “We spend half of the time watering the turf manually. The water is sprinkled either through buckets or hosepipe. The Sports Department should quip us with water facility for proper maintenance of the turf,” said Puneet Sharma, another player.

Another budding player, Jatinder Singh Bahia, a student of class VIII student of Public High School, Kukar Pind, said, “There is a vast difference between playing on the grass and on the turf. We wait for our turns to practice on the poly grass”, he quipped.

Jalandhar, May 11
The Punjab Schedule Caste Land Development and Finance Corporation (PSCLDFC) is all set to start a district-level awareness campaign regarding its easy education loan facility for Schedule Caste (SC) students pursuing higher education.

Aimed at roping in maximum SC students, the awareness campaign would be beginning ahead of the upcoming college admissions in the district. The SC corporation raised the limit of education loan for the students from Rs 40,000 to Rs 5 lakh.

Under the scheme, meritorious SC students pursuing medical, engineering, MBA, MCA and PhD programmes across the country or abroad can avail themselves of a loan of Rs 5 lakh on 8 per cent annual interest. Till date five students from Jalandhar, Kapurthala and Ludhiana have availed themselves of the benefit under the scheme.

Talking to The Tribune about the campaign, Chairman of the SC corporation Pawan Kumar Tinu said they would inform the Panchayati Raj officials, Zila Parishads and Deputy Commissioners about the loan facility. “We would also reach out to the prospective students through schools and colleges in the rural areas. While seminars would be held for maximum response under the scheme,” he added.

Further expressing concern over lack of awareness among SC students regarding education loan he said that firstly till date not all the SC population in the region are educated and secondly not many of them read newspapers. “Despite carrying out advertisements in local newspapers the response to this scheme has been minimal. There is a huge communication gap between the officials concerned. Now, we have decided to use various forms of media for a better response”, he added.

Tinu said there was no upper limit for the scheme. “It is my effort to rope in maximum students not only from Jalandhar, but also from across the state,” he maintained.

It might be noted that the first instalment of the education loan of Rs 75,000 was released on January 30, 2010. The amount was handed over to a Ludhiana-based boy, Vikrant Sidhu. He said there should be no need for a guarantee on the education loan, as it would help in reducing the financial burden on the students.

Vikrant was all praise for the education loan of the corporation. A student of film editing at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, he was unable to bear the expenses of his course owing to his poor family background. Son of a Class IV employee in the Municipal Corporation in Ludhiana, he was unable to pay the course fees.

“Pursuing a professional course at the FTII was virtually beyond our means. It was through some newspapers that I got to know about this scheme. And finally I am able to pursue my course further,” he added.

Jalandhar, May 11
Police personnel would be posted in front of educational institutions, especially girls’ schools and colleges at the start and closing time to ensure that the students are not disturbed or harassed by anti-social elements.

DC Priyank Bharti, who presided over a meeting of the District Law and Order Advisory Committee here today, said signboards had been put up in all the important city junctions and roundabouts, listing the name of officials from the administration and the police.

This would enable the people to pass information about any suspicious activities or crime to the control room or officials concerned without any delay.

A special watch is being kept on the begging menace since it not only creates obstacles in the smooth flow of traffic but also results in criminal activities.

Commenting on the law and order situation, he said as a result of patrolling by cops, incidents of purse and chain snatching had gone down by almost 70 per cent.

He said the minimum fare of autorickshaws had been fixed at Rs 10 per passenger and they would not ferry more than four persons at a time.

SSP (Rural) Ashis Chaudhary said more than 2,500 people driving two-wheelers with their faces covered had been challaned so far. Those present demanded that vehicles should be impounded in such cases, besides those riding triple.

The members also demanded that the police should go in for special nakas where the documents of the vehicles should be checked strictly.

Others present included SDM-1 A.S. Prabhakar, SDM-2 Anupam Kler, Phillaur SDM Pritam Singh, Nakodar SDM I.S. Sandhu and Shahkot SDM Jasvir Singh.

Jalandhar, May 11
Terming the charges of corruption levelled against Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla as baseless, prominent residents of the district yesterday passed a resolution demanding an inquiry by the CBI to bring the truth to the fore.

The meeting, “Intellectual Meet”, was attended by nearly 250 doctors, engineers, architects, teachers, lecturers, businessmen and industrialists.

While refuting the charge levelled against the Health Minister regarding misappropriation of Central funds worth Rs 470 crore, child specialist Dr K.B. Sharda said the charge was baseless as no such amount had been allocated by the Central Government in the past 13 years.

While quoting the website of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, he said the Central Government had allocated Rs 161 crore and Rs 173.2 crore in 2007-08 and 2008-09, respectively, and there were no chances of misappropriation as 94 and 95 per cent of the amount was spent in 2007-08 and 2008-09, respectively.

He said the charge of extending undue privilege to a few doctors by re-employing them after the age of 58 years was also baseless as the doctors were re-employed under the National Rural Health Mission and the upper age limit of retirement in the mission was 62 years.

“The charge of corruption in the procurement of generators holds no weight as the Health Ministry has no decisive authority over such issue. Prices of generators were decided by the Director-General, Civil Supplies and Disposals,” said Dr Sharda.

The meeting was presided over by retired Sessions Judge H.P. Handa, and attended by Vice-Chancellor of Gurukul Kangri Univeristy Sudarshan Sharma, gynaecologist Dr Prem Rana, president of the local unit of the IMA Dr Sanjeev Sharma, Hindi writer Dewan Amrit Arora and hotelier Rajesh Puri.

Jalandhar, May 11
Menopause in women and andropause in men are age-related harmonal changes that cause psychological changes in human behaviour. However, there is no need to worry much as medical facilities are available to tackle the changes to some extent.

This was stated by leading obstetrician and gynaecologist of the country Dr Atul Praful Munshi, who is the president of the Indian Menopause Society, during his keynote address in the first zonal conference of the IMS held here on May 9.

Dr Daljit Singh Cheema, Adviser to the Punjab Chief Minister, was the chief guest. Whereas, Dr Pawan Gupta and Dr Kapil Gupta of the Punjab Medical Council were the guests of honour.

The conference was organised by the Jalandhar Chapter of the IMS to upgrade doctors concerned in the latest medicines related to menopause, andropause, osteoporosis, etc. About 200 doctors from all over the country participated in the conference. Gynaecologist and obstetrician Dr Sushma Chawla, secretary of the Jalandhar Chapter of the IMS, called upon the government to set up special clinics and department of geriatrics and facilities for organ and body donation in all government hospitals all over the country.

A debate on the removal or conservation of ovaries was also held in which Dr Kumud Bala Gupta from Shimla Medical College and Dr P.K. Saha from the PGI, Chandigarh, participated. Dr Veena Jain and Dr Nishi Garg from Faridkot, talked about alternative medicine after 60 years of age to improve quality of life. There was a panel discussion on surgical and premature menopause. Dr H.P. Pattanaik made it clear that there was a change in psychology and sexual behaviour with age and one should openly discuss these changes with doctors. Various other related topics, including osteoporosis, were also discussed.

A magazine on menopause, titled “Poise”, was released by Dr Atul Munshi, Dr Sunila Khandelwal and Dr Sonia Malik on the occasion. A public forum for non-medical people was also held.

Jalandhar, May 11
The state unit of the Congress has written to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi to put pressure on Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to ask the Sri Amarnath Shrine Board to reconsider its decision of steep hike in the rent for the land being provided to langar committees during the Amarnath pilgrimage.

The board has not only increased the rent, but also decided that less land would be provided to langar committees this time as compared to last year.

Talking to The Tribune, a Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) secretary Virendra Sharma and its District Congress Committee (DCC) president Arun Walia stated that the PM and UPA Chairperson had been urged to ask the CM to restore the earlier position where nominal rent was charged from the langar committees.

Sharma and Walia said they had sent similar letters to Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah and Governor N.N. Vohra.

“The religious sentiments of lakhs of devotees have been connected with Amarnath pilgrimage,” the Congress leaders said, adding that, “The langar committees from different parts of the country, including Punjab, have been providing the pilgrims food, shelter and health facilities free of cost for the past several decades.”

If the decision of steep hike in the rent would not be taken back, the langar committees would be left with no option but to stop holding langars there as they would not be able to pay a huge amount for doing so.

In that case, it would be very difficult for the state government and the local administration to take care of the devotees at their own, the Congress leaders said, reiterating that the unjustified decision of the Sri Amarnath Shrine Board should be withdrawn and earlier position be restored immediately.

Phillaur, May 11
Sita Ram of Bhaini village was killed on the spot, while Jagtar riding pillion was injured when the cycle on which they were returning to their village was hit by a car near Bhatian village on the national highway on Sunday.

The police has registered a case, impounded the car and arrested the driver. The body of the deceased was handed over to his family members after conducting a post-mortem examination. Jagtar was admitted in the Phillaur Civil Hospital. — OC