Bathinda, June 8
A monthly salary of thousands of rupees is apparently insufficient for the doctors at the Civil Hospital here. This is because they have deployed personal staff outside their cabins to distribute visiting cards to patients with a “free” advice to meet them at their residence if they want better treatment.

Receiving such complaints from patients and their attendants, when this correspondent today visited the Civil Hospital, the “illegal” practice was found rampant. The orthopaedic section of the hospital was apparently the worst affected, where a number of youth were seen competing with each other to approach the patients in the corridor.

“It will take a long time if you keep on standing in the queue as the doctor sahib is very busy today. Better you keep this card (doctor’s visiting card) and come to his residence in the evening. I assure that you will be given preference. Moreover, I have apprehension whether you will be diagnosed here properly as the doctor is in a hurry to leave,” these were the words of a youth, deployed by one of the three orthopaedists of the Civil Hospital, Bathinda.

A visit inside the orthopaedic section revealed that one of the doctors had gone on some official duty, while two others were in their chairs, taking the help of three youngsters, present there.

When asked, one of the youths who was busy entering the names of patients in an unofficial register, attempted to disguise his identity but when pressed, he disclosed that he was the personal staff of the doctor, assisting him in his “tiresome” work.

A boy, speaking in a cheerful voice, said, “I am a sweeper here but after performing my official duty in the morning, I come here and help the doctor as I know how to plaster fractured and dislocated limbs.”

Surprised, the doctors intervened and said, “We are taking the help of these non-official persons just to cope with the staff crunch. They are willingly helping us. We admit that they are not medically qualified in applying plaster to the patients but they do everything under our supervision.”

About the boys distributing their visiting cards, with a suggestion to meet them at their residence, the doctors denied having any such information but claimed that it was all just to help the patients so that they could call them up for help any time.

On the other hand, various doctors of the Civil Hospital said that they usually received verbal complaints from the orthopaedists blaming each other for “grabbing” their patients. They added that the matter was very much in the notice of the higher authorities but due to their high level connections, no action could be taken till now.

On his part, the Civil Surgeon, ID Goyal said, “I am unaware of any such misdeed going on the hospital. Moreover, only if some formal complaint comes to me, can I initiate a probe.”

Speaking over the phone, administrative secretary of the health and family welfare department, Punjab, Satish Chandra expressed shock over the facts and said, “As it is a very serious issue, I will assign some senior official to initiate an inquiry into the matter. Whosoever is found guilty would be dealt with strictly.”

Malout (Muktsar), June 8
Observing an excessive use of chemical fertilisers in agricultural fields as a major cause of cancer and other deadly diseases, farmers in the Malwa belt have started making use of an organic (green) manure — ‘Jantar’ (dhaincha).

Malwa is known as the cotton belt of the state but the groundwater here is of poor quality. However, due to insufficient supply of canal water, farmers are forced to irrigate their fields with groundwater. Using groundwater for a long time diminishes the health, colour and productivity of soil. To recoup the losses, farmers have to depend upon fertilisers. But different studies conducted in the past revealed that excessive usage of chemical fertilisers had been giving rise to cancer and various other diseases in the region.

While the agriculture department, which was otherwise supposed to promote ‘jantar’ as green manure, is reportedly being indifferent, farmers have stood up for the social cause.

According to information collected from farmers and experts of the Punjab Agriculture University (PAU), farmers have started sowing ‘jantar’ in their fields to enhance the productivity of soil before transplanting paddy. ‘Jantar’ roots have nodules, which help in fixation of atmospheric nitrogen that further enhances the productivity of soil.

Once ‘jantar’ attains an age of six to eight weeks, farmers bury it in the soil and plough the field. The buried plants of ‘jantar’ act as green manure.

Director of the Punjab Agricultural University Regional Research Station, Bathinda, GS Buttar said, “Using ‘jantar’ as manure helps in saving around 25 kg of nitrogen per acre or about 55 kg urea per acre. For sowing ‘jantar’, around 20 kg of seed is required per acre and if phosphorus is low, then farmers must spread 75 kg super phosphate per acre in the ‘dhaincha’ field. After it gets converted into manure, the paddy field does not require any fertiliser.”

When asked what is the right time to plough ‘jantar’, Buttar said it should be done just a day before the paddy transplantation.

During a visit to the Malout-Abohar road, various fields were seen covered with ‘jantar’. Farmers said, “Jantar is beneficial for enhancing the fertility of land but the state agriculture department is doing nothing to promote it as an alternative to the chemical fertilisers.”

“Earlier, it was said that the agriculture department would provide its seeds at subsidised rate of Rs 5 per kg but due to unavailability of seeds now, we have to purchase it from the market. The department concerned must ensure the availability of subsidised seeds as it is for the welfare of all,” the farmers added.

Bathinda, June 8
To train the principals of all senior secondary schools of Bathinda, Mansa and Muktsar districts in soft skills, authorities of the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration, Punjab (MGSIPAP), launched a special workshop here today.

Giving details, consultant MGSIPAP, Dr TC Goyal said among others, topics like motivation, communication, attitude, team building and time management would be covered in the two-day workshop.

Inaugurating the workshop, commissioner of the Bathinda Municipal Corporation Ravi Bhagat congratulated the authorities of the MGSIPAP and the education department for taking the step.

Project coordinator, district centre Bathinda, Naranjan Singh and resource person Kuldeep Gandhi were among the prominent dignitaries at the event.

Moga, June 8
Senior officials of the state Vigilance Bureau are of the opinion that the arrest of drug inspector Balram Luthra posted at Moga in a bribery case was stage-managed by some of their officials and the complainants.

Having established these facts, the Bureau registered an FIR under sections 420, 467, 468, 471, 193, 195 and 120B of the IPC and 7, 8, 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1989 in its police station at Mohali last night against eight persons including three brothers running a chemist shop, three employees, a shadow witness and an ASI of the Bureau on charges of allegedly manipulating the drug inspector’s arrest. They were later produced in court at Mohali and sent to two-day police remand.

Confirming this to The Tribune, Kanwarjit Singh SSP of the Bureau (economic offences wing unit-II) revealed that two chemists Pawan Kumar and Krishan Kumar, both brothers, have been taken into custody while the others were yet to be arrested.

Kanwarjit Singh said the investigation has been handed over to Rajinder Singh, another SP of the Bureau. “I was asked to arrest the accused and I have handed over two of them to the investigating officer,” he added.

As per the details available, those named in the FIR include the names of Deep Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Pawan Kumar (all brothers) running a chemist shop under the banner of Ganesh Traders; Kapil Kumar, Vijay Kumar, Sukhdev Singh all employees; Jagmohan Singh shadow witness and Jarnail Singh ASI of the Bureau posted at Moga.

It has been mentioned in the FIR that Sukhdev along with his friend Jagmohan, also the shadow witness, went to the office of drug inspector and by manipulating with ASI Jarnail Singh, forcibly put the money in the pocket of the drug inspector.

The Director of the Bureau HS Dhillon said the role of DSP Amarjit Singh Matwani was still under investigation. “We are trying to find whether the DSP was involved in the conspiracy or he was befooled by all of them,”-he said.

It may be mentioned that DSP Matwani who caught red-handed the local drug inspector Balram Luthra, last week, for accepting Rs 5,000 as bribe has also been placed under suspension by the department on charges of administrative lapses in handling the case and not following the rules and regulations of the Bureau.

Ferozepur, June 8
The district health authorities today sealed a mineral water factory, located in Toori market of this town, after complaints were received from a section of residents that water supplied by it was contaminated and unfit for human consumption.

Civil Surgeon Dalip Kumar said a complaint was received from the employees of the bus stand of the Punjab roadways located in the city in connection with the supply of contaminated and impure water to their office by a factory owner.

“A team headed by Rajinder Kumar, assistant unit officer (AUO), was sent to the spot immediately. The team took the samples in front of the employees. Later, the team also sealed the factory, supplying water under the brand name of the Pure Water to them, was also sealed,” said the Civil Surgeon.

A few weeks ago, the district health authorities with the help of the district food inspector managed to seize fake cold drinks in a large number in this district. Rajinder Kumar said the samples would be sent for the chemical examination to the state chemical laboratory at Chandigarh tomorrow and action would be taken in this connection as per the report.

He said a section of employees of the Punjab Roadway tested the water supplied to them by the Pure Water factory on the spot today by their instruments in his presence and a large number of foreign particles were found in it.

Fazilka, June 8
Hundreds of residents of village Chandigarh Basti along with the activists of the NREGA Employees Union and Sarv Bharat Naujawan Sabha today gheraoed the local police station to lodge their protest against the arrest of their leader Jagdish Dharmuwala in a criminal case.

The activists, who raised slogans against the Punjab government and accused a section of politicians for implicating Dharmuwala into a false criminal case, demanded that he must be released immediately and the criminal case registered against him, must be withdrawn.

Dharmuwala, president of Sarv Bharat Naujawan Sabha, was booked into a criminal case on the complaint lodged against him by the Panchayat secretary, Dalip Singh, in which Dalip alleged that Dharmuwala had detained him while he was performing his official duties a few days ago.

A case under section 382 of the IPC was registered at the Sadar police station here against Dharmuwala.

Hans Raj Golden, district secretary, CPI, while addressing the protesters, alleged that the SAD-BJP government and state bureaucracy had got frustrated after seeing the unity among the NREGA employees and other outfits and hence they were trying to harass its leaders to stop them from raising their voice against any kind of injustice being done to them.

He said the case against Dharmuwala was registered as he was opposing encroachment of the Panchayat land by a section of influentials. The gherao was lifted after a few hours when the assurance was given to the protestors that their grievances would be looked into.

Karamjit Singh (DSP) said Dharmuwala had been arrested and would be presented in the court of law today. He said Dharmuwala was arrested after a criminal case had been registered against him. “An inquiry would reveal whether allegations levelled against him were true or not,” he said.

Ferozepur, June 8
German Singh, a resident of village Jallewala of this district, was arrested by the police for his alleged involvement in various crimes including stealing weapons of guards of the bank located in different parts of this district. Two .12 bore double barrel guns along with eight live cartridges were recovered from his possession.

Surjeet Singh, SP (Headquarter), while talking to the media, said the two associates of German Singh, identified as Nishan Singh and Surjeet Singh, managed to run away from the spot when a police party of Mallanwala police station led by Harjinder Singh, ASI, arrested him during the patrolling of Mallanwala area.

He said during the interrogation, the accused revealed that he had stolen a double barrel gun from the branch of the State Bank of India (SBI) located near Baghdadi Gate of this city. The other gun was stolen by them from a cooperative bank located in Mallanwala area at night by breaking open its lock.

He said two separate cases in connection with theft of these two guns had already been registered at the police station concerned at the time of theft. A case under Arms Act had been registered against German Singh and his two associates at the police station, Mallanwala. Cops had been despatched to nab the other accused.

Sriganganagar/Abohar, June 8
Rashi Jangid was declared winner in the women’s category in Mohinder Jasuja Memorial Badminton Tournament that concluded at the Sriganganagar Club last night while Neha Goyal emerged as the runners-up.

In the 17-year (male) single category, Gagandeep Soni and Nilesh Grover were declared winner and runners-up while Shunty and Sumit won the doubles. Shunty and Sonu won the lucky double matches. Prizes were given away by the club president Rajesh Chalana and Kashmiri Lal Jasuja, general secretary of district Congress committee. Dr RC Jindal was the chief guest. — OC

Fazilka, June 8
‘Depleting groundwater level: A great threat and challenge before the farmers’ was the main agenda that was discussed in a workshop organised by the Zamidara Farmsolutions today. Also discussed was ways to cut the input cost in agriculture and ways to increase the yield of crops.

How agriculture should be made environment-friendly and how to make agriculture profitable were the other issues on which the agriculture experts and progressive farmers expressed their views before a large number of farmers participated in the workshop.

Agriculture specialists Dr Raman, Dr Naveen of Punjab Agriculture University, Dr MS Malhi, the progressive farmers, Prem Babbar, Vikram Ahuja, Capt. MS Bedi and Anurag Nagpal, apprised the farmers of the latest techniques for cultivating the paddy crop. They exhorted the farmers to save groundwater and sow their crops at the time recommended by the PAU. The agriculture experts revealed that the level of the groundwater has been decreasing by about 55 centimeter every year which is a matter of grave concern.

The Zamidara Farmsulutions also demonstrated Tensio-meter which displays the water requirement of the sown crop. With the use of this meter, the farmers can get rid of traditional system of flood irrigation, claimed experts. The agriculturists also demonstrated the use of the modern agriculture equipment in the fields after the workshop.

Fazilka, June 8
A 10-feet wide breach occurred in the Mauzam minor, passing near village Ganjuana Gaganke in this sub-division, after the water overflowed its bank late last night. Official sources said the minor breached at 55 RD/right as the brick lining at this point was already damaged due to a 30 feet long cattle pond, situated nearby. The water overflowed the banks of minor due to closure of its outlets by a section of farmers.

Amarjit Singh, SDO, who reached the spot, said the farmers had closed the outlets of the minor as the water was not required by them to irrigate their respective fields to prepare them for paddy cultivation due to rains, which had hit this area in the past two days.

He said water entered into about 15 acres of fields, lying vacant as the farmers of this area had not started paddy transplantation yet.

The SDO added that the breach had been plugged and that the water would be released into it shortly. 

Ferozepur, June 8
A person identified as Mukhtiar Singh, a resident of village Sodewala, died after he was hit by the the Ferozepur-Ludhiana passenger train (8LF) at the unmanned crossing between the Talwandi Bhai and Maheshari Sandhuan station last evening.

The body was sent for postmortem by the GRP men. Initially, it seemed to be an accidental case. However, members of the BKU (Lakhowal) asserted that the deceased had committed suicide as he was facing a financial crunch.

Kiranpal Singh of the BKU said earlier Mukhtiar had five acres of land. However, due to debt he was left with only half acre of land. Another kin claimed that as Mukhtiar had no issue after marriage, he was mentally upset due to which he took such an extreme step.

Meanwhile, a body was found near village Haraj along the railway track. The deceased was identified as Gurdeep Singh, a resident of village Safuwala.

In yet another mishap, one person identified as Javed Ansari was killed while two others sustained injuries, when the bike by which they were travelling was hit by a bus near Basti Wasava Singh under Makhu police station. The police have registered a case against the bus driver identified as Lakhwinder Singh, a resident of Ferozepur, on the basis of the statement of Ajay Kumar, who was also injured in the accident.

Abohar, June 8
The body of a married woman who reportedly jumped into the Malukpura minor (sub-canal) yesterday, was found on Tuesday floating near the tail-end village Gumjal, located close to the Rajasthan border, sources said.

While lodging an FIR with the old city police station here today, Prithvi Raj of village Sayeedwala said his daughter Saroj Rani was being tortured by her in-laws allegedly for more dowry. The police have registered a case under section 304 B and 34 of the IPC against Pawan Kumar (husband), Banwari Lal (father-in-law) and Lila Devi (mother-in-law). More sections can be added to the FIR if pregnancy is confirmed, police said. All the accused have reportedly fled. — OC