Bathinda, August 9
The rural labourers today emphasised upon the state and central governments to relax the norms, fixed for availing benefits of a BPL family, so that all labourers and poor persons, especially in rural areas of Punjab could get the status of a BPL family and also avail of benefits under the BPL scheme.

These labourers were of the view that the norms had been fixed keeping in view the poor financial conditions of the labourers and poor persons in several states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, whereas the financial condition of labourers and poor persons of Punjab is better to some extent as compared to other states. Due to this, a large number of poor families and labourers have been deprived of BPL status and from availing benefits of the scheme in Punjab.

This aspect emerged today when a large number of rural labourers, including women, under the banner of Punjab Khet Mazdoor Sabha, affiliated to the CPI, staged a protest dharna outside the Mini-Secretariat here. The rural labourers raised this point in a big way to seek status of a BPL family for availing benefits of the scheme. During the survey in 2002, nearly 13,000 BPL families had been identified in the Bathinda district while the number of rural poor families was more than this in the district.

District secretary of the CPI Jagjit Singh Joga said due to the harsh nature of norms of the BPL scheme for getting benefits, lakhs of rural labourers and poor families were unable to get the status of BPL families in Punjab. Due to this, they could not get benefits of several Central financial assistance schemes, including Indira Awas Yojna, under which an amount of Rs 45,000 was given for constructing pucca house and Rs 15,000 for the repair of house.

The protesters were also demanding proper implementation of the national rural employment guarantee scheme (NREGS), 10 marla plots each to homeless persons, Rs 1,000 as pension to elderly persons, widows, disabled persons, enhancement in the amount of Shagun scheme to Rs 25,000 from Rs 15,000, and revival of facility relating to 200 units free electricity to Dalits and poor persons.

Besides Joga, among others who participated or addressed the dharna included a member of national council of Khet Mazdoor Sabha Surjit Singh Sohi, district general secretary of the Khet Mazdoor Sabha Harbans Singh Bathinda, general secretary of Punjab Istri Sabha Jasvir Kaur Sra, Amrik Singh Phul, Balkaran Singh Brar, Jasbir Singh Aklia and Ram Lal Garg.

Bathinda, August 9
In a land dispute that turned bloody, a four-year-old Dalit boy of Phul town succumbed to injuries inflicted on his head with a sharp edged weapon, late on Sunday night.

According to information available, one Bhola Singh of Phul had sold his land (three marlas) to one Ganda Singh, who further sold it to Jagtar Singh, about three years back.

Jagtar Singh along with wife and son had been residing in a house constructed on the land but Bhola Singh wanted to remove them with the intention to encroach upon it.

Giving details, police sources said, the accused Bhola Singh had been harassing the family in an attempt to get the possession over the land, for the past few days.

Late on Sunday night, Bhola Singh along with his wife Binder Kaur visited Jagtar's house and asked him to vacate the house. Hearing the call of Bhola Singh, Jagtar Singh, his wife Sandeep Kaur and their son Sagar Singh all came out and found the accused duo carrying sharp-edged weapons in their hands.

Suddenly, Bhola Singh assaulted Jagtar Singh with the weapon in an attempt to kill him. However, Jagtar's son Sagar Singh came in between and sustained a severe injury on his head. Leaving the boy lying in a pool of blood, the accused couple fled from the spot.

Meanwhile, the neighbours assembled and rushed the injured boy to the Civil Hospital Rampura from where he was referred to a private hospital located in Bhucho. However, after a few minutes, he succumbed to the injuries. After recording the statements of the bereaved couple, police booked Bhola Singh and his wife Binder Kaur under sections 302, 323 and 34 of the IPC. However, police could not arrest the accused couple, till the filing of the report,

Confirming the facts, SHO Phul, Malkit Singh said the police was conducting raids to nab the accused.

Ferozepur, August 9
The acute shortage of accommodation in the hostel has forced the girl students of the local Shaheed Bhagat Singh College of Engineering and Technology (SBSCET) to put up in the quarters meant for peons and other class III employees located in its campus.

Besides, about four girls have been bundled in a single room of the regular girls hostel against its capacity of accommodating only two occupants and two girls have been bundled into the room having a capacity to accommodate only one occupant, by the college authorities and thus generating a wave of resentment among a section of them today.

As per the information gathered by the TNS, the college authorities were finding it difficult to add new hostels for accommodating the rising number of boys and girls as not even a single penny had been given to them by the Punjab government for the past nine years.

“Though a section of girl students has shown their resentment after they were made to share their rooms with other students, we are left with no other option than to adopt this course so that all the girls students could be given accommodation in college premises only,” pointed out TS Sidhu, principal, SBSCET.

The principal added that the college authorities had to accommodate about 250 girl students against the capacity of its hostel of accommodating 120 students only.

Last year, five quarters meant for peon and other class III and class IV employees were converted into girl hostel to accommodate the rising number of girls, who had been taking admission in different streams of engineering in this college.

When the strength of the girl students went up this year as well, the college authorities were left with no other option but to convert three residences meant for professors into the girl hostel.

The college authorities had also arranged extra security personnel to prove foolproof security cover to those accommodations, which were occupied by the girl students.

“I have sent a demand for Rs seven crores to the Punjab government for constructing a new girls and boys hostel in the college campus where Diploma College under the Nabard scheme has also been running since last years without its building. This demand has also been discussed in the meeting of board of governors (BOGs) at Chandigarh,” he pointed out.

The college principal further added that adequate hostel accommodation for boys and girls in the campus was the need of the hour.

Adequate funds for construction of six lecture rooms had also been demanded from the Punjab government, the SBSCET principal added. 

Muktsar, August 9
The Punjab State Scheduled Caste Commission member Dalip Singh Pandhi, today charged the executive agencies of the state with issuing a large number of fake SC certificates to people, not belonging to the community.

Pandhi was here to attend a function organised by the district Red Cross Society to honour a Dalit girl, Amrit Pal Kaur of Gidderbaha, who stood first in the recently declared results of the class XII examinations.

Hailing the girl, Pandhi said, he would always be ready to help the girl and her family in their needs. Speaking to media, Pandhi said during the recent investigation, it was observed that some officials, who were assigned the job of issuing SC certificates, issued such certificates to people of general category, which was an injustice to the Dalit students.

“It is due to the misdeeds of elements within the state bureaucracy that students belonging to the SC communities, despite being hard working, fail to get what they deserve,” alleged Pandhi.

He alleged that the state government had prepared a number of schemes for the welfare of people belonging to scheduled castes but the bureaucrats delay the implementation of most schemes which hamper the government’s initiative.

Moga, August 9
Reacting to a contempt of court case filed by the district Bar Association, the local court of Rakesh Gupta has today sought a reply from the authorities concerned of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited as to why uninterrupted power supply is not being supplied to the court complex through the hotline system despite the court orders.

While fixing August 11 as the next date of hearing in this case, the court has also asked the power corporation authorities to file a detailed report on power cuts and interruptions in power supply to the court complex during the past one month.

President of the Bar Association, Nasib Bawa, while alleging that the power corporation was flouting the court orders for the past couple of years without realising the problems being faced by the judiciary, demanded the court to take stern action against the concerned authorities concerned.

Bawa said most of the court work now-a-days is done on computers and power cuts often disrupt normal functioning. “The hotline is just for the name sake because it takes many minutes sometimes about an hour to shift load from one feeder to the other,” he added. He also demanded that the government should provide an alternate arrangement of generator set to ensure continuous power supply in the courts. 

Abohar, August 9
The Indian Army plans to introduce online Common Entrance Examination (CEE) by the next year, Brigadier KD Malhotra, Deputy Director General (Recruiting) said here on Monday. Director Colonel Balwan Singh was also present.

Speaking on the sidelines of the week-long recruitment rally at the Military Station, he informed that the aspirants would be motivated to attend computer classes before appearing in the CEE after the physical efficiency test and medical examination.

He was happy to find that 12,000 youths had so far turned up from different districts for the recruitment rally that had been kick-started on August 5 here.

The first phase would conclude on August 12. The medically fit candidates would appear for the CEE here on August 29.

Brigadier Malhotra said the screening process has been computerised in such a transparent and fool-proof manner that no chance for impersonation or bogus documentation was left.

The brokers have no role to play; he cautioned the youths and their parents. He thanked Brigadier Sanjay Thapa, Station Commander, Military Station and Deputy Commissioner Kamal Kishore Yadav for extending qualitative support in making the arrangements that included makeshift stay arrangements for the candidates besides local bus service to ferry them from the bus stand and railway station. The efforts would go a long way in meeting the aspirations of youth of the region, who wish to join the Army and serve the nation. Punjabis are indeed found to be more innovative, intelligent and always ready to safeguard the security of the country, he observed.

Asked about the backlog in recruitment, he conceded that the candidates from Ramdasia and other such communities need to work hard for better body build besides getting technical education to fill up the vacancies in the regiments. 

Fazilka, August 9
Three-day open badminton tournament concluded here on Sunday at the local Government Senior Secondary School for boys.

A total of 44 players in different categories from Fazilka and surrounding areas participated in the badminton tournament.

In under-17 single category, Irwin won first prize while Sherbaz Singh was declared runners-up. In under-17 lucky double category, the pair of Bant and Subhash was first while Irwin and Baban came second.

Similarly, in men lucky mixed doubles, Sidhant and Sunny got first prize while Bawa and Imran were declared runners-up. The chief guests at the closing programme, PPCC secretary Davinder Sachdeva and president of the Social Welfare Society Raj Kishore Kalra distributed prizes amongst the winners.

While addressing the players, Sachdeva said the games should be promoted by the governments on a priority basis as it teaches harmony, relieves mental tension and banishes the menace of drug abuse.

The organisers of the tournament, Sunny, Rohit and Sidharath demanded from the government that it should come up with a wooden badminton court in Fazilka. By installing wooden badminton court, it would help in promoting game in this remote area, they maintained. They rued that in almost every nearby town, the facility of the wooden court for badminton player exists but Fazilka is deprived of it.

Sachdeva assured the players that he would raise the demand for laying a wooden court at Fazilka at a suitable platform. 

Bathinda, August 9
As compared to the late 70s, the incidence of caesarean deliveries is increasing nowadays due to one reason or the other.

As per the official figures, about 21 per cent caesarean deliveries had been conducted during the previous financial year in the government hospitals and health centres of the Bathinda district while in the first quarter of the current financial year, about 18 per cent caesarean deliveries have been conducted.

As per information available, in the late 70s, stray cases of caesarean deliveries were reported whereas now, it has become a routine affair on account of various factors, including change in the lifestyle of the people.

A doctor said due to change in lifestyle, the physique of girls and women underwent an enormous change. The changed lifestyle reduced their capacity to bear labour pain.

There are times when doctors do not want to take risk. In order to save 
the life of the baby and the woman, they opt for a 
caesarean section with the consent of the woman and her family.

In some cases, the woman and her family also suggest the doctor to go for caesarean delivery to avoid the risk to the baby and the mother's lives.

Another doctor told this reporter that in some cases, they go for caesarean deliveries when a baby passes stool in the uterus of the woman. Besides, the caesarean delivery is preferred in case of obstructed labour, handled by a midwife.

Due to such reasons and availability of modern medical facilities, the incidence in caesarean deliveries is more now.

According to the data of Bathinda district's government hospitals and health centres, out of total 4,438 deliveries, 928 caesarean deliveries had been conducted in the previous financial year while during the first quarter of the current financial year, out of 1,099, 194 were caesarean deliveries.