Jalandhar, September 30
Even during the ongoing dengue outbreak, the worst ever witnessed by the city in recent history, the local authorities are still busy preserving the sheen of the city through water fountains installed at nearly all major roundabouts despite the fact that large water pools beneath such fountains have turned into a major breeding ground for dengue larvae.

Although the health wing of the Municipal Corporation preaches clearing of stagnant water in and around homes, it has never bothered to drain out water from these water fountains, leave aside the drainage of choked water channels and stagnant water pools elsewhere in the city.

Though such fountains beautify a few corners of the city just for a couple of hours in the evening, these are a source of disease for thousands of commuters who stop and pass by such roundabouts and traffic lights.

This height of negligence exists despite the fact that even the local health authorities have written to their counterparts in the MC to minimise the chances of accumulation of water in public places.

District Health Officer Dr R.L. Bassan said, “Though we have not directed them, particularly regarding the clearance of water fountain pools, considering the gravity of the outbreak, it would be beneficial to let such pools dry for a few days.”

Another doctor said, “The department is making larvicidal sprays in and around such pools. However, we cannot negate the chances of them turning into breeding hubs. Ideally such pools should be cleared of water. Moreover, it is not a big task as compared to village ponds.”

Asked in this regard, Dr Varinder Kalia, Health Officer, MC, said sanitary inspectors of respective areas had been given the responsibility to treat the water in fountain pools. When asked what prevented the corporation from putting off the fountains for a few days, he said he would forward the suggestion to the horticulture wing and the higher authorities in this regard.

Jalandhar, September 30
“My eyes were affected with cataract and I have not been able to see my surroundings for the past 20 years. It was a great and unexplainable moment when I saw the faces of my near ones after the operation. The person, who donated her eyes to me, was not less than god for me.”

These feelings were shared by Gurbachan Singh of Hoshiarpur who, with the effort of the Eye Donation Association, Jalandhar, had undergone an eye transplant operation, along with Swarn Masih of Jalandhar, on September 23.

Both of them received the cornea of Maninder Kaur of Jalandhar who donated her eyes before her death, again owing to persuasion from the Eye Donation Association.

Relentlessly working to promote the cause of eye donation, the association has persuaded over 1,200 persons in the city alone to become its members.

Talking to The Tribune, Surinder Singh Ruby, vice-president of the association, said so far 11 persons had donated their eyes to 21 needy persons.

“We had started the charity campaign right at our home five years back. We were inspired by one of our dear ones who donated his eyes after his death. We constituted a 21-member committee of the association and inspired all our relatives and friends to become members of the association and donate their eyes,” he added.

Some prominent faces, including ADC G.S. Kahira, Sainik Welfare Officer Col Manmohan Singh and Improvement Trust chairman B.S. NeelaMahal, were also motivated to become members of the association and eventually the donors, he claimed Asked about the hurdles faced by them during their campaign, association president S.P. Singh said a major hurdle was that there was no recognised institute in the region and only four hospitals in the state, including three government colleges and Punarjot Eye Hospital, Ludhiana, were authorised to conduct such transplants. They had requested the health authorities to recognise one private hospital in Jalandhar district for the task.

He said the association also demanded exemption of eye donation from the Human Organ Transplantation Act as no person could donate his or her eyes before death and chances of malpractice in this field were quite less as compared to the transplant of other organs. Vice-chairman T.R. Sharma, Rajan Kalra and Satinder Raja are the other members of the association who have been working to promote eye donation.

Jalandhar, September 30
The RTI applicants in the city are a happier lot. They would no longer have to take rounds to New Delhi to appear before the National Information Commission. Their problem has been solved with the facility of video conferencing getting available in the studio of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) here.

A video-conferencing round was held today and another is scheduled for tomorrow. The staff of the centre said they had recently held quite a few rounds successfully. “The voice and video clarity have been perfectly fine. We have already conducted nearly 50 rounds of conferencing. The litigants and their counsel often make it together here,” they said, adding that this mode was being preferred by everyone, for it helped them save a lot of time, money and harassment.

RTI activist Sanjay Sehgal said the facility had come up as a great respite for the applicants like him.

The staff of the NIC said they had been holding video conferencing for various other administrative offices also. On October 5 they would have a video conference for pensioners.“They will be able to directly communicate with officials of the public grievances and pensioners welfare department. The officials will be sitting at the NIC studio in Delhi, while members of pensioners associations at Jalandhar, Chennai, Maharashtra and Jaipur will simultaneously be able to hold a live chat with them for one and a half hours. The pensioners will be given a training in operating their portal that day,” they revealed.

All-India Central Government Pensioners Association member V.S. Jolly has hailed the move claiming that several old and ill pensioners would be able to put in a word before the officials in a far easier manner.

Phagwara, September 30
In a significant initiative taken by the panchayat of nearby Duggan village, 32 solar lights were installed at a cost of Rs 3.5 lakh. Former minister Joginder Singh Maan and sarpanch Paramjit Kaur inaugurated the solar lamps at a brief function held in the village yesterday.

The sarpanch said that 32 acres of deserted land was being developed to facilitate villagers.

While addressing the gathering, Maan alleged that the SAD-BJP government was adopting a discriminatory attitude towards the Congress-led panchayats, which could not be tolerated at any cost.

Jalandhar, September 30
Going by the minimum standards laid down by the National Consumer Commission of settling 75 complaints a month, the performance of the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum falls far too short of the set measures.

This month, the Jalandhar forum has passed just six judgments on merit. Besides, six cases, on an average, have been mutually settled every Friday during the weekly Lok Adalat wherein matters mostly related to cellphone companies have been taken up.

The slackness in the working of the forum is further reflected from the fact that the pendency has risen from 550 last year to almost 775 now.

The delay has been bothering litigants and their counsels who claim that their cases are being put off for two years or so. The counsels further claimed that copies of the cases already decided were often not available for over a month.

They said they had approached the state commission, pleading for a quick disposal, by way of setting up an additional bench, but their demand had been turned down for they were told that the president of the forum at Kapurthala had been asked to join at Moga. “The new president there would take over in November, before which no additional bench was possible”, they revealed.

Asked about the matter, Darshan Singh, a member of the forum, explained, “We are currently focusing on settling maximum number of cases by compromise. There are certain cases which keep on lingering on because of the problems in their execution, which is a bit difficult”.

On fewer decisions this month, the staff of the Jalandhar forum said, “The President of our forum has been away for sometime. He would be back on Monday. There are certain cases for which we need his signatures.”

Advocate K.C. Malhotra has called for a speedy disposal of cases and the urgency to bring down pendency. Former member of the forum, Surinder Mittal quoted an order of the national commission saying, “The performances of all fora are graded from time to time. The commission had given directions in 2005 to all fora to at least decide 75 cases in each month, failing which the performance would be slated as poor.”

Jalandhar, September 30
Continuing their glorious history, the local Apeejay College of Fine Arts today once again lifted the overall trophy in Group A of the Zone C Youth Festival of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. This is the 11th consecutive victory of the college in the youth festival.

The local Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya (HMV) won the first runners-up trophy, while DAV College bagged the second runners-up trophy. The four-day-long youth festival concluded at GND University Regional Campus, Ladhewali, this evening.

No sooner did the results were announced, the winning teams along with their respective instructors burst into joy. The winning teams were thronged by the fellow students of their colleges, who had come to cheer them up. Holding the overall trophy, Apeejay students posed for photos and celebrated their victory.

Talking to The Tribune, Principal of Apeejay College Dr Sucharita said the college had been wining the overall trophy for the past 11 years.

“The credit of the victory goes to the teachers as well as the students who have work hard for the festival. We don’t hire any trainers from outside for the preparation of youth festivals, except for theatre performances where the former students of the college train the participants,” she added.

She added that the students would now prepare for the inter-zonal youth festival, which would begin from October 25 onwards at GND University, Amritsar.

Earlier, the chief guest, former Vice-Chancellor of GND University Dr S.P. Singh, termed the youth festivals as a good platform of interacting with students. “The GND University youth festival has made a name for itself at the national and international level. The students as well as the teaching fraternity deserve appreciation for conducting the youth fest,” he added.

Results:

Overall trophy Group A: Apeejay College of Fine Arts, Jalandhar, (first); Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya (second); and DAV College (third).

Group B: GND University Regional Campus, Ladhewali, (first); MGSM Janta College, Kartarpur, (second); and Teja Singh Sawantar Memorial College, Ludhiana, (third).

Individual events (Day-IV):

Giddha: Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya (first); Lyallpur Khalsa College, Jalandhar, (second); and Kanya Maha Vidyalaya (third).

Classical dance: B.D. Arya Girls College, Jalandhar Cantonment, (first); Prem Chand Markanda S.D. College for Women (second); and Kanya Maha Vidyalaya (third).

Individual events (Day-III):

One-act play: Apeejay College of Fine Arts, Jalandhar, and DAV College, Jalandhar, (first); KMV and HMV (second); and Lyallpur Khalsa College, Jalandhar, (third).

Bhangra: DAV College, Jalandhar (first); MGSM Janta College, Kartarpur, (second); and Teja Singh Sawantar Memorial College, Ludhiana, (third).

Jalandhar, September 30
Remembering the contribution of Mahatma Gandhi towards underprivileged sections of society, NGO Roshni organised a function at the Roshni headquarters in Urban Estate here today.

NGO commemorated the Gandhi Jayanti by honouring lepers’ children and some polio ridden children who have become success stories with their hard work under the guidance and support of Roshni.

Famous orthopaedic surgeon Dr Vijay Pal Singh Sidhu marked his presence by honouring such children. Dr Sidhu has operated upon polio victim Ashok who later became a volunteer of Roshni and is currently working for the treatment and rehabilitation of polio-ridden children in Kargil.

Roshni Director Father Thomas said that such felicitation programmes of paying tribute to personalities like Mother Teresa and Mahatma Gandhi would continue throughout the year at different places to create awareness among the general public about their responsibility towards the less privileged children struggling with physical and mental disabilities.